Chapter 22: Surprises

26 BBY, Kryze Castle, Kalevala, Mandalore System

Leia sighed with satisfaction as she slid into the hot water spring attached to the castle. Every single muscle she had ached, but thanks to Sabé's relentless training—as well as Master Windu's very reluctant decision to engage in weekly sparring sessions with her—she had not been decapitated by Lady Bo-Katan. She's amazing, Leia thought, wondering what it would be like to watch her fight with a traditional sword against a worthy opponent. If I knock that practice lightsaber out of her hand one more time, though, she's going to pull out a blaster and shoot me in frustration.

Leaning back, she floated for a while before reaching for the lavender and mint wash that she'd become fond of. There were not a lot of luxuries in Kryze Castle; previous generations eschewed pampering in favor of a warrior aesthetic relieved mostly by the vivid artwork covering every available surface. But Mandalorians understood the value of a hot soak after training, and Leia had been delighted when Duchess Satine offered her access to this facility. Even Sabé had approved, though she would be furious if she found out that Leia had gone down to the bathing chamber alone, trying to fight off insomnia.

Unsurprisingly, Satine was a disaster with her saber. She was fine when there was no opponent, learning the patterns and using her height and reach to thrust and parry well. But the minute she crossed sabers with someone else, even a holographic enemy, she hesitated, unwilling to risk causing injury. But unlike her sister, Satine slid into a meditative trance with only a little instruction, and after Leia touched her mind once, gently, showing her what the living Force felt like, the Duchess had been able to feel the Force on her own, even if she could not manipulate it. Well, Leia mused, one beskar gauntlet is better than none.

There was something…odd…about training the sisters, though. One, very much a warrior and the other, clearly determined to avoid bloodshed at all costs. Something reverberated between them in the Force, but it was a connection Leia did not understand. Is it because they are siblings? she wondered. She and Luke had always had a connection, even from their very first meeting, but they had assumed it was because they were twins. Maybe it was more than that, but as there were no experienced Jedi to observe them together, there was no way to know for certain. A question for Master Yoda, she thought, as she reached for a pumice stone. Relaxed and distracted, she let the stone slip from her fingers. Kriff, she thought, I like that one. She let herself sink under the water and opened her eyes, searching for the stone.

At that moment, the world went white. Leia gripped the pool's bottom shelf and watched in horror as flames swept over the space where she had been sitting and muted booms echoed through the chamber. Pieces of the ceiling began to rain down, and she pressed herself against the edge of the pool, trying to avoid the shards. She waited, lungs burning, until whatever seemed to be happening stopped, then cautiously pushed her head above the water, gulping smokey air that scorched her throat and sent her into a coughing fit. It took three tries to lever herself out of the pool, and she scraped hands and knees on the newly cracked ledge, fumbling for a robe, a towel, something to cover her face.

Finding nothing that wasn't in flames, she forced herself to her feet, feeling them blister as she shuffled and then broke into a limping run toward the bathing room's exit, dodging burning debris. She slapped her palm against the detector, but the sliding door refused to respond. Vaguely hearing shouts from the other side, Leia did not bother to wait for rescue: she gripped the seam of the door with the Force and peeled it back like pulling the rind off of an orange.

Stumbling into the blessedly cool air of the hallway, eyes streaming, barefoot, covered in ash, with reddened, blistered skin, she ordered the astonished security guard to lock down the castle and check on the safety of the Duchess. "What are you waiting for?" she choked out. "Go!" He turned to obey her, while a second guard hesitated, and Leia was about to snarl at him when she was doubled over by a fit of coughing. Only when someone wrapped a blanket around her did she realize what she must look like, filthy, bleeding and naked, yet croaking orders as if this were her palace.

Wrong Princess!

The words echoed in her mind, and she saw a flash of green eyes, but whoever it was stepped away as the med team arrived and began giving her oxygen.

Six hours later

"It was an aquatic sweeper droid, the kind used to clean the surfaces in the bathing room," the Duchess's Chief of Staff reported, "or at least, it was intended to look like one. Analysis shows that its interior was quite different. It was designed to be ignored and then, when triggered, to self-destruct. In this case, the trigger word was…"

"Princess," Leia guessed.

"How do you know that?" the Chief demanded.

"Because Leia was not the target," Sabé suggested.

"I took a vid call from Alderaan just before I entered the bathing pool," Leia explained, "and my cousins insist on using my royal title rather than referring to me by first name."

"Or as a Jedi," Sabé confirmed. "That triggered the droid. It waited until it considered you most vulnerable, then disabled the door mechanism and self-destructed."

"That makes it fairly easy to discover who the real target was as well as who is the likely culprit." Leia, turned to Bo-Katan. "I've heard some refer to you as princess. Did anyone…"

Bo-Katan reluctantly opened her comm pad and searched through her messages. "I received an audio message from a member of the Duchess's staff about a request I made about breakfast shortly after you entered the bathing chamber. He refers to me rather sarcastically as princess."

"His name?" Satine asked.

"Tal Merrick." Bo-Katan hesitated, and Leia knew immediately that the Duchess's sister recognized the man, probably under another name. "He's being groomed to run for the Senate in a few years."

"And?" Leia prodded. "You know more than that. Much more."

"Fine. He's a member of Death Watch. A spy."

"Then the time for training is almost over. Death Watch knows about your meetings with Satine. You're going to have to challenge Pre Vizla. We can pretend that this was an attempt to assassinate me, something that has nothing to do with Mandalorian politics, but that story won't hold for long." Leia turned to Satine. "Stage an argument with Bo-Katan after I've gone and make it look as if you've finally given up on converting your sister to the ways of peace. But be mindful of your staff and those who surround you. You may not be able to move objects with the Force, but you can sense it, and if you think someone is lying to you, follow your instincts." She took a deep breath and then began to cough again.

"And that is enough for you," Sabé concluded. "we are returning to Coruscant immediately."

Bo-Katan stood and walked around to where Leia was seated. After a pause, she pulled off both of her gauntlets and handed them to her instructor. "You will have to have these resized." She shook her head. "I cannot believe I've been defeated so often by someone so…compact. But you have been injured in my place, so whether or not I master the dark saber, you have earned these. A jedi with Mandalorian gauntlets. These are strange days."

Leia took the gauntlets carefully, moved by the gesture. "That they are, Lady Bo-Katan. Strange days indeed."

Leia woke suddenly when the ship landed. Her eyes felt gummy, and her throat was dry. She removed the oxygen mask that the medics had insisted she wear while sleeping, released the reentry belt that had been secured around her, and sat up slowly, irritated by the stale taste in her mouth. She felt vaguely off balance as she entered the small refresher where she avoided her own reflection, splashing water over her face and neck after getting a long drink and relieving herself. She re-entered the sleeping hold and sat on her bunk to rebraid her hair. Sabé's bunk was unoccupied, as was the droid's recharging center. Obviously, they had taken care of docking without her. Leia reached for her pad to see if there was an update from Coruscant and noted the time and date.

Sixteen hours?! She was stunned. She had slept almost an entire day. Well, maybe I have been pushing too hard, she admitted. But something seemed off. Where had they landed? Coruscant should be another two days away, even at maximum speed.

Leia made her way to the cockpit, where Sabé was finishing a conversation over the ship's comm. She turned to the Princess, "You're awake! Good. They're expecting us."

"Who exactly is they?" Leia asked.

"Your family, my dear," came another voice. Leia turned to find her mother gazing into the cockpit with interest. "And I'd say it's about time. You look terrible."

"Mama!" Leia was delighted to see Breha, even if she was confused. "Where are we? We can't be on Alderaan…"

"Welcome to Naboo," Sabé told her. "You've been abducted. Come along. You're about to be overwhelmed, fussed over, and generally spoiled by the family Naberrie, and I suggest you surrender immediately."

"I…what?"

"We have decided," a third voice greeted her, "that since you fell from the sky exactly two years ago—Naboo time, that is—today is your birthday, and that you will celebrate it here in Theed." A beautiful middle aged woman with light brown eyes reached out and touched Leia's cheek. "I'm Jobal, your grandmother, and Queen Breha is correct: you look terrible. Let's get you home. Your presents can wait until we get a good hot meal into you."

Presents? Birthday? Leia thought about objecting, as she really didn't have time for this sort of thing. When she opened her lips to say so, her mother sent her a look so eloquent that she immediately closed them again. She knew that look. She accepted defeat and followed her family out of the cockpit and toward the landing ramp, thinking sadly, I wish Luke were here.