Dashira, Alderaan
1 BBY
Solstice was approaching. The academy was far up in the northern hemisphere with long winters and deep snows, so it was an important holiday around the Dashira region. There seemed to be some associated mythology of a sun deity being reborn after the winter's shortest day, but any allusion to it seemed more of a nod to ancient tradition than any kind of sincere belief.
In the quad, students and faculty held hoverlamps in their outstretched hands, releasing them in grand ceremony to float up and lodge in the treetops like soap bubbles with hearts of fire. Spice bread baked in the dining hall, its aroma drifting over the quad. Eli had underestimated the winter chill when he'd packed for Alderaan, and he shivered in his stylish but thin Coruscanti garb before he finally gave in and went with Keo to buy thick cabled sweaters of bantha wool and outlandish multi-colored scarves twice as long as he was tall.
Apparently, Keo's taste in fashion and Mara's differed. She laughed as soon as she saw Eli's new winter ensemble. "You look like an off-worlder again."
"Alderaanians don't like being warm?" Eli asked with a sniff.
"We don't feel the cold," Mara said loftily. "Our blood is too thick."
An air of unreality seemed to overtake him as the temperature dropped and huge, feather-like snowflakes drifting on the wind became a common site around campus. It helped that Sate Pestage's calls became less frequent. There was nothing on the Holonet to reveal why the upper echelons of the Empire were so busy, but the Holonews always missed a great deal. Eli wasn't sorry. It was as if there was no Empire outside Alderaan, as if it had forgotten him and this place. He found he was completely okay with that idea.
Two weeks after the party, he found Mara in her room, frowning down at a message on her comlink.
"What is it?" He asked.
"An invitation," Mara said, her brow wrinkling.
"To an execution?"
She made a face at him. "To the palace. It seems my mother would like me to visit and bring 'any friends I might like to come along.'"
She snorted and tossed the comlink on her bed. "This is Leia's doing."
Eli decided to hide his own misgivings. "Perhaps I don't understand the problem."
He should have been thrilled. This was what he should have been working for since he had arrived. It had happened exactly as he had once hoped, almost in spite of him. All he should do now was wait and watch like a little mouse. Wolf disguised as mouse. But his predatory instincts seemed to have abandoned him. He remembered the data stick in the statue. He'd returned the next evening very late, when the quad was quiet and empty, and even remembered how to open the hidden compartment. He'd found it empty, collected by whomever she'd left it for. It could have been anything; satellite images of imperial weapons facilities, plans for incendiary devices, hacking instructions for imperial networks. People could have died because of his decision. Yet he couldn't detect a single feeling besides relief when he looked down at the empty compartment.
"It's a trap," Mara said. "Leia has prepped my mother, who is lying in wait like a panther."
"You and your mother clearly have an interesting relationship."
"Eli, my mother makes Leia nervous."
That was something to imagine. "Is it impossible that I could charm her? I charmed you, after all."
Mara studied him for a moment. "Yes."
Eli lunged, tumbling her backward across her bed, his fingers indelibly finding the most ticklish spots along her ribs until she cackled with laughter. Then he relaxed, becoming aware of their intimate posture. Her cheeks were stained pink as she noticed the same thing. He traced them with his fingers, a whisper of a touch. It was delicious, the slow progression of their touches, the way her golden brown eyes went molten like melted butter. He leaned his head down and brushed her lips with his.
"It will be alright," He said softly, half to her and half to himself.
"Of course it will," she agreed, despite the trace of nerves till evident in her eyes.
She curled her slim fingers around the nape of his neck, pulling him down for another kiss, and he forgot his doubts in the sweet motion of her lips on his.
The long weekend came two days later. Directly after classes he met Mara at the campus transportation hub. Soon a sleek chromium shuttle pulled up to the building marked with the royal family's crest.
"There's our ride," Mara said, hoisting her knapsack. She laughed at Eli's expression as the hatch slid open and a staff member stepped out to guide them up the ramp to the spacious interior. Eli settled himself into a seat and reflected that his transportation options had definitely taken an uptick since his arrival on the space trawler.
The shuttle was equipped for both low and high altitude travel, and it hugged the ground while they were on the plateau where the academy was situated. The ride was as smooth as silk, so much so that you didn't realize just how fast you were going unless you looked outside and saw the formless blur of trees and other objects going by. Eli only made that mistake once. As accustomed as he was to space travel, he was surprised to find that this kind of speed on ground level made his stomach turn over.
It must have been a fair distance, because even at that speed their trip took over an hour. Once they crossed into the more mountainous region around the capital city, the shuttle took to the air. Eli felt more comfortable and relaxed a bit, looking at the view with undisguised awe. Mara squeezed his hand.
"Is this the real Alderaan you were telling me about?" He whispered.
She nodded, her eyes shining as she leaned into him and drank in the view with him.
The air was pink with late sunset, the clouds low on the horizon edged in gold. As far as he could see there were jagged peaks of dark rock speckled with snow that reflected back the rosy light. Gauzy mist obscured the bases of the huge mountains. In their midst he soon spotted in the distance thin spires of silver dotted with the tiny yellow lights of illuminators. He could not even guess at the towers' height. At first they looked miniature compared to the sublime mountains, but as their ship got closer it was clear that the royal palace was immeasurably huge.
The ship landed on a round platform halfway up the largest tower. Eli could see people on the platform waiting for them. When they left their seats and walked down the ramp, he realized that it was Queen Breha, Bail Organa, and about eight members of their staff.
Mara stepped down from the ramp and curtsied to the Queen. But then she clasped her hands warmly and went immediately and artlessly to Bail Organa to do the same with easy affection.
"Welcome home, Mara," The Queen's consort smiled.
Mara's familiar manner with the couple he'd only previously heard of by reputation and seen in holovids made him feel more shy, somehow. He bowed and murmured some clumsy thanks for his invitation.
"You are very welcome here," the Queen said, her soft brown eyes twinkling. "Mara has spoken highly of you."
There was a woman standing to Bail's left, and Mara approached her with a bit more care. She was tall and slim with an almost military rigidity in her posture. Her hair was turned up in complicated, interweaving braids and was rapidly graying, but her face was still mostly unlined. Eli decided she might be in her late forties or early fifties. Her eyes were a dark, piercing brown that likely never missed a detail. Her features were striking in their symmetry and familiar in some way, though Eli was certain he'd never laid eyes on her before.
"Mother," Mara said gently.
The woman's rigidity seemed to crack as she placed her hands on Mara's shoulders and looked at her. A shade of sadness seemed to deepen in her face as she examined her daughter. But there was love, too. Overwhelming love. It jolted him. His vision seemed to cloud with it.
"Mara," the woman said in a voice so full of feeling that it felt like a kick to the chest.
Then he realized he was sensing something else, too. As the older woman put her arms around Mara, his instincts sang to the point where he looked around to see if anyone else noticed. It seemed that electricity was snapping and sparking between the two as they embraced.
By and by, the piercing dark eyes turned to him. They narrowed.
Mara stepped back from her mother, turning slightly toward him. "Eli, this is Arys, my mother. Mother, this is Eli."
The woman extended her hand slowly. "I am glad to know you, Eli," she said in a neutral tone.
Eli took her hand, and then immediately wished he had found a reason not to.
What did three force users within one city mean?
They were served dinner in a large hall with a table that could have sat fifty. Above them the ceiling was mostly transparisteel that showed the limitless blue of the sky with puffy clouds sailing by and striped the table with patterns of dark and bright. Eli was seated between Mara and Bail Organa, with Queen Breha at the head and Arys across from them. Eli felt her dark gaze throughout the meal. He tried not to show his discomfort under her intense examination.
Bail Organa certainly didn't seem to notice any tension. He seemed at ease in almost any social situation. Eli would almost think it was force persuasion if he didn't know better.
"Mara tells us you are from Chandrilla," Bail said.
"Yes. I've spent most of my adulthood on Coruscant, however." Eli replied.
"How do you find Alderaan?"
"Remarkable," Eli said. "Though after the Academy, I confess the Capital is somewhat different than I anticipated."
Bail smiled. "If you expect all of Alderaan to be like the Academy, you are headed for disappointment. We are as varied as any planet. We have our urban sprawl, our wildernesses, and our slums."
"I doubt your worst slums can compare with the Coruscanti underworld," Eli said.
"True," Organa conceded. "We do not believe in 'underworlds'. We don't draw such a strong line of demarcation between our privileged and our less privileged. We believe poverty worsens when it is kept out of sight, left to fester in the dark."
"Nor do we believe in hoarding wealth," Queen Breha said. She gestured around them. "This residence is owned by all citizens of Alderaan and they can enter at any time, within reason. The paintings on the wall are rotated between here and the public museums. The books in the library can be borrowed by anyone. So our elite are not...quite as elite as on Coruscant. But our poor are not quite so poor, either."
"It sounds like Utopia," Eli said.
"It is more like a Nubian violet beneath a glass," The Queen said. "It is shockingly delicate, requiring constant tending. Much like our forests."
"Don't forests care for themselves?"
"Oh, no." Bail chuckled. "There was a time, centuries ago, when Alderaan was well on its way to becoming a second Coruscant. It was only climate change and several great weather disasters that made us reconsider our direction. After we pulled together and changed our economy, forestry became one of our most important and celebrated fields of study. Now our natural resources make us an economic power in the Empire."
"You sound like a trade pamphlet, Uncle," Mara said with a smile.
Uncle. Eli glanced at her, trying to restrain his curiosity.
Bail laughed, and picked up the carafe of wine, offering Eli a top off. Eli shook his head. Again he felt Arys studying him.
After dinner they rose together. The Queen and Bail excused themselves tactfully, and Eli followed Mara and Arys into an adjacent room, a more intimate one with a marble fire place flanked by huge arching windows overlooking the mountains. The light was dimming, and a cheery fire had been laid with cozy chairs arranged in front of it. A server brought a tray of caf and dessert wine in tiny goblets. Eli selected caf as he settled into one of the chairs, opting for increased alertness rather than relaxation.
Arys wasted no time. "I understand you are auditing classes at the Academy, Eli."
"Yes," Eli replied.
"Have you decided whether you will remain when the term has ended?"
Eli took a long sip. His eyes found Mara's. "I am...warming to the Academy."
Arys' lips pressed into a tight line. "What does your family think of you being so far away?"
"My mother died on Chandrilla when I was very young. I have no close family to think much of it at all," Eli said, mindfully relaxing his posture.
"How are you affording a living if you are without family?" Arys asked.
It was a shockingly rude question in any situation. He should take offense, it would be a natural reaction. But it was difficult to remember what a natural reaction should be with the cold fingers dancing up and down his spine and and her laser focus on his face.
Mara took offense on his behalf. "Mother!"
"It's all right, Mara," Eli said. "I have a comfortable inheritance. It is enough to allow me to pursue my education as I see fit."
"How fortunate," Arys said, her face immobile.
Mara jumped to her feet, and pulled Eli to his. "Well, I am going to show Eli to his room for the night. He is our guest, and I'm sure he is exhausted."
She practically dragged Eli through the door into the dim hallway, allowing the door to close behind them.
"I'm sorry," she said to him once it had. "But I did warn you."
"You did," Eli agreed, following her toward the western wing of the palace. "It's okay, truly. She has every right to be protective of you."
Mara sighed, and rewarded his understanding with a soft kiss on his cheek. Eli lingered a moment behind her, glancing behind them at the closed room. Within, he could sense Arys's disquiet. Her dislike. Her fear.
She had more reason to be protective than either she or Mara knew.
At the door of his room, Mara kissed him again. It was brief, too brief. In spite of himself he reached out and pulled her back, bending his head to capture her lips again. Her body melted into his, and he held her tightly against him, allowing his tongue to touch hers lightly and feeling and tasting her gasp. An urgency filled him, and he let his hands travel the contours of her spine. Suddenly he felt as if he could not get enough. If they had been anywhere else, he might have pulled her inside to continue. But he gave himself a little mental shake and drew back, resting his forehead against hers. She ducked her head to meet his gaze, her eyes twinkling mischievously as her hands continued to explore.
"I...I think perhaps we should continue this another time," He said a bit breathlessly and a bit regretfully.
She smirked. "As you wish."
He cupped her chin and gave her one more chaste kiss, and then turned her around by the shoulders and gave her a little push in the direction of her own room. Then he closed his door and leaned against it for a moment, collecting his train of thought and his control.
The room was luxuriously appointed. It would have been appropriate for a high ranking dignitary. He shook his head as he took in the massive curtained bed and yet another floor to ceiling window, heavily draped now. He pulled back the curtains for a look outside at the completely dark mountainscape, the Tindale arm clearly visible in the velvet black skies above. When he slept he could still feel it somehow, the sense of being curled on a precipice, inches away from a drop into complete unknown
In the morning he opened his eyes to blinding light. The entire wall facing his bed was a solid sheet of transparisteel. He sat up and felt again as if he he had been sleeping on the mountaintops themselves. They spread away before him, innumerable ranges of craggy rock like a sea of tumultuous waves frozen into stone and snow. He let out his breath and swung his feet over to the cold floor. The angle of the sun told him it was quite late in the morning. He was surprised that Mara had not come to get him. Pulling on his clothes and shoes, he walked out into the hallway. Mara had told him she was only a few doors down, and he followed the sense of her force presence until he found her open door.
She was sitting on her own bed faced away from the door, hunched over herself as if she were cold and trying to keep warm. Something wasn't right, he sensed immediately. Despite the stillness of her posture, he could feel her tumult.
"Mara?" He said hesitantly.
She looked up at him. She was a mess, her hair sticking up in all directions, and her face streaked with tear tracks.
"What is it?" He asked, his heart beating fast.
"Is it true?" she whispered.
His mouth went dry. "Is what true?"
She turned fully toward him, revealing what she held in trembling hands. It was her comvid, projecting a blue image into the air. He saw the Emperor in full ceremonial dress flanked by all his advisors and attendants. It appeared to be a grainy still from an old holonews report. He thought he recognized the steps of the senate rotunda behind the group. And there, tucked in the back, he saw himself in the same palace uniform as the rest, the Emperor's crest clearly visible on his shoulder.
"My mother found this last night on the Holonet. She knew something wasn't right the instant she met you, and she stayed up all night looking for information. I could have found it myself if I'd only looked. Is it authentic?"
He opened his mouth but nothing came out.
"Is it you?!"
"Yes," He said in strangled voice.
She didn't seem to known what to do with his answer at first. She shuddered from head to foot, and refused to look at him. "Was it all a lie? Even that story about your mother?"
"No, that was true. I was born in Chandrilla, and she did die in the riot, just as I said."
"Was anything else true?" She asked.
He was silent.
Her hand fisted in the duvet on her bed, the tendons standing out white, the fingers like a raptor's claws. When she spoke again her words hissed between her teeth. "Who are you?"
He gathered himself. "My name is Elian. Elian Palpatine. The Emperor is my father."
She swallowed. "And why did you come here?"
"To gather information on anti-Republic activities. As I have many times before."
Her sudden movement startled him. The comvid flew from her hand across the room. It struck the wall and shattered into pieces that rained down on the floor. But despite the violence of her reaction, Mara did not move from the bed. She sat as frozen as the mountains outside. Her voice was whisper-soft when it came.
"Leia has warned me for years. She always said I was naive, but I didn't think I was. I'd deflected the attentions of opportunists trying to worm their way into the palace many times before."
She looked up at him, and her eyes made all the breath exit his lungs, leaving only stinging vacuum behind. "I really thought you were different from them. You seemed different. You were so good at it, E-" She cut herself off bitterly. "Whatever your name is."
This was unsalvageable. He knew that, but he couldn't keep from taking a step toward her and reaching out. "Mara, I-"
She flinched from his hand like it was a poisonous serpent. "Get out."
"Please," He said, not knowing himself what he was asking for.
"GET OUT!"
The scream was so loud he jumped. He knew others nearby would have heard it as well. Still, he couldn't make himself move for a full minute, until she jumped from the bed, and he saw her eyes darting around to look for a weapon. Only then did he back out of the room, and then turned to run back to his own quarters.
