Chapter Thirteen

"K'aashi, wait up!!" Noaa'lan called out as he ran to catch up with his friend. K'aashi turned around to face Noaa'lan with an annoyed look on his face.

"Man, as if this night wasn't bad enough! Now you gotta' come and ask me if I'm dealing with it all right!"

"I . . . I didn't say anything yet, K'aashi," Noaa'lan stated in confusion.

"You didn't have to. You were thinking it. Look Noaa'lan, I can't believe that S'aalia stood me up after I asked her to come!! I mean, how rude is that?" K'aashi exclaimed.

"Pretty rude, I'd say. K'aashi, this wouldn't be the first time you've been stood up! What is so special about this girl?"

"She's more than special. She's like a goddess! Just the way she looks, and she acts! She's enough to drive a guy wild!" K'aashi said with a grin.

"Maybe she's just playing you. Have you ever considered that??" Noaa'lan asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh, well this is one game that she's not going to win, I'm telling you that right now!" K'aashi said with a look of determination on his face. "Noaa'lan, she is one heck of a good-looking girl, and I'm going to show her what a real man is like!"

"Are you now?" asked a voice in a teasing tone. Giggles erupted from the shadows as S'aalia and her friends approached the two young men. "K'aashi, I think you better take a hint and realize that I'm not interested!"

"How do you know you're not interested if you never even gave me the time of day?" K'aashi asked defensively.

"Sorry K'aashi, but you're not in my league," S'aalia said, shrugging her shoulders.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What it means is that you're a trashy guy who sleeps around," One of S'aalia's friends said with a smirk. "S'aalia didn't want to have to tell you that, but you're just too stubborn to let it go!"

"What?! That's a lie! I haven't ever slept with anyone!" K'aashi cried, and then gulped back air as he realized what he'd just said.

"You haven't?" Noaa'lan asked in shock.

"No! Sadly enough, no." K'aashi hissed. "Look, it must be nice to have all of your friends say the difficult things for you, but I'd like to hear what S'aalia has to say!"

"Here it is, K'aashi," S'aalia said with an amused smile on her face. "You're a slimy lowlife who just doesn't know when to quit! You're stubborn, overbearing, and annoying!!"

"Yes, all of this I know to be true. Your point is?" K'aashi asked, grinning back at her.

"Come on girls. This jerk is never going to get the point!" S'aalia said, glaring at K'aashi over her shoulder as she left.

"Man, frost alert!! I don't know what I could have been thinking with her!" K'aashi laughed.

"At least you finally got over it. I'm not sure it would be healthy to get hung up on a girl like her." Noaa'lan said with a smile.

"No, my friend. The only regret I have is you finding out how pure I really am!" K'aashi said, doubling over.

"Purity of the body, maybe, but purity of the mind, never in a million years!" Noaa'lan laughed.

"Hey, watch it!!" K'aashi said. "Man, it's been an interesting week, but all I really want to do is go to sleep for the entire weekend! I'll see you next week Noaa'lan."

"Sure thing, K'aashi," Noaa'lan said, and then he disappeared through the hedge.

As Noaa'lan walked inside the palace he found that his father was still awake. He was pacing nervously around the dining hall, talking with one of his most trusted advisors. Noaa'lan could tell from his tone that something was very wrong.

"Ambassador Temusa and many other government personnel died today in what looks like a carefully planned bombing. We may be dealing with terrorists," His mother explained, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Terrorists? What could they want out of us?" Noaa'lan asked in shock.

"If you ask me, I think it's a personal attack on our family. It almost always is. Temusa was a good friend of ours, and the terrorists knew that his death would be a blow to the Narundis," Bel'aanaea said softly, watching her husband's agitated form move back and forth out of the corner of her eye. "Especially your father."

Noaa'lan reached out with the force to touch the black hole of emptiness where the explosion had taken place. Through the massive death and destruction he could sense the vile residue of something dark, even blacker than the blackness in which it resided . . .

"Darksiders . . ." Noaa'lan said, and then trailed off.

"Pardon? What did you say, Noaa'lan?" Bel'aanaea asked.

"The people responsible for this are Sith magicians. I sense the dark side very strongly where the bomb went off," Noaa'lan said, his blue eyes gleaming as he looked over at his father. Cel'aanaeus had stopped pacing and was now looking at him.

"You can sense it too, can't you Noaa'lan?" Cel'aanaeus said grimly. "It's disguised by the blast, but it's there. I'm going to send out a message to our royal fleet, telling them not to allow any unauthorized vehicles into the system. If indeed we are dealing with Sith terrorists, then things are much graver than we could possibly imagine."

"Yes, but there's no telling what they could have obtained while they were on board the Ambassador's ship! They might still manage to evade security," Noaa'lan warned.

"Good thinking. I'll tell them to mandate background checks on all of the occupants of ships entering the system. That should raise our chances of apprehending whoever is responsible before they can inflict any more damage." Cel'aanaeus said, and then he hurried off to deliver the message.

"How was your date?" Bel'aanaea asked, smiling secretively.

"How . . .how did you know about that?" Noaa'lan asked with a bemused expression on his face.

"Your father informed me of the situation. So, you and J'aa'nalia are an item, much to your father's disappointment, I might add," Bel'aanaea proclaimed.

"You're not upset with my decision, are you? I mean, I really do love her, mother!" Noaa'lan said, almost pleading with his mother to support him.

"Calm down! You've obviously had a very long night, and you need your rest! Of course I support you with this! I'm not as strict as your father, as you must know! However, I will warn you not to ignore the risks of your actions. You've probably heard all of this from your father, many times, so I feel no need to remind you again. Now, off to bed with you!" Bel'aanaea said quietly.

Noaa'lan eagerly complied with his mother, and within minutes he was fast asleep.

************

Noaa'lan walked quietly through the corridors of the palace on a bright morning, but his world seemed anything but sunny. Something was making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, and he just couldn't put his finger on it. He was almost to the bottom of the grand staircase when he saw a female figure dart out from behind a pillar and race down the back stairs to the kitchen. Noaa'lan followed her, reaching down unconsciously to unclasp his lightsaber from his belt. As he crept cautiously down the stairs, the carvings on the wall came to life and sprung out at him. They moaned to him that he was in danger, and that darkness was near.

'I must be dreaming! The statues down here don't come to life!!' Noaa'lan rationalized. The strangeness of the situation had roused his curiosity, and he had to know why this strange woman was running through his house. He came to the end of the passageway, and peered out into the kitchen, which was bathed in the flickering sunlight of the morning. The sun came to rest upon two figures, one of which was the mysterious woman Noaa'lan had seen running from him. They seemed to be quite intimately involved and were kissing each other passionately as they leaned up against the counter. Noaa'lan watched in horror as he realized that the man kissing the woman was his own brother. Luckily, Kahl'aan hadn't noticed his brother was watching him, and he continued to kiss and caress the strange woman.

'I must really be dreaming, because Kahl'aan isn't even interested in dating yet!' thought Noaa'lan as he smiled to himself. He continued to watch the two of them as the dream became more graphic. Suddenly Noaa'lan was concerned that Kahl'aan wasn't taking into consideration the consequences of his actions.

"Are you sure your ready for this, Kahl'aan?" asked the woman as she breathed heavily.

"Oh, I am so ready!! Lets go, right now, right here!" Kahl'aan moaned as he continued to kiss her.

Noaa'lan looked on with an intense sense of confusion and disbelief. He couldn't believe that this was his brother talking! Kahl'aan would never act like that, not at his age. Upon closer examination of his brother's face, Noaa'lan noticed that his brother looked much older than he really was, which alarmed Noaa'lan. What would father say when he found out about Kahl'aan and this girl he was obviously very friendly with? He decided that this was just too much. He'd have to spare his brother the aggravation of dealing with his father, partially because he couldn't stand to see any more of the two of them together. Noaa'lan's feet had been frozen to the ground, as if something in the dream was forcing him to stay in one spot and witness the entire ordeal. He quickly became unglued as he burst forward into the kitchen.

"Kahl'aan, you're making a big mistake!! What you're doing is dangerous, I can sense it!!" Noaa'lan yelled at his brother, who seemed to be unconcerned with what Noaa'lan was telling him. He continued to make love to the young woman, and Noaa'lan watched as she clawed Kahl'aan's back.

"Go away, Noaa'lan! You've got your own girl, so just leave us alone!"

"Don't you even care if father walks in and sees you like this? He'll kill you!!" Noaa'lan cried.

"Look, why don't you go back upstairs and be with your wife!? She's waiting for you, Noaa'lan," Kahl'aan said, his voice suddenly calmer than before.

"Noaa'lan?" called a voice from upstairs.

"J'aa'nie??" Noaa'lan asked, sounding hopeful.

"Honey, come back to bed. It's still early!" J'aa'nalia's soft voice echoed down through the passageway.

"Go to her, Noaa'lan," Kahl'aan said from behind him. He turned around in shock to see his brother standing there, fully clothed. The young woman was standing behind Kahl'aan, leaning up against the table. He finally got a good look at her. She had a very pretty youthful face with sparkling blue eyes and shiny indigo hair. Her short hair framed her face and in certain sections was longer than the rest. Her skimpy, tight clothing was either a sign of a middle class background or an indication that she was trying to entice his brother to make love to her. Noaa'lan wasn't sure which. He just knew that she was tall, slender, and beautiful. He congratulated his brother on making such a find, and then walked back up the stairs to where J'aa'nalia was waiting for him.

"You wouldn't believe what I just saw Kahl'aan doing down there!" Noaa'lan said, grinning at J'aa'nalia.

"Oh, I can imagine! Why don't we join them with that??" J'aa'nie said in a teasing tone, and then led Noaa'lan up the stairs to their bedroom.

Noaa'lan woke from his dream with a start, and sat bolt upright on his sleeping pallet. He exhaled as he realized that he had been dreaming the whole thing. It was a relief that Kahl'aan hadn't been carousing with a strange woman in the kitchen, but Noaa'lan still felt uneasy about the entire dream. Was it just an innocent dream that was a product of the huge amount of stress he'd been under lately, or was it really a prediction of the future, like most of Noaa'lan's dreams were? Noaa'lan knew that he sensed something about that woman, something that was strange, almost . . .dangerous.

Noaa'lan jumped to the ground and ran down the hall to his brother's room. He didn't want to take any chances if his brother really was in danger. He pushed the door open slowly to find his brother fast asleep on the floor with the disc still playing on the giant holoscreen. He shook his brother awake just to make sure he was all right. Kahl'aan gave a snort and then looked up at his brother with bleary blue eyes.

"What time is it?" Kahl'aan asked sleepily. "Did I fall asleep?"

"Yeah, it looks like you did. Better lay off of those hologames. You're going to give yourself eyestrain!" Noaa'lan warned, sounding more like a parent than a brother. He helped Kahl'aan up onto his sleeping pallet, for he was already nodding off again. Kahl'aan was asleep the moment his head hit he pillow, and it was obvious to Noaa'lan that he hadn't been downstairs in the kitchen with a woman!

"Or is it possible?" whispered Noaa'lan under his breath. He reached out hesitantly with the force, checking Kahl'aan's back for the claw marks left by the woman. He was relieved when he found none. Noaa'lan chuckled to himself as he left the room, scolding himself for even thinking that his brother could have done such a thing! Kahl'aan was a pest, and sometimes he could be downright ruthless with his nagging and bribery, but he was innocent when it came to romantic matters. Noaa'lan knew he could count on Kahl'aan to scoff in the face of true love, and he liked it that way. Noaa'lan closed the door quietly so he wouldn't wake his sleeping brother and traveled down the hall to his room. His sleeping pallet looked so warm and welcoming, and as far as Noaa'lan was concerned he didn't have a care in the world. He lay down and within a few minutes he drifted off into a fitful sleep.