ChapterTwo: "It's Time"
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33Years Post-ANH
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"It's time."
Sanar Klis looked up at Jaina, and raised an eyebrow. "What?" After a moment, she groaned. "You aren't still on about Tenel Ka, are you?"
Jaina leaned against the window and crossed her arms, considering her friend. "The war is over. Ta'a Chume can't rule anymore—evenyou know that—"
"Not for lack of trying to forget politics," Sanar grumbled.
"It's time for Tenel Ka to take up the throne." Jaina shrugged, as if that was all that needed saying.
Sanar sighed, narrowing her eyes at Jaina. In the four years since Devnos' death, the two women had rarely been separated, except for when Jaina had some heroic mission to pull off, or a battle to save, or a date with her boyfriend. Zekk liked to joke that they had become perfect reflections of each other—something both were quick to deny. As if to prove him wrong, Jaina and Sanar had begun to banter even more (when they could remember to) than before. However, while their mental connection, which had been created when Sanar brought Jaina back to life five years ago, seemed to have become more subdued, their complicated relationship had never been stronger—whatever that meant.
"Oh, come on," Jaina insisted when Sanar didn't speak further. "You can feel it, too, can't you?"
"I don't see what this has to do with me," Sanar grumbled.
"I'm just saying," the Solo daughter replied calmly.
Unexpectedly, Sanar grinned. "It just popped out, didn't it?"
Jaina scowled. "No," she sulked.
"It did!" Sanar smirked before adding, condescendingly, "You need to learn how to think before you give me a reason to tell you to shut up."
"Be quiet."
"You be quiet," Sanar countered.
Jaina growled, and Sanar went back to her book, smiling in triumph.
"It's still time," Jaina muttered.
"Whatever you say, Jaina."
The Jedi stomped out of the room.
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"It is time."
Ta'a Chume glanced up, and raised an eyebrow when she recognized her granddaughter. "I beg your pardon, dear?"
The red-haired princess crossed her arms across her chest, and her jaw squared. "Your time as Queen Mother has ended; my time has begun."
"It has always been time. You have only now chosen to accept your destiny." Ta'a Chume's triumphant smile was far from unexpected.
Tenel Ka watched dully.
"Your coronation will take place in two weeks."
"You have been planning this."
Ta'a Chume raised an eyebrow, her mouth turning downwards. "Of course I have. Jaina Solo has never been good at hiding her opinions."
"What do you mean?" Tenel Ka bit the inside of her cheek.
Ta'a Chume waved a hand dismissively as she took out several datapads and began to tap notes into them. "She and a friend were discussing the fact that you were to become Queen Mother now, and the Jedi always manipulate others to their point of view."
"I am a Jedi, Grandmother," Tenel Ka snapped, standing straighter. "And you would do well to treat such people with respect."
A cold, expressionless look was the only acknowledgement Tenel Ka's threat received. "You will move into chambers appropriate for the future Queen Mother, of course, and meet with the dignitaries and the press, to announce your intentions toward the crown."
Tenel Ka bore her grandmother's scheming patiently; this was something she had to get used to, supposedly. I am doing this for my people. "I have already arranged a conference," she informed Ta'a Chume, grateful that in this, at least, she could catch her grandmother off-guard.
Sure enough, Ta'a Chume's pen paused briefly over the piece of flimsi in surprise. "Have you?" The woman's voice had a peculiar twist to it. Then the pen continued to move. "Very well. Prepare your speech, granddaughter, and have a care not to alienate anyone."
Dismissed. Even as Tenel Ka moved to take her crown, this shrewd, ever-plotting woman dismissed her like a child. Insufferable.
But fixable, if she stayed true to her morals. Or so Tenel Ka dreamed.
With grace surpassing Ta'a Chume's painstaking calculations, Tenel Ka strode out of the room as if she was completely in charge. Tenel Ka had time, friends and strength on her side; Ta'a Chume knew it.
Tenel Ka was grateful for that truth, if little else remained.
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"It is time," the Holy Woman boomed, "to beckon in a new era." With these words, she placed the heavy crown on the head of the young royal before her. Strong and proud, the kneeling woman raised her chin with dignity, her red hair glinting in the light of a thousand candles. "Long live the Queen Mother!"
Before her people, the Queen Mother Tenel Ka Chume Ta' Djo stood crowned for the first time, and still her back was turned to them. In her right hand she held her royal sceptre, ornate and bejewelled with enough riches to buy several planets. Her long, velvet cape trailed down the stairs to the ceremony's platform. On the left side of the room, the Queen Mother's friends watched, and noticed the stiffness with which the royal carried herself. A coronation, apparently, was not a pleasant experience for a warrior.
"Go forth," the Hapan Holy Woman intoned. "Go forth with strength and wisdom." Taking the Queen Mother by the shoulders, the Holy Woman turned Tenel Ka around, so that she faced her people. "Children of the Hapes Consortium: I give you your Mother."
Three servants straightened out Tenel Ka's trailing cape, and then the Queen stepped forward and down the stairs. Reaching the floor, she swept the room with her eyes.
Friends studied that pale, beautiful face, and saw the Queen's despair, but also the love for her people.
The Queen Mother held her arms out wide, as if to embrace her kingdom, and then slowly dropped in a curtsy. "My children," murmured the Queen.
As one, the people bowed. "Mother."
Only when she had walked down that long aisle through the church, and out the door, did the people give their joy sound.
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It is time for all pretences to end.
The knowledge rang in Tenel Ka's ears, louder than the bells that had been sounded after her coronation, louder even than her people's cheers. At four in the morning, she had at last been released from royal duties, and now the young woman studied herself in the mirror.
Her hair, so elaborately and painstakingly done by her maids at five in the morning, was still stiff with its practiced beauty. Tightly set, her red hair shone from its twists, and Tenel Ka could see little resemblance to the locks that had once been set in braids. Raising her only hand, she began to take out the pins, the ties, the jewels. Once down, parts of the hair still stubbornly refused to take its normal shape; this would only change with a stiff wash. Tenel Ka left it, for the moment.
Next her face. Once, its expression had been so proud, so free, and had only occasionally been allowed to reflect her emotions. Her striking features, inherited from her mother, and her flawless complexion, a gift from her father, had been covered in make-up. Tenel Ka memorized this new, painfully perfect face, which was more pretty than beautiful, more powerful than strong. This was the face she had tried to escape, the face of a queen. Taking a cloth, Tenel Ka added a little soap to the wet material and cleaned off her face. It took several tries, each attempt taking away a little more of the remaining, artificial colour. At last, she could see herself again, with the plain, clean features.
The dress would have to go. Although the coronation robe had been left behind, her corseted, traditional dress made it difficult to breathe, and harder to walk. This, she could not remove by herself. Calling for two maids by name, Tenel Ka let the women unbutton and untie the outer garment. For a moment revelling in the instant coolness when the thick material fell away, Tenel Ka gestured for the maids to continue. The inner dress was almost as heavy as the outer one, but more delicate and complicated. This part took longer, almost twenty-five minutes. Each undone clasp made breathing easier, each peeled back layer let more air in, until at last its cloying, heavy presence was no longer felt, and she was left only in a light, form-fitting slip.
"Leave me."
The maids did as they were told.
Tenel Ka's reflection stared back at her, weary and resigned, almost betrayed by the changes that she had at last accepted. Tenel Ka touched the image before her briefly, afraid to realize that this was not a dream. Against her pale face, the girl's lips stood out, dark red from rubbing.
Once, in a universe that seemed very different from this one, Tenel Ka had wondered what it might be like to kiss Jacen. The thought had embarrassed her, particularly because it had come out of nowhere, and when she was sparring with the man himself. The wondering had distracted her—another reason for chagrin. Jacen Solo had bested her at sparring that day.
In this universe, Tenel Ka wondered how well she would know the man she would marry. She thought about the things she had given up, the freedom she had forsaken.
Her hair still had not fallen straight, the way it had before this day. Tenel Ka wondered if it ever would have a chance to do so for longer than a moment.
Tenel Ka's hand dropped from the reflection glass. "Long live the Queen Mother."
She left the reflection and the old dreams behind.
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.Tjz