A/N: Here it is, the new chapter…PLEASE REVIEW! It's a lot of work for me to take this up again after two years, and I need motivation. Prove to me that it's worth it!!

Chapter 7

Wife of Mandalore

Kalan frowned as Mandalore led her through the crowds. "Where are we going?"

"Be quiet," Mandalore said, and the way he said it made it sound more like a command than a request. Kalan treated it as such.

Kalan recognized the building they were approaching; it was the control room, where she had first been introduced to Mandalore. They entered the building, but Mandalore didn't stop there. He led her up some ramps in front of a door Kalan had never entered.

Mandalore stopped in front of the door and opened it, revealing a small, plain, and fairly empty bedroom. They stepped inside, and Mandalore closed the door and locked it. "Mandalore," Kalan said nervously, "what…"

"Sit down," he said, gesturing to his bed.

Kalan sat down and waited for him to speak. He stood in front of her. "Kalan…Wife," he corrected, "you…" he stopped. Kalan was smiling. "What?" he asked.

"You just sound so serious, that's all."

"This is very serious."

Kalan's smile faltered. "What do you mean?"

"A lot of things have just happened. You may not realize it, but as of the end of that battle, you are a Mandalorian woman. And it doesn't stop there…you are a wife of Mandalore, the greatest honor you can have, but it comes with a price."

"Mandalore," Kalan said slowly, her smile gone completely now, "you don't mean I…I mean…I'm a Jedi, not a Mandalorian woman!"

"As far as everyone else is concerned, you're both."

"But I can't be your wife!"

"Of course you can."

"Are you serious?!"

"I already told you, I am very serious."

"But…but…there has to be some way out of this. I mean, when that woman challenged me, I didn't…I couldn't…"

"I know, I know, there was nothing you could do. It would have been dishonorable to refuse the challenge, and even more dishonorable to lose. But the rules are very clear. You defeated a wife of Mandalore. You made yourself worthy, so you go to me."

"But can't I just lose a contest, then? Make myself unworthy?"

"Like I said, you're a Mandalorian woman now. You have to be married to somebody; there are no unmarried Mandalorian women. It can be difficult, being a wife of Mandalore, but I'd rather you were married to me than anyone else."

"But…but we're leaving Dxun as soon as all this Onderon business is cleared up. I won't be coming back here, so what does it matter?"

"There are immediate problems that can't be ignored."

"What are the immediate problems?"

"Right now you are my Number Twenty-Eight. That is the lowest number you can be. You may not be aware of this, but there are some Mandalorians who want you for themselves…powerful Mandalorians who think they can gain more honor and popularity with a Jedi as their wife…and they're probably right. There's a…a trick…they could use to take you from me."

"A trick? You mean they can break the rules?"

"No, it's legal, but…well…if a warrior challenges me for you—and he would have to be very determined to do such a thing—and he wins, then he get you…Kalan, I am the strongest Mandalorian here. I can defeat anyone in fair combat. But if this warrior gets his friends to challenge me, one after the other, I could not fight all of those Mandalorian warriors in a row and defeat every single one. I would tire myself out and eventually lose. One of them would get you, and it would be dishonorable for me to fight them to win you back…it would be even more dishonorable for me to refuse their challenges."

"So what can you do to prevent this from happening?"

"I can promote you."

"You mean raise my number?"

"Yes. You're a Jedi. My other wives will understand."

"So what number are you going to make me?"

"Kalan, those men I mentioned earlier…the only thing that could stop them from challenging me for you, other than making you a Rak'jan, which is impossible, is if I make you my Number One."

Kalan was shocked. "But you said there are things a woman needs to have…a Mandalorian family, and children…"

"Jana didn't have those…but don't think people's reactions to you will be the same as to her. They like you…you're polite and respectful. Jana is…well…a jerk. This appointment may surprise them, but they'll be glad you're replacing Jana."

"What will happen to her?"

"She will be my Number Two."

"And you think she'll agree to that?"

"It's not like she can agree or disagree with me, but…she has honor, and she is my wife. She will be jealous of you, yes, but if I speak to her, I think I can convince her not to challenge you."

"But what if she does challenge me?"

"We won't worry about that right now. At the moment all you need to concern yourself with is traditions."

"Traditions?"

"Jana didn't follow many of the rules for Number One, but you'll be expected to, and you really should. You…you need to do some things…it's not too bad, really, but…there are some things in there you might not like."

"What kinds of things?"

"Well…right now we'll just focus on the first one. You can't speak to any men without my permission."

"But you'll give me permission, right?"

"It would seem kind of awkward…it would be best not to."

"What about my friends? What about Atton, or Mical, or…"

Mandalore was shaking his head. Kalan sighed. "Fine. What else?"

"Er…there's sort of a…initiation ceremony that goes along with a new Mandalore's Number One…sort of like what you might call a wedding…but you don't need to worry about that things right now. The ceremony won't be held until tonight. Now come on…I have to announce your promotion."

Mandalore and Kalan left the room, but Jana was waiting near the building's exit. "Practicing for the ceremony?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

Mandalore and Kalan went down to the bottom floor, and Mandalore faced Jana. "Look…"

"You know," Jana said, turning to Kalan, "one of the things Jedi are famous for is predicting the future, but I don't think it's all that hard. I predicted you would become Mandalore's wife, and now here you are, Number Twenty-Eight. Now I'm predicting he's going to make you his Number One."

Kalan didn't respond. Mandalore stepped in front of Kalan, shielding her from Jana. "I have no choice."

Jana's eyes widened for a moment before she smiled maliciously. "Oh, so I am right. I had not expected you to do it so soon, Canderous. But I guess I should have figured you'd want to announce it quickly so that you could hold the ceremony tonight."

"Kalan, wait outside," Mandalore commanded.

Kalan walked past Jana and left. Jana was still smiling evilly. "She's a pretty one, isn't she? I can see why you would be so attracted to her…and a Jedi as well. That's a bonus."

"I didn't want this to happen."

"Oh? You mean that girl, Loran's old Number One, was suddenly insulted by Kalan only seconds after becoming your wife, and challenged her for it? You may think women are idiots, Canderous, but I'm not that stupid. You arranged it all…the fight, the outcome, even the timing."

"I didn't arrange anything! I don't know why that stupid girl wanted to challenge Kalan, but I never would have let her if I had known…"

"Just what are you trying to do here? Make me feel better by convincing me that you don't really want Kalan, but that it's necessary for her to be placed at the top position? Did you do this to your old Number One when you replaced her with me? Did you lie to her the same way, telling her it was out of kindness for me that you did it, rather than your perverted s…"

"Dammit, Jana, that is enough!" Mandalore shouted. "I thought you could be reasoned with, but I can see there will be none of that! You know what? Go on ahead! Challenge Kalan! And when you lose—and you will lose—don't come crying back to me, because I won't take you, and neither will Bralor or anyone else!"

"I will challenge your precious Jedi!" Jana shouted. "It will be an honorable match, and I will be victorious!"

Jana stormed out of the room. Kalan, still waiting outside, watched her move purposefully out to the main ring, where a crowd was gathering for a match that was about to begin. She walked into the middle of the ring and ignored the two couples preparing to fight.

"I have an announcement to make!" Jana shouted. "Mandalore has declared the Jedi to be his new Number One!"

There was a great deal of cheering at this statement. Jana waited for it to die down before continuing. "I am challenging the Jedi for this position!"

The roar was even louder now. Kalan's shoulders slumped.

"We will fight at three in the afternoon," Jana said, once the crowd had died down again. "The Jedi will be able to use her Force powers and her lightsaber, if she chooses. I will also be able to use whatever weapons I choose. If I win, the traditional measures will be taken, but if the Jedi wins, there will be a different outcome for me!"

The ring sergeant stepped forward. "You cannot change the rules, woman!"

Jana ignored him. "I know you all despise me! I know there is not a single one among you who has accepted me! If I lose the match against the Jedi, I will leave your people! I…I will never return."

When Kalan heard the roar of cheers at this statement, she almost felt sorry for Jana, but her mind was occupied with something else—she didn't know what "traditional measures" would be taken if she lost, but she wasn't about to find out. She still had a few hours to prepare, and then she would fight.

-------------------------------------

Visas was gathering a small crowd of her own. A group of Mandalorians was sitting at the huge table, watching, mesmerized, as she stuffed her face. She had been at it for nearly three hours now, and the only times when she paused in her eating was when she was drinking.

Bao-Dur was sitting nearby, staring at the food without eating any. It had been a miserable last three hours, and he wished he could have stayed back at the ship.

A droid walked into the tent, carrying a large platter of food to replace one that Visas had completely cleaned. Visas turned her head toward it as she continued eating, waiting for it to deliver her favorite food. Then, suddenly, it started whirring, and then it exploded, sending roasted cannok flying everywhere.

A silence fell over the people eating in the tent as many stared at the sauces and chunks of meat that had just been splattered all over them. Even Visas stopped eating. She turned to Bao-Dur. "Maybe you should fix that droid." Then she continued eating, and the others continued talking.

Having nothing better to do, Bao-Dur walked up to the remains of the droid and was about to examine them when a young Mandalorian staggered into the tent. He groaned when he saw the droid. "Father's going to kill me."

"Is this your droid?" Bao-Dur asked.

"Yes," the Mandalorian replied. "Well, I mean, it's not really mine, but I'm responsible for it. The droids have all been acting weird, and I promised my father I would fix them, but I can't figure out what's wrong. I must have screwed up with their initial activation or something…"

"Can I see another one of these droids?"

"Sure, I'll take you over to the maintenance building."

Bao-Dur followed the young Mandalorian outside. "I'm Jolon, by the way," he said. "My father, Zuka, is the assistant to the head of maintenance. You must be one of the outsiders that came with the Jedi."

"Yes."

"So?"

"So what?"

"So, what's your name?"

"I'm Bao-Dur."

"And you're…Zabrak, right?"

"Yes."

"What planet?"

"Iridonia."

"Oh…we conquered Iridonia, right?"

Bao-Dur narrowed his eyes, wondering why he was even bothering to help this person. "Yes."

"Uh…if you don't mind my asking…what happened to your arm?"

"It got blown off by your people at Malachor, so I built a new one."

"You were at Malachor?! Wow…I heard that was a great battle!"

"You heard wrong."

Jolon didn't say anything else until they reached the maintenance room. "Well, here they are," he said, gesturing around at a long row of deactivated droids. "I can't figure out why they keep exploding."

Bao-Dur went up to one and started opening some panels and adjusting some wiring. Jolon watched hesitantly as Bao-Dur worked. "Are you a mechanic, or do you just know a lot about droids?"

"Both," Bao-Dur replied. He continued working until he finally closed the last panel, only to set to work on another droid.

"What are you doing now?" Jolon asked.

Bao-Dur didn't answer until he was finished. "Just as I thought," he mumbled.

"What?"

"The problem isn't your fault. They just weren't built properly. If you want these droids to work, you have to remove their control clusters, rewire their cores, and then put the clusters back in again."

"But that could take hours…"

"Or days. It depends on how good you are."

"I don't have that kind of time!"

"Why not? If you start working now you may be able to finish one or two by tomorrow."

"You don't understand! It's Valentine's Day! Last year I wasn't old enough to do anything, but this year I'm a man! I'm supposed to get married!"

"You'll just have to tell your girlfriend to wait."

"But I can't tell her that, she doesn't even know who I am, and she's going to marry somebody else in a few hours unless I challenge him for her, and I've been training all year for this!"

Bao-Dur thought for a moment about how Kalan always helped people whenever she could. He didn't have anything better to do, and he did like working on droids. He hated the Mandalorians, but this was really only a kid; he couldn't have been one of the Mandalorians who had slaughtered his people, or the ones who fought at Malachor. Judging by the way the droids had been worked on, he was a smart kid, too, but not smart enough to finish in time. "I could help you," Bao-Dur said slowly.

"Really? I…I would really appreciate that." He paused. "Maybe between the two of us we'll be halfway done before tomorrow, and I won't have so much work."

"Maybe," Bao-Dur said, immediately getting to work on a droid.

Jolon did the same, and spoke as he did. "Ever since last year, when I first saw Ralla, I knew I had to marry her. I wanted to learn to fight better, to be able to prove myself to her against another man…I trained all year…"

"And you said she doesn't even know you?"

"No, I've never spoken to her…but that doesn't matter. Anyway, yesterday I learned she wasn't going to be fought over by the younger men. Kelborn specifically wants her."

"Hmm," Bao-Dur said, not really listening.

"Kelborn is…well…he's really quiet, and I've never really said anything to him…but…it just isn't fair! He has eleven wives! Why should he get Ralla? I want to fight him…he's very good. He's the third best Mandalorian fighter here…but I think I can outsmart him." He paused. "But now none of it matters. I'll probably be stuck with some stupid girl that nobody wants…but I know I could beat him, if I only had the chance!"

Bao-Dur was getting sick of this; it was ruining his concentration. "Jolon, if you really want this girl of yours, go. I'll take care of the droids."

"But you won't be able to finish…"

"You'd be surprised."

Jolon stared at him for a moment in disbelief. "Well…okay. I guess winning Ralla is worth getting into trouble with my father."

"Go, Jolon."

"Thanks Bao-Dur! I'll make it up to you, I promise…"

"Go."

Jolon ran off.