The trip to Takodana was a long one, even at lightspeed. Leia was eager to get back to the task in hand – investigating the disappearances and their apparent Imperial involvement. She'd spent the last few days on trivialities which had only served to waste her time and her frustration and impatience, coupled with the confinement of the ship, had built up to a point where she was boiling over. She was aware that she had spent the two days of the trip so far, brooding over her emotional turmoil, giving everyone the silent treatment while she worked through it. She was unable to stop it and they would just have to forgive her. Finding endless, and probably unnecessary, maintenance jobs to do on the Falcon both kept her away from everyone and acted as therapy – work was always the best thing to help sort out a troubled mind, she believed.

Angry at herself for being duped into a platitudinous ceremony, she had parked herself in the maintenance crawl space and had sat furiously scrubbing at the furred up fins of the Ion Flux Stabiliser cooling fans. They weren't even that furred up but, even after they were clean, she was still manically scrubbing; her clothes filthy and her hands sore, trying to mentally scrub away the stain of the pompous officialdom she had allowed herself to be sucked into.

Han had found her like that at one point and had watched her for a while. She was reminded of a similar spot inside a space-worm 'cave' a year or so ago when he had tried to be gallant and help her when she was struggling. If his impression of her had somehow been altered by what she'd allowed him to see at the ceremony and he thought her now incapable of doing menial tasks, she would have to set him straight.

She'd barked a warning; something about not trying to stop her. He had simply smiled and said he had brought her more electro-scrubbers because hers looked warn out and left her to it. He understood her now, after all these years; understood the need for her to find a way to forgive herself. Only she could do that. And, when she had finished, that's where he must have found her, asleep, leaning against the bulkhead, electro-scrubbers in hand, and had transferred her to a bunk. She had woken a full twenty-four hours later and, having showered and dressed, felt refreshed and ready for action.

Now, making her way down the corridor, she found Han in the galley preparing food. He turned to look at her, silently for a moment, probably trying to gauge whether her mood was still black but brightened when he saw it wasn't.

"There you are." he said gently. "I was just making us something to eat. We're a few hours out yet but Chewie was threatening to eat me and I thought you could use something too."

"Smells good." she smiled, leaning on the hatchway.

"Well, it's no banquet but you can live on it." he said, reaching behind him for a bottle of spice.

She took a greyish, twisted root from a nearby bowl on the counter and decided to watch him for a while, turning it in her hands absent mindedly. He was talking about something Chewie had been telling him about spice mines when she was asleep and she drifted, watching him work, his sleeves rolled up and his strong hands occasionally animated as he talked. She wondered if he missed his smuggling lifestyle; having complete freedom to do what he liked, go where he liked with just his own rules to follow. Yet, he was still here, after four years, flying her around, protecting her. Did he sometimes wish she would drop everything and go with him? She found his precipitousness exciting, although she was compelled to temper it, but would she consider it? If life were different, perhaps.

He bent forward and peered into her face.

"Are you even listening?" She snapped out of her day-dream.

"Yes... spice mining. I heard you." she fibbed.

"Are you going to eat that?" He pointed at the vegetable she held. Looking at it, then holding it up, she said, enthusiastically,

"Actually, these are really good if you bake them." She reached round him in the cramped galley, brushing against him as she pulled a knife from a compartment behind him. "I'll show you." She stabbed the root vegetable a few times.

"I see." he said, raising an eyebrow. "So you have to kill it first."

"No!" she laughed. "Just make holes to help it cook."

"Right." he noted as she put the 'kill' in the gasser on the wall and pressed buttons.

"It's a good recipe when you've had a long, protracted diplomatic meeting... or I've been ordering you about too much." she grinned.

"I'd better pay attention then." he grinned back, leaning against the counter and folding his arms. She leant back against the opposite bank of compartments. There wasn't much room and what space there was was intruded upon by hanging utensils, tools and ducting. The closeness of his body was distracting. She tilted her head, folded her arms to mimic him and regarded him a moment.

"Why do you put up with me and my crazy life?" she asked.

"I have no idea." he said, his eyes widening playfully. He took her hand and pulled her to him, his arms round her waist, and kissed her. "Maybe I have a small idea." he added after a moment. It was more than this, he knew. Much more, but this was good.

They were disturbed by the pinging of the gasser and the bubbling of Han's concoction. Both turned to attend their own creations and, when they were ready, took their food into the main lounge area to sit down, using the Dejarik board as a table.

"What about Chewie?" Leia asked, noticing they seemed to have only made two portions.

"Chewie likes to kill his before he eats it – rather like your vegetable." he joked. "He has some in the chiller he prepared earlier." Leia held her hands up.

"I'll stay away from that sort of catering, thank you." she said emphatically. Han smirked then turned reflective, looking at her more seriously.

"Do you feel up to telling me about this?" he enquired, reaching into his trouser pocket and pushing the badge Leia had retrieved from Bel Asarra's uniform across the table towards her. "I found it in my jacket. Thought I'd try to get some information from the computers but couldn't find much." he continued.

"You need the archives for that." Leia explained, picking up the badge and running her thumbs over the embroidered crest. She considered it thoughtfully, her face serious, her eyes narrowing.

"Thousands of years ago." she began "There were four major Royal Houses on Alderaan, during the time of the Galactic Civil War; House Ulgo, House Panteer, House Organa and House Thul." She held up the badge between thumb and forefinger as she mentioned the last name. "Members of House Thul had been expelled from Alderaan for making aggressive moves on the throne, leaving the other houses. The crown prince at the time, Gaul Panteer, disagreed with a new treaty designed to fix an accord between Imperial and Republic systems – the Treaty of Coruscant. It would have meant Republic systems standing down their armies and handing over territory and he felt it was dangerous so he pulled Alderaan out of the treaty and set up the Security Forces to keep peace in Alderaan space. They were well renowned peace keepers until Alderaan's destruction four years ago. Lots of people disagreed with his move and he was assassinated along with his family, leaving the throne heir-less and at the mercy of the other houses." Han raised his eyebrows ironically.

"Nothing new there then." Leia widened her eyes in agreement.

"What's also not new is that Alderaan, being a prized planet by both the Empire and Republic alike, became the site of massive feudal in-fighting with the Republic actively supporting the most powerful house, the Organas and the Sith assisting House Thul, returning them to Alderaan with an army to take the throne by force. Civil war broke out. House Ulgo seized the throne under the premise of not allowing the Thul family to have it." Leia paused and looked at Han. "Are you keeping up?"

"Just about." he said resignedly.

"I'm trying to keep it brief but there's lots more intrigue yet." she went on. "The heads of House Ulgo were all murdered one night and the Organa family were blamed, although never admitted it." Han looked surprised. He had heard a lot about Leia's adoptive family but they had all seemed diplomatic and level-headed. Leia must have read his mind because she nodded in recognition of his surprise.

"The Organas haven't always been the pacifists they were more recently known as being, although it is said that their action was taken after peaceful negotiations failed. Anyway, it didn't matter because they also proved that House Ulgo was behind the assassination of Gaul Panteer. Eventually, after a battle between the Thul's backed by Sith and the Organas backed by Jedi, House Organa won the throne, set up a peaceful, diplomatic government, expelled the Thul's for a second time and have held the throne ever since. The Jedi protected Alderaan for thousands of years until the Emperor ordered the purge and most were betrayed and murdered. A purge orchestrated and carried out by Vader." Leia's face became pained at mentioning her father's name.

"So, how does your friend fit into all this?" Han asked. He was trying to keep a mental track of all they players in this ugly political mess.

"Several smaller houses declared allegiance to the larger houses in return for protection; Rist to the Ulgo's and Alde to the Organas. They have been allies for years. Pax's father was one of my adoptive father's advisors". Han nodded his understanding.

"And what happened to the Thuls?" he asked, taking the badge from her and examining it.

"There were very few left and they dispersed throughout the galaxy. No one has heard from them since. My father... my adoptive father, came to the throne 36 years ago and, while I was growing up, it was a name confined to the history books; an ancient household that no longer existed."

Han frowned. What was their crest doing on security officer's uniforms, thousands of years later? He sat back on the bench seat and thoughtfully stared at the badge. He had run smuggling contracts for several feudal kings in the past, the Hutts being one such family, and even found himself caught in the middle of their power struggles. They were nothing on the scale of Alderaan's royal houses but, it started to appear to him as if Pax Alde was just like one of those feudal lords trying to gain power for himself.

"Do you think Pax is just trying to get power with all this Star thing? Maybe he thinks, if he murders you, he can call himself king of whoever is left." he proposed. Leia considered this a while.

"It's a possibility, I suppose. It seems like an awful lot of trouble for nothing. He already has his collection of citizens. I'm not sure what else he could gain, except a legitimate Senate seat perhaps." She made a slight pout. "Doesn't really seem worth it." She looked lingeringly at Han. He could tell she was calculating, working through every possible strategy. She examined his face but really only to focus her thoughts on her deductions. "If you factor in his desperation to get the Killian Star and assume he knows it contains a Kyber crystal, it would indicate that he has someone else aiding him who could make use of it. If this crest means that a member of House Thul is somehow pulling his strings, then we have a very worrying problem." She frowned. "Where there's a Thul, there's probably a Sith." She buried her head in her hands wearily. "What have I walked us into?" Han reached up and squeezed her hand.

"Hey, it might not be that bad. He's probably just a jumped up little Dianoga, found the Star floating about and thought he'd use it to make himself look big." Leia looked at him, taking the badge back.

"That doesn't explain this. It doesn't explain why I have been seeing this all week. It also doesn't explain why someone is using my security forces to assassinate people and give us all a bad name." It was true. It didn't.

"Do you want me to get Mon Mothma up to speed? She can start an investigation; make sure the Alderaanians left on Chandrila are who they say they are."

"Yes please. I'll work with 3PO. See if he has anything useful in his data banks." she replied. Han stood up to make the call to Chandrila.

"I'm going to tell her I want you under my protection for a while in case anyone else tries to take a pot shot at you." Leia laughed ironically.

"You'll have your work cut out for you. Since I joined the Senate ten years ago, it's become an occupational hazard." She was looking blankly at the Dejarik board and didn't notice his shocked realisation, as she mentioned the time-scale, just how long she had been actively involved in the political system. It was no wonder she knew her stuff. It explained a lot. Had she even had a childhood?

"It would make me feel better, nevertheless." he confirmed.

"By the way. " she added. "If you believe in superstition, folk-lore or even fate, it is said that the Organa family are protected from corruption and betrayal by a spirit called Grimtaash. He is a Molatar; a mythical creature." She brought the Dejarik board to life, pressing the control panel. "I noticed this the other day when I was playing that game with Chewie." She touched the controls until she had reduced the holo-players down to one on display; a fierce, insect-like creature. "There he is. On your Dejarik board the whole time, like a sign." She smiled at him. "Perhaps that's why I feel safe with you." He gently pulled her to him and kissed her head.

"Always." he said and went to make his call to Mon Mothma.