Three Months Later
Although the new Fountain Palace was still being built, various sections of the Queen Mother's home were already completed. Among them was Her Majesty's bedchamber, which had been outfitted with soundproof walls so that the Queen Mother wouldn't be disturbed by the sounds of construction going on outside. Of course, if there was an emergency situation in Allana Djo's quarters, the security guards who were stationed by the entrance leading into the royal bedchamber wore earpieces that would be activated if their Queen Mother pressed the red panic button by the head of her bed.
Right next to that button, however, was the yellow entry knob, which notified the guards that they need not rush in; Her Majesty would simply need to be escorted out for some fresh air. As Queen Mother, Allana understood that her safety was, naturally, a vital part of her rule; but considering the fact that she was still very much a child, she did need the occasional bouts of play to cut through her studies, duties, and boredom.
And right now, Allana really felt the need to go out into the royal garden (which was still being refurbished) so that she wouldn't have to be trapped here talking to another stuffy Ducha through her bedchamber's hypercomm.
"I understand your concerns, Ducha Lorangal," Allana said as patiently as she could. She was losing that patience because she found herself saying that more and more to these Duchas lately, and she was starting to get sick of it. "But you must understand the difficulty of producing more Battle Dragons after the losses we took several months ago. Rest assured, they are being completed ahead of schedule, and in a matter of weeks, you will have a full complement orbiting Andalia. You will be safe, Ducha."
"Pardon me if I don't share in your optimism, my Queen Mother," Lorangal responded. Her voice dripped with thinly veiled rage. "But it would only take a few days for pirates to raid my planet and rob me of everything I so cherish here on Andalia."
"Would you consider evacuating then, Ducha?" Allana asked. She could barely keep herself from rolling her eyes in annoyance; she could practically recite what Lorangal was about to say in response, and she wouldn't have needed precognition to do it.
"Absolutely not! Andalia is my home! I would not let it fall into chaos and barbarism by allowing my authority to leave with me!"
"Then if you're so confident that your authority can maintain order over at Andalia," Allana said, "you can be confident that it would drive such pirates away before those Battle Dragons arrive."
Lorangal looked like she was about to burst a blood vessel over Allana's sarcasm. But that look was over as soon as it had started; then the Ducha regained her composure.
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Lorangal said in a kowtowed tone. "I will not bother you any further on this matter."
"See to it that you don't," Allana replied dryly. She cut the transmission before Lorangal had an opportunity to say anything else; the Queen Mother then allowed herself a satisfied smile at the Ducha's mild humiliation.
It was no secret that Lorangal hated Jedi with a passion, and although she stayed silent on the issue of being ruled over by Force-sensitive women like Tenenial Djo, her daughter Tenel Ka, and now Allana, it was obvious that she detested that fact. It was a wonder to Allana why Lorangal didn't join that failed coup against Tenel Ka that was headed by all those treacherous Duchas during the Second Galactic Civil War.
Of course, Lorangal wasn't alone in Hapan anti-Jedi sentiment, Allana knew. Other Duchas may have hidden it better in their holocomm transmissions to Allana, but it was still quite obvious that they weren't too happy about being ruled over by yet another Force-sensitive Queen Mother. However, as long as they stayed in line, and they had their reasons to do so (even if Allana didn't know exactly what those reasons were), she couldn't care less about their hatred of her; especially since she hadn't received any assassination attempts since she took the throne.
But she knew why that was the case; the Hapes Consortium, like the Fountain Palace, still needed recovery after the Infestation of Abeloth months ago... the very same Infestation that killed Allana's mother and forced her to take on the mantle of Queen Mother. What stopped Allana from once again crying over Tenel Ka was the amusement she got that none of the Duchas dare make an assassination attempt on her while the Consortium was still picking up its pieces.
After all, if any of those Duchas wanted to take over and become the latest Queen Mother, she would want to make sure that her Consortium was back to peak efficiency first; so why not let your predecessor take care of the dirty work?
Allana was brought out of her musings by a buzzing from her bedchamber's intercom. After crossing her room to the door that would lead outside, she answered it. "Yes?" she asked.
"It's Danni Quee Solo, Your Majesty," the guard's voice came from the intercom. "Would you like her to come in or would you prefer that you meet her out here?"
Allana hesitated in her response. She liked Danni, she really did, and she appreciated that the woman agreed to help Jacen—the template for Allana's real father, the man who became known as Darth Caedus—raise her as she helped the Consortium pull itself back together. And Allana was glad for the time they spent together so far these past months; they had gotten to know each other as Danni helped Allana with her studies, namely when it came to the basic sciences and algebra. Allana especially enjoyed learning about different types of plant life and hearing stories about what kind of flora and fauna could be expected on the far away living world of Zonama Sekot.
But there were times, such as now, when Allana simply didn't want to see Danni. Not for any particular reason; she just didn't want to see Danni sometimes.
"Tell her that I'm too busy today," Allana finally responded. "I have more Duchas that I need to make calls to."
"Very well, Your Majesty," the guard replied before signing off.
Allana sighed with an odd mixture of both relief and frustration; while she didn't want to see Danni today, she also wanted to. And all throughout, Allana couldn't stop thinking about Tenel Ka.
. . .
In another completed section of the Fountain Palace, the sparring dojo, Ben Skywalker swung his lightsaber in seemingly random and erratic directions at imaginary foes. Yet, at the same time, an order could be found among even mid-tier lightsaber duelists who might also have the capacity to determine young Ben's own mental state.
Jacen Solo, who was a much more advanced duelist, saw what Ben was thinking after only watching for a few minutes from the dojo's entryway.
Unhooking his own lightsaber from his belt, Jacen sprang forward before he even activated his weapon.
Less than a second later, Jacen, upon reaching his cousin, managed to parry Ben's lightsaber out of his hands before pointing the tip of his blade near the younger man's throat.
Yet Jacen saw no fear or even surprise from Ben, even if he could sense both those things in his cousin's Force-presence. Instead, Jacen saw anger and even hatred in Ben's expression and, especially, his eyes.
"Ataru and Djem So. Very aggressive fighting styles you were utilizing there," Jacen said as he brought his blade away from Ben's neck. "Of course, that kind of aggression can make you sloppy if you utilize both or either of those forms for a prolonged period of time."
"Sloppy?" Ben asked in disbelief. "What do you mean sloppy?"
"For one thing, you didn't sense me when I sprang at you. You should have brought your guard up."
Ben was silent for a long moment. "I sensed you."
"Oh, really? Then why was it so easy for me to parry your lightsaber away from your hand like that?"
Instead of answering, Ben used the Force to recall his lightsaber to his hand and reactivated it. He then assumed a defensive stance.
Jacen didn't look impressed. "Well? Are you gonna answer my question?"
Ben then lunged; Jacen parried away easily. Ben struck again, yet Jacen held his ground. Ben's attacks then grew in rapidity, but Jacen's defenses didn't allow him to step a foot away from his current position.
A few minutes later, Ben's lightsaber flew away from his hands again. And once again, the tip of his cousin's lightsaber was poised close to his throat.
"Please don't lie to me, Ben," Jacen said as he deactivated his lightsaber and hooked it back to his belt. "You didn't sense me because you were caught up in the aggression of those techniques. Not only do you need to vary them to more defensive styles, but you always, always, need to keep your senses open, so that you won't get caught with your pants down."
Ben recalled his lightsaber back to his hand. However, when the weapon was halfway back to his palm, Jacen broke his cousin's Force-hold on it with one of his own, and Ben's saber smacked into his hand instead.
Ben looked incredulous, but said nothing as Jacen continued with, "This is the third time in as many months as I've tried to teach you this lesson, Ben. The first time made sense; it was something you had to learn. The second time, I thought that would serve as an object lesson to never forget what can be learned. But this is the third time, Ben; now I've given you your space, but you have to show me that you're willing to learn."
Ben's lightsaber was ripped out of Jacen's grasp by his cousin's Force-pull. When Ben hooked the weapon back to his belt, he said, "I'm not an apprentice. I'm a Jedi Knight. I don't need any lessons." He looked like he was about to say something else, but looked away instead.
"Not from me anyway, huh?" Jacen said. "Was that what you were gonna say?"
When Ben looked back at his cousin, it was with utter spite. "Exactly."
Jacen allowed a tense moment to pass before he said, "You know I'm not-"
"Don't. Just. Don't," Ben said with a hand held up to forestall anything else his cousin might say.
He then walked past Jacen and headed to the dojo's exit.
"If you can't separate me from the man you believed to be me," Jacen called back after turning around, "you can let your hatred distract you from the truth."
At that, Ben stopped in his tracks. He then turned around and levelled an accusatory finger at Jacen.
"Listen," Ben said, "I didn't come here of my own volition. My dad ordered me to be here. He said I needed to help you and Allana rebuild the Hapes Consortium. And, quite frankly, so far, there hasn't been a whole lot for me to do around here."
"You know what this assignment really is, Ben," Jacen said.
"Don't tell me what this assignment really is," Ben said as he allowed his hand to drop back to his side. "I'm only doing what Master Skywalker told me to do. I don't have to do anything more than that."
Neither he nor Jacen said anything more to each other before Ben completely left the dojo. Only when Ben was gone did Jacen let out a long sigh, accompanied by his head hanging in disappointment.
Moments later, his wife of two months, Danni Quee Solo, entered the dojo, prompting him to look up to her.
"I saw Ben on my way over here," she said once she reached her husband. "I take it your latest surprise attack on him fared no better than the previous ones."
He shook his head. "I don't understand, Danni. He knows for a fact that I'm not Darth Caedus, that I never was him. Yet he acts like his dad made a stupid mistake in allowing the Sith Lord who killed his wife to rejoin the Jedi's ranks when nothing could be further from the truth."
Danni placed a hand on his shoulder. "You have to give him more time, Jacen. He's still young; he's letting his emotions overcome logic. It's typical for a teenager."
"Yeah, well, typical teenagers don't have to deal with everything he's had to go through," Jacen countered. "Losing his mom to a man he thought was his cousin, only to meet his real cousin years later? I don't blame him for levying his misplaced aggression against me, but still, he has to come to terms with reality; I had nothing to do with what happened to Aunt Mara."
"I know, I know," Danni said reassuringly. "You wanna help Ben accept you, so that you can be family as you were meant to be."
Jacen nodded. "Caedus created a great wound within my family, Danni. And while I'm glad that Mom, Dad, Jaina, Uncle Luke, and even Allana have all accepted me again, that wound that Caedus created can never be fully healed until Ben accepts me as family. But like you said, I have to give it time. I can't force it."
Danni was silent for a while before her hand dropped away from Jacen's shoulder. "It's not just that, though, is it?"
Jacen chuckled lightly. "I can't get anything past you, huh?"
Danni mirrored his mirth. "I'm your wife. I may still be new at it, but I can tell, there's always more with you."
The mirth died away moments later when Jacen nodded. "Yes, there is more. The anger I feel in Ben... it's... rotting him."