Chapter Five

Leia and Winter dutifully, if reluctantly, emerged from their retreat when dinner was called. The adults were grouped at one end of the table, the children at the other. Lady Naraud remained quiet and sullen while her husband chatted happily away with Bail and cut up Teena's nerf steak. Leia didn't like seeing how caring the governor was with his daughter. Imperials were supposed to be evil, heartless monsters, not nice and loving fathers. In his tenderness toward Teena, Governor Naraud seemed disturbingly like - well, like Bail.

The children sat at their end of the table digging into the food and not saying much of anything. Jaffia studiously avoided looking at the girls, and Dal for the moment was engrossed in his purple cheera beans.

But Leia's father, of course, could not leave well enough alone, and he called down to the youngsters' end of the table, "Jaffia, Dal, I imagine you're quite excited about your new home."

Dal paused, his mouth full of beans, looking alarmed at being addressed by the Viceroy, but Jaffia tossed her head. "Oh, I won't be going to Cyrene. I'm going to go away to a private school on Coruscant where they don't admit aliens."

Irked by the girl's condescension, Leia asked, "Then who can go there?"

Jaffia sniffed, "Only humans."

"But humans are aliens, too," Leia pointed out.

Dal guffawed and almost spat his beans out, while Jaffia protested, "We are not!"

"An alien is just anyone who is a different species from you," Winter explained. "So we are aliens to Wookiees or Bothans, for example."

"We are not!" Jaffia appealed to her father. "Papa, tell them."

"Technically speaking, they are correct," her father replied.

"Well, *I'm* not an alien," Jaffia protested. "I'm not going to school with any aliens, and I'm sure not living on any planet full of bug aliens."

"The Cyrenenas aren't bugs," Leia said. "They're reptilian."

"What's that mean?" Dal asked.

"It means they're like snakes," Jaffia explained.

Dal's eyes grew wide in a mixture of fascination and fear. "Are they poisonous?"

"They're more like lizards," Leia said. "And they won't bite you. Cyreneans are nice."

But Dal didn't appear reassured. He shot an anxious glance at his mother. "Do I have to go school with them?"

"Of course not," Lady Naraud assured him.

"You should," Leia said. "Winter and I go to school with all kinds of beings. It's fun. I wouldn't want to go to school where everyone was the same." Winter nodded in enthusiastic support.

"Well, I don't think aliens should be allowed to mix with humans," Jaffia said.

"Now, Jaffia," her father corrected a little nervously. "There is a place for all beings in the Empire. That's why were going to Cyrene, to restore order and peace, and make the Cyreneans productive members of the Empire."

Looking down at her plate, Leia muttered, "That's going to be hard to do when you blew up their capital city."

Everyone around the table froze. Leia looked up to see Jaffia glaring suspiciously at her. Dal sat with his fork in his mouth, his eyes darting from Leia to his father and back again. Winter held her breath. Leia felt her blood chill as she realized what a serious error she had made. She couldn't bear to move, was afraid to look at her father for fear of the expression she might see on his face.

After a painfully long pause, the governor cleared his throat. "You have a point, little princess. The destruction of their capital was a most unfortunate event. We made every effort to work out a peaceful resolution, but when that failed, we were forced to take drastic measures. They brought it upon themselves. It is no doubt hard for a young girl like you to understand, but that is the way of the world. Sometimes leaders have to make very difficult decisions, as I'm sure your own father well knows."

Leia bit down hard enough on her tongue to draw blood. She wanted to jump up and scream in the governor's face that her father would never order the destruction of a city. But for Bail's sake she kept quiet.

The governor offered a smile. "Fortunately for the Cyreneans, the Empire is forgiving and generous. We will help them rebuild their capital. In time they will learn that they were wrong, and peace will be restored. That's what we all want, isn't it?"

"Indeed, Governor," was Bail's reply. "Well spoken. The Cyreneans are fortunate to have you as provisional ruler. You will do well by them, I'm sure. Now," Bail straightened his shoulders as if shrugging off the awkward conversation, "Dal, would you be so good as to pass the cheera beans? I believe I'm ready for seconds."

****

The rest of the meal passed in relative tranquility, with the conversation restricted to discussions of mountain weather and plans for the next day. Leia kept her gaze riveted to her plate and said nothing, leaving Winter to answer whenever Dal asked a question about tree lions or rivers or blizzards.

When the meal at last ended, everyone retired to the living room. Jaffia flipped on the holoviewer, Lady Naraud picked up her datapad once more, and the governor started to build a fire in the fireplace, assisted by Dal and Teena.

Leia and Winter opened the game cabinet to look for a puzzle they could work, when Leia felt a hand on her shoulder. "Leia," her father said, "might I have a word with you? You, too, Winter."

Nodding, the girls followed Bail out of the room and down the hallway to their bedroom, where they could not be overheard.

"Sit down," Bail instructed.

The girls obeyed, sitting together on the edge of the bed, hands folded in their laps, shoulders touching in a silent gesture of moral support.

Bail paced restlessly back and forth across the worn carpet on the floor. Leia inwardly winced. It was definitely bad if her father had to calm himself before launching into the inevitable lecture.

After several moments of anxious silence, Bail halted his pacing and faced the girls huddled on the bed. "Correct me if I'm wrong," he said, his voice frightfully calm, "but aren't you the same young lady who two days ago assured me she was ready to work for the Alliance?"

Leia wasn't sure she was supposed to answer, but Bail remained silent, so she ventured a timid, "Yes."

"I ask you, what use is an Alliance agent who makes blatantly provocative statements in front of the Imperial Governor himself?" Bail hissed the last words, his fury overpowering his attempt to remain calm. "The governor was very gracious. People have gotten arrested for less than that! An Alliance agent who would endanger herself or others so recklessly cannot be trusted."

"But Papa," Leia protested, "he said --"

"I don't care what he said!" Bail swiftly knelt before her, placing his large hands on her skinny knees so she could not avoid looking at him. The displeasure in his eyes made her want to cry. "We must behave as if we are loyal members of the Empire, Leia," he warned. "That means you must guard your tongue at all times. Never, *never* speak your true thoughts. What could you possibly accomplish by making such an accusation? Do you think you can convince him of your point of view? You yourself said Imperials will not listen to arguments. It was a selfish indulgence, a desire to have your say, no matter what the cost. And it could have cost you, Leia. It could have cost dearly."

Tears welled up in Leia's eyes. "I didn't mean it."

"I know you didn't. But this isn't a game. The Empire plays for keeps. We saw that on Cyrene. Do you want Alderaan to suffer the same fate?"

"No!" Leia cried.

"Then hold your tongue." Bail's expression softened slightly. "I know it's hard to say nothing when the governor talks about restoring peace on Cyrene. I know damn well he's talking about a peace achieved through oppression. It is so hard not to say anything, but we must keep quiet. Save your outrage for another time when it might do some good. Don't vent it in a futile gesture that could cost you your life." He glanced at Winter. "That goes for both of you."

"I'm sorry, Papa," Leia whispered.

He sat back on his heels, letting his hands fall from her knees as he studied the two girls. At last he asked, "Do you want to go back home?"

"No!" Leia protested.

Bail glanced at Winter, who shook her head. He looked back at Leia. "Can you hold your tongue?"

Both girls adamantly nodded their heads, Leia adding, "Mouth shut, eyes and ears open."

"I'll hold you to that," Bail said. "I mean it. No mistakes."

"No, Papa," Leia assured him, and Winter added, "No, sir."

He studied them for another long minute, letting them feel the weight of their promise, the seriousness of the situation. Then he opened his arms. "All right, then. Give me a hug."

The two girls threw themselves at him with such force they almost knocked him over, pressing their faces into his neck, struggling valiantly not to cry. Bail sighed deeply, releasing his own tension as he held the girls and stroked their hair.

When the girls stopped trembling, Bail released them and said, "I'll give you a couple of minutes to collect yourselves. Then I want you to wash your faces and come back out to the living room so we can work a puzzle. *All* of us," he stressed.

The girls nodded and kissed him on the cheek. He got to his feet, and giving them each a final pat on the head, he left the room.

When he had gone, Winter released a shaking breath. "Do you really think you can do it?" she asked Leia. "Can you really keep quiet?"

"Yes," Leia answered, her voice steeled with determination.

She would not let her father down again.