Sanya gazed wide eyed at her surroundings, uttering the occasional profanity at the sheer scale of the Palace of Iziz. She and Drokko had arrived a little early for dinner so he had been allowed to give her a tour of the public rooms and a few that the regular public never got a chance to see.
In the throne room there were some workmen who were just cleaning up a job installing an amazing piece of stained transparasteel. The image it portrayed was of a fair young woman and a darker skinned gentleman riding astride the back of a noble looking dalgo.
"Is that supposed to be your great granddad and Dina Blackwell?" she asked Drokko as they both stood a moment to examine the piece.
"No." He crossed his arms over his chest. "I think it's a few generations further back. Oron and Galia if I'm not mistaken."
Sanya sniffed. "I thought they always rode on those drexl monsters. That was back when they could still get back and forth from kriffing Dxun with no trouble, Aye?"
Drokko shrugged with a frown as if he didn't quite agree with the depiction either. "Yeah. Well, I mean they did ride on drexels but I think even then the moon had moved a sufficient distance away that they couldn't just flit back and forth whenever they liked." He grinned at her, catlike and scoffed, "maybe the current residents are just as lily livered when it comes to the beasties as you are."
"Osik!" she laughed at him and would have gone on with their earlier teasing argument if another voice hadn't spoken up behind where they stood.
"Lord Kira, I was told you were bringing a guest to our little get together."
They both turned to see the young man standing there in a rather ostentatious colorful robe with gold trim. He had his hands folded before him and carried himself as if he owned the place. "I had no idea she would be quite so lovely."
Now that she was facing him his eyes traveled rather quickly from her long red hair to the tattoo of a ship on her chest and the adjacent cleavage and lingered there.
"Lord Dendup," Drokko used the same title that the warden king had used for himself, "may I introduce Lady Sanya Harkon."
Sanya shot Drokko an annoyed look. She hated the title "Lady". She supposed she should curtsy, but she didn't. Instead she stood straight and extended her hand.
Dendup's cloak swished as he quickly approached her. He took her hand and kissed it. She realised as he came closer how very young he was. He couldn't have been more than seventeen. "My Lady, I am so completely enchanted."
"It's Captain Harkon," she corrected.
"Captain? That explains the…" He reached out his hand and then chuckled, or more giggled really. He drew his hand back just before touching her and tapped his own chest in approximately the same place. "You may call me Amon."
Sanya glanced at Drokko and then smirked at the boy who would be king. "Alright then, if that's your name, Amon. My friends call me Nya."
"Oh, I would very much like to be your friend, Nya. It's certainly better than being enemies." He gave her another hungry sort of once over before turning to face the Kira heir. "Isn't that right, my Lord?" His tone was almost a taunt.
"Definitely preferable." Drokko just looked bored but it might have been an act.
Amon suddenly, as if the idea had just come to him, grabbed Sanya's hand. "You wouldn't mind then if I take the esteemed Captain on a walk around my gardens?"
"I don't need his permission!" Sanya spouted without thinking and then she almost regretted it. She didn't really want to be alone with this pretender for all she could probably dispatch him in about three seconds. She felt for the knife hidden up her sleeve.
She was supposed to be making a good impression, for Drokko's sake. She looked to the beast lord and he returned her gaze, silently asking if she wanted him to make some excuse. She gave him the tiniest shake of her head to indicate that she wouldn't let him down.
"I think the captain can make up her own mind," Drokko purred or it might have been a growl of warning.
When Sanya set her eyes on Amon again his line of sight had returned to her chest. She cleared her throat.
He let out another giggle of mock embarrassment and addressed her, "Would you walk with me, Captain Nya?"
"Aye. Why not."
…
The garden was again like nothing she had ever seen. Vegetation was scarce enough in the north where she was born but she had hardly spent any time on the land to see what there was in any account. And then the jungle that had reared up on either side of the river as they voyaged south had been random and chaotic. Huge trees spread out their branches nearly blocking out all the light of the sun.
Here the planting beds were arranged in neat orderly rows, marked with signage that listed the scientific and common names of each plant along with some of their history and usage.
Sanya bent down and squinted at one of the labels. It said something about a drop distilled would induce sleep but a stronger dose…
"This stuff's poison!" She gaped at Amon incredulously.
He laughed, "however beautiful, don't you think?" He took a step closer to her. "Not unlike yourself, if the rumors are to be believed."
Sanya felt for her knife again in her sleeve but she didn't draw it out and answer his suspicion. Instead she remained silent and took a few more steps down the path away from him.
"So what is it exactly going on between you and Kira?" He didn't mince words.
She smirked. "Things don't traditionally go well when the north and south try to mix. You should know that. We're like kriffing Brylk oil and water."
"But that's just the Kira curse." He shook his head. "I am not a Kira and I could make you a queen." He backed her up against an ornamental column.
She could have pushed him away or fought against him but instead she laughed. "I'm not exactly a pure little princess in waiting."
His eyes flashed hungrily. "What's the use of being the voice of the gods of Unifras here on Onderon if I can't proclaim your virginity and then take it again for myself?"
Sanya placed her thumb to her lips and then held out the palm of her hand, a sign to the salt gods. "And what if I don't prescribe to you religion?"
"My father outlawed the practice of your pagan rites in Iziz years ago. I could have you burned at the stake."
"Or you could just poison me." She nodded towards the garden bed. She had said it in jest but she remembered what Mhaegen had said about going easy on the wine. Perhaps this was her real reason for alarm.
He chuckled and leaned closer to her. "I don't think you're in any immediate danger."
Before his lips met hers she turned her face away. "Osik," she muttered under her breath.
"I thought you said you weren't Kira's mistress," he complained a bit disappointedly.
"I am my own master, on and off of my ship." She lifted her chin in defiance.
His smile quickly recovered. "Then I may have to sign up for a tour among your crew for the opportunity to sail beneath you.
She placed a hand on his chest. "Now, hold on there, sailor. Who would be left here to guard Drokko's throne if you were off sailing with me?"
"Drokko's?" Oh? Had she bruised the poor princeling's ego? His jaw tightened and nodded in understanding of her obvious misunderstanding. "I was raised for this position. My father and his father before him have been here ruling the planet while the Kiras were out flying around the jungle like savages."
Sanya gave him a look of condescension and another pat on the chest.
"Ha! You don't believe me?" He took hold of her hand.
She shrugged.
He leaned close to her again. "Sit by my side at dinner tonight and I'll show you who belongs on the throne."
That earned him a noncommittal nod. "I suppose it is about time for us to join your other guests."
He must have heard the footsteps behind them but he acted as if he had not, choosing instead to take his chances and kiss her.
Sanya didn't like being surprised and she pushed him back but he only laughed, "If we can continue this conversation later tonight?"
He didn't wait for her to answer and turned to see who the newcomers were to the garden while still keeping a hold on Sanya's hand like a possessive child.
Standing there staring in various states of disbelief were four individuals who were strangers to Sanya along with Drokko who only raised an eyebrow at his 'date'.
The middle aged woman among them seemed to be the most scandalized at the sight of Amon Dendup making advances on the tattooed young lady. Beside her a young gentleman who shared her dark hair and features and pale complexion could have only been her son. He had by the arm a young blond woman who kept her eyes lowered. A step behind them stood a younger girl also with dark hair who must have been the older woman's daughter.
The girl wore a vague expression. She was dressed impeccably, almost like a wrapped gift but whether she had any opinion about being offered to the throne warden or that her place might have been usurped by a red-haired competitor from the north, she gave no sign.
"Ah! Lady Rash, so good of you to come!" Amon rushed forward, still keeping a hand on Sanya and dragging her along. "Might I introduce Captain Nya Harkon, recently arrived from the Northern sea!"
The woman swept into a deep curtsey and Sanya attempted to copy the gesture as well to conform for the present company. Whether she succeeded or not, she certainly drew the gazes of all three males as she dipped forward. Amon grinned openly, while Drokko hid his smirk and the other young gentleman blushed when he realized he'd been caught. He drew the blonde a little closer to his side.
"Your Highness," Lady Rash addressed Amon directly, pointedly ignoring all else, except for a glance toward Drokko before dismissing him as someone who hadn't managed to retain his power. "You've already been introduced to my son, Malvolio." She gestured and the tall young man bowed. "And this is his betrothed, Miss Alys Flint."
At the sound of her name the blonde executed a perfect curtsey. She only glanced quickly at the others before she demurred once more but Sanya noticed that Drokko's attention was drawn by the way the young woman was treated even as all the others went back to pretending she didn't exist.
"And this, your Highness." The woman pushed her daughter forward with a proud smile, "is Melia. She might look young but she just had her fifteenth lifeday and before her father's recent death, may he rest in the arms of the gods of Unifrass, it was his wish that she would make an appropriate matrimonial match."
"Yes, I believe you mentioned something of the sort when we spoke before." Amon gave the girl a once over before he turned his gaze to Sanya once again and grinned. "Shall we all go in to dinner?"
…
If the palace staff had planned for a certain seating arrangement in the dining room, Amon Dendup paid it no mind. He sat Sanya on his right in a place of honor, Drokko to his left so the true king would not be entirely snubbed, and then allowed the rest of his guests to take their seats where they may.
Next to Sanya sat the heir of the House of Rash, which was evidently a very important noble family something like the Harkon family's placement in like to the Blackwells up north. The young man greeted her politely enough but when his mother noticed that his attention as with the other males in the room seemed to have fallen from her face to her other attributes, Lady Rash admonished him.
"Malvolio, see to Miss Flint."
But when he turned to seat his betrothed, the job was already being done by Drokko. The beast rider was perfectly civil to the young woman, pulling out her chair and giving her a bow.
Alys Flint blushed and then sunk deeper into the chair when her chastened intended shot her a glare for allowing another man the privilege.
Sanya watched the exchange with interest. She had never seen her beast rider friend behave this way. She noted the way Drokko's jaw worked when he saw the way the Flint girl was treated. Interesting!
Next to Drokko's place sat the young miss Rash. She didn't seem particularly perturbed about being downgraded from a place of more honor. She studied Sanya for long enough that it became uncomfortable.
"Is somethin' wrong?" the captain finally asked.
"No," the girl said blandly. "I just wanted to say congratulations."
At this her mother's head swiveled in Sanya's direction as well. Lady Rash's eyes and mouth opened in an unattractive gape. She asked her daughter in a loud whisper, "You don't mean that she's…"
"What am I?" The captain was defensive. She fingered the knife in her sleeve.
Perhaps the girl realized that her perception was something that should be kept quiet. She whispered across the table, "The baby."
Sanya sat back in her seat. She was going to refute the claim but she found she couldn't form the words. It couldn't possibly be true. Melia's mother was giving her a nearly silent lecture about speaking out of turn but the way that she glared at Sanya led the captain to believe that Lady Rash fully believed her daughter's assumption.
Amon was laughing at something that Drokko had said in an effort to put Alys at ease. The throne warden didn't seem to have paid the least attention to anything Lady Rash or her daughter had done or said. He might have been ignoring them in particular.
Had the noble lady been hoping for a match between her daughter and the would-be king? Well if that was the case then as far as Sanya was concerned they could have him. But at that moment Amon took her hand in his as if there were some attachment between them.
"Captain Nya," He crooned to her, not unlike the way he had when they were alone in the garden. "Why don't you tell us about what it's like way up north from whence you come?"
Sanya looked around the table she remembered that time long ago when she had held court over all the other noble children at Blackhold. This wasn't all that different. She smiled back at Amon. "You want a story? Aye. Alright, I'll tell you a story."
The throne warden let go of her hand for a moment so he could clap his own with glee like a little child. "Is it about your pagan salt gods luring some poor sailor into the depths of the sea?" He grasped at her hand again and gazed at her expectantly.
Sanya threw Drokko a 'can you believe this guy?' look and then began her tale. She had always enjoyed telling stories whether it be to a group of noble children or to her crew up on deck out under the stars on a calm night.
"Well, You probably already think you know part of this story but I'm sure you never heard this side of it. It began about three generations back on the island of Blackhold. They're known for having male offspring, those Blackwells and that generation was no exception. They already had produced an heir and a spare when the Lady found out she was expecting a third child."
"An heir and a spare!" Amon giggled. "That is an apt description if ever I heard one. And was this third child a boy as well?"
Sanya chafed at the interruption but she only narrowed her green eyes and continued. "As it happened, no. For the first time in many many years the Blackwell clan had a baby girl. And what are girls useful for other than marriage alliances."
Her gaze shifted to the Rash ladies, mother and daughter. The mother still averted her eyes from the female pirate, offended by her mere presence not to mention the story she told. The daughter's interest seemed to be aroused. At least she was listening more intently than she had to any of the other conversations that had buzzed around her.
Sanya remembered what it was like to be that young girl, having no say over how to live her life or who she would marry. She was only a pawn in other peoples' games. Sanya at least had gotten away from all that. She had taken control of her own future. Maybe that's why Melia was so interested. Maybe she wanted to break free from her own invisible chains.
The girl stared at her until she was forced to look away. "The Blackwell daughter was called Dina and she was completely loyal to her parents and her clan."
"Oh I do know this one!" Amon gave a little gasp and gave Drokko a playful shove. "Dina Blackwell was betrothed to your own Grandpapa!"
Sanya was actually glad of the distraction from the other dinner guests this time. "Now, don't give away the ending, your highness."
"I am sorry, my dear captain. Please go on." He reached for her hand once again but she pulled it out of his reach and ignored his expression of disappointment.
"The Blackwells did begin the search for the most appropriate match for their daughter. There didn't seem to be many contenders among the noble houses around the northern sea but they were made aware that far to the south, down the long river, and through the deep jungle, in the city of Iziz, the king of Onderon had been blessed with a son who was only a few years older than their sweet Dina."
"Modon! His name was Modon!" Amon added excitedly, once again giving the current Kira a swat.
Drokko rumbled, "Yeah, I know."
"The two families began negotiations but it's a long way from Iziz to Blackhold and holo communications aren't always reliable, especially back then. They had to use messengers to pass the information back and forth up and down the river."
"The Shechels!" Amon interrupted again punctuated with a boo and hiss.
Sanya gave him a look of annoyance. "Am I telling this story or are you?"
"You are, my esteemed captain." He managed to grab her hand again but she rolled her eyes and went on.
"The Shechels were land's men and not true northerners but their territory was right at the mouth of the river so they could easily collect messages from the north or south and pass them on to the other party. Now the Shechel leaders may have been a little upset that their son who was also a few years older than Dina had been overlooked among the contenders but they seemed to take it in stride and continue to dutifully perform their occupation.
"There were messages sent betwixt the parents of the bride and groom or at least their fathers, who knows if the ladies were even consulted, and also more personal letters were passed from the groom to his bride and from her to him. She knew he was a beast rider so she told him all about the brylks and norcogs and mollymauks that she was familiar with where she was from and he told her while they didn't have those things down south that he would introduce her to all of his beasts so she wouldn't be scared of them. From all accounts, though they had never met face to face the two were looking forward to the day when they would say their vows and join their houses."
"Just like Oron and Galia." Amon was gazing at her suggestively again and he kissed the hand he was holding.
"Too bad for them, it didn't work out so nicely." Did he really believe there could be some sort of alliance between Harkon Hall and his tentative grasp on the crown? No , she figured. He wasn't nearly that high minded . He proved her right by letting his eyes wander again to the front of her gown.
Sanya ignored him and addressed the rest of her audience. "The Shechels made a plan. If they couldn't have the delectable Lady Dina then neither could the Kiras. So as the ship carrying the bride to be and her father sailed past their lands, they boarded 'er during the night." The captain felt a little homesick for her own vessel as she related this part of the story.
She had raided quite a few ships in her time but never the way it happened on that fateful night. "They viciously murdered every soul aboard, save one. Dina was left barely alive and managed to steer the ship down to Iziz only to die in her beloved's arms after she told him all that had come to pass."
Lady Rash gasped though she must have heard the story before. The beast riders sang songs about Modon waiting for his bride with the dalgo he meant to give her as a gift since she said she liked animals so much. Maybe they didn't talk about that part in polite society.
Sanya suppressed a grin and continued. "Meanwhile, the Shechels went to Dina's brothers…"
"The heir and the spare," Drokko shook his head though he seemed to also be enjoying her theatrics.
"Aye," She grinned at him across the table. "They told those Blackwell boys that it was the Kiras who did the murdering. And who were they to believe a bunch of Duxn loving, drexl riding savages or their long time allies who at least knew how to show the proper respect of the salt gods." She made the sign mock reverently and this time it was the Rash heir who winced and made whatever obsequence that southerners made to their gods of Unifrass. It wouldn't do for the Lord of a great house to appear in any way to disobey the royal mandate against the cursed religion.
But Sanya didn't care. She turned to Amon with a look of pure defiance. "It might have come to full scale planetary war if a messenger hadn't sped up the river to tell the brothers the truth of the matter that Dina had been able to whisper with her dying breath. Instead of heading south to exact revenge the Blackwell brothers made it look like they were just stopping at the Shechel port for supplies on their way. They were invited into the very holdfast of the leader of the clan… and then they just did the same thing that the Shechels had done to them. They took the heads of the ringleaders on site and then loaded the rest of the members of the clan back into their ship and carried them back to the Blackhold dungeon."
Drokko quaffed his drink and set the cup with a thunk back onto the table top. "And you all call beast riders savages." He seemed completely undisturbed by the story but Sanya saw him glance in the direction of the Flint girl almost protectively.
"Oh that wasn't all they did." Sanya chuckled wickedly. "The Blackwells left their enemies down in the cells to rot for a few weeks while they had the Flint masons finish a little project for them. A set of stone steps were carved right into the side of the island facing that formerly Shechel owned land and then they invited every last captive to walk home through the sea and marched them between the spiked heads of their leaders to drown in the cold cold water."
Melia shivered as if she had experienced the sensation and her mother protested, "I don't believe this is quite proper dinner conversation." Though she managed to keep her tone level, it might have rather come out as a shriek.
"You are quite right," Amon agreed with the noble lady but he didn't once look in her direction; he was too busy staring aptly at the storyteller. "And it was to one of these Blackwells that your family thought it prudent to marry you off? No wonder you ran away."
"Actually it was my sister who was betrothed to the murderer's grandson. She dodged that blaster bolt, thank the salt gods." That time it was just a force of habit to invoke the deities and she didn't even realize she had done it.
What she did was meet Drokko's glance across the table. He alone in this place knew that she had taken the murderer's grandson as her lover. Suddenly the plate in front of her became terribly interesting and beneath the edge of the table where no one could see she laid her hand on her belly. Was it possible, what the girl, Melia, had said? Could she actually be carrying Jak Blackwell's child?
She had never allowed herself to believe it until now, and what a time and place to figure it out! Meg had said that hypo would keep it from happening but she had mentioned something about not knowing how long the medicine would last. And the way she had looked at Sanya as she had helped her to dress this afternoon. And the way the nurse, Jon, had treated her… well, since he came on board the Bloody Galia. But that was a couple of months ago! Could a woman really go this long without knowing, without suspecting? But then maybe she had and she'd only been denying it to herself.
"Captain?"
Her head jerked up and she made herself focus on the form of Amon Dendup. "Aye?"
"I do believe your thoughts had sailed away without you," he laughed. "I've called your name several times."
"Oh, Aye, sorry. What was it you asked me?"
"I just inquired to know if you would like me to pour you some wine."
Surely he was just being the polite host but before she could stop herself she cried, "No! I mean… water. I would really just prefer fresh water."
He looked curiously at her, perhaps a little worried but he waved the servant away with the order, "Go and get Captain Harkon a cup of our very freshest water." Then he smiled encouragingly. He really was quite the politician. "I'm sure when you're sailing the salty sea fresh water is something that is harder to come by."
"It is," Sanya nodded, still trying to steady her emotions. A glance around the table let her know that the others were also judging her reactions.
The Flint young woman, Malvolio's betrothed, seemed about to ask if Sanya was okay but he silenced her with a look and she cowered back in her seat.
Drokko had also noticed that particular exchange. He rumbled a growl just above a whisper and Melia studied him with interest.
Amon was oblivious to all of this, or else he just chose to ignore the petty problems of his other guests. He leaned close to Sanya and whispered, "You don't have to worry, I didn't slip anything into the goblets, certainly not yours."