Master of the House

Chapter Four: The Incident

The two families very much were going to dine together. But first, everyone (including Thrawn) had to gather in the dining room and play a game of seat swapping. It was a formal dinner, and Hayleen was a stickler for manners and tradition.

Hayleen did her best to direct everyone to their proper place. "Master of the house sits at the head. Will, that will be you in two days, so go ahead and sit there. Master's (future) wife to his left, most honorable guest to his right. Hana, Grand Admiral. On the guest side next, we have in order: Greg, Liza, Brendyn, we can pull up a chair for you, and… oh. No guests at the foot. That's horribly rude." She had to think it over. "I will sit at the foot. Brendyn, sit next to Karyn who is next to Hana. Meg, take Brendyn's old seat. The one I have to fetch."

"...huh?"

"Come on, guys. It's not that hard." William sat down while Hayleen went to find Meg a chair. Once he and Hana were seated, the rest filled in pretty naturally. Everything but the wine and sweets had been moved to the table in Karyn's absence, and food began to rotate its way around.

Thrawn waited for Hayleen to return before he spoke. "Madame Faro, if you do not mind. I am not familiar with this planet's social organization. As this building's owner, are you not the master of the house?"

"Certainly not, sir. Traditionally, masters of the household are always men. Since there's been no men in this family for some time, the head chair stayed empty. Before now, I would sit where Hana is." Hayleen cleared her throat, taking a pancake off a plate as she did. "Now, some 'progressive' folk don't see a problem with ignoring that tradition, but I keep it."

William continued from where Hayleen left off after taking a large gulp of water. "Family hierarchy on Kohmbra historically runs on a gender basis first, seniority basis second. Example: this household. With no father in the picture, the next possible head of house is the eldest son. No sons present here, so then come son-in-laws. But this is where seniority comes into play in a rather interesting manner. If Karyn were married, her husband would rank above me regardless of his own age. He would have my spot, Karyn would have Hana's."

"Hm. Thank you." Thrawn stopped to pick food off a tray as well. Everyone at the table was staring at him, but no one wanted to say anything.

Finally, Greg jumped in. "So… you take commercial spaceflights, sir? I thought men of your rank took private Lambda shuttles for business travel."

"Many do, yes. I saw no purpose in the additional expense. At the time of planning, I did not foresee how one additional stop could impact my overall journey."

"Well, now you know," Brendyn responded, earning some glares for his flippancy. "Next time, shell out the credits for a direct jump."

"Indeed."

The silence that followed was unbearable, and Hayleen agreed. "Greg! We've had so few chances to talk as of late. How goes your job as a factory safety inspector?"

"Mm! Busy, as always. You know how every factory owner loves their productivity. Sometimes they install new additions rather suddenly and want to run full steam ahead, but I always have to check equipment first and again when there are problems. The foremen don't like that I can't be rushed."

Brendyn leaned in to whisper to Karyn. "Last two inspections, Dad found chemical leaks that were harming dozens of workers. My research lab is studying them. The first one was normaxicane, an exhaust product that causes stomach aches. Workers who inhaled large doses were calling in sick for as long as five days after initial exposure. But the real bad one's the fadacine, which is chemically identical to normaxicane but with an extra functional group tacked on the end. When this one enters the human stomach, it mixes with the acid inside us to form a super acid that can burn through the organ's membrane and cause hemorrhaging in rapid measure. This one had contaminated the water supply. It killed workers on their breaks in two hours tops. Victims likely felt pain in less than a minute, with symptoms starting mild and growing at a-"

"Brendyn, can you not? I'm trying to eat here." Meg pointed at her plate with her fork.

Karyn didn't mind. "That's fascinating. So you study chemistry?"

"Chemical engineering, specifically. My current project is to figure out what in the industrial process is causing these compounds to form and how to prevent that from happening." His eyes lit up with Karyn's interest. The table had since dissolved into three separate conversations: theirs and the two happening on either side of them.

"What do you know so far?"

"Not much," he admitted. "The biomedical researchers joined forces with autopsy droids to figure out how those workers died. Since this issue is a new phenomenon, my group has been going through updates in factory procedures to figure out how the new processes could be causing this problem. The stream of information from affected sites has been… slow."

"Brendyn!" Meg snapped. "Not while people are eating."

"What? That wasn't even the disgusting part." Still, Brendyn changed the subject. "So, Karyn. This is all very sudden for you, right? Hana told us that last time you were on shore leave, she and Will weren't even dating yet. Now they're getting married and you're meeting all of us for the first time. How is that?"

Karyn shrugged. "It's only natural that things change in my absence. I'm aware of that. I can see why Hana appreciates your brother so much." She glanced over at the two of them. Both were locked in conversation with Thrawn. "He certainly seems to make her happy."

Liza broke off from another conversation to interject. "Yes, I'm pleasantly surprised this is the first time we're meeting you, Karyn. Especially since Hayleen was so ill a few months ago. I kept expecting you to visit her sickbed, and it never happened. I daresay I wondered if our first sight of you would be at a funeral."

Karyn didn't let her gaze drop at the challenge. She fixed Liza with a hard stare, letting tensions rise silently between them. Karyn was about to respond when-

Hayleen cut her talk with Greg short to diffuse the situation. "Now, Liza. Karyn supported me through that horrible ordeal in her own way. I would never have been able to afford treatment without her help, and her navy friend, that… um, the pilot. What was his name, sweetie?"

"Commander Vult Skerris." Karyn smiled at her memory of him. If it hadn't been for him, Karyn wouldn't be here. After their joint mission with Lord Vader concluded, messages from home had been the last thing on Karyn's mind. But then she saw Skerris making a beeline to find out if his wife had given birth to their fourth child yet, and his anxiety had convinced her to check her own queue.

"Yes, him! His wife's no stranger to medical complications, and he taught our family how to navigate Imperial health insurance." Hayleen beamed. "We really must send him a thank you gift. Be sure to pass on my regards the next time you see him, sweetie."

"I will."

Liza pursed her lips, avoiding Karyn's gaze. Hayleen offered a daughter a sympathetic smile, then proceeded to ask Meg questions about her schooling. Karyn turned back to Brendyn, only to see he was trying to get William's attention. William, for his part, was giving a lecture on wedding customs to a fascinated Thrawn.

"...Those are the traditions we got from abroad. Now, there are some local traditions that Hana and I aren't including in our ceremony. Most notably, anything involving her being carried by others. Centuries ago, the bride would be carried on a lift by her family members to the wedding venue, up the aisle by her father, and into her new house by her husband. This is because footbinding, the intentional practice of breaking and bending a girl's feet bones to permanently fold inward, was popular on Kohmbra for millenia. Deformed feet were a widespread fetish among Kohmbran men until well into the High Republic era four centuries ago, when propaganda campaigns from abroad convinced them that 'freewalking women' were more desirable."

"You like my 'freewalking' feet, Will?" Hana teased, causing William to lose his train of thought. "My big feet are sexy to you?"

"Um… I think everyone prefers being able to walk moderate distances without severe pain. At least nowadays, they do. I would pity you if you couldn't. Let's see, what else are we not doing… oh yeah! This tradition mattered more for elite families, but the idea that a marriage ceremony wasn't over until the moment of consummation was a popular one until maybe a century ago. So to make sure politically important marriages went without a hitch, notable family members would follow the new couple into their bedroom and…" he gulped, "watch the groom take his bride's virginity. If the bride didn't bleed from this process, they wouldn't think she was a virgin and the marriage would be annulled." William looked down at his plate in disgust. "Sorry. Not great brunch conversation, I know."

"I do not mind. Thank you for providing me with such detailed context, Professor Sklar." Thrawn nodded respectfully. "May your union be blessed, physically and otherwise."

"Oh my stars, I would die if your mom had to watch us on our wedding night!" Hana squirmed. It was at that point she realized Karyn was watching them. "That's another reason Dad's picture got moved, by the way. I don't want him watching Will and me later."

What? Was… was Karyn missing something, here? "Hana. Why would you and William be using Mother's room on your wedding night?"

William and Hana shared a glance, each conveying markedly different emotions. While William focused on confusion and urgency, Hana's expression was a mixture of epiphany, pleading, and… fear? Karyn couldn't help but notice the table go silent before William responded. "Hana... doesn't like the apartment I currently live in. She thinks it's too small for the two of us."

"I think? Will, you live in a shoebox!"

"She asked me to move in here after the wedding and take over the master bedroom with her. After our wedding night, while you two are… downtown, I will be returning to my apartment and packing up my things. Some of my clothes are already here, but it will be a few days before the move is complete."

Karyn didn't even realize how harsh her expression was until William withered beneath it. "I'm sorry, Karyn. I thought these two told you already."

"I would have mentioned it, I swear. I just didn't know you were coming home until last night, and then I wanted you and Will to meet before I sprung the news on you. Mom is moving into my old room. I promise we won't do anything to your stuff," Hana wrapped herself around Karyn's right arm, begging with her big brown eyes for Karyn's heart to soften. Don't be mad, they said.

But Karyn wasn't even sure she was mad. Surprised, yes. Hurt that neither Hana nor Hayleen thought this information was worth sharing with her, certainly. Just because she couldn't always take their calls when they came didn't mean she didn't care about what was happening in their lives.

Her mom and sister knew that, right? Karyn had always believed they did. She wasn't sure anymore.

For now, those eyes gave Hana way too much power. Karyn pat Hana on the head with her left hand, then ran fingers through her hair. "You two know your future needs better than I would. As long as Mother is okay with it, I suppose I am too." Karyn broke away from her sister's gaze to stare down William again. "After all: why subsist on a professor's salary when you can live comfortably on mine?"

William flinched from the implications of that comment. Hana didn't seem to notice. She buried her face in her sister's chest once again, then tilted her head so her voice could be heard. "Thank you, Karyn! I knew you would understand. Once brunch is over, I promise we'll catch up on everything I haven't had a chance to tell you about in holomessages. From now on, there will be no more secrets between us."

Thrawn took an entirely different approach to this conversation. "I didn't know your monthly paycheck went here, Commodore." He glanced around the room. "I forgot how little commodores were paid. It's been so long since I served as one."

Liza covered her mouth. Brendyn had the audacity to laugh. Karyn, doing her damnedest to think the best of Thrawn's intentions, took a deep breath in before she replied. "I send a large part of my paycheck home, yes. When my mother fell ill, sir, the portion easily became a majority. Because my mother has yet to return to work, that arrangement is still the case. The rest I save for myself in case of emergencies, personal expenses, or taxes."

"It's true, Admiral. Karyn basically bankrolled my entire wedding, from the venue to the dress to the food and even the bachelorette party!" Karyn received another side hug for her troubles. "This wedding is going to be a dream come true. I'm so glad you're gonna walk down the aisle with me!"

"Alright, alright, enough with the money talk." Hayleen jumped in before anyone else could speak. She noticed an empty platter in the center of the table. "Does anyone want more eggs? I can return to the kitchen to cook more, if anyone missed their chance."

Greg smiled, eager for the distraction. "We're fine, Hayleen. Thank you. You and your daughters did a splendid job preparing our meal today."

"Yes, thank you Hayleen." Liza smiled as well, though hers was more pinched.

"Actually, can I have some more eggs?" Meg asked. "Scrambled, if that's okay."

"Of course it's okay, dear. Just give me one moment." Hayleen sent Karyn and William warning glares before disappearing back into the kitchen.

Meg's parents looked at her. "What? She offered."

Maybe her earlier assessment was unfair. Karyn looked back at William, ready to make things up to him. "I suppose this is still somewhat related to your job, but earlier, William, you told me there was a story as to how you were promoted to full professor at the university. What happened?"

Karyn thought she'd asked the question in good faith. Instead, it had the opposite effect. "Natural that you'd be curious, I guess. The truth is, I take no pleasure in how I gained my position. Before last month, I was a teaching and research assistant to Dr. Colyn Fischer, the most senior and well-renowned historian on the planet. He had been a teacher for over forty years, had a reputation for being unfiltered, and his lectures were always filled to the brim with students. This semester for the first time, he decided to offer an advanced intensive called From Falling Republic to Rise of Empire: a Study in the Causes and Effects of the Clone Wars. He and his students both started the semester enthusiastically until… one lecture Dr. Fischer delivered to his class. This was about a month ago.

"Now remember, Dr. Fischer is quite old. Over half his lecturing career took place in the Republic days, before the Clone Wars even began. He grew up and lived with a very different perception of the galaxy than what we have today. That…" William clenched and unclenched his hands several times while looking for the correct word, "explains, but does not excuse his views on the Jedi Order. Views he expressed in class one day and offended some of his students. Said students reported him to the Empire for sedition, using quotes taken out of context to do so."

Greg shook his head. "Such a waste of talent. Willie introduced Dr. Fischer to me seven years ago. We all knew him. But you idolized him, didn't you, Willie?"

William glanced from Karyn to Thrawn, very conscious of how he ought to word his response. "I… he was the one who made me want to study history. I was on the engineering track before I met Dr. Fischer. If I wasn't his assistant, I might never have met Hana. I understand why the university forced Dr. Fischer to recant and resign, but I still wish things could have been different."

"Me too." Meg sighed. "I was supposed to take his intro class as a freshman next year. He promised me a spot."

William sighed. "And since the university was too pressed to find Dr. Fischer a suitable replacement mid-semester, they offered me his job. I was familiar with Dr. Fischer's work, and all his students already knew me, so the choice made sense. But after what Dr. Fischer did, the Empire couldn't just leave me alone in the lecture hall. So now I have an Imperial representative as a student this semester on top of everything else. Inspector Brekker sits in the back of all my classes and most of my office hours, is always cordial, and takes better notes than most of my students." Hana snorted at the end. William cut her off with a shake of the head.

"Your mentor is lucky that early retirement was his only punishment. Sedition charges usually warrant far stricter consequences." Karyn could think of a few examples. Most of them were from the Outer Rim, however. Imperial rule took very different forms depending on where one lived in the galaxy.

"I guess. But there you have it," William threw his hands outward in surrender, "that's how I became a professor. Circumstances aren't great, but the students and I are both doing our best. Because of how extensively I'm being evaluated right now and how chaotic things are, Hana and I are delaying our honeymoon until the semester is over."

"Will the resort moon be cold if we go during the winter?" Hana asked. "That isn't how it works, right?"

Karyn and William responded as one. "It is not."

"Oh, good. I don't have to buy a coat."

Hayleen returned from the kitchen with a pan of scrambled egg. "Here you go, Meg dear. Anyone else want more food while I'm up?"

"No thank you," Brendyn replied. "We have everything we need, Mrs. Faro."

"Yes, Hayleen. Why don't you sit down and finish your own meal?"

There was a bit more conversation after that. Hana continued to gush about her wedding with Hayleen and Liza's encouragement, Brendyn and Meg cracked jokes at their brother's expense, and William and Greg did their best to reign everyone in. Thrawn remained silent for the time, though his eyes revealed him to be an active observer. No matter how many questions William asked the admiral, he never spoke for long.

Around noon, everyone stood from their place at the dining table. They all stacked their dishes off to one side of the sink and raided the box of sweets the Sklar family had brought over in their speeder. Brendyn had opened the box on the way to the house, but he'd only eaten a single pastry. Hana was on her third in a matter of minutes. "I love these! The chocolate ones are the best. Here, Karyn," she practically shoved one in her sister's face, "remember these?"

She did. "I bought them for you when you and Mom came to my graduation ceremony from the Imperial Academy. These, and sugar straws."

"Oh yeah!" Hana laughed. "I was a ten year old high on sugar for your entire ceremony. I don't remember much of it."

"Thanks to you, Mother doesn't either."

Pouting. "It was your fault. I was ten! You bought me all those things."

She didn't regret it, either. Karyn had always loved to make her sister smile, even when they were both children. Hana was always so cute and innocent, a welcome reprieve from the daily demands of Karyn's life in the navy.

"Come now, sir! Just try one. It's a delightful new experience." Greg could be heard coaxing Thrawn into eating a sweet a short distance away.

"No thank you, Mr. Sklar. I do not enjoy sweet foods."

"It's not that sweet. It's more… creamy. And rich. Come, sir. Just one bite." Greg kept trying to leave the pastry in Thrawn's hand while Thrawn continued to hand it back. This went on for some time.

William came over to speak with Hana, nodding to Karyn as he did so. "Hana, are you ready to let the wine flow? Mom's asking. It is your personal bottle, right?"

"Oh yeah! We have that." Hana beamed. "I dug out a bottle of peach moscato for today. It's still your favorite, isn't it, Karyn?"

It had been at one time. Back before Karyn developed a tolerance for the taste of alcohol and still needed large amounts of sugar to disguise it. "I still enjoy it, yes."

"Yay! Let's go get some. You want to drink with us, Will?"

William shook his head while keeping an affable smile on his face. "You two go ahead and get first drinks. I know it's important to you."

Hana led her sister over to the corner with the wine and glasses. Meg poured for them with a dour look on her face. Liza loomed over her shoulder. "Will got the designer transperisteel glasses for you, Hana. Hearts for 'his sweetheart'," she filled one glass on the counter nearly to the brim, "and stars for the 'explorer of the galaxy'." The second glass received considerably less wine than the first.

"Oh, they're even cuter in person!" Hana squealed, snatching up her glass with obvious glee. "I love it."

"You didn't consume any alcohol before I caught you, did you Meg?"

"No, Mom. Will just asked me to pour for his lovely bride." The last part of that sentence did not escape sarcasm. "I provide others with a treasure I cannot possess."

Karyn thanked Meg for the drink, leaning in as she did so. "When I was your age at the Imperial academy, cadets would drink whenever they were off duty. I got exposed to a lot of different planets' wines that way."

Glower intensifies. "Good for you."

Karyn followed Hana back towards Greg and Thrawn. The miniscule bite in the pastry told her everything she needed to know about who won their previous argument. "Decided to engage a bit further in the local cuisine, Grand Admiral?"

"Mr. Sklar here convinced me it was the duty of a host to provide his guest with bites of every dish at the feast, particularly if the guest was from a distant planet. It is not my wish to be impolite."

"They're good, right?"

"I have partaken as you desired. Do not press me further." This time, Greg took the hint. He faded into the background without another word.

"How are you doing, Admiral? Did you like the food?" Hana asked.

"You and your mother did an admirable job preparing plenty for everyone. You as well, Commodore." Thrawn nodded ever so slightly at Karyn. The two locked eyes for a moment. Hana kept glancing between the two of them before getting her own idea about what was happening.

"I'll leave you two to talk. Bye, Karyn."

Thrawn exhaled when Hana left. Karyn stood next to him, leaning on the kitchen counter behind them. She swirled the contents of her glass in one hand, watching the liquid spin.

"I'm sorry for all the interpersonal drama you've had to witness this morning, sir."

"Your reactions are understandable, Commodore. For all that you try to remain rational in a time such as this, the family environment does not lend well to levelheaded dynamics. Particularly not among civilians."

"How are you?"

Thrawn eyed the wine glass in Karyn's hand with envy. "...I believed my previous experiences on Imperial naval ships and among civilian bureaucrats was enough to prepare me for sustained social interaction with humans. My assessment has failed me in notable key areas. Understand I mean nothing personal towards your family members."

"No, I understand. Would you like to step away from the party for a minute, sir? Have you told anyone on Coruscant where you are?"

"I gave Grand Moff Tarkin advance knowledge of my flight plans. He knows of my situation. As a fellow attendee of the meeting, I am sure he will be a sufficient messenger to the others with regard to my status."

That… wasn't how meetings like this worked, if Karyn had any understanding at all of them. How could Thrawn be a grand admiral for so long and still not grasp these matters?

He was staring at her glass again. "Is that… alcohol, Commodore?"

"Yes, sir."

"Is it much?"

"No, sir."

"Are there bottles in this house that contain a higher percentage of alcohol?"

"Likely not, sir. Neither my mother nor my sister enjoy hard liquor."

"Hm." Thrawn pursed his lips, evaluating his options.

Karyn glanced away from Thrawn to see if anyone was watching the two of them. Meg quickly averted her gaze, as did Brendyn. Everyone else was too wrapped up in their own conversations to notice.

"Would… would you like to try a bit of my wine, sir?" Karyn held the cup in front of him. "I must warn you that its contents are also sweet."

"If you do not mind, Commodore." Thrawn took a long sip of her wine, then immediately cringed.

"How do you like it, sir?"

"I find it absolutely rancid, Commodore." In his desperation to erase the taste, Thrawn took a second, larger bite of the pastry in his other hand. He bit into the chocolate filling this time, leaving a slight drizzle on his chin.

"You… left a trace of chocolate on your face, sir." Karyn let her finger hover over the spot just beneath his lip. "Right there."

Thrawn reached for a napkin and wiped it away. "Thank you."

"Feel free to retire to the guest room at any point, sir. I can explain away your absence if necessary." She put her lips to her glass of wine, breathing in its familiar cloying scent. She hadn't had this drink in years.

"..." Thrawn didn't respond. His eyes began to bulge, and his balance slid backwards until he collided with the counter behind him.

"Grand Admiral?" Karyn held out a hand to steady him. He gave no indication he even heard her. "Sir, what's happening?"

"...pain, Commodore. I'm in…" out came a garbled string of words in what Karyn recognized as Thrawn's native language. His red eyes clouded over. His hand dropped down to clench his stomach. Thrawn's posture, which had been so straight throughout the morning, gave way to steep hunch as the admiral tumbled forward.

Karyn heard her wine glass shatter on the floor as she went to catch him. The crash caught everyone's attention. Hana screamed at the sound.

William's eyes bulged out of his head at the sight. "What the stars?!"

"Karyn, what's happening? What's wrong with him?"

Thrawn was too heavy. Karyn couldn't keep him upright for very much longer. She directed him away from the shards and let his body slowly drop to the floor.

She looked around the room, infuriated by all the blank stares she received back. "Don't stand there. Call for a medic. Call poison control. Get ISB on the comm right now!"

The civilians moved, though not as quickly as they ought. Karyn felt her entire world crawl to a standstill as she stood over Thrawn's semi-conscious body. She tried to make eye contact with him. She tried to keep him alert.

She felt for his vitals. The signs were all over the place. For the first time in years, Karyn felt true, unadulterated swells of panic rise in her chest.

This couldn't be happening. Not here, not now.

Not to him.

A/N's: This is where I originally wanted chapter three to end. I have to get to class, so I may update these notes later. Hope you enjoyed the read, don't forget to leave a review below, and I will see you on the far side!