“If you won’t be requiring my services, Master Lowbacca,” Em Teedee said, “might I stay on shore and shut down for a rest cycle? I have no idea what saltwater might do to my delicate circuitry.”
Tenel Ka watched Lowbacca grumble a reply and splash out of the shallows to place Em Teedee high up on a dry rock. After the Wookiee returned, the four friends waded out toward deeper water, enjoying one another’s companionship, along with the feeling of the silky water around them.
When Jacen, Jaina, and Lowie turned onto their backs to float lazily on the surface while they conversed, Tenel Ka absently flipped over and floated as well. In that instant she remembered yet again that one of her arms was missing—but she also realized that, with only a slight adjustment of her posture and weight, she was able to float quite easily. By experimenting, she discovered she could propel herself at surprising speed, using nothing more than her strong legs.
Jacen, who had noticed her tentative attempts, swam over and favored her with what she could only interpret as a challenging grin. Starting to tread water, he raised his eyebrows at her. She met his gaze and began treading water as well—at first with little coordination, then finding her rhythm. When Jacen narrowed his liquid-brown eyes and moved to a sidestroke, Tenel Ka did the same.
Tenel Ka met one challenge after another with varying degrees of success. She found that she was able to do much more than she could ever have imagined. And even when her performance was less than stellar—as when she tried to perform an underwater somersault—she enjoyed herself.
When she resurfaced sputtering and coughing after one such attempt, she noticed a measuring look in Jacen’s eyes, daring her to push herself to her limits. “Race you to the shore,” he said.
Tenel Ka gave him a solemn warning look. “Only if you truly intend to beat me,” she said.
Jacen’s face was equally grave as he said, “I’ll give it everything I’ve got.”
She nodded. “Then—go!”
Tenel Ka drew on all of her strength, endurance, coordination, and ingenuity as she threw her body into the mad race for shore. Her entire consciousness was focused on one goal, and she drove forward with every bit of determination she possessed.
Before she even understood what had happened, she was standing on the shore being greeted by loud cheers from Jaina and a very bedraggled-looking, wet Lowbacca, who were already standing on the rocky beach.
Disoriented, Tenel Ka turned, looking for Jacen, and found him just emerging from the water behind her. From the surprised expression on his face, she knew their competition had been reaclass="underline" he had not “allowed” her to win.
Jaina ran forward to hug them both just as Lowbacca, with a loud Wookiee yell, shook himself dry, sending sprays of salty water in every direction. Jacen yelped, and Jaina gave a small shriek of surprise.
Tenel Ka was glad of the diversion, however, because some of the salty droplets glistening on her face were not seawater.
15
Two days later, the royal matriarch Ta’a Chume looked sternly at her granddaughter as Tenel Ka defiantly tossed aside the embroidered robe of state, as well as the glittering and gaudy tiara.
The former queen was not pleased. “You must dress in a manner befitting your station, child,” she said in an indignant tone. “And you might show a bit more respect for your heritage. Take your tiara. It is an heirloom, known throughout the cluster.” She held up the delicate crown studded with beautiful, iridescent jewels. “These are rainbow gems of Gallinore, worth enough to buy five solar systems.”
“Then buy five solar systems,” Tenel Ka said. “I have no use for such wealth.”
“You can’t avoid your duties by being impertinent. This is not a carefree vacation. There is still work to do. We have an important diplomatic meeting to conduct, and you must prepare yourself.”
“I have no interest in your important meeting, Grandmother.”
Jacen, Jaina, and Lowbacca stood uncomfortably, not sure what to say as Tenel Ka argued with the matriarch.
“So long as you remain part of the Royal House of Hapes, Tenel Ka, you will continue to receive diplomatic instruction and learn how to become a useful member of our bloodline,” her grandmother snapped.
Tenel Ka glared back, her one hand clenched into a fist. “What makes you think I wish to stay here as part of the Royal House? I am still in training as a Jedi Knight.”
The matriarch laughed. “Spare me your fantasies, child, and face reality. The Mairan ambassador is on his way to us underwater right now, and we must go meet him at the shore. Put on your robe. I promised him that you would be the one to greet him.”
“You didn’t ask me,” Tenel Ka said.
“There was no reason to,” the matriarch answered. “You couldn’t possibly have other plans, so I just told you.”
“I have no need for diplomatic training. I am a fighter, not a politician,” Tenel Ka said, indicating with a sweeping gesture the reptile-skin armor she had changed into to emphasize that her preferred heritage was from Dathomir.
“Hey, um, Tenel Ka?” Jacen said uncertainly, clearing his throat. “Uh, I mean, you’ve got to make up your own mind and everything … but remember what Master Skywalker says? Jedi ought to be open to all learning, to draw strength from knowledge—wherever they might find it? Seems to me that even though you’re a good fighter, you might someday find a use for the skills your grandmother wants to teach you.”
“I disagree with her politics,” Tenel Ka said.
Jacen shrugged. “Nobody said you had to do everything the way she wants you to.”
The matriarch scowled at the insolent young Jedi boy, and that made up Tenel Ka’s mind. “Very well. I will do it,” she said, “but I will do it my way. This is a fact.”
“Oh, excellent!” Em Teedee said from Lowbacca’s waist. “Might I take this opportunity to remind you, Mistress Tenel Ka, that a goodly portion of my programming was adapted from protocol droid subroutines? If I can be of any assistance in your political efforts, I gladly offer my services.”
The old matriarch looked horrified.
Tenel Ka smiled inwardly. “Thank you, Em Teedee. I accept your offer. Lowbacca, I would like you at my side when I meet the Mairan ambassador.”
Tenel Ka picked up the robe and with her one hand attempted to fling it about her shoulders, but the left side slid off, leaving the stump of her arm bare. When the matriarch moved to help her, Tenel Ka pulled away and quickly reached over to tug the garment into place.
“It is good to be an independent thinker, my granddaughter,” the matriarch said. “Just have a care you don’t do it to excess.”
Royal guards had set out a plush chair on the outer edge of the reef, where curling whitecaps chewed against the rock. The damp air smelled of salt and freshness. The old matriarch stood back, observing.
Tenel Ka, in her rippling robe, marched to the chair without waiting for her grandmother to issue instructions. Adjusting the rainbow-gem tiara on her thick red-gold hair, she looked directly into the brisk wind that blew off the choppy waters.
Lowbacca, the breeze ruffling his ginger fur, stood beside Tenel Ka as she seated herself and looked out across the black rocks and the endless sea. She blinked against the bright sunlight and watched the waves for any motion.
The Mairans, a race of intelligent, tentacled, undersea dwellers, came from the ocean world of Maires, one of the planets in the Hapes Cluster. Their ambassadors had set up a consulate on the ocean floor of the Hapes central world. It seemed that, even from their undersea consulate, the Mairan ambassadors had managed to raise a political dispute with their traditional rivals from the planet Vergill.
The Mairans could leave the sea for short periods, but only if the tentacled creatures were periodically showered with a fine spray from bubbling tanks of filtered water they carried on their backs. By keeping their rubbery skin moist, the Mairans were able to spend hours on dry land, and the ambassadors had insisted on coming personally to the island fortress. They would allow the matter to be resolved by no one but the matriarch herself—or a member of the Royal House who was her designee.