Chapter Four

"Tell me again...about the palace."

Tamerlane Merl eyed her companion warily.

"I've told you everything I know. It's all second hand anyway. I've never been there myself. My master once described it to me. She attended a funeral there. For a slain jedi."

"And the queen? Did she wear many jewels?" Skya DiArta was mesmerized by any talk of power and wealth.

"I suppose she wears jewels," Tamerlane shrugged. "She is a queen, after all."

DiArta smiled, exposing a mouthful of jagged pointed teeth. Her gray eyes glittered in the morning sun. Despite her young friend's reserve, DiArta knew finding this rogue jedi would be the beginning of profits galore. No one would question the integrity of someone befriended by a jedi. It didn't matter that the girl was only an apprentice. She still looked like a jedi. She still wore the billowing brown cloak, the ecru tunic, the utility belt, and most significantly, the jedi sword. Yes, DiArta thought, with a jedi beside her, she could go anywhere, do anything. She didn't have to force the smile directed at Tamerlane, just the sentiment behind it.

"You're extra sad today," she noted and layed a clawed hand on the girl's shoulder.

Tamerlane looked out into the bustling streets of Theed. "I'm starting to think this wasn't such a good idea."

"No! Don't think that!" DiArta was quick to assure her. "The goal is simple. It cannot fail." She paused for emphasis. "You do for me, and I do for you."

Tamerlane closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "What makes you think the queen will even receive me?"

"Just do what you must, but get me into that palace," DiArta said and ground her teeth together, out of habit.

"Why is it so important for you? What is it you are not telling me?" Tamerlane gave DiArta a stern look of warning. "I sense deception...all around you."

"So this is the thanks I get. Poor lovesick child," DiArta taunted. "You can't make sense of anything. I thought you jedi could see the future. So tell me now, without me around to help you, what does your future look like? Is he still in your future? I think not. He's ashamed of you. They are all ashamed of you. You can't ever go back there because if you do, they will kill you. You betrayed a sacred trust. The only chance you have is to find your own way. I can help. But you have to do this for me first."

Tamerlane licked her suddenly dry lips. "They won't kill me. That's ridiculous. I could go back there anytime I wanted. Every student and apprentice is free to leave the order under honorable circumstances. They tell you this from the beginning." She stopped, suddenly realizing what she had just said.

DiArta caught it too. "You hardly left under any honorable circumstances," she jabbed. "Admit it, you're a rogue now. And that's why they search for you." DiArta dug her claws deeper in Tamerlane's arm. "Remember the jedi knight on Mascha? If it wasn't for me, he would have captured you. You'd be dead now. You think about that. Without me, you wouldn't have stood a chance." She released Tamerlane suddenly and turned with a jerk. "I'm off to find some food. You stay here. Out of sight." With that she left.

Tamerlane felt sick. She'd had that dream again last night. She was standing at the bottom of a large hole that had been dug out of the ground. She could look up and see daylight. Then 'he' was there. Above her, looking down at her, but she could not see his face because the light was behind him. He pointed at her and when she looked down, she saw that the ground was beginning to fill the hole. She felt trapped. She couldn't move. Looking back up, she saw two outstretched hands. Both seemed to offer her a way out to safety. One hand she thought could be 'his' hand. The other was clearly DiArta's. Both hands called to her, but she couldn't decide whose hand to accept. Meanwhile, the ground continued to bury her.

Tamerlane moved away from her position, having caught the curious stare of a passerby. She withdrew into the mouth of a shaded alleyway to wait for DiArta's return.

The dream could be interpreted so many ways. Perhaps DiArta was right and the hole symbolized her grave. The only way out would be to accept the Maschan's hand. The hole could also symbolize her current situation. She had gotten herself into something she was surely going to regret. Instead of getting out of trouble, she was allowing herself to get in deeper and deeper. So should she accept the other hand? Whose hand was it anyway? Could it really be her master's hand, reaching towards her in love and forgiveness? Tamerlane sighed. She doubted it.

Somehow, the dream left her feeling cheated. Her only other alternative was DiArta. Skya DiArta was hard to trust completely. She spoke so many half truths, Tamerlane couldn't discern what was believable and what was not.

One thing was for certain, if DiArta had not helped her get off of Mascha, Tamerlane would now be in the hands of that jedi. To Tamerlane, for a stranger to offer assistance to someone in trouble was always an admirable and unselfish act and was the sole basis behind the odd friendship they'd formed. At first, DiArta seemed to want nothing in return but Tamerlane's companionship. That was until she found out about the palace on Naboo.

Knowing their transport was heading for the Naboo system, Tamerlane had casually mentioned that her former master had been there and told her of a beautiful palace on top of a mountain and a young queen who was no more than a girl.

DiArta became obsessed by it. She just had to see it for herself. She just had to meet this young monarch. She told Tamerlane it had always been a dream of hers to go to a palace and be the guest of a queen. Surely Tamerlane could find it in her heart to help a friend fulfill a lifelong dream? Tamerlane would no doubt be received with open arms. She was a jedi, after all. In return, DiArta knew someone who knew an older jedi knight who had left the order due to injuries suffered in an accident. With the help of DiArta's friend, they could go to this jedi and Tamerlane could finish her training under his guidance.

Tamerlane sighed and leaned against the side of the building she was hiding behind and let herself slide down to the ground. She folded her legs out in front of her and picked a flower from the vine climbing the wall. She thought about what DiArta had said, about the jedi looking to kill her now.

It was true, the jedi knights clung to their ancient sacred codes and certainly would not tolerate someone such as herself in their midst. Maybe she wasn't a rogue per say, but she was still an apprentice, who in a time of weakness had broken several codes. She sighed. She would just have to rely on DiArta for now and her promise of helping her get to this 'retired' jedi. Besides, Tamerlane thought, what possible harm could there be in showing DiArta the palace?

Tamerlane reviewed the plan once more in her mind. It was rather simple and should work. DiArta would disguise herself as another jedi in some of Tamerlane's clothes. They would go to the palace and posing as two jedi on assignment, would ask to be given an audience with the queen. It was customary for jedi working in a given system to formally greet the governing official. More than likely, their request would not raise suspicions. Once inside the palace, DiArta could at last live her dream and revel in the splendor of a royal court.

Tamerlane shrugged. It was the least she could do. DiArta had saved her life, after all.