The Legend of the Jedi Queen

26. Dialaman Blue

The next morning, in the breakfast hall, Tallis sat far away from Nellith. She stole glances in his direction, and saw he still had the silver streak, and darker circles under his eyes. She kept wondering if she should go and talk to him, but decided against it every single time.

I did nothing wrong, she assured herself. Besides, if he wants to keep secrets, he can. I don't care.

This was disregarding the prominent that fact that in fact, she really did care—more than she liked to admit.

Rather late into breakfast, Kyp Durron swaggered to the table where the Imperial Royal family sat.

"Where's Jaina?" Ben asked.

"Hangover," Kyp said. "She was drinking a lot, last night, and decided to add shots of Dialaman Blue towards the end. And we both know how well Jaina holds down her Dialaman Blue."

"Will she at least be able to function by this afternoon?" Ben asked.

Kyp gave him a look that reminded Ben, rather painfully, of what his sister was like with a hangover.

"Of course not," Ben muttered.

"Damn," Rey said. "She and Nellith were supposed to go to see Maz Kanata. Kanata has some information that she said might be relevant to us."

"Why can't I take Nellith?" Kyp suggested.

Rey choked on her coffee.

"I'm not letting you handle my kid!" Ben protested.

"Hey!" Kyp protested back. "Why not?"

"For one, your drinking problem is worse than Jaina's," Rey said.

"And we both know you're the one who introduced Jaina to drinking," Ben said.

"I took you out too on your twenty-first birthday, may I remind you," Kyp said. "And so I might have a drink—"

"Or five," Ben interjected.

"Or two," Kyp said pointedly. "I still know Maz. She's delightful."

"I am not leaving my daughter with an alcoholic," Rey insisted.

Ben sucked in a breath, and looked much more interested in the food.

"I won't leave your kid there, Jedi's honor," Kyp promised. "Besides, I'm pretty sure she's got a lightsaber. Worst comes to worst, she has to use it to convince some poor scoundrel to let her hitchhike on his ship back to Uphatu."

"I'd rather not do that," Nellith said quietly.

"I'm joking!" Kyp assured her. "Take it easy, everybody! Why are we all doubting my capabilities as a Jedi now? Luke didn't!"

"Luke didn't get to see your sad descent into getting drunk at bars," Ben said.

"May I add that most of that was your fault," Kyp said. "To be fair, if all of your classmates at Jedi school were either murdered or turned to the dark side, you'd drink a hell of a lot, too."

"Maybe I should just go see Maz Kanata alone," Nellith said.

"No," Rey said immediately. "Maz is an acquired taste. Gods, I'm going to send Kyp, aren't I?"

"Let's just deny the inevitable, Rey," Kyp said. "I'm taking your daughter to see Maz Kanata and see what sweet information she has for us this time. I promise I won't ditch your child in a bar, for fear of that same child having learned from Jaina and murdering me with her lightsaber."

Rey hesitated. "I still don't like it."

"Fair enough," Kyp said. He looked to Nellith. "It'll be fun, kid, don't worry!"

Nellith laughed nervously.

Nellith stepped outside of the Twin Suns into the sunlight. It filtered through the deciduous trees, and she smiled as it kissed her face. She looked around to see beautiful flowers, and a pristine enchanted wood out of the galactic fairytales. She turned to see Kyp leave the Twin Suns, grinning as well.

"I like Artorias, too," Kyp said. "Come on, Maz'll be waiting."

Nellith nodded, and followed Kyp through the village, into the pub. Kyp walked straight up to the bartender.

"I need to speak to Eyes," Kyp said.

The bartender nodded. "She's running a bit late. She said her job might require aggressive negotiations."

Kyp nodded sagely back. "In that case, I'll order the Firewhiskey with a shot of Dialaman Blue."

"On it," the bartender said.

Kyp took the stool, Nellith reluctantly sitting beside him. The bar was as seedy as the one on Corellia, where they had learned where to find Tallis in the first place.

As soon as Kyp had received his drink, he offered it to Nellith.

"Want a swig?" he asked.

Against her better judgement, Nellith accepted and took a sip. It was apparently too much of a sip, as Kyp almost immediately yanked it back. Her throat burned, and she winced.

"Gods, that's awful," Nellith said. "How can you stand to drink that?"

"I think I burnt all my tastebuds a long time ago," Kyp admitted. "Not sure, though. It's an adult thing."

"Joy," Nellith said. She looked out the window at the forested world of Artorias. "You have your commlink, right?"

"Right," Kyp said. He wasn't paying too close attention.

"Since it's gonna be a while, why don't I go explore the village, and you send a transmission when Maz gets here?" Nellith suggested.

"Sure," Kyp said. "Wait, what?"

"Thanks, I'll see you in a bit!"

Nellith raced out of the pub, curious about the Artorian village.