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“Ambassador Gheer,” she repeated pleasantly but pointedly. “I must apologize—your name is unfamiliar to me. I haven’t seen it on the diplomatic rolls, or heard you speak in the senate. Perhaps you’re new to Ta’a Chume’s service?”

His smirk faded. “I joined her household recently.”

“Well, I’m certain we’ll see more of you in the near future. Ta’a Chume’s diplomatic envoys always seem to move on quickly.” She smiled. “Shall we?”

The guards’ silent mirth followed them down the hall. Trisdin set a brisk pace and made no further attempt at conversation. He delivered her to a small audience room and then flounced off.

Ta’a Chume rose to greet Leia, offering no comment on Trisdin. “It was good of you to visit Teneniel Djo. A sad thing, is it not?”

“These are difficult times,” Leia pointed out.

“But there are others who bear greater burdens with grace, you yourself among them.” The older woman inclined her head. “Our condolences for the loss of your sons.”

“Anakin is gone,” Leia said, her thoughts touching briefly on the solemn funeral rites she had attended the night before, and the cleansing awe of feeling her son return to the Force. “Jacen is only missing.”

“Of course,” Ta’a Chume said smoothly and without conviction. “You must find great consolation in your daughter. I wish Teneniel Djo had been able to convey a similar sense of duty to her own daughter, but that is perhaps the least of our queen’s failures. But enough of Hapan woes. I assume you’d like to see Jaina.” She began to walk down the corridor. Leia fell into step.

“Have you any idea of Jaina’s future plans?” Ta’a Chume asked.

Warning sensors hummed in the back of Leia’s mind. “In times such as these, how far ahead can any of us plan?” she responded. “Our best efforts need to focus on survival. Jaina is a fighter pilot, an exceptional one. That requires her complete attention right now.”

“She is a squadron leader, I assume?”

“No. She’s in Rogue Squadron, and feels lucky to be there. Most of the commanders are legends.”

“No doubt she’s creating her own. Wars build legends, even if they accomplish little else.”

“Why this sudden interest in my daughter?”

The queen mother spread her hands. “I lost my oldest son, and as you know, Isolder is deeply involved in this conflict. It is far more difficult for us to see our children fight than it would be to go into danger ourselves.”

It stuck Leia as odd that Ta’a Chume was speaking to her as if they were contemporaries. Before this, she had always endeavored to impress upon Leia her relative youth and inferior status.

“Jaina is no longer a child,” Leia observed. “Neither is Isolder.”

Ta’a Chume’s eyes crinkled in amusement. “You placed those comments in proper order. Isolder has many fine qualities, but the path to wisdom is longer for men. No woman finds an equal in a man her own age.”

“An interesting view.”

“One you apparently share. Han Solo is several years older than you, I believe.”

“He has a running start on that path to wisdom,” Leia responded dryly.

They emerged from the main palace building into bright sunshine. Ta’a Chume nodded toward an enclosed landspeeder, a larger-than-usual vehicle piloted by a well-armed driver.

“Jaina is no doubt working at the royal docking area. It is not far to walk, but I would prefer that you take this precaution.” Her eyes clouded. “There was an attempt on Prince Isolder just yesterday, within the palace grounds.”

Leia thanked the queen for her concern and climbed into the armored vehicle. It rose into the air and glided off toward the docks—far too slowly for Leia’s peace of mind. Although refugee camps could be uncertain and even dangerous, she hoped to persuade her daughter to leave the palace and return to camp with her.

She found Jaina inside the rocklike vessel, poking experimentally at a small, crenulated sphere.

“A familiar sight,” Leia commented with a smile. “You tinkering with a ship.”

Jaina pushed away the little globe. “Nothing works the