Chapter 25: Taungsday

The Star Destroyer Admonitor was in orbit above Coruscant and Thrawn was increasingly busy with his work. He was preparing a military campaign against an alien warlord in the Unknown Regions, and was constantly shuttling between the Palace, his ship and Ayesha's apartment. Their time together became limited. She knew better than to complain, but she bounced to the door a little faster when he turned up, she held him a little tighter when they hugged and the longing on her face was plain to see every time he left. She insisted that he come over at any time he was available, even if it had to be in the middle of the night. She opened the door for him, tousled and sleepy, and she pulled him to bed without saying a word, or lingered in the shower with him if his shuttle landed in the small hours of the morning.

She also took to attending official events with him. As a senior Navy officer, Thrawn could not avoid them as easily as she did, and he told her several times that she didn't have to accompany him since they annoyed her so much. She went and ordered a batch of formal outfits from Nazmat Koch's tailor and, when Thrawn expressed his surprise, she said with a wicked grin, "I need to look pretty for you if I'm coming along, Thrawn. Your reputation as an aesthete is at stake." She stayed at his side in receptions, as charming as ever, holding his arm as he stood straight-backed and formal in his uniform, and she took a perverse pleasure in dragging him along when one or another of the men she had dubbed vultures sought to whisk her away.

Thrawn introduced her to Voss Parck, who was the Captain of the Admonitor and also happened to be the man who had found Thrawn on the jungle planet where he had been exiled. Captain Parck took an immediate liking to her and told her his version of his first encounter with Thrawn, which had her struggling hard not to roar with laughter in the middle of a very stiff function. "I hope to see you again when we return from this mission, Miss Eskari," Parck said as they exchanged goodbyes on the Palace landing platform. "I will tell you many more stories about the Senior Captain that I am willing to wager he hasn't told you himself. He is an exceptional man and officer and I am honoured to be serving under him."

She gave him her most radiant smile. "I know that he's exceptional, Captain, but it's nice to hear it from you. And I'm happy to know that he'll have such a good man and a good friend at his side when you both go off into the black. Thank you." She ignored the bemused expression on both men's faces and steered Thrawn away to his speeder.

She also saw Captain Piett at the event announcing the formation of Death Squadron. He had been transferred to Darth Vader's new flagship, the Executor, but this prestigious command seemed to have made him even more humble. He greeted her with a courteous bow and a kind smile and, when Thrawn was pulled aside by one of the Emperor's advisors for a private conversation, he offered his arm and kept her company until Thrawn came back. There were a few other times when she found herself alone in one of these functions, and she saw Grand Admiral Zaarin darting towards her, but every time Darth Vader somehow materialized to keep Zaarin at bay. She hadn't seen him since her visit to his palace and was not entirely comfortable the first time he appeared, but he simply nodded and stood towering above her, his mechanical breathing echoing in her ears until Thrawn came to fetch her and leave.

"You certainly have a way with people, Ayoo'sha," Thrawn told her once as they climbed in his speeder. "I never thought it possible to utter these words, but it seems that Lord Vader has a soft spot for you."

She smiled, then sighed. "I wish I could say the same about the Emperor. I always feel his eyes on me the moment I step into the room and I'm sure he means me some sort of harm."

Thrawn had given up arguing with her about the Emperor – she hated him with a passion since she had shared Vader's memories – but at these words, he took his attention off the skylane for a moment to look at her. "Why do you think His Majesty would want to harm you?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. He enjoys hurting people. Just like that, for kicks." She looked distinctly uneasy and remained silent and brooding until they reached her apartment

Thrawn pulled her in a fierce hug as soon as they stepped on her landing pad. "No one will harm you, Ayoo'sha, not as long as I live. This I promise you." She rested her head on his shoulder pensively until he lifted her face with his fingertips. "You know that you do not have to come to these functions, if being in His Majesty's presence is causing you such distress."

"My time with you is precious, Thrawn, I can't throw it away like that. Now do you intend to stay here while I think of another man, as ugly as he is, or will you deliver a reminder of one of the many reasons I'll miss you when you're gone?" There was that sparkle of mischief in her eyes and Thrawn obliged.

It was early on a Taungsday evening and Ayesha hadn't seen Thrawn in more than two weeks when he appeared on her doorstep. She leapt up the steps to greet him with a squeal of delight and a teasing kiss, and whispered in his ear, "It's a shame you're arriving now because I'm going out tonight, but we have time for a quickie." And she tugged his sleeve towards the hallway leading to the bedroom.

To her great surprise, he pulled back from her. "I believe that we should have a drink instead and talk." He led her by the hand to the kitchen counter where the cortyg brandy was waiting, poured two glasses and sat on one of the bar stools.

She looked at him questioningly while he scrutinized her face. "What?" she finally asked.

He took a deep breath. "I arrived on planet very early this morning, at four hundred hours to be precise. You were not here."

She gave a casual shrug. "It's my Centaxday pals. We played sabacc all night. It was quite a party."

"I was also on planet on Zhellday last week, again in the small hours of the morning," he continued. "You were not at home either."

This time her shrug was embarrassed. "Yeah. That crowd are a bit wild."

Thrawn's eyes locked onto hers. "One day earlier, exactly one week ago, I managed to drop by ahead of a morning meeting. It was approximately six hundred hours. You certainly had gone out early." She blushed intensely and bit her lip. There was a pregnant pause. "Is there something I should know, Ayoo'sha?" he asked softly.

She averted her gaze from his. He crooked a finger under her chin to bring her face back, but there was no anger in the gesture. "Haven't we already had this conversation?" she mumbled.

"No," he said firmly. "No, we have not. I am not implying anything of the sort, although you could hardly blame me for wondering about it when it is quite clear that this group of anonymous friends with whom you spend two nights a week are not the party animals that you make them to be." He caressed her cheek with his thumb. "You said I should trust you and you were right. You have my complete, my absolute trust. However, I have the distinct impression that there is something you have been hiding from me." He paused, then added, "Given the great lengths to which you went to hide it, it is something important."

She looked at him miserably. "Ayoo'sha..." he started.

She interrupted him. "Yes," she breathed. "Yes, it's true, there's something I didn't tell you. It matters a great deal to me and I'm asking you, please, please, to leave it alone." There was a flash of anger in his eyes. "Thrawn, please. Some things are best left untouched, and this is one of them."

There was a long silence. "Do I not also have your trust, Ayoo'sha?"

"Of course you do," she blurted. "It's just that..." She finally looked up. His usually impassive face was like an open book. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so, so sorry. This is something that you cannot, you should not know. It would put you in a very difficult position."

"Perhaps you should leave that to my judgment," he said coldly.

She sighed. "Thrawn, there are all sorts of things that you don't tell me about your work, and I never question you. How is this different?"

"It is entirely different. I am a Navy officer and you are an artist. You are not handling classified information."

She sighed again. "It may not be classified, but people's lives do depend on it. But then, there won't be any peace to be had until I tell you, right?" He was perfectly still as he stared at her. She hesitated. "If I take you with me tonight, will you promise three things?" He nodded. "Not any promise," she added. "I want the most powerful oath you believe in."

He nodded again, slowly. "I will give you a life-oath if that is your wish."

She took a deep breath. "Promise me that you'll never tell anyone, anywhere, about what you see tonight. Not ever."

He stood up, pulled her right hand to him with her palm facing upwards and laid his own palm over hers. "You have my word, now and forever, until the end of my days," he said solemnly.

"Promise me that, whatever happens, you'll follow my lead. You'll do as I say and you won't try to discuss or negotiate."

"You have my word."

"Promise me that, after we come back, you'll never try to interfere or dissuade me from continuing what I'm doing." Thrawn hesitated. "Promise me," she insisted.

The struggle was palpable in his voice as he spoke. "You have my word."

She whispered something in Old Kiffar, lifted his hand to her mouth and kissed it, then led him to the walk-in closet in her bedroom. "You need to change, you can't come in your uniform," she said as she began stripping off her clothes. "Something dark. That hoodie you wear when you go running would do nicely."

A few minutes later, they were both wearing plain jumpsuits and hooded jackets. She pulled a dagger-sized ryyk blade from the back of a drawer and slipped it inside her half-boot, then extracted two balaclavas, stuffed one in her pocket and handed the other to Thrawn. "Take this, I'll tell you when to put it on. Oh, and take your blaster too." She dug out a satchel that was buried behind her formal dresses and slung it across her chest. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?" Thrawn asked as they stepped into the turbolift.

"To the Underlevels."