Chapter 10

Anakin was immediately awake and sober, trying to figure out a way to solve this problem without having to wake Lara. He didn't want to scare her, but he heard a voice whispering to him through the Force that she needed to know, had a right to know.

"Kitster, hold on a minute. I better go wake her." With a heavy heart, Anakin went to the bedroom and kissed her awake. "Wake up, sweetheart," he whispered.

Lara blinked and her eyes opened to find Anakin looking down at her, frowning with concern. "Ani, what is it?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

"Kitster's on the transmitter," he said simply. "Something's happened. Get dressed and we can talk to him together."

"You're a sneaky Jedi," Padme mumbled amid kisses and gentle caresses. "You know that?" She snuggled in her husband's arms, the two of them having made love a while ago.

"Anakin and Lara had a right to know that she's in danger," he said seriously. "But we made it clear that we would not disturb them during their honeymoon, so letting Kitster find out about it solved that problem for us. He'll send a transmission to Anakin and they'll work on it from there." He frowned in thought. "How many handmaidens does Lara have?"

"She has several. Dorme for one, but she has two decoys who look very much like her," Padme told him. "I met them once right after Lara was elected, Laila and Lalima. Queen Jamilla assigned them into Lara's service. They are loyal and will protect her well."

Obi-Wan smiled. "I will get in touch with Rina; see if she's aware of her cousin's mischief. I'll meet with her out in the garden." He and Padme had met Jaden Solo for lunch the day before at Dex's Diner, and he'd told them about his cousin's plans, the plans he'd heard about from Mimi Calrissian. According to the Bespin woman, Jaden said, his cousin Amara planned to fake an assassination attempt on Lara, using smoke bombs.

"Rina will be absolutely furious that her cousin is taking such a huge risk," Padme said softly, almost seriously.

"Why? Because she's risking herself with no consideration for her family at all?"

Padme snickered. "Because she didn't invite Rina along for the ride."

"It's hardly proper for a good Tatooine girl to be using such language, especially when certain residents of the temple, namely your aunt and your cousin, can understand you." Shmi Skywalker-Lars was smirking. Jessamyn had been cursing a blue streak for the past few minutes, and even those who couldn't understand Huttese could get the gist of what she was saying.

"This cruiser is more trouble than it's worth," Jess groaned in frustration. "It's overdue for burial, but Jaden and I can't afford to buy a new ship, at least not without going into debt. As it is, Jaden only paid off Jabba last year."

Shmi rolled her eyes. "Right, you two need to stay away from that gangster. I almost was sold to him by Watto, but Cliegg had a bigger and better bid, thankfully." She shrugged. "Try whispering words of love to it. Anakin always found that to work."

"That's bantha fodder and we both know it," Jessamyn retorted with a giggle. "He saves his words of love for his new wife. How's the honeymoon? Has he sent you any transmissions?"

"No, so I'm assuming they're fine." Shmi smiled, but Jess could see there was concern and a little fear behind it.

"Shmi, what is it?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

The older woman beckoned Jessamyn inside the temple, into her own apartment in the wing where Force signatures were dampened for privacy.

"What I'm about to tell you must stay between us," she said in a low voice. "Obi-Wan and Padme paid me a visit yesterday. There's a contract out on my new daughter-in-law, and it's very likely that your uncle is behind it."

Jessamyn rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised? That sounds like something he'd do, especially if he knows there's something in it for him."

"Yes there is something he wants in return, or actually someone," Shmi replied, her voice tinged with a calm rage. "He wants Beru."

Jessamyn shook her head. "Okay, if he tries to come here, I get first dibs on that bastard. Light saber or blaster, I get the first shot, right where it hurts!"