Well, here's the next chapter - as I have been delinquent in updating I thought that updating two would be in order. :) Please review at the end, I survive on reviews.
When Corliss was told that he would be needed in the holotech's room, he was instantly worried. Quickly excusing himself from the rather monotonous and irritating company of Senator Dreadnaught – who was once more railing on the fact that his sister was wrong for doing what she was, and how he'd be a better Captain – he headed in that direction.
He had always found it strange how everyone assumed that he hated Ariadné for being his commanding officer, but the truth was the exact opposite. He loved her, admired her, and wanted only to protect her. Sure, on one hand he hated the fact that she always seemed to know better than him... but that didn't mean that he automatically wanted her place. It wasn't that he wanted to be the Commander, it was the fact that she had appointed a complete stranger to be her commander that he had a problem with.
Reaching the holoroom, he quickly found what he was looking for. "You wanted to see me?" he asked Rariss, the chief holotech.
The tech scoffed, "So, we were working on the commander's little droid this morning – trying to get a transmitter in him which would connect to the Captain – and you'll never guess what we found." he said. Corliss hid his disappointment well, he had hoped that Ariadné had contacted them... but no.
"Don't play games with me Rariss, just tell me what's going on." the young man replied.
Rariss nodded, "As you wish, Lieutenant... though be aware, you aren't going to like what you see."
Corliss narrowed his eyes, sending a rather dangerous glare the man's way.
After a few button pushes, Corliss saw what they were talking about, his jaw dropping unceremoniously. It was Lars, all in black with a lightsaber strapped to his belt. R2 beeped in a panic in the background as the image spoke:
"Greetings Excellency, I'm Luke Skywalker..."
Myrna paced the small room, still waiting for Ariadné to return. An hour before, someone had knocked on the door – when she opened it, she was surprised to see a young boy.
"He said that your friend had sent him here. Apparently I was wrong to think she wasn't established enough to go down to the docks." Yete had said, shoving the boy into the room. "I expect her to pay extra for the slave... I'm not feeding him for nothing."
"I'm sure she will." Myrna replied, feigning coldness as her mind took a mental check of the boy's injuries.
"She better." Yete replied, looking down at the boy. "Too bad I didn't go today... I might have found me a nice little one like him. Help out around here." she ruffled his hair ignoring the scathing look which Myrna sent her way.
"Alright you've delivered your message." Myrna hissed, sending the woman away. She turned toward the little boy, her heart breaking as she watched his lip quiver. "What's your name?" she asked.
"Kier." he answered quietly, his blue eyes shimmering in unshed tears. Myrna knelt down to his size.
"Where are you from?" she asked gently, watching as he suddenly looked confused.
"You're not like the others, are you?" he asked, putting a rather difficult question before her. If she answered truthfully, he may not know much discretion and get the whole mission blown out of the water... but she wasn't sure she could break his tiny trust.
"No, I'm not." she finally whispered, brushing his hair out of his face. "Come on, lets get you cleaned up."
Now he watched her from the bed as she paced, his eyes simply following her as she wore a hole in the floor.
"Are you waiting for the brown eyed lady?" he asked her, "Tine?" she had given him her fake name, knowing full well that he would not be able to keep such a secret.
"Yes, I am." she replied just as the door opened and a brown eyed woman was ushered in – followed by Ariadné. "Where have you been?" Myrna demanded, earning a shushing motion from her Captain.
"Unless you want us dead, I suggest you keep your voice down." she hissed.
"What is the meaning of this?" Myrna asked, "You bought two slaves."
Ariadné scoffed, "Really? I hadn't noticed." she said sarcastically, "This is Leia. Did you find out his name?"
"Keir" Myrna supplied, "Where's he from?"
"Alderaan." Ariadné replied.
"Alderaan?" Leia echoed, looking down at the boy. "Where from?"
Keir looked at Myrna as if asking if he could answer. She nodded. "I don't know, my mother and father were from there. I was a baby when we left." he answered. "Are you from Alderaan?"
Leia nodded. "Nice going Khari." Myrna retorted, "Two slaves from Alderaan."
"Well at least they'll keep each other company." Ariadné replied. "Now, what brought you to Tyrn?" she asked Leia.
"No business of yours." Leia replied testily.
Ariadné chuckled, "Feisty." she commented with a smile. "But I have a good reason for asking."
"I'm sorry mistress, I did not mean to anger you." Leia's sarcastic reply earned a silent laugh from the Captain.
"Allow me to introduce myself." she said, "I'm Khariya Faria – no, that's not my real name, but that's what you have to work with now. This is my associate: Fatine." Leia looked over at the other woman, and it was clear that she wasn't happy with the name or situation.
"Nice to meet you Khariya-who-is-not-Khariya." Leia said sarcastically.
"Well, at least her heart is in the right place." Ariadné joked, "Now, I need to explain something to you. We are not who we act to be. Khariya Faria doesn't truly exist, neither does Fatine Zulen. But, as we are not truly from Echtra, that is all I can tell you."
Leia looked confused, "Who are you then?" she asked.
"Friends." Ariadné answered, "I bought you because I knew that those who would have bought you had very malicious intentions. In reality, I bought the pair of you because I couldn't let you stay where you were."
"You truly wish to help me?" Leia asked.
"Yes, as much as I can..." Ariadné replied.
"I have a friend who also was about to be sold-"
"The wookiee." Ariadné supplied, "I'm afraid I can't do anything for him – before you interrupt, let me speak – I cannot help him for two reasons. One is that it will look suspicious if I bought another slave, and second is that he was sold after you. I can do nothing as I am only establishing myself here."
Leia's eyes scrutinized the woman. "Who are you?"
Ariadné looked at her for a moment, using the Force to determine just who Leia was, and if she was trustworthy. After finding her Force-signature to be light, she made her decision. "Fatine, take the boy to get something to eat, I'm sure he's hungry."
Myrna glanced between the women, "Come on Keir, lets get you something to eat. By the way, our landlady was clear to say that we pay extra now that we have slaves."
"Naturally, now go" Ariadné replied as the woman slipped out of the room. "Alright, I can only explain certain things... and I want you to swear that you will not divulge my secrets."
Leia nodded.
"Very well..." the Captain replied with a sigh, her voice turning more normal. "I am from Liboria, on the other side of the river. My friend and I are here as a last resort..."
If anyone had walked into Luke's office that morning, they would have found quite a sight. Every holopad which the Commander had was strewn on the desk, a bit of different information on each. The general message was clear: all of the fortresses on the banks of the river had been overrun, and troops were beginning to move inward tor Cairn Corness. Luke let out a groan of frustration as he read another pad.
There was no news on the Millennium Falcon. Yet, he could sense Leia. Whatever was going on, she seemed to be content; the earlier panic completely gone. He only hoped that Han had figured something out, and they would be crossing the river quickly. However, he knew that it was a hopeless cause. There was no way to cross... unless Han suddenly came up with an idea to make the Falcon floatable and get it down the river.
A knock resounded on the door, "Come in." he replied, his eyes not moving from his holopad. Corliss walked in, taking the seat opposite. "There has been no new news Corliss, you may tell the queen that."
"I will." the young man replied, "But that's not why I'm here."
"Oh?" Luke asked, putting his holopad down. "What's wrong?"
Corliss shook his head, "Tell me, does my sister know."
"Know what?" Luke inquired, "I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about."
"That you've been lying to her?" Corliss replied.
Luke's breath caught in his throat. "I don't know what you—" Corliss threw a holopad on the desk and Luke took a glance. The Millennium Falcon hovered on the screen. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Surely you recognize it." Corliss said in fake innocence. "Is it not your brother-in-law's ship? Or perhaps this will help you." touching the holopad, the image from earlier started to playback. "So... Luke Skywalker... I will ask you again: does my sister know?"
The commander was silent. "How did you find this out?" Luke finally asked.
Corliss ignored his blown off question a moment as he answered with: "Your droid is quite difficult to get information from."
Luke stood up. "What did you do to R2?!" he demanded.
Corliss was unfazed. "Your R-unit went to get some mechanical problems fixed the other day, remember – to put a connecting transmitter on him so that we could contact Ariadné when the time came." he explained, "In the process, we accidentally came across a hologram which you recorded a while back... for Jabba the Hutt. After the technicians heard the name associated with your image, they called me."
Luke sat back down, his head in his hands as he realized what had happened. "So you just went in to get information."
"I tried to defend you at first, saying that perhaps you were pretending to be Skywalker for Jabba the Hutt..." Corliss said quietly, "But then I delved a little deeper into R2. After overriding his original coding, I was able to get some information from him in regards to both you and your family. He had everything there was to know about you, even the day when you took him aside to inform him of your new name." he paused. "Then I asked my mother."
"She was my mother's handmaiden." Luke replied.
"I know." Corliss said, "She told me everything after I showed her that holo. She told me about your father, and your mother. She explained when she first had her suspicions on who you were... and why my sister is still clueless."
"I never wanted to lie to Ariadné." Luke replied quickly, "But she would never-"
"She hates you." Corliss said, "You are responsible for our brother's death in her eyes."
"I know." Luke replied. "She's told me."
"All the while completely clueless that the man she hated, she was becoming friends with. Did you honestly think that it would work well? Did you think we would never find out?" Corliss asked him, his voice raising marginally.
Luke sighed, "I didn't know how to tell her."
"She's not unreasonable La – Luke. If you had told her, she would have forgiven you in time." Corliss replied, "Now, however, I don't know." he began twisting the ring on his hand. "You've broken her trust."
"I know." Luke repeated, "She's left this position with a man she hates."
Corliss chuckled, standing up and walking to the window. "See, she doesn't hate you." he said, "Or rather, she didn't. When she comes back and finds out the truth she will, I'm sure. But right now she admires you – I would even dare to say that my sister cares about you. Did she not give you her ring?"
"She told me to take care of it and her family." Luke replied.
The Lieutenant snickered, "My sister is not good at expressing her emotions. I think that in many ways, she has grown fond of you. She wouldn't leave that ring with just anyone." Luke let out a groan as he held his head in his hands again. "You're going to kill her with your secrets." Corliss muttered.
Luke's head snapped up. "What do you mean?"
"She's ill, Skywalker. My sister cannot handle full-scale betrayal." Corliss answered. "If she wasn't hardened before, she will be now."
"Corliss..."
"You want to know if I will tell her." the boy replied, taking in a deep breath. "No."
Luke looked at the boy in astonishment. "What?"
Corliss turned back toward Luke, "You are going to tell her when she returns. If you don't, then I will. But I'm going to give you a chance to redeem yourself."
"But-"
"No one but the technicians and myself know about this – as my mother already knew and therefore doesn't count." Corliss replied, walking toward Luke. "If you promise me that you will tell her on your own... without her 'finding out'... then I will not utter a word to anyone."
"I promise." Luke said, "I will tell her."
Corliss nodded, turning around to walk out. "Do you love her?"
Luke froze. He had been asking himself that question for a few days now... did he love Ariadné? He didn't know her well, and yet he cared for her very much. Every day he concerned himself with 'Is she still alive? Is she alright?' "I don't know." he answered finally.
Her brother nodded again, "You better find out before she gets back." he said walking out of the room.
Luke let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. The whole day had been one long catastrophe... and now he had to deal with what Corliss had mentioned about him loving Ariadné. How was he even supposed to answer such a question? It wasn't as if he knew what love was! He hung his head in his hands... his thoughts swirling in a ocean of confusion.
When Ariadné finished, Leia was a little more clued in to what was going on around her. 'Khariya' had bought her in good faith, and would need her help in spying... at least, that was what she'd said. When Leia had mentioned that she had been apart of the Alliance, Ariadné stiffened, explaining that her brother had joined them... but wouldn't say who he was. Leia then asked if Ariadné knew her brother, who had come to visit.
"Luke Skywalker?" Ariadné spat, "I know nothing of the man... except that he is responsible for my country losing its men."
Leia had been quick to come to her twin's defense, immediately worrying about him. "But Luke is here, I know it. He's my twin, I can sense when he is close and I tell you he's on Tyrn." she said.
Ariadné shook her head, "I understand the 'twin' thing, I am a twin myself. But I can assure you that Luke Skywalker is not where I came from." she replied, an image of Lars flashing through her mind. Suddenly she was suspicious. Surely Lars wouldn't have lied to her... surely he wasn't Luke Skywalker. "When was it that he came to our planet?" she asked.
Leia calculated the time, "About four months ago now." she said, "Why?"
The Captain shifted in her seat. "About four months ago we had two x-wing fighters crash on Tyrn. One was a Lars Starkiller, and we don't know who the other was. Lars is currently in my place back in Liboria."
"Lars?" Leia repeated, suddenly the pieces came together. Luke would use his uncle's name, Leia knew that... and Starkiller almost made her laugh... but she didn't think he'd actually pretend to be someone else. Then she remembered a few moments before, when Khariya had made her disdain for Luke obvious... if Luke had heard that, it might prompt him to disguise his identity for a time. In which case, this woman wouldn't know who he was. "Well, maybe this Lars went looking for him." she said, "I certainly did."
Ariadné scoffed "Well, I wish you the best in finding your brother. Though chances of him escaping unscathed are rather slim." she replied, getting up and walking away. Leia then began to wonder what Luke had been up to these last four months.
It was agreed that the next morning, Leia would play the part of a servant, in front of Yete, all for the sake of Ariadné's charade. As long as she, and Keir, pretended to be the dutiful servants, and did what they were told, then they might have a chance of getting out alive... and for Leia... with Han.
Han wasn't sure he liked being chained up. He had never liked it in the past, but now he truly wished he could somehow get out of them. Amara – as he later found out was the name of the woman who had bought him – had told him that he was there for a reason. Apparently her master, a General Faruq, had seen the Falcon go down, and had sent her to find its pilot. Why this man was so interested in him, he had no idea... all he could think of was what Leia was going through. He hoped that Chewie had taken care of her, and that she was alright. But he couldn't escape the nagging feeling that something was wrong... but he didn't know what.
The door opened, and Han looked up at Amara. "The General is ready to see you." she said, motioning for the guards to release his hands.
"How kind of him." Han quipped, "Tell me, is he usually this cordial with his guests?"
The blond raised an eyebrow. "Unless you would have preferred to simply be sold into slavery to the nearest person with the highest bid, I think you ought to be grateful." she said, her tone helpful. "The General saved you from certain death – you wouldn't last a week in any place. You don't like to stay put."
"I get restless." Han retorted, "My wife tells me that its something I can't control."
Amara smiled, "Your wife... the woman who you were with in the cell?" Han didn't reply. "I suppose it will be some comfort to you to hear that she wasn't sold to some leach. A woman bought her, and from my sources, the woman lives with another woman. No men are involved." despite the fact that the whole situation didn't make Han comfortable – the fact that Leia was somewhat safe made him happy.
"Thanks." he murmured.
"Don't thank me, I didn't buy her." Amara replied, leading the way as they entered another room.
So far what Han had seen were whitewashed walls and gray stone... but here it was different. There was a grandeur that he hadn't seen on Tyrn before, there was color and beauty, as if he had stepped into an oasis. Amara approached a high-backed chair, kneeling before the man who sat in it, his back turned to Han. "Master, I brought the pilot." she purred.
"Good job, my pet." the man replied, "Bring him to face me."
Amara snapped her fingers, causing the two guards to bring Han in front of the man. In that moment, Han suddenly realized why he had been wanted, his face familiar and yet unknown. "Well well, " Han started sarcastically, "What do you know? Just the person I came to see..."
Ooh... who is General Faruq do you think? And what does he want with Han? Reviews... please...