CHAPTER ONE
Jaina
Solo pulled down on the lever on the controls in front of her and the Lightning
Rod shot out of hyperspace into the Hapes System. She checked the instruments in front of her to make sure that
everything was functioning normally, which wasn't always the case with the old
ship, but today everything checked out fine regardless. Beside her, Zekk laid in the coordinates
Tenal Ka had given them and the ship began its approach to the round glowing
world known as Hapes.
Jaina shifted uncomfortably in her
seat and checked her wrist chronometer.
They would reach planet side in about twenty standard minutes.
"What's wrong?" Zekk asked turning to face her, his face
an obvious mask of concern.
"I dunno," she said with a shrug, "it's just that I – "
"Don't tell me you 'have a bad feeling about this'," Zekk
said with an exasperated sigh.
"Fine, I won't," she said with a small smile as she saw
him slump down in his co-pilot chair with a groan. "It's probably just the whole idea of Tenal Ka getting married
that's giving me weird vibes. I mean,
who would've thought she'd leave the Jedi Academy and then less than six months
later be getting married."
"And who would've thought it'd be to someone either than
Jacen," Zekk finished, voicing Jaina's own unspoken thoughts. She wondered if her twin brother thought the
same thing.
Ever since Tenal Ka had left the Jedi Academy on Yavin
Four, Jaina had felt a sudden change in her twin brother's emotions. Regret, sadness and even anger seemed to
pour off of him these days. Through the
special bond they shared through the force from being twins, it was difficult
to hide anything from each other, especially feelings that strong. But whenever she had tried to talk to Jacen
about what was bothering him, he would just brush her off and say nothing. He knew that answer hadn't satisfied his
sister, but he also knew that she wouldn't invade his privacy by probing his
thoughts without his permission. At
least not yet, Jaina thought silently to herself.
To everyone else, he seemed like the
same old Jacen, except maybe to Anakin and Danni. Their little brother didn't share the same connection with Jacen that
she did, but he was usually pretty perceptive.
With Danni, Jaina knew for a fact that the former ExGal scientist and
Jacen had grown close ever since he had rescued her from the clutches of the
ruthless Yuuzhan Vong on Helska Four.
It was obvious that he had feelings for her and from what she had heard
from Danni, it seemed she shared those feelings as well. Danni had told her of the kiss they had
shared by the river near the academy.
There had also been other little hints here and there as well. Things like spending hours at a time
training together, just the two of them, and going for long walks in the
luscious jungles on Yavin Four alone.
No one knew what happened when they spent all those hours alone, and
Jaina felt it was none of her business to invade her brother and friend's
privacy by asking questions. What they
did together was their business, but Jaina could not help but wonder at exactly
what was going on between the two Jedi.
Whatever it was, they were keeping pretty secretive about it. Jaina suspected it was probably due to the
whole age difference thing, with Danni being five years older than Jacen. But their father was quite a few years older
than their mother after all, and her mother had only been a couple of years
older than Jacen when she had first met their father, so the age thing should
not be a real problem for them.
Still, whatever it was that was bothering her brother,
Jaina could only guess that it had something to do with Tenal Ka. She had suspected as much since his change
in moods had occurred soon after the Dathomirian warrior had left Yavin
Four. It had been no secret that their
seemed to be an obvious attraction between the two practically the entire time
they had been together at the academy training to be Jedi Knights. Even though the warrior girl rarely showed
any emotion at all, Jacen seemed to be the one person who was able to crack a
smile out of her. And before Jaina knew
it, the two had become inseparable, and oblivious to the obvious mutual
feelings they felt for one another. But
after graduation they had gone their separate ways. Tenal Ka had gone back to Dathomir to continue to be a warrior
for her clan and fight against the ongoing threat of the Night Sisters, while
Jacen had returned home to Courscant, and a few months later began fulfilling
his duties as a Jedi Knight by fighting against the invading Yuuzhan Vong
warriors, who were threatening to take the galaxy as their own.
After being apart for nearly six months, they had met up
again when their Uncle Luke had summoned all the Jedi Knights back to the
academy for a special meeting regarding the Vong invasion. The two had picked up right where they had
left off: just as oblivious as to how they both felt about each other as when
they had been students at the academy together.
Jaina sighed.
Whatever could have happened between her brother and Tenal Ka would
never happen now that their friend was getting married.
"I'll go tell the others to strap in, since we'll be
landing soon. Or should I say, you'll
be getting ready to land soon," came Zekk's voice, cutting into Jaina's
thoughts.
Jaina forced herself away from her
musings and gave a small laugh. Even
though the Lightning Rod was Zekk's ship and he was more than a
competent pilot, Jaina was usually the one to fly her when they flew together
and perform repairs when they needed doing, with Zekk's help of course. He had often teased her about caring more
about the old bucket of bolts than him, but he knew the reason that she loved
to fly the ship was because she so desperately wanted a ship of her own. What she really wanted was her father's
ship, the Millennium Falcon, but that ship was her father's most beloved
possession and she had a feeling he would fly it until it fell apart, or at
least until her mother finally convinced him to retire the old ship. Jaina didn't see the likeliness of either
one of those things happening anytime soon.
"Well, if you really think that, you
can strap in the back with the others and I'll do the landing myself," she
teased.
Zekk pretended to look hurt. "Well, if you really don't need me…" He trailed off.
"Of course I need you.
Who's going to sit here and play with the landing lights if you don't?"
He grinned. "It's
a tough job but someone has to do it," he said getting up from his seat, and
giving her hand a brief squeeze before leaving the cockpit.
Zekk entered the small lounge area
of the Lightning Rod to find Jacen and Anakin engaged in a holographic
game of Dejarik while Tahiri and Danni watched. Zekk smiled to himself, knowing the two young Jedi Knights were
trying to impress their respected supporters.
He could see the beads of sweat rolling down Jacen's face as he
concentrated on his next move, while Anakin looked calm, as if he already had a
winning strategy figured out. This came
as no surprise to Zekk, considering the youngest Solo's ease at which he solved
puzzles.
Jacen finally made his move, cornering Anakin's most
valuable game piece. Knowing that it
was all but impossible for his little brother to win now, Jacen leaned back in
his seat and crossed his arms over his chest, wearing a satisfied smile on his
face. Anakin had been caught off guard
by his brother's offensive move and now he was going to have to alter his
strategy if he wanted to win. Beside
him, he could feel silent encouragement and support radiating from Tahiri and
it made him feel warm inside to know that she had such faith in his
abilities. He would not let her down.
With his eyes half closed, he let the force flow through
him, hoping that it would guide him to find a flaw in his brother's
attack. It did not take long before he
found one. Jacen had hoped to catch his
brother off guard with his unorthodox move, but in doing so he had left his
most valuable game piece open for attack.
In an instant Anakin made his move.
In one swift movement his holographic monster trudged over to Jacen's
unprotected one and dismembered it.
Game Over.
Jacen placed his elbows on the game table and held his
chin in his hands. "I can't believe I
didn't see that coming, " he shook his head.
"I should know by now to never underestimate my little brother's problem
solving abilities."
The passengers turned their heads to the sudden bout of
laughter coming from the doorway of the lounge. Zekk walked over to Jacen and slapped his friend on the
shoulder. "You would think by now that
you would be used to losing. It's only about
the millionth time Anakin's beat you at this game."
Anakin
grinned. "You want to give it another
shot, and try and beat me this time?"
Jacen shook his head and got up from the table. "Even I know when it's time to quit."
Before Anakin could goad his brother
into playing another game, Zekk said, "beating Jacen again will have to wait
until the trip home. We're almost at
Hapes." He looked over at Jacen, and
although his face was now an impassive mask, he could feel the sudden rise in
anxiety in his friend's emotions at this news.
Maybe Jaina's right, Zekk thought to himself. There was obviously something going on with
her brother that he wasn't sharing with anybody.
Danni must have picked up on it as well, because she
ended the silence by saying, "I guess we better strap in, huh?"
They all agreed and moments later everyone's crash
webbing was secure and Zekk was back in the cockpit with Jaina, who was already
approaching the coordinates where they were supposed to land.
"Wow, they want us to land in there?" Zekk asked in surprise, eyeing the massive
hanger bay that looked like it could easily house at least a thousand ships.
"Yep, Tenal Ka wanted to make sure the Lightning Rod
was protected just as any other Hapan cruiser."
Zekk shook his head in wry
amusement. Leave it to Tenal Ka to
think of something like that. He knew
that assassins and saboteurs were about as common as a cold on Hapes, so it
felt good that she wanted to make sure her friends were safe during their
stay. But why anyone would want to
steal this hunk of junk, was quite beyond Zekk. Sometimes, their friend could be a little too cautious.
Before they knew it, Jaina was bringing the old ship into
the hanger, which was, as Zekk suspected, filled with dozens of different types
of sleek looking Hapan ships. There was
everything from tiny escort ships to heavily armored Hapan Battle Dragons. He let out a low whistle. He bet the combined value of all those ships
would be enough to buy half of Courscant.
As soon as Jaina had landed their ship on their
designated landing pad, Zekk began the shutdown cycle. Once that was finished, Jaina unbuckled her
crash webbing and rose from her seat.
Turning to Zekk she said, "well, what are we waiting for?"
Jacen Solo strode down the landing ramp feeling… well, he
wasn't exactly sure what he felt. They were
here on Tenal Ka's home planet for her wedding, and Jacen was still having a
hard time adjusting to the fact that his best friend in the whole galaxy was
going to marry some guy she had not even known existed a few months ago. Lord Zeille she had said was his name in one
of her holo messages. He was probably
some spoiled brat who was used to getting whatever he wanted and didn't deserve
her. There it was again. Jealousy.
Jacen closed his brandy brown eyes.
Every time he thought about Tenal Ka getting married, he felt a pang of
jealousy… and well maybe even envy.
Envy of the man who was going to be her husband, and jealous that he
wasn't that man. This is ridiculous,
he scolded himself and shook his head to clear it.
He opened his eyes in time to see
Tenal Ka strolling towards them. Her
usual unemotional demeanor was nowhere to be found. Instead, she smiled as she approached them, happy to see her
friends again after so long.
Her usual red gold braids bounced around on her shoulders
as she walked, and Jacen noticed with a smile that she still chose to wear the
same Dathomirian lizard hide armor that she had always worn when at the
academy. Her grandmother, the power
hungry Ta'a Chume, was probably having a fit because her granddaughter continued
to refuse to wear the traditional Hapan garments of the Royal Family.
"Welcome, my friends.
It is good to see some familiar faces who are friendly," she greeted
them.
"It's good to see you too," said Jaina, and she gave the
warrior girl a hug.
Tenal Ka hugged her back with both arms – both arms! Jacen blinked, realizing that Tenal Ka had
replaced her arm that she had lost a couple of years ago in a lightsaber
accident with Jacen. Her faulty
lightsaber had collapsed during a dueling exercise with Jacen. With Jacen pressing his own lightsaber
against hers, his momentum had carried him forward, to strike where Tenal Ka's
blade had suddenly vanished, causing him to slice through her arm, just below
her elbow. Tenal Ka had long ago
forgiven him, insisting that it was her own fault for being so careless when
constructing her lightsaber. Still,
Jacen couldn't help but feel a bit guilty, even now. If he had not been so intent on impressing her by winning their
duel, she might not have lost her arm in the first place.
He could feel his sister's worrying eyes on him now, and
knew that she had felt his self reproach about the whole accident. He quickly flashed her a lopsided grin that
made him look so much like their father, to assure her that he was okay now.
It looked like she believed him, for she turned her
attention back to Tenal Ka. "You never
told us in your holo messages that you decided to get a replacement arm."
"I know. I am
sorry, Jaina my friend. It would have…
prepared you," Tenal Ka apologized.
"Hey, no problem.
It was a nice surprise," Jaina replied good-naturedly.
"Yeah, we're happy for you," said Zekk, as he draped an
arm around Jaina's shoulders.
"I felt it was time to stop thinking of myself as weak if
I wore one. I realized a prosthetic arm
alone cannot change who a person is." she explained to them.
After finishing welcoming everyone with a hug, including
Jacen, though he noted with some disappointment that it was a bit more
tentatively then she did with the others, Tenal Ka led them away from the
hanger bay.
It was at that point when Jacen noticed that Tenal Ka had
come alone to greet them. "So where's
Lord Zeille?"
"Zeille had important business to attend to, but he'll be
meeting us for dinner tonight at the Palace," she answered without turning
around.
Outside, there was an expensive looking speeder waiting
to take them to the Palace – Tenal Ka's home –where they would be staying.
The group of friends piled into the
speeder and Tenal Ka tried not to let it bother her that Jacen and Danni were
sitting together in the cramped back of the speeder. She was going to be married in less than a week, and if Jacen had
found someone to be with, then she was happy for him. Deep down though, she could hear a voice inside her screaming
LIAR! But before she could contemplate
the matter further, they had arrived in front of the magnificent looking Hapan
Fountain Palace.
She had grown up there until she had been old enough to
decide to travel to her mother's home planet of Dathomir to learn the primitive
ways of how her people lived and to discover her force potential. Her mother had been delighted when she had
made the decision to become a Dathomirian warrior and even more so when she had
decided to attend Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy on Yavin Four to train to
become a Jedi Knight. Her grandmother,
on the other hand, had been less than thrilled to say the least. She was aghast to learn that her only
grandchild would ignore her duties as heir to the Hapan throne to become a Jedi. As heir to the throne, her grandmother felt
that she should be learning about politics and other matters that Tenal Ka
could care less about, instead of running around the galaxy wielding a
lightsaber and having adventures.
But now, because she had chosen to return home, and
because of her age, she had no choice but to let herself get thrown into
politics and other matters of Hapan society.
One of the decisions she had made was to allow her grandmother to choose
a suitable Hapan noble for her to marry.
She had known the moment she returned to Hapes Ta'a Chume would start
pestering her about finding a worthy husband.
She could have easily refused to allow Ta'a Chume to find her an
eligible suitor, because there was nothing in Hapan traditions dictating that
she had to be married so young, but she did not. At the time she did not know why she had said yes to getting
married, but now she had a feeling as to why she had done it.. It had been staring at her in the face the
entire ride to the Palace.
Marriage had been
the last thing on her mind until she had begun to notice the intensifying
relationship of Jacen Solo and Danni Quee.
She had thought nothing of it at first, because Jacen still spent a
great deal of attention to her and they had become close again, exactly the way
things had been when they were both attending the Jedi Academy. But one night she had been out looking for
Jacen, only to find him and Danni kissing down by the river. She had run off into the jungle and back to
her room, trying to convince herself that she didn't care, that she and Jacen
were only friends. It grew harder
though, as the weeks passed. The kiss
seemed to have awakened feelings that the two of them had been keeping
hidden. She would catch them trying to
steal glances at one another when they thought the other wasn't looking. Then there were all the hours Jacen would
spend teaching Danni how to fight with a lightsaber or how to develop some
other aspect of her force powers.
Tenal
Ka had to admit Danni was a formable warrior and learned quickly. She was strong willed and tenacious. No wonder Jacen liked her. But the worst part of all was when Jacen was
with Tenal Ka he still acted as if nothing had changed between them, and
finally it became more than she could bear.
It was then that she made her decision to leave Yavin Four for good and
return home.
Instead
of her usual calm and cool demeanor, Tenal Ka had let her emotions take over
and made the hasty decision to return home, wanting was to get as far away from
Yavin Four… and Jacen Solo as possible.
Her
parents had urged her to rethink her decision to get married, knowing full well
that their daughter did not want to get married, but Tenal Ka had made up her
mind. Even when Jacen had asked her to
stay, it had almost been enough to make her change her mind, but then she
thought of him and Danni together, and that was what made up her mind for
her. So she had left, without telling
Jacen how she really felt, but it no longer mattered. She had waited too long and now she had lost him forever.
Soon
after returning to Hapes, her grandmother had given her a list of eligible suitors to choose from, and
Zeille seemed to be the most acceptable of the lot. She didn't love him but it didn't matter, she would marry him regardless. It would have happened sooner or later,
whether she had left Yavin then or not.
Eventually, she would have had to fulfill her role in the Hapan Royal
Family. It was just a matter of it
being sooner than she had anticipated.
Forcing
her thoughts aside, and chiding herself for dwelling on the past, she led her
friends into her home.
She
had chosen rooms for each of her friends that she knew would suit their
liking. All of the rooms in the
Fountain Palace were beautifully decorated and spacious, with furnishings
designed to provide the utmost comfort for the guest staying there. First came Jaina's room and then
Zekk's. She had made a point of having
their rooms beside each other, and the two seemed to appreciate the gesture.
They
left Jaina and Zekk to unpack and moved further down the hall to show Danni to
her room, which had a large bay window in it overlooking the cities of
Hapes. Then they moved on to Anakin and
Tahiri's rooms. Both were filled with
the same fancy and expensive furnishings as every other room in the Fountain
Palace. Credits were no object for the
Royal Family. Though Tenal Ka herself
preferred a more simple way of living instead of having all this useless, bulky
furniture that was everywhere in the Palace.
Now
it was just her and Jacen walking through the brilliantly decorated halls of
her home, and Jacen could not help but notice that she was putting his room as
far away from hers as possible.
They
walked silently along, each not knowing what to say, but at the same time
knowing exactly what they wanted to say but unable to find the words to say it.
Finally,
they reached the room Tenal Ka had selected for him. When she opened the door, Jacen gasped in both surprise and
amazement. A large aquarium tank took
up the wall on the opposite side of the room, teeming with exotic fish from at
least a dozen other worlds. The
furnishings inside managed to be both elegant and simple at the same time. The room reminded him of the one he had
stayed in at the Crystal Reef Fortress during his first stay on Hapes, soon
after finding out that Tenal Ka was not just a simple Dathomirian warrior but
also the Princess of Hapes.
Tenal
Ka could not help but feel secretly pleased that he enjoyed the room she had
selected for him. She remembered how
much he had liked the one at Crystal Reef Fortress and knew this room would be
perfect for him, but all she said was, "is it satisfactory?"
He
whirled around to give her that famous lopsided grin of his that always made
her heart beat faster and her knees feel weak.
"Yeah, it's perfect," he answered.
"I
am glad you like it." Deciding it was
best to leave before things got awkward, Tenal Ka turned to leave but a gentle
hand on her shoulder stopped her. She
turned around to find herself staring up into the eyes of Jacen. His brandy brown eyes locked onto her cool
gray ones. She felt herself being drawn
closer to him, feeling an overwhelming need to be in his arms.
Jacen
inched closer to her and swallowed hard.
"Tenal Ka, I – "
At
that moment, Tenal Ka realized exactly what would happen if she did not walk
away at that instant. She pushed Jacen
away from her. "I have to go," she
lied, "I am glad you like the room," she finished lamely.
And with that, she turned and hurried out of his
room and down the hall, leaving Jacen alone to stare for some time at the spot
where she had just been.
