Chapter 11: A Promise

A/N: Thank you to I Love Dance, Forever-Luke, Mireilles3, Atlasina7, Nyx, Arya of Ellesmera, and Glace96 for reviewing!! You all totally made my day :)

Han marched down the long hallway between two stormtroopers and in front of another with a blaster pressed against his back. Leia had been shoved into a prison cell, but Han was being taken through long corridors to someplace different. He took some comfort in the fact that if they wanted to kill him, they probably would have done so in front of his wife. Or at least without playing a game of follow-the-leader all through the castle.

They led him outside and up a narrow staircase that wound around a large columnar tower. Xandra was much more pleasant during the nighttime; the air was pleasantly warm, and the dust had mostly settled. Han couldn't have cared less about the weather, though.

They shoved him through a pair of ornate bloodwood doors into a large room with flickering candlelight. His eyes were immediately drawn upward to the magnificent arched glass ceiling, which threw mauve and silver shadows onto the stone walls. His gaze traveled back down, resting on a slight figure laying on an intricately carved slab of stone at the end of the room.

Han took a step forward.

The stormtroopers did not restrain him or follow, so he slowly crossed the room. The man lying on the stone was very still, blood trickling down his body and onto the surface upon which he lay. But Han recognized him easily. It was Luke.

"He needs treatment," said one of the stormtroopers mechanically.

Han waited, then did a double take. "Do I look like a medic to you?"

"The base medic is indisposed," the stormtrooper said.

"And no one else on the entire base is qualified."

"There is little need for medical treatment here."

"Do you have medical supplies?" Han asked, shaking his head in disbelief. His knowledge extended about as far as C-3PO's capacity for subtlety, but he was willing to bet his best effort beat the stormtroopers'.

Another stormtrooper deposited a large case on the floor and stepped back.

Han muttered under his breath and opened it. Inside was synthflesh, injection needles, and various types of drugs. One, fortunately, was labeled bacta. It wouldn't be anywhere near as effective as submersion in a tank, but even topical bacta could do a whole lot for a being.

He picked up one of the glylocal patches. Glylocal was a stimulant and pain suppressant so powerful that most smugglers wouldn't even touch the things. Han placed it on Luke's arm and waited.

Luke came to with a wordless cry of pain, struggling weakly for a moment against the ropes that tied him down. Han grabbed the surgical knife from the case and started cutting the bindings, half surprised that the stormtroopers made no move to stop him. "Easy, kid," he said, looking into Luke's eyes. They were like kaleidoscopes of blue glass, shaken and disoriented.

Luke lay still, and Han finished cutting the ropes. They had been tied too tightly, and left long, red lines where Han peeled them off. Still, they looked insignificant next to the long burns and deep wounds on his skin.

"You're not looking so good," Han commented, wondering if Luke heard him.

Luke opened his mouth, but Han interrupted. "Seriously, kid, save your strength," he said. "Don't try to speak." He touched Luke's jaw. He could see that the inside of his mouth was torn up with burns.

Luke was breathing unevenly "Han?" he whispered with difficulty, as usual ignoring Han's advice.

"Yeah, it's me," Han said. "Sorry if this stuff stings." It wouldn't, of course, after the glylocal.

"Why . . . are you here?"

"Uh, isn't that obvious?" Han asked, looking at Luke's limp, battered form.

"How did you know?"

"Some spy told us that you were on this planet," Han said vaguely. Even if Luke seemed to be getting more lucid, it probably wasn't a good idea to get into a long discussion about Syal Antilles. "I expect we'll escape soon enough," he said loudly, in the general direction of the stormtroopers.

"Leia?" Luke asked.

"She's here too," said Han. "You didn't expect us to let you have all the fun by yourself, did you?"

"'Course not," Luke said quietly, and fell silent at that.

Han had come to rely on Luke's uncanny ability to materialize at the last minute and save the day. But now, as he looked up at Han, desperately hurt but looking so relieved that Han was here with him, Han felt what he felt when he silently promised one of the kids that nothing bad would happen to them.

The Spartan confinement cell contained no furnishings save three thin cots, pushed up against the rough stone walls. The room was roughly ten by fifteen meters, with a low ceiling and no windows.

The sole occupant of the cell, Baron Soontir Fel, had taken a seat on one of the cots, his back to the wall. When the men in uniforms Fel had not recognized had boarded his ship and seen Luke Skywalker, he was sure that he was done for. But after their initial reaction of hostility, they had communicated with what Fel presumed to be their base onplanet, which had apparently told them that he was to be trusted.

That was news to him.

They had then politely escorted him to a ship that descended down to Xandra and brought him to their base, then asked him to wait in the room he was currently in for "debriefing".

Fel obviously hadn't protested when they decided to be friendly rather than shoot him or tie him up, but he had a feeling that their behavior was going to change as soon as they figured out that he had no idea who they were.

Fel started slightly as the door swung open, revealing a person that he had not expected to see.

His wife, Syal Antilles.

Fel drew a breath in surprise. Syal's features were as delicately beautiful as ever, though he could not, regretfully, say the same for her hair. It was far shorter than he remembered it, artificially colored blue, and tightly curled until it stood out from her head in stiff ringlets.

Before he knew it, he was standing in the center of the room, embracing her. All the emotions he had suppressed over the last few days – fear, regret, loneliness, confusion – were rising up again. Admiral Talinia and the Star Destroyer, even the Starkiller, the ship where he had spent the last year, melted away.

At first, Syal leaned into his arms, the side of her face pressed against his shoulder. However, it was only a few seconds before she pulled away and looked up into his eyes. "Soontir," she began, "when you hear about what I have done, I'm afraid you won't be so pleased to see me."'

He creased his eyebrows. "I find that hard to believe." When his wife didn't return his warm smile, it faded. "Does this have something to do with the fact that these people seem to think I'm on their side?"

Syal sighed, and pulled him down to the cot he had been sitting on. Slumping against the wall, she looked at him with a grim expression on her lovely face. "Yes," she replied. "We have to talk."

"What's going on, Syal?"

"It started so suddenly. Remember when I lived with you, on the Starkiller?" Syal didn't give him a chance to answer her rhetorical question. "I told you that I left to go on a long-term mission on Coruscant. It was true. But what I neglected to tell you was that the mission was not ordered by Admiral Talinia. It was ordered by the people that own this base, the Sith.

Fel's mouth fell open, but Syal didn't let him interrupt. "You have to understand that I never really wanted to do this. One day, they kidnapped me off the Starkiller and told me that they would kill you if I didn't join them."

Fel's mind was whirling, reeling, with the new information. His wife had betrayed the Empire? She hadn't done it for the same reason he had, though. But still – she had said that they would kill him?

"And you believed them?" he asked her, his voice remaining measured and calm.

Syal nodded. "They had snatched me away from one of the hearts of the Empire with no trouble. I believe they would have killed you had I not agreed." She brushed back a strand of flyaway hair with her slender hand. "I thought I was doing the right thing. I knew you had no love for the Jedi or the New Republic, and the Sith seemed to be an effective way to take them down. I agreed to help them, and I led them to believe that you were on their side as well, only waiting for the right moment to leave Admiral Talinia, in the meantime doing as much damage as you could. I knew I was betraying the Empire . . . but I did not know I was betraying you."

He frowned again. "Why didn't you tell me, if you thought I would agree?"

"I didn't think that you would. Despite what others think, I know that you do not switch loyalties without good cause. But I'm your wife. I thought that their goals were similar to the Empire's, and I could never let them kill you."

"Then, why do you think you betrayed me?"

"You came here with Luke Skywalker! My mission was to give him to Viin Nord so he could sell Luke to Admiral Talinia and she would kill him. Why would you rescue him, if you truly believe in destroying the Jedi?"

Fel grimaced. "It was a bit of a spur-of-the moment decision. Yes, I am questioning the principle that ends justify the means, right now. But if I wrecked their plans with Talinia, wouldn't they figure out that you really weren't telling me anything?"

"Darth Cinerate, the leader here on Xandra, ordered me not to tell anyone about my mission. Not even you. The Sith know that you didn't know; they wanted Talinia to get her hands on him, so in their view, you were loyal. You saw Luke Skywalker, a valuable asset to the cause, and secured him for them. By some bizarre twist of fate, you have proven your loyalty."

Before Fel could fully process that, there was a crisp knock at the door. A woman with reddish-brown hair and oddly shaped blue eyes entered.

"Welcome to our base, Baron Fel," said the woman told Syal and Fel graciously as she led them through stone corridors. "I hope the quarters we have for you are satisfactory. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to tell a servant."

She opened a low wooden door under a molded marble archway.

Fel noted that the luxurious furnishings followed a common color scheme of royal blue and light cream. The walls were not stone like the rest of the base but plated with durasteel. There was only one, fairly large room, as lack of space was one of the downsides of a secret base. However, it was furnished with two datapads on a desk against one of the smooth walls.

"This room is more than satisfactory," Syal answered smoothly. "It is lovely. Thank you for your consideration and hospitality."

Lunara gave her a polite smile. "Not at all. As one of our most talented and dedicated agents, we are happy to receive you." She paused meaningfully. "Have you considered your future role in our organization? I recall that you have expressed a desire to cease activities as a long-term spy."

"I'm afraid I haven't had much time for reflection over the last couple days," Syal evaded.

Lunara smiled again, but this time with a slightly harder edge. "Our cause is in need of our agents."

"Perhaps we could stay for a little while and use Soontir's expertise of Imperial procedure to evaluate the security here at the base. After that, we would both be willing to go on whatever missions Lord Cinerate sees fit."

Lunara nodded approvingly. "An excellent idea. Baron Fel's knowledge will prove highly useful. And after you have had a chance to rest, we will accept your generous offer of field service, though Baron Fel will likely remain here. He knows much about security, I'm sure, and we'll want to take full advantage of that."

Syal nodded in a friendly manner.

"Well then. I'll leave you two alone for now. You are certainly free to wander the castle for your security evaluation if you like; here's a level two authorization chip. You'll need it to access most areas of the base. A few places are still restricted to you, but if you would like to inspect them, I can obtain for you further authorization. There's a map inside the desk that you can consult. Your meals will be delivered to your rooms, and someone will check in with you daily."

She paused, and then added, "Now, is there anything else I can do for you?"

This time, Fel spoke. "Actually, there is one thing. . . ."

A/N: Next chapter: Han and Leia work on a plan to get Luke out