Chapter Twenty-one

Morning, two days later

The holo-viewer, set on mute, played noiselessly in the background as Leia finished braiding her long hair. She was sitting in front of a mirror in Han's bedroom, still mulling over the dinner from two nights ago. Leia shook her head in amusement at the memory as Han stepped out of the refresher, a towel wrapped around his waist, a smaller one in his hand as he dried his hair. After the dinner, when they had arrived back at the estate and retired to the privacy of their bedroom, Leia had teased him mercilessly over the attention he'd received at the restaurant.

"Aren't you worried about catching some fatal disease with all those germs you must get kissing dozens of females?" she had said to Han, only partially joking.

"Nah, I've already had a fatal disease once and I'm pretty sure I've used up my quota," Han had replied, sounding unconcerned over the possibility. "Probably immune by now to everything kissin' related." He looked at her with a glint in his eye and asked, "Jealous?"

"I don't know. It depends.

"Depends on what?"

"On how much tongue you give them."

That remark had left Han speechless for a few seconds, but he recovered fairly quickly. "Tongue? Are you kidding me? I told you they sometimes bite me, Worship. If I don't have my tongue then my income is gone... in a painful and bloody flash."

Leia had laughed, even though the mental image was pretty gruesome. "What do you do about them sticking their tongue in your mouth?"

Han made a disgusted face and gave a negative shake of his head. "I keep my teeth clamped, Sweetheart. Gotta draw the line somewhere."

"I'm so glad to hear it," Leia replied dryly. "Now, come here and stick your tongue in my mouth."

"Promise not to bite?"

"I promised not to bite hard enough to draw blood."

"Good enough," Han had said agreeably. And that had pretty much ended their conversation for the rest of the night, much to Leia's pleasure.

Drawn back to the present at the sight of a nearly-naked Han, Leia called over her shoulder, "Darling, you're wearing a towel? You don't have to be modest on my account."

Han laughed and was about to pull the covering away when he stopped short, staring at the holo-viewer, his entire face and demeanor suddenly shifting from playful to serious. The Princess twisted her torso to see what he was watching that could have caused such an instantaneous change, and immediately saw what Han was looking at so intently. It was a holo of Han and Leia inside the restaurant. Actually, it was more of a holo of just Han, looking a bit strained as he had his arm around a female fan, and both Han and the fan were posing for a holo-still. Leia was standing slightly behind him next to Luke and Mara, a vaguely miffed expression plastered on her face.

The scene went back to the reporter, someone known to both Han and Leia as a sleazy snoop named Nexx Turner, a skinny human man with a shock of bright orange hair gracing his head. Even back when Han was still General Han Solo, he and Leia had run-in's with Turner, who seemed to always appear at whatever public function Leia attended with Han, sticking a holo-cam in their faces and demanding to know details about their love life. More than once Han had wanted to blast the thin, pale man with his DL-44. Leia had never allowed him to do it, much to Han's chagrin.

"Turn on the sound," Han ordered, probably more harshly than he intended.

Leia grabbed the control off the dresser and pressed the volume control to the 'on' position. Turner's whiny, high pitched voice filled the bedroom.

"... and we've had confirmation this very morning that Queen Leia of Hapes has indeed, left the Constortium for her latest base-born boy-toy lover! Listen now as her poor, forlorn husband, Prince Isolder, speaks directly from Fountain Palace on this terrible turn of events!"

Han walked over to Leia, putting his hand on her shoulder as Isolder's face shimmered into view.

"Nexx, it was a shock, a shock to all of us," Isolder said sadly. "Imagine my horror when my wife informed me that she no longer loved me and only wanted to, and these are her exact words, which I have to warn gentle beings are quite crude. Queen Leia said, 'I want to go to Corellia so Evin Daysun can fuck my brains out.' This foul garbage, coming from the mouth of a Royal Hapan Queen! We were shocked, shocked I say. And she also said she didn't care about what happened our daughter, either. Sadly she is only interested in spreading her legs for Daysun."

"I'm so sorry, Prince Isolder," Turner replied, looking at the holo-cam and putting his hand against his heart in an effort to look stunned. "I can only imagine how you must be feeling. I am guessing your marriage is over?"

"Of course it is over," Isolder said, wiping a hankie across his eyes. "I'm just heartbroken that my poor little Isabell will grow up without a mother, and when she's old enough to understand she will know what a complete whore the Alderaanian Princess that gave birth to her turned out to be. I should have known this before I married her, since she already gave up her virginity to that worthless smuggler, Han Solo." Isolder gave a sad sigh. "Fortunately, my mother will do whatever she can to be the proper female role model that Isabell deserves."

Nexx Turner turned to his viewers. "Princess Leia, if you are listening, you should be truly ashamed of your wanton behavior. And to all the fans of Evin Daysun, it's past time to consider what kind of man you're giving your credits to support. Boycott Evin Daysun's music and holo-movies!"

The holo-cam cut out and the show went to a commercial.

Leia felt her body shaking, and her limbs were actually numb. It was almost impossible to process what she had just heard Isolder say about her to the entire galaxy.

"We need to get your side of the story out there, Sweetheart," Han said in a deep, angry tone. "Lando can hold an info-conference to tell everyone that you're here to visit Luke and continue training as a Jedi. He'll tell them Isolder forced you to leave the Consortium without your child. All of that is true, too."

"What does Lando tell everyone about us, Han?"

"Nothing. It's nobody's business!"

"This could destroy your career. This is all my fault." Again, it's my fault, Leia thought in despair. I can't stop hurting Han, even when I don't mean to hurt him.

Han moved to step in front of Leia, and crouched down in front of her, his face intense and furious, but she knew he wasn't furious at her. "No, this is not your fault. And you're not hurting me, either."

The Princess took a second to realize Han had read her mind. I love you, she thought to him, while fear of the future, of the possibility of losing both Isabell and Han, tore through her entire being.

I know. Han reached over and wrapped her in his strong arms. "We'll get through this, Sweetheart. I'll be your rock." Han could have sworn he felt a feathery, warm touch on his bare shoulder, and the words came into his mind in a voice that wasn't his own, things will work out, if you allow them to run their course.

Coruscant

The Wookiee Princess set down in the secure hanger where Han always left his ship. Corran Horn and Mirax both stood up from their seats behind Han and Leia. Normally, the YT-2000 cockpit only had space for a pilot and co-pilot seated above and behind the pilot, but Han had spent a great deal of extra money to have this particular ship custom-made, so it now had a cockpit that was similar in design to the YT-1300 freighter.

"Will you be needing me to escort you anywhere, Evin?" Corran asked, glancing at the Princess who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat. "If not, I'd like to take Mirax out to dinner."

"Yeah, you go," Han replied, a twinge of guilt coursing through him. Maybe Luke and his annoying Ghostly Father were right and if he trained, even a little bit in the Force, he wouldn't have to constantly have Corran or Luke act as his bodyguards. "I got the Princess with me," Han said, grinning and pointing with this thumb toward Leia. "You know she's not too bad with that Force business, either."

"You should allow Luke to teach you, Evin," Mirax said, not realizing she was echoing what Han was already thinking. "We'd all feel a lot better if you had more than just your blaster to protect yourself."

Han patted his DL-44, this time strapped securely at his side. "This baby here is all I need. I'm not lettin' Lando or Pruitt or anyone else talk me out of wearing it, either, 'specially if I'm shooting a holo-movie on the lower levels for the next six weeks."

"That's probably a good idea," Corran said. "I'm not looking forward to being down there with you, either, but it's my job and someone has to do it."

Leia stood up and gave Corran a peck on his cheek. "You do a good job keeping Evin safe, too. Thank you."

Corran grinned, "You're welcome. Are you sure you two will be okay?"

"Yeah, security is pretty tight around this docking bay," Han said. "We'll both take private hover-cars to where we need to go next."

Mirax nodded in agreement and pulled her husband from the cockpit, eager for some alone time with Corran.

"Kissin' the help now, Princess?" Han asked, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "And right in front of his wife?"

"Oh, really? You're worried about one kiss on a cheek when I have to watch you kiss dozens of females on the lips every single time you leave your estate?"

"That doesn't count."

"How do you figure that?"

He swiveled in his seat and gave Leia a wide, innocent look. "It's my job!"

Leia laughed. "You sure managed to find yourself the perfect job, Nerfherder."

Han grew serious. "You gonna go meet with your lawyer now about your suit against Isolder?"

"Yes, I have an appointment, and I'm not looking forward to it, either. She didn't sound very optimistic about my chances, especially now that Isolder is spreading lies about my leaving Isabell for my lover." She chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. "I certainly hope her office staff is discreet. I would hate to have word get out that we've arrived on Coruscant and have reporters mobbing us."

"I don't think that'll happen, yet." Han said, then added as he tried to sound upbeat for Leia's sake, "Attorney Kassidy Mardic is the best in the New Republic. She'll nail his sorry hide to the Hapan Palace wall."

"I hope so," Leia said as Han stood up from the pilot's seat. "And you're doing your appointment thing, too, right?"

"Uh, doing what thing?"

Leia gave an impatient hiss. "Going to visit Chewie at the Embassy. You did make an appointment with him, right?"

"Yeah," Han muttered unhappily. "His Wookiee secretary just couldn't grasp why the human singer Evin Daysun was so insistent to meet with Ambassador Chewbacca. She really gave me the third degree, Princess. If anyone will spill the beans about us being here, it'll be her."

"What did you tell her?" Leia questioned with a smile.

"I made up some bantha shit about needin' to get his approval to have a concert next year on Kashyyyk. Like Wookiees would ever pay to hear a human sing, or that I make my own tour arrangements."

"But it worked?"

"Yeah, lucky me," Han said morosely. "Chewie's gonna kill me, Leia. Or, at the very least, he's gonna rip my arms out for waiting so long to tell him."

"It's a good thing you don't need your arms to sing," Leia pointed out with a laugh.