Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order 11_ Dark Journey - Elaine Cunningham [98]
His smile held considerable irony. “I haven’t noticed that. Perhaps Jaina Solo’s regard is one of those mysteries that only Jedi can perceive.”
“Of late Jaina has been … difficult,” Tenel Ka admitted. She related her recent argument with Jaina, and her concerns about Ta’a Chume’s influence on her.
In lean words, she told Jag the stories that continued to circulate about Ta’a Chume: she was probably behind the death of her first son’s betrothed, and possibly behind the subsequent death of her son.
“My grandmother might be an old woman,” she concluded, “but do not take Ta’a Chume lightly. There is always more than what you see. What concerns me is that there is probably much more to her current plans than even Jaina realizes.”
“I see,” he said slowly. “The attack on Han Solo puzzled me. Though I know Prince Isolder once courted Leia, I don’t see why Ta’a Chume would go to such extremes on her son’s behalf.”
Tenel Ka stood for a moment as if in indecision. Then she bobbed her head in a curt nod and motioned for Jag to continue to follow her.
They took a landspeeder to the palace and then made their way to the opulent chambers of the queen mother. “This is my mother’s favorite room,” Tenel Ka said, and pushed open a massive door.
For a moment Jag assumed the room was empty. There was no sound, no sense of any living presence.
“There,” the Jedi said softly, indicating a chair nearly hidden in a curtained alcove. A small, still figure slumped there, eyes staring straight ahead.
Tenel Ka led the way into the room and stooped over the chair. “We have a visitor, Mother,” she said softly.
The woman’s brown eyes flicked up to Jag and then returned to the window. She took no further notice of them, though Tenel Ka spoke about the plight of the refugees, the Consortium’s worries about a Yuuzhan Vong attack, and the attempts to rebuild the fleet. None of these concerns pierced the deep torpor surrounding Hapes’s reigning queen.
At last Tenel Ka fell silent. She leaned forward and touched her forehead to her mother’s, as if doing so could lend the older woman some of her determination, her clarity of thought. She quickly kissed her mother’s cheek and rose, striding out without glancing back at Jag.
He followed her to the door. When it closed behind them, she leaned against it and allowed her pain-filled eyes to drift closed.
“This,” she said grimly, “is the woman who will command the defense of Hapes. Do you understand why my grandmother wishes to replace her?”
“Princess Leia will never accept such a role.”
Tenel Ka’s eyes flew open. “Is that what you think is happening?”
“What other interpretation is there?”
“I know my grandmother. She will never fully relinquish the throne. Perhaps she envisions ruling a second time, through someone younger and more tractable than either my mother or Princess Leia.”
Her meaning slowly came to Jag. To Tenel Ka’s surprise and his own, he broke out laughing. “Up to a certain point, logic suggests you’re describing Jaina Solo. But only up to a point! Tractable is not a word that comes readily to mind when her name is mentioned.”
“Fact,” the Jedi agreed. “Still, it is something to consider.”
Jag tried to envision Jaina as a ruling monarch and swiftly abandoned the attempt. “Let’s assume that she agreed to this. How would she go about gaining the throne?”
“Since no daughters were born to Ta’a Chume, Prince Isolder is the legal heir to the throne. His wife rules.”
After a moment, it occurred to Jag that he was gaping like a Mon Calamari. He shut his mouth so abruptly that his teeth clicked. “Prince Isolder would agree to this?”
“He may not have a choice,” Tenel Ka said grimly. “If she decides that this is a good path to power, she will find a way to take it.”
“Ta’a Chume has that much power?”
The Jedi regarded him somberly. “I was not speaking of my grandmother.