Chapter 3
Zekk stared at the guard with disbelief. "This has got to be some kind of sick joke."
"I'm afraid it's not, Jedi." The guard smiled faintly, motioning to the small crib in which the toddler was sleeping. "The Queen Mother was quite adamant; the Princess is your daughter."
"That's impossible I never... I mean we never... I don't even think of Tenel Ka like that!"
The guard arched her eyebrows. "The child would suggest otherwise. Perhaps you should watch her message?"
Zekk felt like the world had been flipped upside down and inside out. He was still reeling from the incident in the corridor, the Force's way of telling him he was short one more friend, and now this. A child? With Tenel Ka? He almost laughed except the notion made him feel slightly ill. Was it possible? He didn't think so; he'd remember if he'd ever bedded the spirited red head. At least, he hoped he would.
He sighed, running a hand over his face. He desperately wanted that sack time; who knew, maybe this was all a bad dream? One look at the bodyguard's face and he knew he wasn't dreaming. He needed time to work things out in his brain and it didn't look like he was going to get it. "Fine, set it up. I've come this far, I'd certainly like to know what Tenel Ka was thinking when she decided to point the finger at me."
"The child's safety, sire."
"Stop calling me that. I'm not your sire, or the consort or whatever."
The guard smiled faintly. "As the father to the Princess, you are the holder of that title. I will however refrain if you require it of me."
"Just call me Zekk, alright?"
"I'm afraid that's not permissible, sir Jedi."
Zekk ground his back teeth together. "Jedi Zekk, then. None of this sir or sire or other stuff. I haven't slept in thirty some odd hours and the last thing I need is to be labeled with another title that I'll never remember to answer to."
"That's acceptable, Jedi Zekk."
"Good." He slumped into a chair near the crib, one eye on the sleeping toddler. "This isn't going to wake her up, is it?"
"It may. She's very responsive to her mother's voice."
Zekk waited apprehensively as the guard set up the recording. Tenel Ka's image appeared. She was as regal as ever and Zekk felt the first stirrings of a sadness he couldn't yet identify. Her image waited for a few moments, as if giving him the time to absorb it, before speaking.
"Greetings, Zekk."
Not friend Zekk?
Her expression was grave. "If you are watching this, I have sent Allana to you - or she has been sent to you - because I am dead. Lora, her bodyguard, was given explicit instructions."
"Woah, wait a second- dead?" Zekk broke in over the transmission and Lora, the bodyguard, bade him be quiet and listen.
Tenel Ka's image continued. "You are likely not aware of the fact that Allana is your daughter. I intended it as such; your memories of the night we shared together have been blocked. It is my hope, that with time, the block will recede and you will be able to remember the joy of that night. For it was a night to remember fondly, Zekk. You gave me my daughter that night and I have no regrets." The barest of smiles crossed her face only to vanish as she continued. "You must be wondering why I would send Allana to you now. Jacen believes Allana to be his; I lied to him and he will kill me when he finds otherwise. My love is a passionate man; very much like his sister. I would not put it beyond him to attempt to twist Allana to his own ends; so I have sent her to you. I trust that my faith in you is not misplaced. A simple paternity test will prove her parentage if you doubt it. Be well, Zekk, and May the Force be with you."
Her image vanished and a whimper from the toddler brought Zekk's head around.
Allana had awoken upon hearing her mother's voice and now, with the image gone, her lower lip was starting to tremble. Zekk watched, torn between what he should do - as he knew little about children - and what he could do. He looked to Lora for help.
Lora stepped forward, scooping the toddler up in her arms and hugging her gently, stroking curls the same shade as her mother's. "Shh, little one. Don't cry. Mamma's just gone away for a while."
Zekk felt his throat tighten, knowing with sudden certainty that the death he had felt had been Tenel Ka's. That made this little girl an orphan - unless he believed what Tenel Ka had said. Zekk stood before he realized what he was doing and moved to stand by Lora. Hesitantly, his hands came up, and gently brushed the single fat tear from the toddler's cheek. She looked up at him with big eyes the color of smoke and shadow, and his heart melted.
Lora turned, breaking his eye contact with the toddler, and replaced them with her own cool blue orbs. "What will you do, Jedi Zekk?"
Zekk's hand dropped and he turned away, pacing back towards the door, only to stop abruptly and spin back to face her. "Do? The front lines of a recent battle is no place for a toddler regardless of if she's really my daughter or not. Blaster bolts! I don't know the first thing about raising a kid; what was Tenel Ka thinking?"
Lora smiled faintly. "Probably that you are an able and capable protector. The Princess is vulnerable. I cannot take her back to Hapes, in fact am forbidden to do so until her eighteenth year when she may claim her title as Queen Mother. My instructions extend only to finding you and remaining Allana's bodyguard; if you will permit it."
"Permit...?" Zekk blinked. "Why would I object? You're the closest thing she has to family right now."
"You're-"
He held up his hand. "Let's not be hasty before we confirm it, alright? I'd like to think a mental block would never stop me from remembering a night with a beautiful woman. Especially one that resulted in a baby"
Lora laughed softly, gently rubbing Allana's back. "Would it help to know you were both very vocal?"
"No!"
She laughed, but became somber a moment later. "The Queen Mother swore us to secrecy. Jacen Solo was not to know of the night you two spent together."
"What went wrong?"
Lora sighed, shifting Allana in her grasp. The child's head had found the hollow of her shoulder and her thumb had found its way into her mouth. Allana's eyes were closed, her breathing beginning to even out once more.
Poor kid, Zekk found himself thinking, wanting to comfort her. She doesn't even know what's going on - just that mommy's not here. His throat tightened. He remembered the feeling from when he'd been a child, that desolate, adrift feeling of being without hope or tether. Of knowing your world had suddenly, inexplicably changed but not why.
The "why" was always the killer.
Lora gently placed the Princess back in her bed before answering Zekk's question, her voice low. "She began hearing rumors come back to her. Rumors of two separate men who had supposedly graced her bed. We did our best to quash them, but rumor is fickle. It will sometimes die, sometimes explode. This was one we couldn't risk having Jedi Solo become aware of. I fear I have been unable to reach the Queen Mother through my private channels and that the worst has come to pass."
Zekk looked down into the cherubic face that slept on, unawares that the adults were discussing her mother's fate. Allana's brow wrinkled in her sleep, as if having a nightmare, and Zekk gently smoothed the lines from her face. She reacted to his touch completely unexpectedly. She sighed, seeming to draw strength from him through his fingers, and her fitful dream disappeared.
"She likes you."
Zekk pulled his hand away and looked back to Lora. "So why lie to Jacen? Why not just tell him the truth?"
Lora's face became shadowed. "The Queen was the one who made the decision. Her heart has always belonged to Jedi Solo; she thought he would be pleased."
"Then why not seduce him? Why me?"
"I do not understand the whole story, Jedi Zekk, and I apologize for that. She attempted to have Jacen's child and failed to conceive. She sent him a message by not giving him all of the ships he had requested. A fair bargain; she had expected an heir, a Solo heir, in return. She assumed Jacen would return to renegotiate."
"And he sent me."
She nodded. "The Queen Mother swore me to secrecy and confided she would attempt to seduce you, something about the will of the Force."
Zekk arched his eyebrows in disbelief, crossing his arms over his chest. "Right."
"I swear it is so. She had the cook insert a natural sensory enhancer into your food. She deliberately chose the gown and her perfume; her intentions to seduce you were very clear."
"It'd have taken a lot more than that, Lora; Tenel Ka is Jacen's girl. She's always been Jacen's. Jacen is a friend of mine - well, was until he decided to try and blow up a world with his mind - but at the time he was still a friend. I wouldn't betray his trust like that. I can't believe that whatever Tenel Ka did I would have succumbed."
"You did fight her." Lora confirmed with a wry smile. "Despite the attraction both of you were obviously feeling. I believe my Queen took some of the same extracts she fed to you. In the end, you did not fight her, Jedi Zekk. I understand it's difficult to fathom, but it is the truth. Allana is the product of that night."
"I'm sorry Lora. It might be because I'm sleep deprived, but I just... I can't believe this."
"I have the equipment to perform the paternity test on board; will that settle the matter?"
Zekk felt the nervous feeling return, the one that had warned him to run as quickly as he could in the opposite direction. He pushed it down again. He was certain Allana was not his daughter. She was adorable and emotive and, true, her gray eyes held two different tones, but it proved nothing. Nothing concrete. And, if he was so positive about her not being his child, what did he have to fear anyway?
He finally nodded. "Let's prove you wrong."
