Read Online The Unseen Queen by Troy Denning - Free Book Online Page B

remember that emergency escape I taught you?”
    “The Force trick you said to keep really …” Ben fell silent and glanced at DD-11A, then his voice grew more subdued. “Yeah, I remember.”
    DD-11A stopped and swiveled her head around to stare down at Ben. “The Force trick that Jedi Solo said to keep really
what
, Ben?”
    Ben’s gaze slid away. “Nothing.”
    The corners of DD-11A’s mouth drooped. “Are you keeping secrets, Ben?”
    “I’m
trying
to,” Ben admitted. “Jacen said—”
    “No harm, Ben,” Jacen interrupted. Defender Droids were programmed to be suspicious of children’s secrets, and this particular Force trick was not one he cared to have investigated. He faced DD-11A. “The secrecy is a security precaution. The trick’s effectiveness would be compromised if its nature was revealed.”
    DD-11A fixed her photoreceptors on Jacen for a moment, then extended a telescoping arm and took Ben by the shoulder. “Why don’t you wait here with me, Ben? The Queen Mother wishes to see Jedi Solo alone first.” The droid turned to Jacen, then pointed her other arm toward the far side of the chamber. “Through that door.”
    Jacen did not start toward the door. “I’d rather keep Ben with me.”
    “The Queen Mother wishes to speak to you alone first.” DD-11A made a shooing motion with her hand. “Go on. We’ll come along in few minutes.”
    When the cold knot between Jacen’s shoulder blades didnot seem to grow any larger, he nodded reluctantly. “Leave the doors open between us,” he said. “And Ben—”
    “I know what to do,” Ben said. “Go on.”
    “Okay,” Jacen said. “But mind your manners. Remember, you’re in a queen’s private chambers.”
    Jacen went through the door into a third room, this one much smaller and less opulent than the first two. One end was filled with shelves and clothing racks, mostly empty, and furnished with full-length mirrors, unused vanities, and overstuffed dressing couches. The other end held a simple sleeping pallet, of the kind Tenel Ka had preferred since her days at the Jedi academy, and a night table containing a chrono and reading lamp.
    The Queen Mother herself was through the
next
door, leaning over a small baby crib in what was plainly a nursery. Her red hair hung over one shoulder in a loose fall, and she was dressed in a simple green robe with nursing flaps over both sides of her chest. When she sensed Jacen studying her, she looked up and smiled.
    “You cannot see anything from there, Jacen. Come in.” Tenel Ka was as beautiful as ever—perhaps even more so. Her complexion was rosy and luminous, and her gray eyes were sparkling with joy. “I have someone to introduce you to.”
    “So I see.” It was all Jacen could do to hide his disappointment. Though he had long known that Tenel Ka’s position would require her to take a Hapan husband, this was hardly the way he had expected her to break the news. “Congratulations.”
    “Thank you.” Tenel Ka motioned him over. “Come along, Jacen. She won’t bite.”
    Jacen went to the crib, where a round-faced newborn lay cooing and blowing milk bubbles at Tenel Ka. With hair so thin and downy that it still lacked color and a face morewrinkled than an Ugnaught’s, she did not really look like anyone. But when the infant turned to squint up at Jacen, Jacen experienced such a shock of connection that he forgot himself and reached down to touch the child on the chest.
    “Go ahead and pick her up, Jacen.” Tenel Ka’s voice was nearly cracking with excitement. “You do know how to hold a newborn, don’t you?”
    Jacen was too stunned to answer. He could feel in the Force—and in his heart—that the girl was his, but he could not understand
how
. The child could be no more than a week old, but it had been more than a year since he had even
seen
Tenel Ka.
    “Here, let me show you.” Tenel Ka slipped her one arm under the baby, cradling the head in her hand, then smoothly scooped