Chapter 9

Zekk was handing the last of the decorations to Jysella when Mila returned to the hall.

"Prince Consort!"

He winced as her staccato disapproval echoed through it, noticing how Jysella almost repeated his earlier mishap. He caught her, steadying the ladder before they both tumbled to the ground. Jysella smiled her gratitude even as Zekk turned to face the outraged guard.

"Are your quarters not up to standard, Mila?"

"The Princess is completely out of control. I had though even you, a mere male, would be able to-"

"Stop." Zekk's tone cut her off as surely as if he'd slapped her. "Let's get one thing straight here. My daughter, Allana, doesn't think of men as 'mere males'. Secondly, you have no business dictating to someone who is destined to become your Queen Mother. Third, you have even less of a business dictating to me as I am neither Hapan, nor the rightful holder of the Prince Consort title. Now. Was there something you wished to tell me?"

Mila's hands were clenched at her sides, the lines around her mouth as white as her knuckles. "The Princess leaves with us tomorrow. For her to be ready to assume the throne, we must correct the lapses in her education."

"I wouldn't try it," Zekk told her easily. "Allana might have something to say about that. It's her life; not yours."

"She is the crowned Princess, the Heir to the Hapan throne-"

"And if she says no, that's the end of it." Zekk shook his head disgustedly. "Why can't any of you Hapans get that through your skulls? Just because someone is born to priviledge or to a certain blood line, does not mean that person is obligated to step into whatever shoes the public dictate."

"The law demand-"

"To the ninth level of the Corellian hells with your law!" Zekk motioned towards the door. "Get out. I don't want to see either you or your companion until tomorrow. After Allana makes her decision. Am I understood?"

"A mere male-"

"Can clean the floor with you any day of the week." Jaina cut the guard off, sauntering back into the room. "Especially my mere male. Zekk's given you an order, Mila."

"He is simply the Prince Consort; his authority is limited."

"Limited or not, Tenel Ka did teach me enough to know that with her dead, and the position in limbo, his word is absolute. Now, do you want to leave under your own power, or shall we encourage your cooperation?"

Zekk didn't shift his gaze from Mila, but the grin tugging at the corner of his mouth was threatening to ruin his glower. Same Jaina; still charging to his rescue - and twice in one day no less.

Mila drew herself up to her full height. "I cannot abide the treatment the Princess receives here. Sparring with males? Prince Consort, surely you must see the wisdom of only the chosen men of court having those sorts of rights?"

Zekk's urge to grin vanished entirely. "If you're implying what I think you're implying, you'd better re-think your angle of attack, Mila. No man, chosen by the court or otherwise, is going to come within ten feet of Allana without my approval."

"Surely you don't approve of that mongrel Skywalker!"

Jaina was quicker than Zekk and pounced on the guard, one arm going about her neck even as she forced the taller woman to her knees. Jaina wrenched Mila's arms back and placed a knee between her shoulder blades. "That mongrel Skywalker, is the cousin of the man who should have been your Prince Consort, Mila. I suggest you moderate your tone."

Mila relaxed into the hold for a fraction of a second before throwing her weight backwards into Jaina. Or would have is Zekk hadn't used the Force to latch onto her and hold her in place. The guard let out a growl of pure hatred. "Both of you shall pay for this. The Princess will never stand for this kind of treachery."

Zekk knelt down on one knee, painfully aware that Jysella was watching everything with avid interest, not the least of which was the Hapan's disapproval of Ben as her Princess' consort. He pushed the thought from his mind. Allana was too young yet to even consider choosing a consort. "I'll have you know, Mila," he told her conversationally, letting the Force ease his anger away into a low throb. "That Ben and Allana have been friends for a very long time; almost since she started living here."

"Friends with a male?" Mila stared at him horrified.

"Tenel Ka's best friend was Jacen Solo, and I counted myself among her friends, even after our liaison." Zekk didn't dare lift his gaze to Jaina, though he could see the tension she was exerting to keep the guard in place; deliberately using non-Force enhanced muscles to ease her own anger. "You see, your Hapan Queen Mothers, at least since Teneniel, have been strong minded, strong willed and disinclined to be controlled. Allana is no different. Whatever you're hoping to do, whatever brainwashing you hope to accomplish, will never work."

"Then she'll fail, just like her mother!"

Zekk smiled humorlessly. "Tenel Ka never failed. She simply made the best of a bad situation; one that turned on her eventually. Crimes of passion, or so I'm told, are fairly common on Hapes. Especially among men."

"And each of them pay the price."

"Consider this." Zekk caught her gaze and held it by force of will. "Allana will inspire no crimes of passion."

"You cannot know the minds of young males when confronted with the possibility of adding their genes to the Royal family's genetic pool."

Zekk's smile was faint. "For a crime of passion to exist, there must be an interest generated by the target. Simply being there is never enough - the very definition implies some kind of tie."

"As the Princess is tied to all her people."

"A personal tie, Mila. Allana is my daughter and she will only love once. Completely and totally. The only crime would be yours in standing in her way."

"Love has no place in the life of a Noble, especially the Princess who is to be Queen Mother."

"Then maybe, just maybe, I'll advise her against it." Zekk rose to his feet, nodding to Jaina, but his gaze never left the guard as Jaina relinquished her hold.

Mila rose to her feet, staring at Zekk with an ill concealed hatred. "You wouldn't dare. Hapes needs her, now more than ever."

"Then I suggest, Mila," Jaina leaned in close, as if she were confiding a secret. "You might want to reconsider your position and treatment of the Prince Consort. You see, Allana holds her father's opinion in the highest regard and yours doesn't count for much. If you're intending on returning home to Hapes with the Princess, you might want to consider that."

Mila's expression was stony as she turned on her heel and left. A brooding, stewing cloud of anger and resentment hung about her like a pall and Zekk breathed a sigh of relief when she finally departed.

Jaina turned back to him with an impish smile. "Well, that was fun."

"You've always had a strange definition of the word."

"Master Solo," Jysella jumped down from the ladder, finally intruding on the by-play. "What did you mean when you said Allana holds Master's Zekk's opinion in the highest regard?"

Jaina shrugged. "It was more of a way to get her to shut up. I'm sure she does, I mean I've seen the way she is with you, Zekk, but teenagers, especially ones verging on adulthood like Allana, tend to go their own way."

"Yeah, I know." Zekk glanced at Jysella pointedly. "Would you give us a moment, Jys?"

"Uh, sure. I'll just run and check on the entertainment division of this party."

Jaina chuckled softly as Jysella scurried away, disappearing in Mila's wake. "You still have a way with people, you know that?"

"No more than you. What did you do to the advisor?"

"No more than what you told her to do." Her impish grin was accompanied by a twinkle in her eyes. "I put her back on her ship."

"On it, or in it?"

"Now you're splitting hairs," she waggled one finger at him. "Does it really matter?"

"I guess not." He caught her hand and pulled her to him. "Where've you been all day?"

"Considering your proposal." She reached up and tugged the neckline of her shirt, revealing the chain and the barest glint of emerald shining from it. "I thought I might commune with my brother a little."

"Anakin?"

She smiled slightly. "Jacen."

He felt like he'd been sucker punched.

Jaina continued. "He's been watching us, Zekk. You, me and Allana. He's sorry, you know."

Zekk stumbled backwards, almost tripping over the ladder behind him before settling shakily to one of the rungs. "Are you sure it was Jacen?"

Jaina arched her eyebrows at him.

"Right; dumb question." Zekk thrust his hands into his hair and squeezed. "I'm sorry about killing him, Jay."

"No you're not."

His head came up to find her watching him with an understanding smile. "If you were, you'd have let him kill you and Allana wouldn't be the fine young woman she is today with the chance of a romance with Ben. She'd believe herself to be Jacen's daughter - and Ben's cousin."

"Funny how things work out, isn't it?"

"Or maybe the Force's way of saying things are what we make of them. He doesn't blame you for doing what was necessary."

"But he does blame me for fathering Allana. He loved Tenel Ka, Jaina. I know he did; and yet I'm the father of her only child. Do you have any idea the hell I went through trying to come to terms with it?"

She came to stand in front of him. "I might. I'm no saint either, Zekk. We've both made our mistakes and we've had to live with them. Did you mean what you said to Mila?"

"Which part?"

"About Allana taking after her father and only loving once?"

"Does that surprise you?"

She cupped his face and smiled. "After what you went through and the way you've waited for me, how could it? I love you too, Zekk and my answer is yes."

--

Allana felt like she was in a dream. A wonderfully, romantic and surreal dream that had no chance of coming true. Ben had admitted to wanting to be more than her friend, though she didn't know how much more, and now he wanted to kiss her. Her! The pesky kid who tagged along after his every move until he was old enough to go on his own missions.

His blue eyes shone with sincerity, even as they searched hers, his head bending closer, closing the small gap between them.

And then the spell broke and reality intruded. Panic hit her first followed by pain and she turned her face away just bare moments before his lips would have grazed hers.

"Allana?"

"We can't." Her voice broke and it killed her to say the words, but he deserved better than her. "I can't ask you to make that kind of sacrifice for me, Ben."

"The choice is mine to make."

She looked back at him, feeling the pressure on her chest building to unbearable levels even as she fought against her every instinct to do the right thing. Her heart felt like it was being shredded as it begged her to reconsider. Begged her to take what he was offering, to know what it was to be held and kissed, just once, by the man who haunted her nights. To put a real feeling to the urges and sensations she'd never expected to experience beyond her dreams.

But the logical part of her mind, the one that knew the future she had to choose, refused to let him choose something that wouldn't only destroy their friendship, but possibly strip him of the dignity and strength she loved so much; that were an elemental part of his character.

She shook her head, even as she struggled against the near overwhelming urge to lean in those last inches and take what she really wanted. "No, Ben. The choice is mine and I won't let you live your life a prisoner to my future simply because I'm what you want right now."

"Allana-"

Her hands pushed against his chest even as she felt her fingers curling about the fabric of his shirt in preparation of pulling him closer. She pulled her hands away as if she'd been burned, knowing he could probably read her struggle in her eyes; the one place she'd never been able to hide her feelings from him. "No, Ben. I can't let you do that."

"Don't you get it, can't you see what I'm trying to say to you?"

"Don't, Ben. Please." She managed a weak smile. "I appreciate what you're saying, really I do, but I can't let you put yourself into a situation that would only kill you slowly. I care about you too much to wish that on you."

"Then why do it to yourself? Taking the crown will kill you slowly too."

"I won't let it." She stuck her chin in the air briefly. "You see, as a man you'd be restricted on Hapes. You know that; you've been there. You've seen first hand how they treat their men. How can I ask you to accept that? How can I, who value your wit and competitive nature as a challenge I relish, ask you to give up those things about you I cherish most? Here, you challenge me, you push me to be something I'm not. To strive to be something more than I already am. On Hapes, Ben, you'd be little more than a pawn, a way for people to get to me." She turned away. "I couldn't bear it if something happened to you."

He grasped her shoulders, stepping forward so his chest was pressed against her back, his hands sliding slowly down over her upper arms towards her clenched fists. "I'm a Jedi, Allana. Forewarned means I can keep my guard up."

"My mother was a Jedi, Ben," Her voice was soft, choked, the necessity of having to push him away threatening to tear her in two. "Being a Jedi didn't stop her from dying."

His hands covered hers and lifted until he had her about the waist, her own arms acting like a second hug. She didn't fight him, didn't resist as his lips settled near her ear, his soft words reverberating within her. "Your mother's death was a tragedy, a crime of passion by a man who loved her and felt betrayed by what he couldn't see was her duty and his failure."

"Don't ask me to do this, Ben."

"I'm not asking you to do anything, Allana." He turned his head and pressed his lips into the hair above her ear. "I'm just asking for a chance to prove that things won't be as bad as they seem."

She closed her eyes against his entreaty, fighting the need to turn and take the comfort she sought from him even as she felt that resolve cracking. "I can't."

"Would it hurt to try? Like your mother and my cousin did?"

"I don't want you to be my secret, Ben."

"Then don't." He gently nuzzled the tip of her ear with his nose before pulling back. "Let me come and go freely, as I always have, exempt from Hapan law and with the privileges of being your friend. Don't shut me out, Allana. Don't push me away when I can help you."

Her breath caught in her throat but she forced the question that immediately popped to mind through her lips. "Even if it's asking you to step back when I am pressured to produce an heir?"

"If I haven't convinced you to let me help you with that by then, my answer is yes; I'd step back."

She shivered in his grasp, feeling both comforted and threatened at the same time. "Is that a threat?"

"A promise, Twitch." His lips grazed her cheek. "But I'll wait until you're ready."

Her sudden release from his arms made her stumble for a half step before she caught her balance and turned to face him. He waited silently, silhouetted by the sun coming through the leaves of the tree behind him. They'd switched places and Allana found her back was suddenly to the trail. But she couldn't run, couldn't move; it was as if she were rooted to the spot, conflicting desires and emotions pulling her in different directions.

"If you're going to run, now's the time."

"I won't run from you."

"You sure?" His blue eyes twinkled, "You've been running from me an awful lot today. What's one more?"

"One more would be admitting defeat," she shrugged self-consciously. "It would be admitting that everything the Hapans believe in is right, including their philosophies on friendship between a man and a woman."

"Or lack thereof, you mean."

Allana nodded. "How can I condone it when my best friend is a man?"

"Does that mean I'll be welcome to visit?"

The tension between them eased and she smiled. "That means you'd better visit, and often, or you might come by one day and find I've lost my mind."

Ben returned her smile. "Then count it as good as done. I take it you've made some kind of decision regarding becoming the Queen Mother?"

"Some kind." Her words were tinged with sadness. "The only one really open to me."

They stared at each other for a brief moment before Ben waved towards the path, diverting both of their attention to something more mundane. "It's getting late. We should head back and get ready for your party."

"I hope dad didn't use those awful pink bows this year."

Ben shared a laugh with her, but underneath it was a tension that had developed and refused to disappear. They didn't touch, seemingly aware that if they did, it would explode into something volatile. As they walked back towards Allana's home, she cast a side-long look at the man walking beside her. In silence she mourned the innocence of a friendship that would never be the same after those brief moments under the trees.