Elan
The connection to Hapes would not go through. And sleep would not come, crowded away by murmuring questions: What am I doing? How did I get here? How do I get home? She lay her head down on the desk, then sank slowly to the floor and lay sideways. A breath in, a breath out. Clear your mind, her father's voice said. Focus.
"What is the purpose of your connection?" A different voice faint, impatient. She felt vaguely as she stood to look at the monitor that it was likely not the first time the man on the screen had asked the question. Dull light from the cafe crept in through the corners of the curtain behind her. It was the middle of the night, after hours of waiting for the interminable connections to somehow get her to Hapes.
"Hapes?" She sat up, rubbing her eyes.
The man's eyes became narrow, the polite Hapan's disdainful expression. Elan smiled at him, feeling a warm sense of home in the face of his frigid welcome.
"Thank the gods," she said, feeling a little fervent. "I need to speak to the Queen Mother."
The man's expression turned to stone. "That is not possible."
Elan waved an impatient hand. "Fine-do you need the royal codes?" She punched in a series of numbers, the Queen Mother's personal identifier for as long as she could remember. It could have changed, of course, but only the royal family ever knew it, and so there was no real point. She had to be right.
And she was, she thought, smiling as the man's eyes widened imperceptibly as he glanced down at the screen before him. He looked back up at her.
"With all due respect..." he said, his tone cautiously respectful. "Who might I say is calling?"
"The great-granddaughter of her royal highness Ni'Korish Chume." Elan had never met Ni'Korish Chume, though she knew she'd been the source of Ta'a Chume's hatred of the Jedi. But Ta'a Chume had liked Elan. She was just grey enough, blurring the lines between Jedi and princess and politician, that Dwen's grandmother had found her intriguing. She prayed Ni'Korish would do the same.
The man was silent a moment, a closed, thoughtful expression on his face. Ni'Korish, of course, did not yet have any great-granddaughters; but Hapans were a superstitious people, and believed that the spirits of their ancestors and descendants yet to come watched over them. She had nothing but the royal codes, and a claim too impossible to be used by a sane person-would it be enough?
"One moment, Princess," he said finally, inclining his head. "A name I may give the Queen Mother?"
"Elanamai Chume," Elan said, the knot in her chest unclenching a little.
"Favored one," he murmured as he pressed a button for the connection.
The screen blurred slighted, and Elan's stomach churned. Hapan Queen Mothers were a fearsome lot; even Tenel Ka had a steel to her that made Jacen wary at times.
The transfer snapped into focus. Elan recognized Ni'Korish from the palace portraits, though in this time she was in the height of her loveliness. Her hair was white, and had been since she was young, but her face was still unlined, the genetic blessing of Hapes. She was in her casual robes, sitting in what Elan assumed was her bedchamber. Elan had never seen a Queen Mother in such a relaxed state.
Elan took a breath, swallowed, and then put her hand to her shoulder and bowed her head. She couldn't do a full bow in this small Net cube, but she hoped Ni'Korish would get the idea.
"Elanamai Chume." Ni'Korish's voice was wry, amused, and only faintly wary. "Tell me, daughter of a granddaughter I do not yet have, how is it you have come by our codes?"
"Actually," Elan said, smiling faintly, "I'm the wife of the son of the granddaughter you do not yet have."
Ni'Korish's eyes, heavy-lidded and dark, narrowed. "You have not answered me."
Elan shook her head. "That is because I do not know the answer. I was exploring the ruins of Coruscant with my brother, and I fell, and when I stood...the world had changed." She took a deep breath. "I know it sounds impossible, out of reason, Queen Mother. I cannot offer you any proof. I have been trying to reach Hapes for hours now, because I know not where else to turn. My own family is..." She paused, trying to decide if there was any way to put it that would not cause Ni'Korish to despise her. "Nomadic," she said finally. "We are powerful in the new government that exists in this galaxy"-she watched Ni'Korish's eyebrows raise-"but we are wanderers by nature; without a single place we call home. That is, until I married Dweneth, son of Isolder, son of Ta'a Chume. We have always been friendly with Hapes-my cousin is now the Queen Mother's consort-but it was not until I married Dwen that I found my home, that I felt so loved and welcomed by such a people."
Ni'Korish clasped her fingers together, thoughtful. "You have a Hapan name."
Elan smiled. "My mother chose it during one of her visits with the Queen Mother. She found it beautiful, and wanted to honor our friendship with Hapes."
Ni'Korish was silent a moment, her eyes drifting to something Elan could not see. Then, suddenly, her gaze shot back to Elan's face. "Reach out to me. Reveal yourself," she ordered. Elan stared, uncertain if she'd heard her right. Ni'Korish tapped a finger to the side of her head. "I see that your powers are strong. If I am to know the truth of what you speak, you must let me in."
Elan felt a shudder of shock go through her. "You...you are a Force user?'
Ni'Korish waved her hand dismissively. "The Jedi try to claim such powers as their sole property. It is not, as you and I know."
"That's why you hate the Jedi?" Elan asked, a bit wonderingly. "Because they would label you an enemy for something you possess naturally?"
Ni'Korish's face relaxed a bit at her words-Elan had said the right thing, finally.
"I prefer to be their enemy on my own terms," Ni'Korish said.
"Well then," Elan said, raising a hand in warning, "you must know something before I lower my shields."
"You are a Jedi?" Ni'Korish seemed unsurprised.
"After a fashion. The Order...was destroyed, and has been made new. It is quite different, but I still do not trust the Jedi, myself. I left it..." when Dwen died, she thought, the words dying on her lips.
Ni'Korish said nothing, but watched her closely. Elan felt a wavering sense of fear as she dropped her mental shields and willed the Force to aim a call through star systems, across planets and into the room on the screen before her. Every Jedi on Coruscant would know she was here with a stunt like this-every Sith, too. Even with her efforts to shield it from anyone but the Queen Mother, such a powerful, direct connection would reverberate through the Force. And the Queen Mother had offered her no assurances of safety, belief, or help. But Elan had nowhere else to go.