"Oh dear!" he whined at last. "I see your problem! Well, there's always emotional attachment, I suppose. I'm certain that Leia won't forget about you just because a better man has come along!"

"I love her," Han said emphatically. "I love her more than I love my own life, more than breath. When she touches me I feel like . . . I don't know how to say it."

"Have you told her?" Threepio asked.

"Like I say," Han sighed, "I just don't know how to say it. You're a counselor droid." He poured another rum, just stared at it. "Do you know how to say it? Do you know any songs or poems?"

"Indeed! I carry masterpieces from over five million cultures in my memory banks. Here is one of my favorites, from the Tchuukthai: "Shah rupah shantenar shan erah pathar thulath entarpa Uta, emarrah spar tane arratha urr thur shaparrah Uta, Uta, sahvarahhhh harahh sahvarauul e thutha res tana hah durrrr?"

Han listened to the gentle music of the words, the soft curling snarls, the muted thunder. "That sounds pretty good," Han admitted. "What does it mean?"

See-Threepio translated it as closely as possible.

"When lightning rushes over the evening plains, I return to my cold den with a thula rat in my jaws.

Then, I smell your sweet spoor smeared on the bones by the cave's maw.

Then, then my head fins begin to tremble And my tail sways majestically as my mating howl begins to fill the hollow of the night?"

Han stopped him with a wave of the hand. "All right, all right, I get the picture."

"There's much, much more," Threepio a.s.sured him. "It really is a beautiful epic, all five hundred thousand lines of it!"

"Yeah, yeah, thanks," Han said, sounding as disheartened as ever. He sat, listening to a foursome who had just sat down at another table, and Threepio realized that over the past minute, Han had been focusing on them. Threepio downloaded his auditory tracks and played back the conversation of those at the other table to find out what so intrigued Han.

FIRST WOMAN: "Oh, look, there's General Solo!"

SECOND WOMAN: "Gee, he looks pretty bad. Look at those bags under his eyes."

FIRST MAN: "Kind of scruffy looking, if you ask me." second woman: "It makes you wonder what Leia ever saw in him, anyway."

FIRST WOMAN: "Now that prince from Hapes, he is so gorgeous! Down on Coruscant, street merchants are selling posters of him!"

SECOND MAN: "Yeah, I bought one for my sister."

FIRST MAN: "As for me, I'd take one of his bodyguards any day."

FIRST WOMAN: "With a body like his, I'd kill to be his guard."

SECOND WOMAN: "Well, you can guard that body all you want?I'd rather be his ma.s.seuse. Can you imagine kneading that hot flesh all day long?"

Han said angrily, "Look, Threepio, why don't you keep an eye on Leia. If she asks about me, tell her I miss her. All right?"

Threepio stored the request. "As you wish, sir," he said, rising to leave the bar.

Chewbacca growled a good-bye to the spy. Threepio made his way out into the streets, wandered down chasms toward one of Coruscant's central computers that had a reputation as something of a gossip. Such a computer would gladly tell a droid secrets that it would never reveal to a biological life form. So Han needed a diplomatic counselor. This would be a wonderful opportunity for See-Threepio to prove himself! A wonderful opportunity!

Threkin Horm looked his best?dressed in a long, dark green waistcoat and white pants, his thinning hair meticulously curled so that ringlets danced around his ears. Leia noticed that he didn't look as fat as usual when he stood under his own power, and he was standing now at the podium.

"As you all know, I have called this session of the Alderaanian Council so that we can discuss preparations for Princess Leia's marriage to Prince Isolder, the Chume'da of Hapes."

The crowd erupted into vigorous applause. The plush council room with its curtained walls and plum-colored chairs could hold nearly two thousand people, yet only a hundred members of the council were present. The rest of the seating was occupied by curious onlookers, while the back of the hall was a gleaming forest of metallic media droids. Leia sat in her seat on the front row, only a couple of meters from where Threkin stood on the podium. Han sat in a back row, dressed casually in a white shirt and vest, looking very much the way he had when they'd first met, years ago.

Chewbacca sat beside him.

Leia had intended to discuss her plans here bluntly but hadn't been prepared for so much media attention. In the past day she suddenly found her entire life in the spotlight?the attempted a.s.sa.s.sination of the morning before had been covertly filmed from eight different angles and was playing on all the stations. New Republic Intelligence officers had swept the emba.s.sy for bugs this morning and found microphones with open channels to fifteen networks. It seemed that the only thing the public liked better than a royal marriage was a royal a.s.sa.s.sination, and the media hounds were lapping this up. Leia's only consolation was that if another a.s.sa.s.sin struck, he or she would have to shoot through the camera operators to get her.

Ah well, best to get this over with. "Threkin, members of the council,"

Leia said, standing. "I would like to thank you all for coming here, but don't you think this is a bit premature? I agree that this seems like a marvelous offer, but I haven't consented to marry Prince Isolder yet."

She sat down again.

"Oh, Leia," Threkin said with a condescending smile. "Often in the past your clear head and cautiousness have served you well, but in this particular case .

. . ?" He shrugged. "I've seen how you two look at each other, and you have agreed to a six-month excursion with Isolder, touring the worlds of Hapes. I think it's a grand idea! It will give you and Isolder a little time to grow closer while the royal house of Hapes gets an opportunity to see how well that pretty little head of yours wears a crown!" The crowd t.i.ttered with nervous laughter at the jest. "Let's put it before the council." Threkin waved at the seated a.s.semblage. "Don't you all think that Leia and Isolder make a beautiful couple?"

Most of the professional politicians remained somewhat somber, but many of the traders snickered while members of the media and audience cheered and clapped. This didn't look at all to Leia like a normal council meeting, this looked like a carnival.

"You can't plan my wedding without me!" Leia interrupted, rising from her seat, astonished at Threkin's audacity. "Isolder understands, as I'm sure that you must, that we aren't engaged?either formally or informally. I'm going to Hapes simply to . . ."

And she realized the truth. Isolder was taking her to Hapes so that the planetary dignitaries she might someday rule could study her, measure her for the crown. And she was going so that she could have time to get closer to Isolder. It was just as Threkin said. No matter how she might try to deny it, everyone else in the galaxy could see what was happening.

She glanced over at Han. He looked miserable. She sat down, tried not to blush, intensely conscious that this encounter was already being carried live over dozens of news nets. She knew she should argue against Threkin, if only to save face, but right now she just couldn't think. For the first time in her life, Leia was at a loss for words.

"Indeed, indeed we can't plan your wedding without you," Threkin a.s.sured her from the podium. "We wouldn't think of it. We are only making plans in the eventuality that you marry Isolder?"

"Councilman Horm?" See-Threepio's voice cut through the council room.

Leia turned, saw the golden droid standing on tiptoe and waving from the back of the room excitedly. "Oh, Councilman Horm, may I address the council?"

"What?" Horm asked in disdain. "Let a droid address the council?"

Leia smiled inwardly. The droid rights lobbyists would have a field day with that comment. It might well be the first nail in the coffin for Horm's political career. Leia stood quickly. "He may only be a counselor droid, but I think we should let him speak!"

There was grumbled a.s.sent from the general a.s.sembly, along with deafening cheers from the forest of media droids in the back.

"I, I, I see nothing wrong with that!" Horm sputtered, waving his arms.

"I yield the podium to, to, to?that droid!"

The media droids cheered and Threepio walked up to the podium, scanning the crowd on his left and right as he did so. Leia had never seen a droid take such initiative. She wondered what he wanted. Threepio reached the podium and turned to address the crowd.

"Well," he said, "I would like to propose that the council should begin planning Leia's wedding?to General Han Solo!"

"What!" shouted Horm. "Why, why this is preposterous! General Solo isn't even royalty! He's just, he's just . . ." Horm must have realized that he had better not say anything libelous, but he shrugged in disgust. All through the crowd, a wave of grumbling began, and Leia wondered if she hadn't misjudged in letting poor Threepio address the council.

"I beg to differ!" Threepio answered. "I have been communicating with various computers through Coruscant's network all morning, and I've discovered some startling facts that all of you seem to have overlooked?possibly because General Solo has labored intensely to hide them: although the Corellians became a republic nearly three centuries ago, by birthright Han Solo is the king of Corellia!"

The room erupted in a dull roar and media droids began hitting Han Solo with spotlights. Threkin Horm's nasal voice sliced through the chatter with, "What? What? What?" Leia turned and looked to the back of the room in shock. The back seats of the auditorium were raised in tiers, and she could see Han plainly, blushing, trying to scrunch down into his seat.

From the look on his face, she could tell that Han was indeed trying to hide something. And Leia knew that Threepio's programming as a counselor droid made him incapable of lying. Han put his hand up over his eyes and looked down at the floor. In all these years, why didn't he ever tell me?

Leia wondered.

Aboard the Bith counselor ship Thpffftht, Luke watched the holo vid with interest, surprised that even on a backwater world like Toola the doings of Leia and Isolder?and now Han?could be of enough interest to warrant the enormous expense it cost to send the news clips through hypers.p.a.ce.

Well, Leia was living every woman's fantasy?attracting the interest of an incredibly rich and handsome prince. And the intrigue of the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt had escalated the worth of the story so that now Luke could watch his sister live, nearly three hundred light-years distant.

The Bith ship was scheduled to jump into hyperdrive within a few moments, and Luke studied the video with interest. The holo vid cameras were focused on Han now, and Solo sat scrunched in his chair, hand over his face. Even Chewbacca, sitting next to Han, opened his eyes wide in surprise, a throaty roar of astonishment escaping from between his canines.

Luke smiled inwardly. Of course, he thought, Han is a king. I should have recognized it before. But why did he hide it? In spite of his smile, Luke felt troubled. He could feel something odd, something distant and dark stirring. Too many in the galaxy would resist Leia's union to Isolder. He could feel the force of their malevolent intent, and Luke silently willed the Bith technicians to hurry and finish their equipment tests before making the jump to hyperdrive. Luke wouldn't reach the Roche system any too soon.

"Indeed," Threepio went on. "Han is the royal heir! Birth records indicate that Han's paternal ancestry goes back to Ber-ethron e Solo, who introduced democracy in the Corellian empire. You can easily track the birthright for the next six generations, to Korol Solo, but records from Korol's period were destroyed in the Clone Wars and the lineage became lost.

"But Korol Solo married and fathered his first son on Duro nearly sixty years ago, and because of the wars and turmoil, that son never returned home. His name was Dalla Solo, but he changed his name to Dalla Suul to hide his ident.i.ty during the Clone Wars. His firstborn son was Jonash Suul, and the first son of Jonash Suul was named Han Suul?who changed his name back to Han Solo. Obviously, Han knew of his royal lineage, but for reasons that are quite beyond me, he's also tampered with records back on Corellia in an effort to hide that lineage!"

There was an audible gasp from the crowd, and Threkin Horm shouted for order. Han got up slowly and walked out of the auditorium as the roar in the background diminished. Leia half-stood, watching Han leave, and the crowd quieted enough for Threkin to cry out, "But wasn't Dalla Suul also known as Dalla the Black? The famous murderer?"

"Well, yes, I suppose," Threepio admitted, "though the history texts describe him more accurately as a kidnapper and a pirate."

"And, well," Threkin said, "well, what kind of lineage is that? I mean?Dalla Suul was one of the most notorious kingpins in organized crime! You can't expect respectable people to give any credence to Han's claims of royal lineage."

"Well, I am just an ignorant droid and confess that I don't really understand how the actions of one's ancestors enhance or detract from one's respectability," Threepio apologized to Threkin Horm. "Such concepts are beyond the ability of a model AA-One Verbobrain to process.

But since Dalla Suul's illegitimate daughter was your mother, I expect that you are infinitely more familiar with the logic of the arguments than I am."

Threkin Horm's face paled, and he stood shaking.

The holo vid clip ended, and a droid announcer began commenting on it.

Luke flipped off the holo and sat back in a thick chair, folded his hands on his lap. In only a couple of generations, Han's line had diminished from kingship to underworld kingpin. No wonder Han had hidden his lineage, had turned his back on the Alderaanian Council and stormed away before his secret was revealed. Poor Han.

Chapter 7.

That afternoon, Leia and Isolder strolled through a secluded forest in the botanical gardens of Coruscant, a garden where plants from hundreds of thousands of New Republic worlds flourished. Leia was showing Isolder the oro woods of Alderaan?forests where the graceful, clean-limbed trees climbed hundreds of feet into the air, but every inch of the trees' bark was covered with iridescent lichen colonies that glimmered in colors of cinnabar, violet, and canary?like the effluent of rainbows. White cairoka birds fluttered from limb to limb, while tiny brilliant red deer with golden stripes fed among foliage on the ground. On Alderaan the oro woods had occupied only a dozen small islands, and Leia had only traveled there once as a child. Still, seeing that even a piece of her home world still thrived lightened her heart.

Isolder walked hand in hand with her. He said, "I called my mother on holo vid. She was pleased that you planned to come visit. She's bringing her own personal vehicle to carry you back to Hapes."

"Vehicle?" Leia wondered aloud at his choice of words. "You mean she's bringing her own personal ship?"

"In this case," Isolder said, "I think the word vehicle is more appropriate. It's thousands of years old and rather eccentric in design.

Still, you will like it." The woods were quiet. Isolder's bodyguards had spread out among the trees, except for the woman Astarta, who walked at their backs.

Leia smiled, stopped to smell a violet, trumpet-shaped flower. The flower had been uncommon on the plains of her home world, a pungent-smelling weed. "This is an arallute," Leia said. "Folktales said that if a new bride found one growing in her yard, it was a sign that she would soon have a child. Of course, the bride's mother and sisters always made it a point to plant an arallute in the newlyweds' lawn after the wedding, and of course they had to do it at night. It was considered bad luck to get caught." Isolder smiled, fingered the flower. "When it dries," Leia said, "the petals fold in and the seeds get trapped in the dry flower. Mothers then give the dry flowers to their babies to use as rattles."

"How charming," Isolder said, and he sighed. "It's sad to know that it's all gone, all destroyed. Except for what's here on Coruscant."

"When our refugees find a new home," Leia said, "we plan to take some of these specimens with us, establish another garden on a new world."

Comlink tones sounded, and Leia flipped her comlink on reluctantly.

"Leia, Threkin Horm here. I have great news! The New Republic has canceled your mission to the Roche system!"

"What?" Leia asked, stunned. She had never been pulled from an a.s.signment. "How did this happen?"

"It seems that relations between the Verpines and the Barabels are disintegrating at a faster rate than we antic.i.p.ated," Threkin answered.

"So Mon Mothma has escalated the level of intervention in hopes that we can avert a war. General Han Solo will be a.s.signed to lead a fleet of Star Destroyers to the Roche system to protect the Verpines until the crisis is resolved. Meanwhile, Mon Mothma personally will be handling this crisis with a team of her most trusted counselors."

"What crisis?" Leia asked.

"Customs agents boarded a Barabel cargo ship outside the Roche system this morning and found the thing we all feared."

Leia's stomach turned at the thought of lockers filled with Verpine body parts, hard frozen in the depths of s.p.a.ce. In spite of her attempts to overcome such prejudices, the more Leia dealt with species of carnivorous reptiles, the more she antic.i.p.ated such atrocities. Still, she told herself, you couldn't judge an entire species by the actions of a few.

"What of Mon Mothma? Won't she need my help?"

"She and I both feel that there are . . . better ways for you to serve the New Republic," Threkin said. "Mon Mothma has temporarily relieved you from duty for the next eight standard months. I trust your time will be well spent." The undertone to his voice clearly indicated what he desired, but he said it outright. "You may leave for Hapes at your earliest convenience."

Threkin's image flicked off the communicator, and Isolder squeezed Leia's hand. Leia considered momentarily, and knew she could not argue against Horm?the Verpines really would be better off with a New Republic fleet at their side, and Leia had felt overwhelmed by the a.s.signment all along. As a diplomatic counselor, she had great skills, but the Barabels were never impressed by stirring speeches or elaborate arguments. The Barabels, who had evolved as communal predators dominated by a pack leader, would respect Mon Mothma for handling the affair. The simple fact that the "pack leader" for the entire New Republic had jumped into the fray would disorient the Barabels, force them to regroup and rethink the situation.

In fact, now that Leia looked at it, she realized that Mon Mothma didn't need her at all. Leia had been so curious, trying to understand why a Verpine hive mother would be allowed to go feral, that she had been planning to attack the problem from the wrong angle. She should have been looking at the Barabels all along.

Perhaps the only thing that didn't make a great deal of sense would be to send a New Republic fleet to the Roche system. The Verpines could protect their hives. With their ability to communicate via radio waves, the fact that their colonies were built in an asteroid belt that was nonnavigable (at least by human pilots), and their swarming attack style in high-speed B-wing bombers, the Verpines would make a formidable foe.

Isolder stepped in closer. "Why are you frowning, little one?"

"Just wondering about something."

"No, you are worrying." Isolder said. "Don't you think Mon Mothma has things in control?"

"Too much control," Leia said, and she looked up into the stormy seas of his gray eyes.

"You aren't ready to leave yet, are you?" Isolder asked. Leia started to speak, but Isolder added, "No, no, that is all right. Leaving all of this behind," he gestured to the oro woods around him, "will be a big step for you. It will feel as if you are leaving it for good?and perhaps, if you so choose, you will indeed be leaving these worlds, this life, behind."

He held her hands, and Leia smiled wistfully. Isolder said, "Take a few days. Spend some time with your friends. Say your good-byes if you feel that you must. I understand. And if it makes you feel any better, then just repeat what you said to the Alderaanian Council: You are coming to Hapes for a visit, nothing more. There are no strings attached, no obligations."

His words slid over her like a wave of warm water, buoying her spirits.

"Oh, Isolder, thank you for understanding." She leaned into his chest, and Isolder put his arms around her. For a moment, Leia was tempted to add, "I love you," but knew it was too soon to speak those words, knew it was too much of a commitment.