Watching Tenel Ka leave for the cafeteria, Jacen was a little more than confused. She was getting married? They had already set a date for it, but hadn’t decided on a husband? That didn’t make too much sense in his mind.
He had sensed that Tenel Ka didn’t want to go through with it, so why would she? Tradition wasn’t a good enough reason for him; she’d broken her family’s traditions just by wanting to be a Jedi, they obviously weren’t very important to her. Jacen couldn’t see why she’d let her grandmother make her do something like this.
Then again, the Ta’a Chume didn’t need Tenel Ka to cooperate. The matriarch could easily dispose of the princess, leaving the throne to a different relative. But Jacen could tell that the old queen would never do such a thing, she cared too much about Tenel Ka, and the current monarchs would throw her in jail if she ever threatened their daughter.
It could be that her parents wanted Tenel Ka married, but they wouldn’t of made so many restrictions for whatever husband she chose. Maybe she felt that she owed the royal branch of her family something, she’d given so much of herself to her mother’s heritage.
In fact, Jacen realized, the only think she’d ever agreed to do concerning her father’s family was to rule Hapes when the time came. Tenel Ka had strength in the force, like her mother’s family and home planet. She imitated their customs, some beliefs, and even the clothes, almost always refusing to wear any of the Hapen garments constantly sent by her grandmother. Which Jacen had never minded, he liked the Danthomirian styles better, but if Tenel Ka ever found out why, she’d probably beat him within a few centimeters of his life, and start dressing more conservatively.
Tenel Ka was getting married. Jacen decided that he was not happy about the situation, which he intended to let her know. What made him even angrier was that she hadn’t told him about it, he had been able to tell that she and her grandmother had talked about it before. Also, he didn’t know what kind of guy she’d end up with.
All the members of royalty that he knew, with the exception of his mother, and Tenel Ka and her parents, were snobs that felt they had a right to anything and everything they wanted. And Jacen knew that Tenel Ka’s grandmother would never settle for anything less than royalty.
Was he royalty? Sure, his mother had been the princess of Alderaan, but she’d been adopted as well. But she had almost married Isolder. Of course the queen mother’d tried to kill her a few times, but he’d been told it was because his mother was a pacifist.
Even if he counted as ‘royalty’ in the eyes of her family, Jacen knew that Tenel Ka would never marry him. He had long ago realized she could have anyone she wanted, why would she want him?
********
“Hey! Wait up!”
Why was he going so fast? She’d mentioned that she was tired when they were with Derek, so why wouldn’t he at least slow down, and wait for her?
“Sorry. I thought you could keep up easily.” Anikan stopped and waited, she was about twenty meters away, and breathing hard.
“Well, I already went on my daily hike through the desert, and I’m still not exactly hydrated.” She replied, when she reached him.
“Ready?” Not waiting for a response, he again started walking, practically running away from her.
“Hey! Stop that, I can’t go as fast as you, come back here!”
Once again he stopped, she caught up, and he took off.
Getting fed up with the situation, she stopped and sat down in the middle of the empty street. Let him walk off, she thought, then when he sees I’m not there, he’ll come back. He couldn’t leave me here, could he? There aren’t even any buildings around here.
This time, I gotta agree with ‘Angelica’. Anikan, or whoever he is, shouldn’t be going so fast, I’m sick of hearing her whine about it. Although, the sooner she gets there, the sooner she sleeps, the sooner I get out of here.
Sighing, Anikan walked back to where she was sitting. Works every time, she thought.
“I take it you want to rest?”
“Wherever did you get that idea?”
Ignoring her comment, he stood over her, waiting.
“Are you just going to stand there?”
Again, he said nothing.
“I should of stayed with Derek,” she muttered. “At least he was courteous.”
“He’s a lot of things, but courteous isn’t one of them.”
“He speaks! To what do I owe this great honor?”
“The honor that Derek doesn’t have.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because it’s true,” he said bluntly.
Trying to retain her composure, she asked: “Why is it true?”
“Many reasons that you more than likely don’t want to know.”
Hello? What happened to getting some rest? I need to get out of here!
She was not satisfied with his explanations. “How do you know what I want?”
“I don’t,” before she could say anything, he continued. “In fact, I don’t even know who you are, or what your real name is.”
Uh-oh. Was he another of that monster’s people? She hoped not, dying young wasn’t what she’d had in mind.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. My name is Angelica.” Her voiced cracked noticeably when she said ‘Angelica’, and he defiantly noticed.
“No it isn’t, and now I know for sure.”
“No you don’t, my name is Angelica!” Her voice sounded shrill, even in her own ears.
He chuckled softly, causing her to become more upset. “Relax! I’m not going to hurt you or anything, I just wanted to know why you’ve been lying.”
“I don’t know you won’t hurt me.” She suddenly remembered her position, she was sitting on the ground, and he was towering over her. Even when standing, he was a head taller than she was.
He laughed at her again, this time making her angry. “If I wanted to hurt you, I’d of left you out here. Or even worse, I would of left you with Derek.” He sat down facing her, as if he could sense her discomfort.
“I don’t see what’s wrong with him.” Now she was only angry, the fear had left when he started laughing at her.
“I do,” before she could ask him why, or how, he went on. “I can tell things about people, sense things. That’s how I knew you were lying about being ‘Angelica’, and how I knew that you got scared of me for some reason.”
“I’m not lying. My name is Angelica.” She had to speak slowly to control her voice, the fear was coming back.
He smiled at her, which she found extremely unsettling. “No it’s not, but it feels like you’re reasons for not telling your real one are legit. I can tell my the way you feel.”
“You know nothing about how I feel.”
“I know more than you think. For instance, right now you’re mad at me, but before you were scared.”
“I’m not scared.”
“I know, you were scared, but now you’re just mad.”
She shifted on the concrete road, trying to avoid his eyes. He shouldn’t be able to know that about her. Now the fear was coming back.
Looking at her, trying to not be looked at by him, again caused Anikan to laugh. “Am I really that frightening?”
She looked back at him, warily.
“I guess so. Stop that, I’m not going to attack you or anything.”
“Stop what?”
“Acting like I’m gonna pull a blaster on you. Why would I do that?”
“How do I know you won’t?”
“Because I don’t own a blaster, let alone have one with me?”
“How am I supposed to know that you won’t try to strangle me or something? Unlike you, I’m not a mind reader.”
“I don’t read minds, I sense things.”
I give up, thought Jaina. I’m gonna try to sleep while you two talk, I have nothing to say, and you can’t hear me.
“Then how’d you know my name wasn’t Angelica?” Oops, wasn’t supposed to say that.
“Easy. I could tell you were lying. And no, I won’t tell. You have a right to your secrets, and I know you won’t tell me your real name.”
“How do you know that?”
“I already tried to get you to tell, and you wouldn’t. It’s about something important, that much is obvious.”
What was he talking about? He never asked for her real name. “You never even asked.”
“Yes I did, you just didn’t want to tell. I can do that also, make suggestions to people, which they usually follow.”
This guy is definitely more disturbed than Petyr, she thought. “Prove it.”
He smiled at her again, “You didn’t go to dinner with Derek, I told you not to.”
The audacity of this person was amazing. She hadn’t gone with Derek because she needed a place to stay, to rest and because....she didn’t really know why.
“No, I didn’t go because I was tired.” That was a good enough excuse, wasn’t it?
“And you needed a place to stay, also.”
How did he know that? Unless he’d done that mind thing again.
“Why don’t you want me near Derek?”
“I told you that I can sense stuff about people, right?”
“Yes, you called me a lair.”
“I never called you a lair, I just said you were lying. It’s like the vibes you were giving off. Derek’s are always pretty bad, worse when he’s thinking about hurting someone.”
“Lemme guess, they were really bad. You don’t expect me to believe this, do you?”
“No. Doesn’t stop me from telling you, though. Go with him tomorrow, see how he acts. Then you’ll believe me.”
She was fuming. How dare he tell her what she was thinking, feeling! Who was he to tell her with whom she could associate with? And why was she still sitting in the middle of a dirty, dusty, street? Standing up, enjoying the temporary feeling of power at being taller than he was, she walked haughtily past him in the direction they’d been going in before stopping.
Laughing quietly to himself, Anikan stood up and followed her. He’d let her go on past the turn for a while, just to see her reaction. She certainly was the strangest person ever to come to his small homestead, and he wondered about his mother’s reaction to her.
End Of Part Eleven