Author's Note: Apologies for the long delay. I had a computer crisis so I was unable to access the document for a few weeks. Also, I have decided to increase the rating to T due to dark themes that occur in this chapter and later on in the story.
Chapter 26
A few hours later Leia and Han greeted the squadron in the shadow of the Millennium Falcon. While Leia was still nervous and irritable, she put on a strong face for Han and the troops. As they made their way out of the spaceport, the troops formed a ring around herself and Han to escort her to the street.
As they exited the premises, the approached a row of heavily armored speeders, the insignia of the Rebellion emblazoned proudly on the sides. Evidently the New Republic hadn't gotten around to altering the logos on their military vehicles quite yet. Looking around surreptitiously for potential threats, the soldiers escorted Leia briskly to the vehicles.
"In this one, your highness," the sergeant said gruffly, pointing to the middle vehicle. Ignoring Han's smirk, Leia stepped into the speeder.
They made the journey in austere silence. Avoiding Han's eye, Leia looked out the window of the speeder sightlessly, her mind far away. She was very tense, suspecting and perhaps even hoping that there would be a confrontation. She knew that in that case, Soruna wouldn't stand a chance. Even without her heavily armed contingent, Leia felt certain that armed with her trusty lightsaber, she could take on anyone or anything the Queen threw at her.
And yet Vader's warnings continued to ring in her mind. Moreover, Mothma's request continued to eat at Leia's conscience. To top it all off, she knew somehow that wherever Luke was, he was suffering. With so many things gnawing at her, she felt as if she was about to explode. Anger was the only thing that was keeping her sane; anger at Soruna for arresting Luke, anger at Vader for his pretentiousness, even anger at Mothma for what she had asked of her.
With a sudden lurch, Leia was awoken from her thoughts. Refocusing her eyes, Leia noticed that they were in front of the Palace.
"Follow me, your highness," she heard Sergeant Fischer say, his voice oddly distant. Her heart beating painfully in her throat, Leia stood up, crouching slightly for the ceiling was shallow, and followed Han and the Sergeant out of the speeder.
A fat droplet of water greeted Leia's forehead as she clambered out of the speeder. Glancing up, she noticed the normally blue sky was now ominously overcast with grey, foreboding clouds. Ignoring the depressing weather, Leia made her way purposefully to the front steps of the Palace, her guards once again forming a diamond formation around her and Han.
With her head held high, Leia began ascending the marble steps, holding her flowing robes up as she did so. Her lightsaber jostled reassuringly against her right leg. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the guard whom she had tricked into letting Luke into the Palace the morning before. His stoic face revealed nothing, yet she couldn't help but detect a sense of resentment or perhaps even indignation towards the heavily armed troops escorting her.
Reaching the top of the steps, the guards in front of her stepped aside to reveal a trio waiting for them at the entrance. Standing at the edge of the steps, a middle-aged woman dressed in a navy-blue dress was flanked by two young girls.
Stopping two steps short of them, Leia being well-versed in political theatre knew that their positioning was no accident. Already being vertically challenged, Leia craned her neck to meet the stony gazes of the three women in front of her. Leia stared back resolutely, determined not to display her irritation at the arrangement.
"Princess Leia," the middle-aged women in the center said with an unmistakable tone of contempt. "We are honored to welcome you to Naboo."
Leia clenched her teeth, not trusting herself to speak. Waiting for perhaps a bit longer than ordinary for the woman seemed to be relishing this brief moment of power she held over Leia, she spoke again. "I am Queen Soruna's chancellor, Rumé, and these are two of the Queen's handmaidens." She gestured to the frowning girls on either side of her.
Nodding curtly to each one of them, Leia remained silent. Realizing that she wasn't going to elicit any sort of reaction from Leia, Rumé stood aside and beckoned Leia to follow her. Synchronizing her step with Rumé, Leia made no attempt to converse with the chancellor as she marched determinedly into the Palace.
The group formed a strange queue as they made their way to the center of the building; Leia and Rumé in the front; the two handmaidens directly behind them; Sergeant Fischer and Han a little farther back; and the rest of the troops in orderly rows making up the rear.
With a deafening creak which reverberated around the high-ceilinged hall the great oak doors opened as the procession approached, revealing a the brightly-lit throne room. The room was circular with a high-domed ceiling. Arched windows ran along the walls which on a normal day would have allowed in copious amounts of light. In the center of the room directly underneath the highest point of the dome sat the Queen, surrounded by the rest of her handmaidens.
To Leia's disappointment, the Queen wasn't as ugly and wretched-looking as she had imagined. Instead, she had a rather plain, pleasantly rounded face although it was difficult to ascertain much more about her true appearance because of the thick coating of makeup and absurdly complex headpiece traditional for the Queens of Naboo. Despite her ostentatious attire, Leia could see clearly that the Queen was quite young, several years younger than Leia herself. Dismissing this observation as irrelevant, Leia stopped a few meters short of the Queen in the center of the throne room. Looking directly into the Queen's eyes, Leia bowed slightly, her eyes never leaving the Queen's.
"Queen Soruna," she said.
"Princess Leia," the Queen replied. There was an uncomfortable silence for a brief moment before Soruna looked past Leia to the assembly of armed guards. "May I ask why the Republic felt it necessary to send such a… belligerent assembly to escort you?"
"Interim Chancellor Mothma felt it necessary," Leia said shortly.
Soruna frowned, dissatisfied with this answer. "And why might that be?"
A flash of dislike coursed through Leia and her face twitched angrily. Was she just playing dumb or did she honestly not know the severity of the offense she had committed?
Disconcerted by Leia's expression, the Queen floundered briefly. "I assure you I have done no wrong! I am a faithful servant of the New Republic, surely you know–"
"Are you familiar with Commander Skywalker?" Leia interrupted, disgusted by Soruna's desperation.
Soruna froze, a hint of recognition seemed to dawn on her face. "Skywalker? Do you mean Anakin Skywalker?"
Leia couldn't help but smirk. "No," she said derisively. "Luke Skywalker, his son."
Sornua swallowed hard and glanced over at her chancellor. "No, I can't say that I am," she said with surprising confidence.
Leia's eyes widened in disbelief. So this was the Queen of Naboo? This foolish woman was a successor of her mother's? This deceitful and despicable girl, too craven to admit that in fact she had arrested Luke Skywalker the day prior?
"Now, now," Leia chided with an ominous edge to her voice. "You and I both know that isn't true."
Soruna's eyes narrowed and she leaned forward in her throne. "What is this about?" she asked, all hints of cordiality gone from her voice.
"I know that you had Luke Skywalker arrested in this very room yesterday morning," Leia explained. "The Republic has sent me to retrieve him."
"And why does the Republic care so deeply about this man?" Soruna asked.
Behind her she heard Han snort in indignation. "That is of no matter to you," Leia said coldly.
Soruna's face contorted in visible rage. "You seek to overthrow me!" she bellowed, surprising Leia who took a step back. "You want to install Skywalker as your puppet!"
Leia neither confirmed nor denied this accusation which served to infuriate Soruna further who leapt off her throne and began pacing in front of Leia. "You never trusted me," she said spitefully, talking more to herself than to Leia. "The Rebellion always suspected me, never believed I was true to the cause. I hated Palpatine more than anyone!" she yelled, her shrill voice echoing throughout the room.
A voice from behind her spoke. "Your majesty, we have no intention to –"
"Stay out of this, Han!" Leia ordered, not turning to look back. "Your choice is very simple, your majesty," she said, addressing the Queen. "Release Skywalker or face the wrath of the Republic."
Soruna stopped her pacing and looked up at Leia, an ugly sneer on her face. "You're no better than the Empire," she said viciously. "You have no jurisdiction here! I am Queen, you can't tell me what to do!"
"Very well then," Leia said. Turning around, Leia was about to give the order the soldiers to arrest the Queen when Han yelled out.
"Leia, look out!"
All of a sudden, she felt herself get pummeled to the ground. The unmistakable sound of a blaster being fired pierced the air, accompanied by a grunt in pain and the heavy thud of a body falling to the floor.
"Stun her!" she heard a voice from behind her call. The room erupted in blaster fire with Leia caught in the crossfire. She was reaching desperately for her lightsaber when she noticed Han on the ground in front of her, his shoulder smoldering from where he had been shot.
"Han!" she yelled, her fear rendering her oblivious to the blaster fire all around her. Rolling him over, she saw that he was still alive, a dazed expression on his face.
"Leia?" he mumbled.
"We need to get you out of here!" she said, dragging him by his unwounded arm to the edge of the room. Looking up, she saw that the handmaidens had all drawn weapons and were firing at the soldiers who in turn had set their blasters to stun. The chancellor was crouched by the throne, her hands over her ears. She seemed to be screaming, but Leia couldn't hear her over the blaster fire.
Dumping Han unceremoniously against the wall, Leia drew her lightsaber and looked around frantically for Soruna. She spotted her fleeing towards a back exit, blaster still in hand. Closing the door with the Force, Leia took off after the cowardly Queen, blood pounding in her ears. Casually deflecting a few blaster bolts, Leia leapt gracefully over the throne, landing softly on the ground and continued to sprint towards Soruna.
Turning around, the Queen's eyes widened in fear as she saw Leia approaching her with a lightsaber in hand. Turning her blaster on Leia, she opened fire. Deflecting the bolts, Leia sliced down at the blaster, slicing off Soruna's hand as she did so. With a shriek of pain, Soruna fell backwards, her headpiece falling off her when she hit the floor. The blaster fire ceased as quickly as it had begun; the handmaidens all stopped firing when they heard their Queen cry out.
"Drop your weapons!" she heard Sergeant Fischer demand as the troops approached to immobilized handmaidens.
Breathing heavily, Leia stared down at her prey yet the pitiful sight beneath her made her pause. Soruna was clutching her stump of an arm and tears were pouring down her cheeks, making a mess of her heavy makeup. She was trembling with fear, her eyes fixated on the lightsaber at Leia's side. Suddenly, it dawned on her just how young the Queen really was…
Stumbling backward, Leia deactivated her lightsaber and put a hand to her mouth in horror at what she had done. Lying beside Soruna was her severed hand, a finger still wrapped around the trigger of the blaster. Revolted, Leia closed her eyes tight.
"When I saw what I had done, I realized that I had become what I sought to destroy."
"Defeat the darkness or suffer my fate."
"What I had done."
"And you say you're nothing like me."
"I had become what I sought to destroy."
"Suffer my fate."
Leia opened her eyes. Looking down, she met the tear-filled gaze of the quivering Queen. Not knowing what she was doing, Leia kneeled down and put her arm around the young girl's shoulders. "Shh," she cooed, propping the Queen up gently. Terrified, Soruna tried to squirm away, but Leia held her firmly. "You're alright now," she said maternally, perhaps speaking as much to herself as she was to Soruna. "Everything's going to be alright."