Chapter Six

Amidala looked up, surprised.

"The jedi are here? Now?" She rose slowly, gathering her skirts in her hands. "Who are they?" she asked, unsuccessfully trying to sound nonchalant.

"The jedi knight Tamerlane Merl and her apprentice, Skya...something or other. Forgive me Your Majesty, her name escapes me."

For a split second, Amidala looked crestfallen. Her pretty face formed a perfect pout before shifting into a benign smile of acceptance.

"Yes, of course I'll receive them. As soon as they are settled in, have Jar Jar bring them before me. We will do our best to welcome them." She paused and took a deep breath. "Whatever they need, be sure they have it. They are to receive this court's full cooperation."

Terza nodded. "I'll tell the ambassador. We are honored to have the jedi as our guests, Your Highness, and we'll make sure they do not want for anything while they are here." She bowed and hurried out.

Amidala walked slowly to the large window overlooking the courtyard. Her handmaiden and close friend, Sabe', came up quietly behind her.

"You were hoping to see...someone else?" Sabe' guessed.

Amidala continued looking out the window. "Yes."

"You miss him a great deal."

Amidala smiled slightly. "Perhaps more than I should." She sighed and faced her friend. "It's been so long since I've even had correspondence from him. I wonder what he's been up to lately."

Sabe' placed a comforting hand on the queen's shoulder. "Try not to be sad, Your Highness. I'm sure he is thinking of you," she offered.

Jar Jar was pleased. The meeting with the jedi had gone well. Maybe, he was beginning to get the hang of this ambassador job, he thought to himself.

With his honorable guests resting in their rooms and with no other pressing duties he could recall, Jar Jar ambled back to his office to send for a messenger to have his lunch served. His stomach was rumbling and he placed a hand over it.

"Soon. Bery bery soon. I's promise." Visions of plums and cakes with sweet meats filled his mind and made his mouth water. He was so absorbed in anticipation, he didn't notice the palace guard hurrying to catch up to him.

"Ambassador!"

Jar Jar shrieked and jumped, startled. "Right herra! No need yellin scarin mesa outta ten skins!"

"Forgive me, but there are two jedi knights at the palace gate. They are asking for you, Sir," the guard explained patiently.

Jar Jar's eyes grew wide with surprise. "Whatta? Mur jedi?" He looked back towards the guest quarters where he'd just left the last two. No, he thought, it couldn't be the same ones over. These must be new ones. He moaned. "Oooh, no munchin fer now. Sweet cakes haff ta wait." He looked down at his stomach. "Bery so sorry." He moaned again and reluctantly followed the guard down the hall.

DiArta was roaming the room, touching everything. Her eyes gleamed hungrily at all the fine art and decor around her. Tamerlane was watching her.

"Strange, they acted like they were actually expecting us," she said, more to herself than DiArta. "They must be expecting some other jedi knights. Why else would they already have rooms prepared? And that ambassador spoke as if the queen was actually waiting to receive us. I don't like this. I don't like it at all."

DiArta just grinned. "You should be counting your blessings." She spared a glance at her leary friend. "Relax, will you. Don't be so gloom and doom."

"I have every right to be gloom and doom," Tamerlane countered irritably. "It's my life that's in danger, especially if two real jedi knights are coming here." She stood up and began pacing. "After we have seen the queen, we're going to leave. Something's not right about all this."

DiArta sighed heavily. "I'd say everything was perfect." She turned and walked over to the window, reveling in the warmth of the sunshine that was streaming in.

"I trust my senses with good reason," Tamerlane said quietly. She stood thinking, twisting her long apprentice's braid distractedly.

DiArta scowled at her. "I told you to cut that thing off. You're supposed to be the master here. You're not supposed to have braided hair."

Tamerlane frowned. "Why have me cut off my braid and then maintain all the other, much more obvious trappings of a jedi I have." She tugged at the lapels of her cloak. "We could move more discreetly if everyone in the city didn't recognize me as a jedi." DiArta didn't answer. Tamerlane shrugged. "Besides, no one here will realize that my braid identifies me as an apprentice. And despite everything, I'm not ready to cut if off."

"Why?! You still are hoping to be an apprentice again? 'His' apprentice maybe?" DiArta snapped, losing her patience.

Tamerlane raised her eyes. "Anybody's apprentice," she murmured. Her mind was off and running. Remorse flooded her heart suddenly. "Surely if I go back, go before the council and plead with them...Surely they would not sentence me to such a severe fate. I'd be willing to face punishment if they would only take me back." Her eyes lit with renewed hope.

DiArta saw her meal ticket slipping out of her grasp and hurried to set the girl straight. "Don't be stupid! That's just how they want you to think. They want you to surrender yourself. Remember, you broke the code. You're a disgrace to the order. They'll punish you all right. They'll split you in two with your master's lightsaber!" DiArta looked at the young jedi with disgust. "What kind of fool have I been nursemaiding here? Why am I even wasting my time with you? Trying to help you. Why bother?"

The light of hope left Tamerlane's eyes and a tear spilled down her cheek. "Why would they hate me so? I haven't committed any crime. I only made a mistake. I turned to someone I thought I was in love with for comforting. That's all." She wiped her eyes roughly with her fingertips. "I only wanted to kiss him. I wanted him to know how much he meant to me. I...was wrong. I don't deserve to die for it."

DiArta smiled cruelly and moved close to Tamerlane. "Tell me my lovesick child, why do you think the jedi pursue you if what you did really didn't matter?"

Tamerlane faced the Maschan. "Maybe to bring me to the council for the disarming oath." Her hand instinctively and possessively rested on the hilt of her saber that was attached to her belt.

"No, child. They chase you to stop you. They know you can still learn their ways and skills. They fear what you might become. They would rather 'sacrifice' you, than have you grow strong and use your powers against them. The legends all tell how they hunted down the last of the Sith lords with one singular purpose. One lethal intent."

Tamerlane paled. "Don't ever mention me in the same breath as a Sith lord."

DiArta merely smiled. "If you are not friend then you are foe," she quoted from a well known proverb. "They see in you....the potential."

Tamerlane closed her eyes and shook her head.

DiArta picked up a jeweled tray from a table and slipped it into her robe. "You must come with me. Learn from my friend, the ex-jedi. He will teach you all you need to know in order to survive. It's really the only way my dear."

Tamerlane looked over at her. DiArta smiled compassionately.