Jaina wasn't quite sure whether to believe the dream Dapnad Flupps or not. She knew dreams were a figment of the imagination and that she had probably invented the whole thing in her head out of the guilt of a life to her credit. Funny, she thought, the dream hadn't been about Bowen, then.
She thought about these things all the way back to Theed Palace the next day.
When she arrived, she immediately went to find Jacen, planning not to check in with Kiki as she had promised the day before. She found him in the gardens looking out at one of the massive fountains.
"Jacen," she said, "I had a dream last night. I want you to explain it to me."
Jacen turned and looked her in the eyes. "Jaina," he said, his face much softened since she'd last seen him. "You've seen the light; the truth is clear now. Kiki had you commit an evil act."
"But how do we know that Dapnad spoke the truth?" Jaina said. "If someone like Kiki has the potential to be so evil, why doesn't a seemingly benevolent stranger?"
"I've met them both," Jacen said, "And am stronger in the force than you. Don't deny it. Your years away on earth have been hard to make up for. I know who's telling the truth."
"I'd believe you if she'd admit it," Jaina said shaking her head, "I don't want to sound mistrustful but this whole situation has me confused to the point of mandatory impartiality."
"I understand," Jacen sympathized, "but your wish can also be arranged."
"What do you mean?" Jaina asked him.
"Kiki is not sensitive to the Force," Jacen explained, "Therefore I figure a simple Jedi mind trick should allow us to make her speak her thoughts."
As if on cue Kiki stepped out of the palace and made her way toward them.
"Show time," Jaina said, looking intently at Jacen.
Before she got to where the twins were standing, Kiki was already lecturing Jaina.
"Your Royal Highness," she was saying, "it is not wise for a queen to be out without her counselor's knowledge. Had anything potentially harmful occurred, I wouldn't know what had happened or where to send the reinforcements. Did you know…?"
"She knew," Jacen said with a wave of his hand.
"Of course you knew," Kiki said, easily falling under the influence of the Force powers Jacen was exerting. "But do you realize…"
"She realizes," Jacen said with a second wave of his hand.
"Of course you realize," Kiki said.
"What is the name you go by?" Jacen asked her.
"Kiki Gallant," she replied.
"And what is your birth name," he inquired.
"Samp Nukkels," she replied.
"Who gave you your birth name?" he asked.
"My father," she answered.
"And who gave you the name you go by?" he asked, pressing further.
"My mother," she said.
"What was your father's name?" he asked.
"Jep Do Nukkels," came her answer.
"And your mother?" he inquired. "Sabe Gallant," she responded. Jacen moved into more difficult questions with more than one answer. "Were they married?"
"No. I was born to my mother, Sabe Gallant and the Gungan scoundrel, my father, Jep Do Nukkels though I was non-consensually conceived," she said, though without any feeling because she was under his Force trance.
"What is the thing you hate most?" Jacen knew he was getting to the important facts now.
"Gungans."
"Why do you hate them?" he interrogated her.
"I was made fun of in school as being inferior because I was part Gungan. I grew to loath my father and his race for what he did to my mother and the life his genetics caused me to have."
"How did you overcome the prejudices against you?" He had her where he wanted her.
"I went to political training to try to make a difference in the government of the planet and the leniency in the rulings of Gungan crimes. But I soon learned was not allowed to hold office as queen, though I was more qualified than Her Royal Highness Kylantha. There is a blood test that is required by law to be sure that a person applying for the position of monarch was truly human. I then became a handmaiden, as my mother had been before me and slowly, one by one, I gained the trust of the full humans that I worked with on a daily basis."
Go for the jugular, he thought. "What was your relationship with Queen Kylantha like?"
"Queen Kylantha and I became very close in a very short amount of time. I was more than a handmaiden, I was a friend. I convinced her that a hereditary monarchy would best preserve the way that Naboo was supposed to be. I told her that the most popular queen would certainly be the best one to raise the future monarch. She, of course, thought I proclaimed her to be the most popular queen, when in fact, the polls showed Former Royal Highness Padme Amidala as having that honor. She helped me pass the law and get a promotion to counselor, before she realized that she'd misunderstood my preaching and had lost her job."
Make it personal, he reminded himself. "Why did you do this?"
"To take power; with Kylantha out of the way, all I had left to do was to secure that though I could not rule officially, that I could rule through a weakling queen."
And make the kill, he thought determinedly. "And how did you do this?"
"I convinced the people that the best course of action was to protect the innocent child who would someday be our monarch, and to do so we needed to take them to where they would be unspoiled by interstellar ideas. I believed the best option for a child of the three infant relations of Former Queen Padme Amidala was Jaina Solo. This was because she was female and would be easier for the people to make the mental association with her grandmother."
And lastly don't forget the justification, he remembered. "How did you get away with it?"
"I kidnapped her and blamed Dapnad Flupps, which led to his exile and eventual death by my conniving."
"How did your trickery lead to his death?"
"By turning the current Royal Highness Queen of Naboo against him with lies and by turning the people against my foe using conformity.
"And lastly, what purpose had you in this?" Jacen asked, this time unsure of the answer he would be given.
"There were two. To finish off the Gungans once and for all and to take control of the monarchy of Naboo."
He should have expected as much. "We never had this conversation," he told her with a wave of his hand.
"We never had this conversation," she repeated.
"You haven't spoken to us today.
"I haven't spoken to you today."
"You have things to attend to in the palace."
"I have things to attend to in the palace." She turned and made for the palace, though in a few minutes she would not only have forgotten the conversation, but also have lost any recollection of what it was she needed to attend to. It would bother her for a few hours at least.
Jaina looked at her brother. Her eyes were filled with horror.