The Flame [3]

Chapter 13

For Nifera's fiftieth birthday the Shu's home is a beautiful under the sea theme. They have holoprojections of fish that swim all around the room, and a blue shimmering sea. There are seafood trays stacked high. All kinds of fish and sea creatures are being served. The waiters carry some sort of blue and green drink. Poe grabs a flute of the drink, he tries it then hands it to me. I take a sip of the drink then hand it back to him. It tastes odd.

"This place is wild!" Finn says with a plate of food in his hand. "Have you ever seen food like this?"

"Once," he shutters. "Not a great memory."

"I used to all the time, at Senator meetings and birthdays my mom went to. "

"Right," Finn haz a yocrab leg in his hand and takes a bite of it. He winces as he bites down.

"You have to take the shell off first," Poe tells him.

"Here. let me help," I say pinching my fingers together and the leg snaps.

He takes a piece of the meat. "They should tell you," he says with a mouthful of the meat. "Mhm, this is delicious, try some!"

I grab a small piece of meat. "That's really good."

"Alright, let me try this," Poe takes a bite. "Mhm, best I ever tasted."

Poe takes a drink then hands it to me. I take the glass and take a swig, then hand it back. He downs the rest of the liquid.

"Ready to go present our gift to the Shus?" Poe asks us.

"Just let me..." Finn takes a bite of the fish he had on his plate, and rolls his eyes in delight. He takes a napkin and wipes his hands. He looks up at us. "Okay, now I'm ready."

We walk through the crowd. Poe and I arms linked with Finn wondering behind us. We pass dozens of species. Twi'leks, humans, Torgrutas, Barbadelans, Sullustans, First Order workers, and many more. They all are clearly very rich.

Finn leans into Poe and whispers something I can't hear over the crowd. Then Finn turns to me. "Why did you bring your lightsaber? You could have left it with Rey or Artoo."

"I know, but a lightsaber is a Jedi's weapon. You guard it with your life," I tell him. "Plus Artoo isn't the best at keeping mine safe. Maybe my grandfather's, but not mine."

"But your grandfather's Darth Vader?"

"He fought as a Jedi Knight in the Clone Wars before he became Darth Vader."

"How do you know that?"

"Artoo, never had his memory erased. Not once after any mission. Anakin Skywalker wasn't one for following the rules. So he has every mission in his memory."

"Oh. So Skywalker was good before he became Sith?"

"That is correct, yes."

"You have one interesting family, Bree." Finn whispers into my ear so others won't hear. "I mean, your twin brother is Kylo Ren!"

We approach the Shus, and me and Finn stop talking. Nifera's dress is made of thousands of white shells, she has an eel wrapped around her neck like a scarf. She has her hair up wound in tight coils. And has long earrings. Her husband, Hasadar, wears a green robe with a shark tooth belt wrapped tightly around his waist.

"Lorall and Skylar Shda," Nifera says with a smile. "A pleasure to finally meet the lovely couple, our mutual acquaintances couldn't stop talking highly about."

Poe kisses Nifera's hand. "The pleasure is ours," he says with a smirk.

"This is my husband. He is not familiar with previous work but is surely a supporter."

The two men exchange head nods.

"My wife, and my associate Kade Genti," Poe moves to the side to allow Finn room to step forward.

"A queen of the sea," Finn kisses Nifera's hand also. "On her second twenty-fifth birthday."

Nifera's laugh echoes around the large room. "Oh you are charming. And what a name. An admirer of the firebird, I see"

Finn touches his pin. That's what Poe put on his tie. "And yourself?" he asks her.

I shoot a glance to Poe and he shoots one back. I watch Nifera eye Finn. "Brave," she tells him. "Or very impetuous."

"I like to think I'm a bit of both," Finn replies.

She turns to Poe and I give Finn a look. He mouths 'what'. I just shake my head and roll my eyes.

"Do you have a gift for me? Besides your charm and flattery?"

I pull the small box out of my dress pocket and hold it out on my flat hand. She snatches the box from my hand and unwraps it as fast as she can. The gift hisses. I watch her eyes widen as a small cage is revealed with a tiny insect inside.

"Oh!" Nifera cries, joyfully.

"Oh!" Finn says surprised.

"Oh." Poe moans.

"Um," is all I can muster out of me.

Nifera rips a small piece of paper off the cage and hands it back to Poe. He stares at the bug.

"It's a miniture lylek!" Nifera squeals. "A native of the Ryloth equatorial rain forests, they usually grow to immense size, big enough to eat a full-grown man. But this one has been specifically bread to stay small, as long as you don't feed it flesh. And this one is a queen," she looks up at us. Then rolls the scroll back up and hands it to Hasadar.

"I love it!" Nifera says. "I do believe this is the best gift I have ever received, Lorell Shda," she leans in.  "I don't know how you knew that I trained to be an entomologist as a young woman, but I am impressed."

Poe is silent so I say something. "We hoped you would! A queen for the birthday queen herself."

"I'm glad you appreciate this small token of our appreciation of your...birth," Poe questions what he said.

I give him a confused look.

"I do, indeed. And now I have a gift for you," she gives our gift to her husband who gives it to an attendant. She takes a tiny black clam bag out of her pocket. She gives the bag to Poe, holding her palm in his. "Best of luck," she whispers, giving us a wink, "and may the Force guide you in your endeavors. The games will begin five minutes past the hour."

We move on, and the next guests are giving Nifera their gift. Poe slips me the bag and I put it in my pocket. Finn wonders over to the buffet while Poe and I look for Charth and Suralinda. I spot Suralinda by a waterfall.

I tap Poe's arm. "Lorell, there they are," I point towards the waterfall, "do you think she knew?"

"We'll find out soon enough," he tells me while leading us through the crowd.