Chapter 3

Prince Anakin awoke to the snap-hiss of a lightsaber.

"Hand over the crown, and all will go easy." Anakin heard an unfamiliar feminine voice from the direction of the lightsaber. Teaching odd stuff and barging in at midnight? These Jedi just get crazier and crazier. The prince thought.

"Guards, arrest this intruder and get her outta here." The young man yawned his order before attempting to return to sleep.

"I'm afraid we cannot. They come to challenge you for the throne and we have sworn our loyalty to them first." Came the voice of the head guard.

"I can't believe you called this pathetic thing our brother!" The same, strange voice complained.

"But sister-in-law, look at how much he looks like you!" The replier sounded familiar to the prince.

"He may have a bit of my blood, but this pitiful creature is no sibling of mine!" The other female rejected. "You sure have good taste, Murra. Cute and smart."

Shock crept over Anakin's face when he recognized the green blade from one of Murra's lightsabers. Because of the difference in age and the time at which the prince was born, the two siblings were never close, but he never expected such betrayal from the Jedi Master. Judging from the conversation, Anakin guessed the other speaker to be the older sister he had never met.

This cannot be! Anakin thought. Like the rest of the family, she despised him. For years, he had hoped for her ghost to appear and assure him that there was at least one Solo who approved of his actions. When reality sank in, the prince cursed himself for ever having hope in his eldest sister. His two sisters, from what he had heard, were close in terms of both ideology and friendship.

"Murra, you have some nerve coming here with a ghost. And Van, I can't believe you'd let her do it." The young man glared at his sisters as he landed on his bare feet. It was a good thing that Prince Anakin had on enough garments to cover him but none of the usual royal attire that would have restrained movement.

"Every Jedi Master has a lot of what you call 'nerve'." The redheaded Princess Murra replied in a sub-zero tone.

"The crown and the throne rightfully belong to the firstborn daughter. Hand those over, and nobody will get hurt." The other sister stated as she sent out an empty hand.

"I'm afraid I have nothing to give you. You will have to take it all from Lavant." The young man hoped to stall for time.

"The prince is right. You will have to take it all from me!" the speaker, apparently female, emphasized the last word. She then continued arrogantly, "You see, I am the Queen Mother."

Murra spun around to see the figure of Lavant behind her. A blaster bolt came for the princess, but an emerald green blade sent the shot harmlessly into the ceiling. More shots came from the same direction, and her lightsaber spun to meet each attempt.

There was another snap-hiss, and Murra Djo's second half-sized saber joined its twin in battle. The attacker fired more shots at the woman. Tired of being attacked, the princess sent each bolt back in the direction of the owner of the blaster.

"Lights." The shots stopped, and after minutes of eerie silence, the shorthaired princess finally called for lights. The attacker was none other than the reigning queen. The open eyes gazed blankly at the ceiling and the fingers of her outstretched hand were loosely wrapped around the blaster. It was obvious that deflected blaster bolts had hit the woman. Murra's eyes betrayed her surprise at the accuracy, for she had not activated her lightsabers in years.

"Looks like you sisters win." One of the guards noted.

"Not yet." The older sister said. She strode down the corridor toward the limp form of Queen Mother Lavant. The princess bent and removed the crown from the body on the floor. She grinned beneath her veil as she checked the pulse. The ex-Jedi then placed the crown on her own head. "She's dead. Since she has no eligible daughters, the crown goes to me."

"No…." The prince's voice was barely audible. Apparently, Princess Murra's skill at deflecting shots back at the shooter had not deteriorated, for it would take at least three consecutive stun shots to kill.

"Anakin," Murra stared her brother squarely in the eye. "What you did to our people was unforgivable."

"Guards, bind this traitor." The older sister ordered. Murra's eyes darted between her two siblings. Apart from chocolate colored hair and the icy blue eyes, Anakin was a male version of their sister.

"Murra, you must understand, I didn't do any of it! I don't have the power to stop the Queen Mother." The prince protested.

"You had the power to decide who sat on the throne. You could have removed her at any given time." The second sister gave her brother no room to argue.

"Carbon-freeze this traitor." The new Queen Mother ordered her guards.

Anakin inclined his head and raised his hands in defeat. Deep inside, he knew that he may as well have slain with a lightsaber all of the people Lavant executed.

"Thank you for your mercy, sister." The prince gave a slight but charming smile. He knew that his sister was showing mercy in sentencing him to life, if only a frozen life. In the past centuries, when Hapan women forced their siblings and other relatives off the throne, death was certain. As he was marched toward the carbon-freezing chamber, Anakin could not help but wonder why his sister wanted him alive.

Sensing worry from some of the guards, the new queen assured, "He will be in perfect hibernation and thus of no trouble to us."

"My princess, aren't you going to help your brother? Sure, he's made a few bad choices, but…" Van'Ya-el, his face aghast, protested to his wife.

"No." Murra then explained Hapan tradition to her husband. She then sighed, "It's tradition. He's lucky to even stay alive."

"So that's why you come up with an excuse every time I want to see this place."

Yes, dear. That's why. I don't like these rules and I really don't like the fact that I can't do anything about them. Murra thought at her husband.

Jacen's finger hit his temple as he felt a slight surge in the Force. Anakin… Murra… Sil… Hapes. Something happened to Anakin on Hapes, but from the apparent ripple, Jacen could feel no harm befell any of his children. From his current location in the Unknown Regions, it would take several standard weeks to reach Hapes, but time was too scarce.

"Hi, Grandpa." Prestor Djo's hologram appeared when Jacen contacted Murra's apartment.

"I need to speak with your mother."

"Mom and Dad are doing a favor for Uncle Ben; it's just Allya and me." Jacen commenced his holo-message to Ben after a casual chat with his grandson.