{{ absolved - chapter 06
-- FOUNTAIN PALACE – AUXILIARY DINING HALL / HAPES
Tahiri and Zekk had stayed in the gardens, determined to try some of their more advanced Force skills to get a feel for what had happened at the surroundings. The sun had begun its descent and Gadell had left them there, stalking back into the Palace to find Tenel Ka and Jacen. It didn’t take him long – they were in the auxiliary dining hall sipping mugs of cocoa. They just appeared to be a couple of old friends, sitting around shooting the breeze. He could hear them making small chatter about restaurants on Coruscant as he approached.
They really knew how to trick the public.
Sliding into the booth beside Tenel Ka, Gadell casually looked around for anybody suspicious who might overhear. His eyes had caught Tenel Ka on his visual sweep, and he noted she had gotten tidied up, her hair clean and back in a tight braid and her body free of sweat and clothed in a sleeveless jumpsuit of dark blue. Gadell continued to turn his head, passing Jacen and then drifting out into the open area of the dining hall. Nobody was close enough and there was a wall of plants to their right, blocking off any view of them from passing Palace staff.
“What have you guys been up to?” He asked, casually, trying much harder to appear nonchalant than he should’ve.
“Tenel Ka went to get cleaned up and I’ve been sitting here. This is my third cup of cocoa. Your kitchens sure know--” Jacen started rambling an answer until he was cut off by Tenel Ka.
“No one is around, Vessau.” She said, flatly, shooting an apologetic glance to Jacen. The corners of his lips upturned in response.
“Alright, so here’s what I came up with.” He settled into the booth, placing his hands on the table in front of him. They were gloved again, and he had changed back into his Admiral’s jacket. His eyes also had a certain spark to them, the spark that was always present when something was going right. And for once, everything seemed to be – as well as it could be after an assassination attempt, that is. “First, I thought of the Jedi – with the Skywalkers, or maybe with your parents, Jacen. But that would be obvious as well and we don’t want to put families in danger or the Academy and the other trainees.” He shook his head, his hands shifting around the table with him as he spoke, punctuating words and moving with the flow of his idea. “Then I tried to think of people that we know and trust. I don’t think sending you two off alone to somewhere remote would be a good plan, because if someone finds you – that leaves only you two to fight them. And we know there’s at least four of these people out there.”
With a deep breath, he continued, his body shifting sideways as he turned towards the Queen Mother. “Do you remember Aurelio?”
“Aurelio Tahva? Of course.”
“I haven’t talked to him in awhile, but I have a feeling he might be one of our best bets right now. He and his brother are both Hapan, he’s fiercely loyal to the throne and if he’s still on Dantooine like he was the last time I heard from him…”
“Dantooine.” Tenel Ka nodded.
Gadell looked to Jacen and he could only nod sternly. He didn’t see any holes in the plan either.
“Great, I just hope it works out. I need to go contact him.” Sliding out of the booth, he planted a palm on the table, speaking quietly to them both. “I’ll let you know what I find out.” Then raising his voice a little, he turned to leave their presence. “Resume conversation.”
Leaving them in the auxiliary dining hall, Gadell emerged into the wide corridors and headed for the communications center of the Fountain Palace. His mind traveled to thoughts of his old friend and the trouble they used to cause when they were younger. They had both been troublesome little boys and once Gadell’s mother got her high-ranking position in the Naval Fleet, they thought they would see less and less of each other. That ended up not being true at all and Aurelio would visit the Palace all the time. They were young teenagers the first time they met the Chume’da, the princess. Tenel Ka.
It was before she left for the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4 and Gadell and Aurelio had been spying on her out in the gardens. She was training alone, a stick clutched in both hands. They had bumbled out there and introduced themselves, trying not to fall into fits of giggles. She left shortly thereafter, for the Academy, leaving Gadell and Aurelio to find someone else to torment. They found themselves talking about her a lot after she left.
Gadell got a chance to see her again, his position in his family and the military forcing him too. Aurelio didn’t. He had left Hapes with his brother for Dantooine. Vessau always wondered exactly where they had gone and what they were doing, but he figured now was a better chance then ever to find out. He just hoped his old friend was alright, and on the proper side of the galaxy’s unwritten laws – or else housing the Queen Mother might not be a good idea.
He trusted Aurelio, to this day, and knew his friend would do the right thing. They were like brothers.
And brothers don’t betray each other.
-- ESTATE OF THE ABSOLVED / DANTOOINE
Sometimes Aurelio was jealous of the way his brother always stayed so calm and collected, the way he would brush everything off with a flick of the wrist or a nod of the chin. Since they had returned from Hapes, the others had been raring to go back and finish their job, while Verdot had just silenced them with a wave. “It’ll all work out, trust me.” He had said.
His older brother was walking beside him now, down the looming hall of the estate they all shared. They had just returned from the nearest market, which took a standard hour to reach by speeder, necessities and other perishable items in their grasp. “So what’s the plan?” Aurelio hit the panel beside the door to the kitchen with his chin, since his hands were full; and quickly moved into the room, dropping baskets of fruit and bags of meat on the polished durasteel table in front of him. Verdot was on his heels with loaves of bread and heavy containers of different drinks, hoisting them all up onto the table beside the other food. They had needed to restock the kitchen since their return.
“I’m not sure yet.” Verdot responded, stretching his fingers out and cracking his knuckles. He shook his hands after that, finally letting his eyes move from the food splayed out before them to his younger brother. “I would say we could try to return to Hapes, but I’m sure they’re expecting that.”
“You think they would up their security?”
“It’s Hapes. Of course they will. They’ll either bury her in some forgotten room in the Palace so no one can find her but she can still rule – or, hells, they’ll just post a guard at every opening.” Verdot shook his head, reaching down to peel a corner off of one of the loaves of bread. With a smirk, he tossed it into his mouth. “We’ll think of something. Hapes is always highly paranoid. And if we managed to get that close once, we can do it again.”
“I wish I was as confident about this as you,” Aurelio tried to take all the sarcasm out of the comment, but he was sure Verdot caught some of it.
“Well, little brother, you just got the shoddy genes, I guess.”
Not acknowledging Verdot’s verbal jab, Aurelio picked up the drink containers and lugged them towards the refrigeration unit on the far end of the kitchen. He had opened the unit and was shoving the drinks in when the datapad in his pocket beeped. His eyes moved to Verdot, who was busy rummaging through the bags of meat, down to his pocket, where he nonchalantly dug his hand in and pulled the item out.
… incoming comm., HAPES; delivering, GADELL VESSAU.
He stood upright, a little too quick, shoving the datapad back into his pocket. Shutting the refrigeration unit, he strolled back towards the durasteel table, which was now cleared of all the food they had brought back, and passed by it, shooting a casual grin to his brother.
“What?” Verdot watched him. He knew his younger brother; he could read him like a trashy holonovel.
“Message in the comm chamber for me.”
“Oh, well, I can walk you there since it’s on the way back to the Grand Hall.”
Inwardly scowling, Aurelio agreed and they both slid back out into the corridor, pacing away from the kitchen. He knew if Verdot found out it was Gadell trying to contact him, he’d want in on the conversation. Anything to do with their bounty was important information – and Gadell was their bounty’s Admiral. With a sigh, they reached the door of the chamber, Aurelio peering down the hall towards the room where the others were, talking and laughing, their voices echoing back. “I’ll be down there in a few.”
“Alright.” Verdot watched as his brother entered the comm chamber and slid the door shut behind him. Hesitating momentarily, Verdot reached out to the screen depressed in the wall beside the door. They usually never used it, but when the code was registered properly in the keypad below it, the information on who was inside the chamber – and who they were speaking to – could be brought up. He punched in the code and watched the screen come to life.
from: HAPES, HAPES CONSORTIUM
delivering end: 006-7sx VESSAU, GADELL RIN
“Oh really?” Verdot purred to himself, his fingers dancing up to the keypad’s door and entering the lock override code. The door slid open and Verdot wandered into the darkened room, stopping in his brother’s field of vision and crossing his arms. He hadn’t missed much of the conversation – probably just a greeting. And he could only hear Gadell’s voice, but he recognized the accent and the tone, quite well.
"Are you in a secure room?"
No.
"Yes," Aurelio replied softly.
"Is anyone around?"
Yes.
"No, just me." Aurelio didn't dare look over to his brother, who was standing ahead of him and just out of reach of the holorecorder's pickup, hands moved to his hips, dark hair framing his face. His eyes were narrowed and calculating, locked on his little brother.
"I have a favor to ask of you," Gadell looked a bit frazzled, his hair was mussed back and Aurelio couldn't tell if it was from some kind of hair product or sweat. He knew how trying this whole ordeal probably was on his old friend and it made him feel horrible to be a part of it. A pit was forming in his stomach and it was only about to get larger.
"What is it, Gadell?"
"There was an assassination attempt on the Queen Mother. I need to know if you could house her and her bodyguard for awhile, a Jedi -- if you can manage. And if everyone in your residence is alright with it and prepared for it."
Aurelio's eyes narrowed warily, shooting straight over to Verdot, who was grinning now. A wide, mischievous smile, his blue eyes filled with malevolence. Aurelio knew that look. And he knew Verdot would kill him where he stood if he replied with a no.
With a slight gulp and an instant pang of regret, he nodded quickly. "Of course. I'd be honored. And it'll be nice to see Tenel Ka again."
"Great," Gadell looked genuinely relieved. "We can set up details later tonight. Right now I have to go check on her and tell her what's going on. Thank you so much."
"Anytime."
The transmission cut out and Aurelio hesitated before turning his eyes to his brother, who was standing beside him now, that grin still pasted on his visage. Verdot brought his hands up and placed them on either side of his brother's face, his palms spread out over his cheeks. He shook his head slightly. "What did I say about working out? Perfect. That was incredible." Ripping his hands away, he grabbed Aurelio's wrist and towed him out of the Transmission Chamber, through the main foyer and into the Grand Hall, echoing to their colleagues. "Guess what our friend Aurelio just managed to do?"
"What?" Harahjah called out, lazily lounging on a bench full of pillows.
"Get lucky." Verdot responded.
"With who?!" Alavia squealed.
"No, not like that." With a scowl that vanished when he looked from Alavia to his brother, Verdot pushed Aurelio in front of him, into the wondering gazes of Trexler, Alavia and Harahjah. "Tell them."
"The... the Queen Mother is coming to stay with us." He tried to sound excited, as to not anger his brother and the rest of them, but with every word he felt a stab in his mind. This was the worst possible scenario. "My old friend. I just talked to him, he's her Admiral now. He needs somewhere to hide her until this whole thing blows over and they try to find out who was attempting to kill her." That garnered a few snickers from the others. "She's bringing some Jedi bodyguard with her though."
"Easy." Verdot sported that wolfish grin again, as he stepped up beside Aurelio, clapping him on the back. "We can deal with that."
Aurelio delivered a weak smile to the cheers of the others around him, then padded over to his oversized chair near Harahjah, climbing into it and curling into a ball, pulling a stray blanket over him. He could hear Trexler, Alavia and Verdot plotting across the room, in their own favorite pieces of furniture, and his gaze snaked over to Harahjah, who was staring back at him with half-lidded eyes, her mouth twisted into a worried frown. Shutting his own eyes, he tried to tune them all out.
He had known Gadell when they were younger and the Tahva's were in line to become suitors of the Queen Mother's until Verdot left. Aurelio remained until their parents died, which was when he left to live with his brother. He had been young, no more than sixteen. And that had been the last time he had seen Vessau. They kept in touch, sending transmissions back and forth, cackling and joking like they were still as young as they had been when they met. Aurelio never really told Gadell what he had been up to with his brother, he was ashamed. Once the Yuuzhan Vong war began, their transmissions stopped altogether. Something had happened to Gadell, he had taken over the Hapan Navy and Aurelio was too busy working with his brother and the Absolved. He had contacted him a couple times since then, promising to fill him in on everything, but they never had the time to talk. He was honored that Gadell still trusted him like he used to, but he didn't feel like he deserved that trust. Especially not now.
As for Tenel Ka, he had met her a few times, the first being when they were just shy of adolescence, and their conversations were nothing short of cordial and enjoyable. He knew he would've never minded if he stayed on Hapes and became one of her suitors. He knew he could get used to courting her and spending time with her and just being in her presence.
And here he was, bringing her to her execution.
A grumble erupted in his stomach and he shot his eyes open, slithering out from under the blanket and moving across the marble floor of the long hall.
"Where are you going?" Alavia called out, her voice echoing along the high ceiling.
"Hungry." Aurelio said, figuring that was a good enough answer and taking off, storming towards the kitchen.
"Get me something while you're there!" Trexler's voice bounced down the corridors, causing Aurelio to growl.
As he stalked down the corridor he asked himself, as he did numerous times, why he put up with this.
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