A CHANGE OF PLANS
Jamos had offered to stay with her while she made the comm. Marlon and Lana had vetoed that immediately. Marlon had also offered to stand with her as her new Liege Lord. But Lana had advised against that as well. She suspected, and Shara grudgingly agreed with her, that any male presence might be misconstrued under the current circumstances.
So here she stood, in the Blackhold communications room, with Lana a few steps behind her, trying to work up the courage to activate the comm.
"I'll be right here the whole time." Lana encouraged. "You know what you need to say and the sooner you get it over with, the better."
"I know." Shara closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them again and leaned forward to press the activation key.
She managed to stand tall and proud as Sanjay's image crackled to life above the holotable. At least she hoped that's how she appeared. Inside she was trembling. As she looked at him however she was sure she couldn't look any more frazzled than he did.
"Shara! Where are you? Where have you been? I've been worried sick!" There was something of the old Sanjay there, the one who she was sure had been in love with her, the one she had fallen in love with. She faltered and glanced back over her shoulder at Lana for support.
Lana nodded and urged her on.
"I'm at Blackhold, Sanjay." She answered simply.
"Blackhold?" His expression was a mixture of hurt and anger and confusion. "We searched Kira's for you, and questioned the Gerreras…"
That was it, the suspicion of her friends. That was the reason she was doing this but he was still speaking.
"Never dreamed you'd go as far as… Your father… but then you wouldn't know…"
"What about my father?" Suddenly worried, she took a step forward demanding an answer. Nothing else mattered if he father was ill or hurt in some way.
"Shara, he's… there was an accident. But no one knew where you'd gone. No one could contact you."
"What happened to my father?" She repeated frantically.
Lana stepped up behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder for support.
Sanjay glanced at the other woman as she entered the holo field but quickly focused again on Shara.
"The repulsor-truck malfunctioned. It crushed him against a wall. The internal damage is too much for the doctors to…"
"Is he already…" she asked, tears beginning to blur her vision.
"He's hanging on. Though not for much longer. You should come quickly."
"Yes, of course."
Lana squeezed her shoulder and whispered, "Marlon and I will make the arrangements. You don't have to worry about a thing." She started to leave but then Sanjay seemed to recognize her.
"Lana? Lana Flint?"
"It's Blackwell now." She gave him a hard look before she left the comm room.
Shara was left, for all intents and purposes, alone with her husband.
"Blackhold? You went all the way to Blackhold?"
Shara sniffed and wiped her eyes. "After what Mel said I didn't think you'd come here to look for me."
His expression darkened at the mention of his sister. "You wanted that badly to be away from me?"
"What do you think, Sanjay? After what you did, after what you called me? I want... a divorce!" There. She'd said the words, but it didn't make her feel any better.
"You want… but what about? What if?"
"I'm not carrying your child, Sanjay."
"And no other man's?" He inquired, cruelly.
"You were my first and have always been my only, but you treat me like … like that's the only thing I'm good for! Like that is the only reason I might have speaking to or even looking at another man! I can't live like that!"
He hung his head for a moment and she hoped the words had stung him.
"We'll talk about it, Shara. When you arrive. We'll work this out." He deactivated the comm before she could reply. Of course he had to have the last word.
As soon as his image faded from the holotable, Jamos burst into the room. He hugged her before she could object. "Shara, I'm so sorry about your father. My brother is preparing his fastest ship to sail us to Iziz."
She couldn't push him away, even though she was sure she should. She clenched her fists in the fabric of his coat and laid her head on his chest. "What if I'm too late? When we last spoke, we argued. I don't want the last words I ever said to him to be…" She sobbed.
"Don't worry, Shara." He whispered. "We'll get you to him. I promise."
"I never should have come here. I should have been with him."
"It was an accident." He held her a little tighter. "Staying with Rash would have done nothing to change that. You were right to get away from him and I'm sure your father knows that. You'll get a chance to tell him."
"Dad never liked Sanjay. Sanjay never even asked him for my hand."
"Shara…" Jamos had so much he wanted to tell her, so much he wanted to promise her.
She looked up at him and all other thoughts flew from his mind. Slowly, tentatively he bowed his head towards her. Her eyelids fluttered closed and her lips parted. Their faces were mere centimeters apart when the door burst open again and Shara spun away and steadied herself with both hands on the holotable.
Lana looked back and forth between the two but she didn't question.
"I was just telling Shara that we are going to get her to her father." Jamos explained.
"You won't. You'll be staying here with Dalla." Lana went to Shara and put a hand on her shoulder.
Shara threw a frantic look back at Jamos.
He started to protest. "Lana? Babysitting? Don't you think I could…"
"You don't think protecting your niece while Marlon and I are away is important?" She countered.
"Of course I do but couldn't we all go? Bring her with us?"
Lana was surely building up steam to inform her brother-in-law of exactly why that would be a bad idea but she was saved the trouble.
Shara spoke softly not even looking at Jamos. "I'll see you when I get back." And there it was. After this trip she would truly have nothing else tying her to Iziz. She had pledged herself to the Blackwells and the north. She would be coming home.
Jamos nodded. "Alright." He reached forward, took one of Shara's hands in his, and gave it a gentle squeeze. Then he left the women alone.
Lana shook her head. "I have never in my life seen that man back down from anything so quickly."
Shara's eyes were fixed on the direction he had taken. "You were right though. He shouldn't come."
"We'll be ready to leave within the hour." Lana told her. "And I've packed my… mourning dresses. You and I are about the same size so if you've need of…"
"Thank you, for everything."
...
Jamos was ready to tear stone from stone and his brother's ship had only been gone for two hours. Dalla was sleeping peacefully and there was nothing else he could do but wait and pray to the salt gods that this whole matter would be done with soon.
If he hadn't been anchored with his niece, he would certainly have gathered the Polaris' crew and made his own way down to Iziz. He wanted to tear Rash's throat out with his bare hands. He lost more respect for the whelp every time Shara mentioned another of his deeds. Not that Jamos had any respect for him in the first place.
What was it she'd just said in the comm room? That he hadn't even asked her father for her hand. The Rashes had truly stolen her away from her family. And then what? Tried to buy the man off with a repulsor-truck of all things? Jamos wondered if the 'malfunction' had really been an accident. And now Shara's father was lying in the med center being kept alive by machines on Rash credits most likely.
He would see about that. Jamos rushed to the communications room. He would comm Marlon, ask him to check out what the arrangements were and ... And then it dawned on Jamos. Shara's father was alive but maybe for not much longer. There was something else he could do for her.
He activated a comm to the Med Center. "I would like to speak to a patient. Mr. Kason Rupingwood."
"Mr. Rupingwood is in intensive care. I can't just..." the nurse started to protest.
"Please." Jamos insisted. "I'm comming to tell him that his daughter is on her way and to hang on. I would very much like to speak to him personally."
The nurse looked out of the field of the holo as if to check if anyone was watching and then returned her gaze to the caller. "Well, alright. Give me a moment."
Jamos paced back and forth before the holotable preparing himself to meet the man and say what he had in his heart to say.
After a few minutes a new image was projected, a man lying in bed with some sort of machine arched over his chest. Jamos could only guess that the device was breathing for Shara's father and perhaps doing various other jobs just to keep his body functioning.
Jamos heard the nurse's voice. "Mr. Rupingwood, someone requested that they speak with you."
"What? What's going on?" he turned his head slightly and attempted to focus on the caller. "Who are you?"
Jamos bowed. "Mr. Rupingwood, my name is Jamos Blackwell. I..." he stammered. "I'd like to marry your daughter."
The man's eyebrows pressed together. "You must be mistaken. My daughter is already married to that..."
"It's not a mistake, Sir. I've commed to tell you that Shara is on her way there to see you and that hopefully while she's there she'll be able to tell that mother kriffing, son of a Hutt exactly where he can shove his..." Jamos was fully prepared to go on at great length about what Sanjay could shove and where he could shove it when he noticed that the man's expression had changed.
Shara's father was laughing, which then turned into a wracking cough, and great salt gods, Jamos was sure he'd killed him! But gradually the coughing subsided and the machine whirred bringing Mr. Rupingwood's breathing back to normal.
"That, my young man, was the best description of my so called son-in-law that I've ever heard. I like you Mr. Blackwell." He smiled. "So you wish my Shara to marry you instead?"
"Well, yes I..." Jamos began but then he heard a noise. "If you'll excuse me for just a moment, Sir."
He dashed from the communications room and lifted the crying Dalla from her crib. "You'd better have a very good reason for taking me away from a conference with my future father-in-law, Chirn Bait."
The baby grinned toothlessly at him. Obviously she only wanted the reassurance that she wasn't alone with her mother being so far away.
"Come on then." He carried her back to the holotable.
Mr. Rupingwood frowned when the holo image returned. "You want my Shara to be mother for your child there?"
"No! Nothing like that." Jamos hurried to explain. "This is my niece, Dalla, my brother's daughter. Sir, I'm a... I'm a second son. I'm not in any hurry to ... you see I don't really need an heir." He glanced over at Dalla and smiled. "Of course if Shara wanted... I only want to make her happy. I would be more than glad to give her a child or a dozen of them. Even if we couldn't, I'm sure there are plenty who need parents to love and care for them. If... if that's what she wanted."
Her father did his best to nod, coughed, and then considered. "Blackwell? That's way up north on the sea. Shara likes her animals. You got a place for her pets up thereabouts?"
"I fear it's a little too cold for Sophia and the foal, but she's already made friends with the Brylks and I was thinking of giving her a gift, something a little more cuddly."
Mr. Rupingwood looked impressed that the young man had not only put some thought into his daughter's interests but also knew the name of her dalgos.
"Oh!" said Jamos suddenly. "I can show you!" He juggled Dalla from one arm to the other and pulled a small holodisk from his pocket. Then he plugged it into the holotable.
"Shara's not just been hiding away at the Hold. She's perfectly capable of earning her keep. She's... well, she's amazing, Sir." He activated the recording and knew that the image that replaced his own on her father's end of the connection was the event of Shara's first catch as beast master of the ship Polaris.
"That's my girl." Mr. Rupingwood's voice shook as tears ran down his cheeks. When he looked into Jamos's eyes again, there was pride in his expression and gratitude. "So you don't just offer her your house and your heart. You'll give her a purpose, a chance to use her skills."
"That's right, Sir. Shara should have never been locked up in a house in a city! It's preposterous!"
"And how does she feel about you, young man, Mr. Jamos Blackwell?" The man asked. It sounded too good to be true for his daughter to have found such a match but it was her opinion that really mattered.
A sheepish grin pasted itself on Jamos's face. "I have reason to believe that she likes me well enough." Then he sobered a bit. "She wouldn't act on anything while she's still legally tied to the Hutt spawn. But when she's free of him and when she's ready... I won't push her into anything. I won't force her, Sir. I want to court her properly. My brother and sister-in-law have already insisted on acting as chaperons."
Mr. Rupingwood was silent for some seconds, seeming to enjoy keeping Jamos waiting. Then he smiled. "I give you my permission, Mr. Blackwell, and my blessing."
"Oh, thank you, Sir!" Jamos burst out. He grinned at Dalla and gave her a bounce, which made the baby giggle.
"Even if I don't live to see it. Just knowing ... You've made me a happy man."