Chapter Eight
When Leia had calmed down, Bail led her back to the others for the inevitable round of apologies. Leia didn't think she ought to have to apologize at all. After all, Jaffia deserved a pounding for the things she had said. But the injustice of the situation was tempered by the fact that Governor Naraud made Jaffia apologize first. Leia was pleased to note that the governor was quite put out with his daughter.
Once the unpleasant deeds were done, the adults retreated once more to the house, taking Teena along with them for a nap. Jaffia also went inside, too mortified at being forced to apologize. Winter took Leia's hand and led her off for a walk among the trees, but they quickly realized that Dal was following them.
"That little toad!" Winter whispered fiercely in Leia's ear. "Why won't he just go away?"
Leia said nothing, her gaze focused rigidly before her. She didn't want to turn around and look at Dal for fear he would take it as an invitation. But at the same time, she was a little curious as to why he would follow them.
They walked on, following a faint trail through waist-high grass. Tall, thin trees filled the grove like slender, white columns, their leaves forming a shimmering canopy far over their heads. When the wind blew, the trees seemed to whisper among themselves like a convocation of librarians. Leia liked to sit by herself on a fallen log and listen to the wind and the trees talking together. But when they reached the log, Leia did not sit down. She would find no solitude here today. Instead she walked on, Winter nervously hovering next to her.
"Where are you going?" Winter asked.
"To my tree," Leia said.
"But --." Winter's eyes darted briefly back toward Dal who was still following them, but Leia only shrugged.
They reached one of the largest trees in the grove. Leia could barely fit both her arms around its trunk. She bent down and picked up a twig and started scratching into the thin bark.
Winter hesitated a moment longer, then found a twig of her own and scratched at the bark as well. Dal hung back, watching them closely. Both girls knew he was there, but they ignored him. At last Dal gave up waiting for them to acknowledge him, and drew closer.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
Winter pretended he didn't exist, but Leia said, "We're writing our initials on the tree. We do it every year."
Dal leaned closer and saw that the black marks he thought were just uneven places on the trunk were actually letters, L.O., over and over again, with quite a few W.N.s as well, and several other sets of initials. He carefully traced one set of letters with his finger. "Are these others your friends?"
"Yes. Only I get to say who carves on this tree." She paused in her labors long enough to point out another tree nearby that was covered with marks. "That one is my papa's tree."
Dal studied it in amazement. The marks covered the tree trunk to a height of almost two meters. "Wow!" Dal exclaimed. "He must have been carving on that tree forever!"
"He doesn't really do it anymore. Those initials aren't all his. He had lots of friends carve it, too." Leia enjoyed studying all the letters on her father's tree, trying to match initials to people she knew. Many of the initials were a mystery to her, but her favorites were the O.K.s that appeared among the mass.
Leia finished her carving and looked at Winter to see the girl glaring fiercely at her for exposing such important secrets. Leia ignored her.
Dal scrutinized Leia's tree, commenting to Winter, "There's a lot of your initials on here."
"I come here with Leia all the time," Winter said with a haughty air. "We're practically sisters."
Dal nodded and waited, but if he expected to be invited to carve his own initials on the tree, he was to be disappointed. "You're really lucky," he said at last. "This is a great place. And your father's really nice."
Leia's cheeks flushed warmly to hear her father praised. "Thanks."
"You shouldn't listen to anything Jaffia says," Dal added. "She's just a bully. She's always picking on me."
Leia said nothing, but she wondered briefly what it would be like to have a real sister or brother.
"I'm really sorry your mother died," Dal continued. "Jaffia shouldn't have said those things. It would be awful if --." He stopped abruptly and bit his lip, looking down at his shoes almost hidden among the tall grass.
The girls waited, but he didn't continue. Winter was determined to ignore Dal completely, but Leia was curious to know what he had been about to say. Really, Dal was surprisingly non-obnoxious for an Imperial. In fact, he probably would have made a decent brother. At last she prompted, "What would be awful?"
Dal looked up, but not at Leia. His gaze was focused somewhere among the trees, and his expression was grave. "If something happened to my parents. I don't want us to go to Cyrene. I don't think those people will like my parents. What if someone tries to kill my papa?"
"That won't happen," Leia automatically dismissed, though she knew perfectly well what it was like to have a father with enemies.
"The governor of Taneris got assassinated," Dal pointed out. "And I worry about my mother, too."
Leia frowned. That seemed odd. "Why?" she asked, and Winter listened closely. Even she was curious now.
Dal gave a helpless shrug. "Something about the work she's going to do there, I think. I overheard my parents talking about it. They say there might be problems."
The two girls exchanged interested glances.
"Whenever I ask them about it," Dal continued, "they tell me not to worry, that everything will be fine. But I'm still afraid. I wish we didn't have to go there."
Leia's mind worked furiously, processing all the information Dal was giving her. She had no idea what kind of work Dal's mother might be doing that could be dangerous, but it made her all the more eager to get a look at that datapad. And maybe Dal would prove to be the key.
Slowly, carefully, Leia said, "I know what it's like to be afraid for your parents. My papa does many important things... for the Empire," she carefully added. "I worry about him, too, but he never tells me anything. He just tells me he'll be fine." Dal gave her a sympathetic look, and she knew he was hooked. She lowered her voice as if inviting him into her confidence, and he drew closer in eager expectation. "But I figured out a way to find out what he's doing. That way I don't worry."
Dal's eyes widened in awe. "Really? How?"
Winter had leaned forward, too, and Leia noticed a flash of alarm in the girl's eyes, but she ignored her. "I can hack onto my father's computer and access his private files."
Dal eyes grew as large as naku nuts. "And you don't get into trouble?"
"No. I know how to do it secretly, so he never knows." Now it was time to reel her catch in. "I noticed your mother keeps working on her datapad. If we could hack onto it, maybe we could find out what she's going to be doing on Cyrene."
Dal's body tensed with tightly coiled energy, as if the slightest touch could send him dashing off through the trees to find his mother's datapad. "Do you really think you could do that?" he asked, his voice cracking with excitement.
Leia gave a casual shrug. "Maybe. It would really help if we knew her codes, though. We wouldn't want to trigger any security alarms on her 'pad."
"How could we get those codes?"
"Well...," Leia paused. "If you could watch her when she logs onto her 'pad, you might be able to see her enter her code. Then you could tell us what it is, and we could hack into her files."
Winter squeaked in alarm, but Dal was completely engrossed.
"Do you think you can do that?" Leia asked.
"Yeah!" Dal shouted. "I mean, I could try. Wow! Would you really help me?"
Guilt twisted in Leia's stomach. She wasn't the one who would be helping him. "Sure. But you can't let her know."
"Right. Like a spy." Dal grinned.
Leia's guilt grew. The situation was perfect. If Dal could get them that code, then getting onto the 'pad would be easy. But she'd be stealing government secrets from a boy she was starting to think of as a friend. It seemed like a rotten, underhanded thing to do. She wondered if her father ever felt that way. Did he actually think of any of these Imperials as his friends? He sure seemed to like Governor Naraud. Was it hard for him to work against people he personally liked, yet whose politics he deplored? It was a troublesome dilemma, and Leia's respect for her father rose a notch.
If she was going to use Dal, she ought to offer him some consolation. Even though the boy would hopefully never know about Leia's ulterior motives, she wanted him at least to know that she considered him her friend. "Would you like to carve your initials on my tree?" she offered.
"Oh, thank you!" Dal gushed. "You're the best, Leia!" He eagerly found a twig and started scratching his initials next to Leia's own fresh marks.
As the boy worked on the tree, Leia and Winter's eyes met. Winter's worried expression reflected Leia's own misgivings, but she would not let her doubts stop her. She had a mission to accomplish.
When Leia had calmed down, Bail led her back to the others for the inevitable round of apologies. Leia didn't think she ought to have to apologize at all. After all, Jaffia deserved a pounding for the things she had said. But the injustice of the situation was tempered by the fact that Governor Naraud made Jaffia apologize first. Leia was pleased to note that the governor was quite put out with his daughter.
Once the unpleasant deeds were done, the adults retreated once more to the house, taking Teena along with them for a nap. Jaffia also went inside, too mortified at being forced to apologize. Winter took Leia's hand and led her off for a walk among the trees, but they quickly realized that Dal was following them.
"That little toad!" Winter whispered fiercely in Leia's ear. "Why won't he just go away?"
Leia said nothing, her gaze focused rigidly before her. She didn't want to turn around and look at Dal for fear he would take it as an invitation. But at the same time, she was a little curious as to why he would follow them.
They walked on, following a faint trail through waist-high grass. Tall, thin trees filled the grove like slender, white columns, their leaves forming a shimmering canopy far over their heads. When the wind blew, the trees seemed to whisper among themselves like a convocation of librarians. Leia liked to sit by herself on a fallen log and listen to the wind and the trees talking together. But when they reached the log, Leia did not sit down. She would find no solitude here today. Instead she walked on, Winter nervously hovering next to her.
"Where are you going?" Winter asked.
"To my tree," Leia said.
"But --." Winter's eyes darted briefly back toward Dal who was still following them, but Leia only shrugged.
They reached one of the largest trees in the grove. Leia could barely fit both her arms around its trunk. She bent down and picked up a twig and started scratching into the thin bark.
Winter hesitated a moment longer, then found a twig of her own and scratched at the bark as well. Dal hung back, watching them closely. Both girls knew he was there, but they ignored him. At last Dal gave up waiting for them to acknowledge him, and drew closer.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
Winter pretended he didn't exist, but Leia said, "We're writing our initials on the tree. We do it every year."
Dal leaned closer and saw that the black marks he thought were just uneven places on the trunk were actually letters, L.O., over and over again, with quite a few W.N.s as well, and several other sets of initials. He carefully traced one set of letters with his finger. "Are these others your friends?"
"Yes. Only I get to say who carves on this tree." She paused in her labors long enough to point out another tree nearby that was covered with marks. "That one is my papa's tree."
Dal studied it in amazement. The marks covered the tree trunk to a height of almost two meters. "Wow!" Dal exclaimed. "He must have been carving on that tree forever!"
"He doesn't really do it anymore. Those initials aren't all his. He had lots of friends carve it, too." Leia enjoyed studying all the letters on her father's tree, trying to match initials to people she knew. Many of the initials were a mystery to her, but her favorites were the O.K.s that appeared among the mass.
Leia finished her carving and looked at Winter to see the girl glaring fiercely at her for exposing such important secrets. Leia ignored her.
Dal scrutinized Leia's tree, commenting to Winter, "There's a lot of your initials on here."
"I come here with Leia all the time," Winter said with a haughty air. "We're practically sisters."
Dal nodded and waited, but if he expected to be invited to carve his own initials on the tree, he was to be disappointed. "You're really lucky," he said at last. "This is a great place. And your father's really nice."
Leia's cheeks flushed warmly to hear her father praised. "Thanks."
"You shouldn't listen to anything Jaffia says," Dal added. "She's just a bully. She's always picking on me."
Leia said nothing, but she wondered briefly what it would be like to have a real sister or brother.
"I'm really sorry your mother died," Dal continued. "Jaffia shouldn't have said those things. It would be awful if --." He stopped abruptly and bit his lip, looking down at his shoes almost hidden among the tall grass.
The girls waited, but he didn't continue. Winter was determined to ignore Dal completely, but Leia was curious to know what he had been about to say. Really, Dal was surprisingly non-obnoxious for an Imperial. In fact, he probably would have made a decent brother. At last she prompted, "What would be awful?"
Dal looked up, but not at Leia. His gaze was focused somewhere among the trees, and his expression was grave. "If something happened to my parents. I don't want us to go to Cyrene. I don't think those people will like my parents. What if someone tries to kill my papa?"
"That won't happen," Leia automatically dismissed, though she knew perfectly well what it was like to have a father with enemies.
"The governor of Taneris got assassinated," Dal pointed out. "And I worry about my mother, too."
Leia frowned. That seemed odd. "Why?" she asked, and Winter listened closely. Even she was curious now.
Dal gave a helpless shrug. "Something about the work she's going to do there, I think. I overheard my parents talking about it. They say there might be problems."
The two girls exchanged interested glances.
"Whenever I ask them about it," Dal continued, "they tell me not to worry, that everything will be fine. But I'm still afraid. I wish we didn't have to go there."
Leia's mind worked furiously, processing all the information Dal was giving her. She had no idea what kind of work Dal's mother might be doing that could be dangerous, but it made her all the more eager to get a look at that datapad. And maybe Dal would prove to be the key.
Slowly, carefully, Leia said, "I know what it's like to be afraid for your parents. My papa does many important things... for the Empire," she carefully added. "I worry about him, too, but he never tells me anything. He just tells me he'll be fine." Dal gave her a sympathetic look, and she knew he was hooked. She lowered her voice as if inviting him into her confidence, and he drew closer in eager expectation. "But I figured out a way to find out what he's doing. That way I don't worry."
Dal's eyes widened in awe. "Really? How?"
Winter had leaned forward, too, and Leia noticed a flash of alarm in the girl's eyes, but she ignored her. "I can hack onto my father's computer and access his private files."
Dal eyes grew as large as naku nuts. "And you don't get into trouble?"
"No. I know how to do it secretly, so he never knows." Now it was time to reel her catch in. "I noticed your mother keeps working on her datapad. If we could hack onto it, maybe we could find out what she's going to be doing on Cyrene."
Dal's body tensed with tightly coiled energy, as if the slightest touch could send him dashing off through the trees to find his mother's datapad. "Do you really think you could do that?" he asked, his voice cracking with excitement.
Leia gave a casual shrug. "Maybe. It would really help if we knew her codes, though. We wouldn't want to trigger any security alarms on her 'pad."
"How could we get those codes?"
"Well...," Leia paused. "If you could watch her when she logs onto her 'pad, you might be able to see her enter her code. Then you could tell us what it is, and we could hack into her files."
Winter squeaked in alarm, but Dal was completely engrossed.
"Do you think you can do that?" Leia asked.
"Yeah!" Dal shouted. "I mean, I could try. Wow! Would you really help me?"
Guilt twisted in Leia's stomach. She wasn't the one who would be helping him. "Sure. But you can't let her know."
"Right. Like a spy." Dal grinned.
Leia's guilt grew. The situation was perfect. If Dal could get them that code, then getting onto the 'pad would be easy. But she'd be stealing government secrets from a boy she was starting to think of as a friend. It seemed like a rotten, underhanded thing to do. She wondered if her father ever felt that way. Did he actually think of any of these Imperials as his friends? He sure seemed to like Governor Naraud. Was it hard for him to work against people he personally liked, yet whose politics he deplored? It was a troublesome dilemma, and Leia's respect for her father rose a notch.
If she was going to use Dal, she ought to offer him some consolation. Even though the boy would hopefully never know about Leia's ulterior motives, she wanted him at least to know that she considered him her friend. "Would you like to carve your initials on my tree?" she offered.
"Oh, thank you!" Dal gushed. "You're the best, Leia!" He eagerly found a twig and started scratching his initials next to Leia's own fresh marks.
As the boy worked on the tree, Leia and Winter's eyes met. Winter's worried expression reflected Leia's own misgivings, but she would not let her doubts stop her. She had a mission to accomplish.
