The younger Hutt waved at the box. “A gift for your Exaltedness. A token of Besadii’s esteem and our hopes for your future, O Jiliac.”
“We shall see …. “rumbled Jiliac. She tore at the wrappings, and then drew forth a large, very valuable piece of art. It was a deathmask from the islands of the remote world of Langoona. The natives carved these deathmasks and decorated them with semiprecious gems and inlays of silver, gold, platinum and iridescent shell-casings from their warm seas.
Jiliac turned the mask around in her tiny hands, and at first Durga thought she did not recognize its significance. The Besadii leader spared a glance to Guri, and, as they had agreed upon, the woman turned and headed for the exit. She would wait there for him, and make sure he was not disturbed. Durga turned his attention back to Jiliac, ready to enlighten her as to exactly what her gift meant, then he saw her entire huge body begin to tremble.
She glared at Durga. “A deathmask from Langoona!” Jiliac bellowed.
“And you call this a fitting gift?”
With a powerful swing of her small arm, Jiliac tossed the piece of art into the air, then used her tail to bat it clear across the audience chamber. Striking the wall, it shattered, raining down in pieces.
“I call it entirely fitting, Jiliac,” Durga gave no ground. He recited the formal words. “Today I, Durga Besadii Tai, discovered that you killed Aruk, my parent. I challenge you under the Old Law.
Prepare to die.”
Jiliac bellowed in rage and swung herself off her sled. “You are the one who will die, upstart!” she growled, and sent her flexible tail swooping up and around.
Durga dodged, but not quickly enough. The tail slapped his back, bruising him, almost knocking his wind out. With all his strength, Durga launched himself toward Jiliac, butting her as hard as he could with his chest.
Jiliac was nearly twice Durga’s size. She was a middle-aged Hutt who was reaching the corpulent stage. Durga had one advantage—his youth gave him speed. But if she caught him with her full weight, even once, the battle would be over, and he knew it.
Bellowing like two prehistoric leviathans, the two Hutts slammed at each other, sometimes hitting, often missing. They hurled themselves against each other’s chests, wrestling with their undersized arms, as they sent their tails slamming into everything nearby.
Dorzo had long ago taken to his heels and gotten well out of range.
Kill…
kill… KILLKILLKILL!! Durga’s mind shrieked at him. He was consumed with rage. Jiliac slammed him with her tail, nearly sending him rolling over, then launched herself at him with a roar. Durga barely managed to wriggle out of the way before he could be crushed beneath her massive midsection.
The younger Hutt dealt her a hard slap across the side of her head that sent her reeling. She came back at him with a tail-slap that missed, making the entire room shake.
At first, Jiliac howled curses and threats, but within a few minutes, she began panting too heavily, and saved her breath for battle. The Desilijic’s sedentary lifestyle was catching up with her ….
If I can just outlast her … Durga thought, and realized that was a very big if… .
Han Solo had been going over shipping manifests for the mines on Kessel with Jabba when he, Chewie and Jabba all heard a loud thud, followed by a bellow, then another series of thuds and muffled crashing sounds.
Human, Wookiee and Hutt looked at each other, startled. “What’s that?”
Han wondered.
“My aunt must be having one of her temper tantrums,” Jabba said.
Nearly a decade ago Han had witnessed one of Jiliac’s notorious tantrums, so he had no trouble believing that. He started to go back to work, when two bellows reached his ears. One right after another—in two different voices.
Jabba reared up in alarm. “Come on!”
Han and Chewie jogged beside the Hutt as Jabba led them toward the sounds.
He was amazed at how quickly Hutts could move when motivated.
When they reached Jiliac’s audience chamber, a beautiful young blond woman was standing in the doorway. Han looked over her shoulder, and saw Jiliac locked in mortal combat with a much smaller Hutt. The newcomer had a disfiguring birthmark that spread over his eye and down his face. The two creatures were bellowing and straining as they butted their massive chests together.
As Han, Chewie and Jabba approached, the woman shook her head and put up a hand to halt their progress. “No,” she said. “Do not interfere.
Durga has challenged Clan Leader to Clan Leader, under the Old Law.”
To Han’s surprise, Jabba did not bat the woman out of his way and go to his aunt’s aid. Instead he inclined his head in the Hutt equivalent of a bow. “You must be Guri,” he said.