Chapter Thirty-Five

As soon as Obi-Wan had left her chamber, Princess Nadira started laughing.

Aalea sighed. Now what was so funny? She looked over at the princess.

"Are all Jedi so pretty?" Nadira asked.

"Pretty? You mean Obi-Wan?"

"Oh, yes, Jedi Aalea. He is a very pretty fellow, especially when he is angry."

Aalea shook her head. She didn't think Obi-Wan would appreciate being called pretty.

"Are you certain you and Jedi Obi-Wan are not lovers?" Nadira went on. "Because if you are not, you should make him your lover. I am thinking he would make a very excellent one."

"Your highness, Obi-Wan is not nor will he ever be my---" Aalea began.

"It is very easy to tell if a man will make a good lover, is it not, Badalah?" Nadira went on.

"That is very true, poppet," Badalah answered.

"The way a man carries himself is a very good sign, Jedi Aalea," Nadira said. "If a man is at ease in his body, it means he will be at ease during the act of love. I am thinking Jedi Obi-Wan is very much at ease in his body."

The princess then shook her head and frowned slightly.

"However, it was very hard to see what his body looked like under all those ugly clothes you Jedi wear. Have you ever seen his body, Jedi Aalea? I am thinking he must have a very pretty one. He has such a pretty face."

"Your highness, please, this topic is not---" Aalea said.

Nadira put her hands behind her back and Aalea was suddenly reminded of the instructors at the Jedi Temple. Nadira was talking about Obi-Wan as if he were some specimen she was dissecting.

"And his voice. Such a pleasing music it has." Nadira closed her eyes for a moment. "Very nice I am thinking for whispering sweet nothings on a moonlit night, do you not agree, Badalah?"

Badalah only shrugged, her brows pulled down in a frown.

"He also has well-shaped hands. That is good. It means he will know how to touch you and make you feel nice, Jedi Aalea. And the eyes." Nadira sighed. "Such a pretty color. Gray and blue all mixed together. Bedchamber eyes. That is what they are called, is that not so, Badalah?"

"Your highness, I don't think--" Aalea said urgently, but Nadira ignored her, swept away in her analysis of Obi-Wan.

"His mouth is pretty, too. I am thinking he must be a very nice kisser. Have you ever kissed him, Jedi Aalea?"

"No, your highness," Aalea said gritting her teeth." I have not nor do I ever intend to kiss him."

"How can you not be wanting to kiss such a pretty fellow, Jedi Aalea?" Nadira said, her green eyes twinkling. "I am thinking you are still light in the head to say such a thing. Perhaps you should lie down some more."

"Your highness---"

"I am thinking Jedi Obi-Wan's kisses would be as soft as rose petals and as sweet as cherry bonbons. Do you not agree, Badalah?"

Badalah rolled her eyes. Aalea could see the handmatron did not share Nadira's enthusiastic appraisal of Obi-Wan's attributes while Aalea herself was becoming quite annoyed with the princess's continued babbling about him.

"Your highness---," she said.

"And that deep dimple in his chin." Nadira nodded sagely. "I am not certain, but I am thinking that is a very good sign he has a very big---"

"Your highness! Please!" Aalea shouted.

Nadira's eyes widened as she looked over at Aalea.

"Your highness, please forgive my outburst," Aaela said quickly. "But he is my master. And he is nothing like that. He is a Jedi and we Jedi are..." Aalea stopped and swallowed. She was suddenly reminded of her kissing of Master Qui-Gon. Her cheeks burned in remembrance.

Nadira looked keenly at Aalea for a long moment, her green eyes sharp and assessing.

"But if he is not your lover, Jedi Aalea," she finally asked, "how can you be certain of what he is or is not like?"

Aalea ignored Nadira's question. She was very uncomfortable with all this talk about Obi-Wan's eyes and hands and mouth. The more Nadira had gone on talking about him, the warmer Aalea had become.

"Your highness, I'm sorry," Aalea said, "but such things are not discussed where I come from."

Nadira continued to stare at Aalea, her elfin face thoughtful. She then nodded. "Ah, I see." She and Badalah exchanged a meaningful look.

"I am now suspecting why it is you are so upset," Nadira said as she moved closer to Aalea and placed her hand over Aalea's heart. She then reached up and touched Aalea's forehead.

"Yes, I see now. Your head and your heart are not one."

Aalea shook her head. She had no idea what Nadira was talking about and, at that moment, she really didn't care.

"Your highness, I respectfully request that my clothes be returned to me. I'm already in enough trouble with my master. And I'd also like to get my travel case from our ship before he leaves."

"Your case has already been taken to your quarters, Jedi Aalea," Nadira said, "and, as for your clothes, would you rather not wear something else? You are very beautiful. Much too beautiful for such ugly clothes." Nadira wrinkled up her face.

"They are not ugly. They are practical, your highness. They are the traditional apparel of the Jedi Order and symbolize our commitment to a life of service."

Badalah shook her dark curly head and sniffed disdainfully.

"Life of service, by the eye of the Prude," she said contemptuously. "More likely a life of servitude."

"Please, your highness," Aalea said. "I must have my clothes."

Nadira sighed. "All right, Jedi Aalea. If it is so important to you, they will be returned when they are clean. I suppose you would like to go to your quarters now?"

"Yes, I would like that very much."

"Badalah will take you to them. And then, after you are settled in, I order you to return so that you can tell me everything about Jedi Obi-Wan."

And with that Nadira pranced back into her bower where Aalea could hear her prattling to her handmaidens about how pretty Jedi Obi-Wan was.

Aalea sighed heavily as she followed Badalah to her quarters. The last thing she wanted to do was spend the rest of the day talking about Obi-Wan Kenobi. What a silly mission this was turning out to be.

To be continued...