[Legacy Of The Force] - 03(26)
Alema held her ground, ducking a Iightsaber strike and letting a kick slip off her shoulder, then Force-slammed the hilt of her Iightsaber into the pit of the Chev’s stomach and spoke again in her Force whisper.
“No good.”
Amazingly, Lobi stumbled only one step back … but that step was one too far. Lumiya’s lightwhip caught her across the back of the legs and severed them both at the knees. The Chev roared first in anger, then-as she dropped onto the stumps and pitched forward onto her hands-in agony.
It was a terrible sound to hear. Alema stepped forward and spoke once more in her Force whisper.
“There is no need to suffer.” She swept her blade across the back of the Chev’s neck, and the head tumbled away. “Your fight is done.”
Lumiya stepped into view at the other end of the body, but her gaze remained on Alema, and she did not deactivate her lightwhip. “Do I know you?” she asked.
“Not yet.” Alema knelt beside Lobi’s headless body and rolled it over, then removed the recording rod from the Chev’s belt and tossed it to Lumiya. “But we hope you will let us serve you. What you are doing with Jacen is so delicious-and so right for the Balance.”
Chapter Seven
The Hall of Masters was as !ong and fancy as all the others down which the Solos had sneaked, with red qashmel carpeting and some of the finest artwork in the galaxy hanging on the walls. Between each masterpiece, an ornate trefoil arch led into another equally opulent corridor, while a white alabas staircase at either end of the hallway ascended a vaulted turret into the higher reaches of Tenel Ka’s immense palace.
“Oh, boy,” Han said. “Which way now?”
“Good question.”
Han frowned. “Can’t you just follow the Force or something?”
“I could, if I wanted Tenel Ka to feel me searching for her.” Leia glanced at the security card she had stolen from the guard she had left lying in the Queen Mother’s Special Salon, then started down the hall. “But I have a better idea.”
Han followed her to the end of the hall, where they found a small data terminal tucked away beneath one of the staircases. Leia inserted the security card and selected
QUEEN’S PAGEANT: HER MAJESTY’S PUBLIC SCHEDULE from the menu that popped up.
Tenel Ka had finished the Preliminary Judging of Muscles half an hour earlier and was due to host a banquet in two hours, but there was nothing scheduled for the moment.
“Look for a private schedule,” Han suggested. “This doesn’t tell us anything.”
“Sure it does,” Leia said. She called up a map of the palace, then pointed to a blacked-out area marked simply ROYAL RESIDENCE. “That’s where we’ll find her.”
“I don’t mean to sound skeptical, but…”
“It’ll take her an hour to dress for the banquet,” Leia said. “And she’s been judging the pageant all day. Where do you think she’ll spend her one unscheduled hour?”
“With her kid,” Han agreed. He should have known better than to doubt Leia; having grown up in a palace herself, she would have an instinctive understanding of Tenel Ka’s life. “So where’s the playroom?”
“Good question.” Leia plucked the data card from the terminal, then turned her face upward and closed her eyes for a moment. “Stairway’s clear.”
Han and Leia ascended side by side, passing portrait after portrait of Tenel Ka’s royal ancestors. The staircase was wide enough to accommodate a landspeeder, with room left for pedestrians, and it seemed to go up forever. After a good minute of climbing, a muffled murmur began to spill out of an unseen doorway onto a landing above.
Thinking they would need to find another way, Han took Leia’s arm and started to pull her back down the stairs.
“No time,” she whispered. “If Tenel Ka’s going to see us, it will be after she’s visited Allana and before she starts dressing for the banquet.”
Leia pulled Han close to the wall and continued to ascend, slowly and silently. When they had drawn to within a few meters of the landing, she stopped and pointed out into the emptiness on the other side of the banister. An instant later a loud clunk echoed up the turret, as though something had fallen onto the floor of the lowest level.
A pair of royal guards rushed out onto the landing to investigate. As they peered over the balustrade, Han and Leia pressed their backs to the wall and crept up the last few steps in silence, then slipped into an extravagant waiting room filled with cologne-heavy Hapan males. They were attired in elegant shimmersilk tunics and fine tavella doublets. All were holding piasticlear cases containing orchids from across the galaxy-sometimes more exotic than beautiful.