Chapter 9

Zekk left Allana and Ben in the hands of the medics, stopping only long enough to place them both into healing trances they couldn't fight under the effects of the drugs.

Heading back to Allana's quarters, he found several of her personal guard stationed outside the doors, and they inclined their heads respectfully at his approach. If it had to do with the dark expression he wore, or the fact he was Allana's father he didn't know - and nor did he care.

"No one has entered the suite, as per your orders, Prince Consort," said one, her words clipped. "And no one has moved the body of the assassin."

With a curt nod, Zekk ducked into the suits - and stopped. Surveying the damage, he shied away from the blood spatters on the carpet, and looked instead to the bodies of the two individuals who had almost cost him his daughter. The male wasn't Hapan; a single glance in that direction showed him to have the sallow coloring of one who spends no time in the sun.

It was a shading Zekk was familiar with. Dismissing the body of the man, Zekk moved towards the body of the woman with the red hair and gray eyes.

She looked like Allana, except her face was twisted in a grotesque mask of pain and triumph. Ben's attack had caught her completely off guard and, for that, Zekk was grateful. If Ben hadn't intervened when he had, Allana would now be dead. Instead, her would-be Assassin was - and Zekk didn't have a clue who she was.

The resemblance was uncanny though and next to identical. Zekk had seen enough clones in his time to consider the possibility, but where would they have gotten the DNA strand? He'd heard about Master Luke's encounter in Mount Tantiss on Wayland - it was practically required material now - but it had taken Luke's severed hand to create that clone.

Kneeling next to the body, Zekk reached up to close the sightless eyes that were so much like Allana's, and so very similar to the tones in his own. It was almost like he had lost a daughter; but Allana had been an only child and Tenel Ka would certainly have mentioned if she had a sister.

"Zekk?"

"Over here, Jay."

Jaina advanced slowly into the room, one hand on her distended belly, the other at the small of her back as she regarded him with concern.

Zekk rose to his feet with a shake of his head. "You shouldn't be on your feet so much."

"How could I stay abed knowing you were dealing with this?"

Scooping his wife into his arms, Zekk settled her on the nearby sofa so she could watch him work, dropping a soft kiss on her lips. "Thank you."

Her smile was slightly strained, but genuine, as she propped her feet up and he returned to the corpse. Retaking his previous pose, Zekk went down on one knee and began re-examining the damages.

Allana's lightsaber had scored a lucky hit here or there, but the assassin's blade had been far more precise with its almost surgical and deliberate severing of key muscle groups. Allana's injuries were bad and while he was here, checking into the person who'd caused them, the medical personnel were downstairs trying to reattach tissues severed by a lightsaber's blade.

It wasn't an easy thing and Zekk had to force his mind back to the here and now. The medics would do everything they could for his daughter; he needed to figure out who had sent such a well planned attack and eliminate them before they became even more deadly.

"Allana didn't have a twin, did she?"

That Jaina had considered the possibility was no surprise to him. "Tenel Ka never mentioned one, no."

"That doesn't mean it couldn't have happened."

"Sister set against sister?" Zekk glanced at her and shook his head. "Even Hapans-"

"Wrong," Jaina cut him off with an apologetic smile. "Especially Hapans, Zekk. Hypothetically, if Allana had been born a twin and is the older of the two, Hapan custom would dictate that she's the heir. The younger sister would have been given to a trusted Palace servant to be raised in the shadows."

"But where and by whom?"

"I don't know enough about it."

Lifting a cloak someone had dropped from near the body of the assassin, Zekk covered the body and rose to his feet. "I know someone who will. Come on; let's go find Isolder."

Jaina refused to be left behind for the meeting with Isolder, and Zekk refused to go ahead, so they made their way at a slow pace towards the wing where the former Prince Consort now spent his time. Mostly, Zekk used the old soldier as a source of much needed information for the defense of Hapes. Today, it was a different kind of defense and one that could very well save his daughter's life in the near future.

Guardsmen were stationed at every corner, Allana's wing completely off limits to anyone not on their rotation along with a heavy presence at the medical bay. Jaina stopped by the medical lab for a few minutes before resuming the walk with Zekk towards Isolder's quarters. She was paler than when she'd entered and Zekk waited patiently for the questions to start - and Jaina being Jaina, didn't make him wait long.

"A lightsaber wielding assassin?"

Zekk nodded curtly. "With an assistant wearing an ysalamiri nutrient pack and night vision goggles. This was a well planned attack - and one that would have succeeded if Ben hadn't stepped in."

"He's in pretty rough shape."

"They both are," Zekk turned a corner, extending his arm unconsciously to his wife as she struggled to keep up with his faster pace, and moderated it to remain at her side. "Ben... might not make it, Jaina."

"He will," Jaina returned with conviction, her eyes sparkling. "He saved Allana so... it stands to reason he's going to want to be here for his reward."

Stopping abruptly, Zekk turned to face her, his expression dark. "Allana may never walk or use her arms again while Ben had a gash the length of my arm across his chest and two finger width's deep and a puncture where the blade entered his lung. I don't-"

"Zekk." Jaina squeezed her arm, stepping close as she reached up to cup his face with her hand. "It's okay. They're alive. They're hurt, and it will take some time to recover, but they're alive. You know as well as I do that if one survives, the other is going to feel compelled to exceed that expectation. Even now, maybe especially now, their competitive streak with one another is their greatest asset."

Turning his head, he allowed Jaina's cool fingers to cup and sooth his cheek, his chest tight with emotion as he met her gaze. "I could have lost her."

Jaina pulled him down by a faint pressure against his cheek and reached to cup his face with her other hand. "You didn't. She'll recover, Zekk. Allana will recover. She'd determined, she's resourceful - and because she'll recover, she'll ensure Ben does to."

"I hope...I..." Zekk closed his eyes, seeming to fold in on himself. Jaina caught him as he enveloped her in a tight desperate hug, seeking reassurance and drawing on her strength. It was times like these he hated that Allana had followed in her mother's footsteps - and conveniently forgot that she wouldn't have been any safer in the traditional role of Jedi Knight.

Holding tightly to one another, Zekk was still careful not to hug her too hard. "Thank you, Jay."

"You'd do the same for me," she kissed him softly before pulling back. "Allana's a fighter - you raised her that way - to give up wouldn't be in her nature."

"Unless she doesn't think Ben will make it."

Jaina released him reluctantly as he straightened. "She may love Ben, but she knows he's not the only one depending on her. She's the Queen Mother, a big sister and an adored daughter. As much as it would hurt to lose him, she has her support net right here and she knows it."

"And Ben doesn't, I take it?"

With a shrug, Jaina set them back on the path to Isolder. "Ben will recover if she does. My cousin may be a bit of the gallant hero type, but he's also determined to get the girl in this instance. You know as well as I do where they spent this evening."

Zekk rubbed one hand across the back of his neck. "Not exactly inventive, your cousin."

Jaina laughed softly. "He can be, but he wasn't fully recovered from Gallinore's hospitality. I don't think he'll make a miraculous recovery, but I do think Allana's presence will encourage him to try."

"I hope you're right, Jay." Stopping in front of the door leading into the library in the wing where Isolder's quarters were located he glanced down at her. "You don't have to be here for this."

"Are you kidding?" She looked affronted. "It's not every day you lean on me. Since you grew up, I find you need me less and le-"

Zekk cut her off silencing her with a kiss that lingered long enough to leave little doubt to just how much he needed her. "Never. I'll always need you."

Her lips quirked. "Charmer."

"Nope. Just honest." He corrected, keeping his arm about her waist, his hand splayed across her hip, as he opened the door. "Isolder?"

There was silence within the library for long seconds before a muffled voice came back.

"Zekk? Is that you?"

Leading Jaina into the dim interior, he searched the rows upon rows of holo novel shelves and databanks. "Where are you, Isolder?"

"In Obscure Hapan Law. Aisle five, sub section two."

Zekk took the lead, having to release his wife as they picked their way through the narrow rows towards the section Isolder had quoted. They found him kneeling before a databank encoder, multi-tool in hand, correcting one of the decoder settings.

"Zekk," the older man glanced up and smiled. "Jaina too I see. Maybe you can give me a hand with this blasted thing. Ships are more my specialty and it's giving me grief."

Zekk held his hand out for the multi tool and took Isolder's place as the other man rose to his feet, his knees and back cracking as he stretched. "What's in here that you're trying to reach?"

"Twin births."

The piece Zekk had grabbed almost snapped off in his hand as he jerked and he had to consciously force himself to release his grip. Slowly, he checked over the part, relieved to see he hadn't permanently damaged it. "You've heard."

"I made a point to know," Isolder corrected. "As Allana's only living grandparent, the guards naturally assumed you would come to me and that I should be prepared."

A reluctant smile kicked up the corner of Zekk's mouth. "Sit down before you fall down old man; have you slept at all in the last forty eight hours?"

"With the palace abuzz thanks to my only granddaughter's activities and her exclusive and private time being focused on the only male who's managed to catch her undivided attention - except you of course - since arriving?" Isolder snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm too keyed up to sleep."

"Everyone has to sleep sometime," Jaina rationalized. "And I doubt you've simply been listening to gossip for two days."

"Watching it is more likely," Zekk corrected as he twisted on one of the rotors at the base of the unit. "Some besotted slicer hooked up a feed for him ages ago so he could stay abreast of his mother's machinations."

"Whatever happened to her?"

"Ta'a Chume?" Isolder glanced at Jaina questioningly.

"No, the slicer."

"She found out about my mother."

Jaina laughed, shaking her head at his dry tone of voice. "At least you got something out of it. So what do you know about twins when it comes to Hapan Law while Zekk works on shorting the units power supplies?"

"Hey!"

"Don't cross the yellow and blue, love," was Jaina's reply. "You'll short the motor and never get it working again."

Zekk grumbled about bossy wives as Jaina turned her attention back to Isolder expectantly. Isolder, for his part, was watching them in tolerant amusement with an overshadow of sadness. "Watching the two of you reminds me of Jacen and Tenel Ka - before she took the crown."

"Hopefully Jacen wasn't trying to fix something in that memory of yours." Zekk snatched his hand back as a long spark shot out towards it and the multi tool from the section he'd just reconnected. "And apparently I shouldn't be either."

The self-depreciating remark was followed by a whine and then a whir as the unit kicked back in. Isolder laughed. "Let's just say you get a happy ending and Jacen ended up covered in Tenel Ka's favorite sauce."

There were smiles all around for a moment as they pictured it, before fading and Isolder finally answered Jaina's question. "Twins are unusual in any Hapan family, but more so for the Royal bloodline. It's too... intermixed to normally allow for it."

"Except in this instance," Jaina shot a look Zekk's way in amusement. "Tenel Ka didn't intermix."

Zekk held his hands up. "Hey, I don't know about my bloodline's background. For all I know my parents were both a part of triplets."

"Easy, vent crawler," Jaina smiled faintly. "I never said anything about that. It's possible because of Tenel Ka's strong half-Dathomiri heritage, and your completely unknown one, that something happened no one was expecting. If Allana is a twin then the girl on her floor is her identical twin; which makes it your fault."

"Sure, blame the stray." Zekk looked pointedly at her distended belly. "Finger pointing aside, what happens with a twin should they occur?"

"I've only heard rumors," Isolder admitted, nodding to the machine Zekk had been fixing. "I was hoping to have the chance to confirm or debunk them before you arrived."

Jaina waved the boys away as she settled her girth before the unit. "Go chat; I'll see what I can find."

"You just want to have the cushy job."

She didn't deny it. "I'll let you know if I find anything."

Isolder and Zekk wandered away, into the main seating area of the library, and Isolder glanced back. "She won't break anything, will she?"

"If she does, she'll give it back to you in better shape than it was before." Zekk brought them back to the topic at hand. "What do you know about twins, Isolder?"

The former Hapan Prince Consort sighed. "Very little, but I do know the eldest is kept with their mother while the younger of the two is normally spirited away before their mother is aware of their existence."

"The medic wouldn't have told her?"

"Goes against protocol. If they catch it early enough, they'll abort the smaller of the fetus to avoid having questions arise in the order of succession."

"That doesn't hurt the other baby?"

"It can," Isolder acknowledged quietly. "If the Hapan Queen knows of the twins, there were stories handed down as to the aborting of both and the castrating of the male who'd sired them. I don't know if that's fact or fiction, though."

"Probably both," Zekk's reply was dry. "I don't put anything past your ancestors."

"Neither do I. Regardless, if both are carried to term, the second child is trained outside the palace by the father's relatives. If that's not an option, she's treated as a foundling."

"And if there are twin boys?"

"They're more useful alive," Isolder informed him with a quirk of his lips. "Two bargaining chips for the price of one - again rumor, but I've heard it been said the affected Queen Mother has rewarded the male responsible handsomely."

"One of the few times it's better to sire a male than a female."

The shrug of the other man's shoulders was non committal. "Substantiating the claim would be nearly impossible - the story I know is almost five hundred years old."

"And like most good stories, I'm sure the grain of truth it contains is long lost." Zekk sighed. "Even if the medics keep this kind of thing from the Queen Mothers, there's no way Tenel Ka wouldn't have been aware she was carrying twins."

"Ah, because she was Force sensitive?" Isolder looked amused. "Even the Force has a sense of humor, or so I'm told. Darth Vader didn't know he had a daughter - he believed Luke to be his only child and it's said Vader was stronger than any Jedi before his fall. It's possible Tenel Ka could have carried twins and been unaware of it as her strengths, as in all things, ran towards the Force's offensive uses."

"She was too good of a hunter not to know to use her senses," Zekk argued logically. "Unless she knew what would happen and chose to deliberately refrain from it."

"That is possible," The concession was thoughtful. "Tenel Ka had been educated by my mother in what to expect when it came time to conceive her child. Twins would have certainly been spoken about."

"A shame we can't ask her then."

"Can you not?"

Both men whirled at the sound of the familiar voice - one they hadn't heard in two decades.

"Tenel Ka!"

"Father," she inclined her head, the blue aura shimmering.

"Are you well?"

"I am dead." Bluntness was ever her way of speaking - even in death. "I will keep this brief as my time is limited. Allana is not a twin."

"You're positive?"

Tenel Ka nodded once, decisively. "No matter how... diligent we were to ensure her conception, Zekk, of that I am certain."

"Not even a small, glimmer of a doubt?"

"You would prefer Ben killed her twin sister?" The Force ghost arched an eyebrow. "There is a different plot here, but you may eliminate the possibility of Allana having been a twin."

"Thank you." Zekk mentally breathe a sigh of relief. He felt a little awkward standing before the woman who'd given him Allana. "How's Jacen?"

"Repenting. He will one day absolve himself of his guilt."

"And have you absolved him?"

"He was never perfect. One does not conditionally love; something our daughter has not yet learned to accept."

Tenel Ka, as always, understated the problem. Zekk sighed, glancing towards the row where Jaina still worked. "Jaina's here, if you wish to see her."

"I cannot." Tenel Ka's words were laced with regret. "Seek the secrets of your time on Hapes, Zekk. There you will find your answers."

The ghost vanished before either Isolder or Zekk could say anything else.