The Karvaile Chronicles

One Shot: Rylee

    "You met Duchess Flora?"

    "No way!"

     "Yeah, right."

     "No, look, really! I have a holopic right here!" Rylee held out the picture of her with Flora, who had graciously posed for a picture with her after their impromptu dinner the previous night. The cluster of young girls at the Karved City Public Primary School huddled closer around the girl in the wheelchair in the middle of the school yard, trying to get a closer look.

    "Wow, lucky!" Exclaimed a little red head girl.

    "That's not all," Rylee announced, beaming. "She invited me and Ojed to dinner, she's gonna show me around her fancy house! And best of all, she promised to pay all the money we need to fix my legs!"

    The girls squealed and jumped up in down in excitement, and some jealously due to her opportunity at seeing the Duchess's estate.

    "Just think, you're getting to go to the house of the future Queen! Royalty!" said another girl.

    "I bet it'll be amazing!" Rylee said. She had been unable to stop beaming since Flora had shown up miraculously at the door. All of a sudden, her eyes brightened with the realization that she had one tidbit left unshared.

   "Guess what?" She whispered. All the girls huddled closer still, eager and attentive. "I think my brother a crush on her!" The group giggled and tittered at this new and fascinating information.

    "Ojed likes a Duchess?" one of the girls said. Ojed was a familiar face to the girls at the school, as he was there daily to pick up Rylee. He was popular among Rylee's friends, often sparing the time to play a game with them in the school yard before he and Rylee left, or graciously allowing Rylee to have sleepovers, resulting in large amounts of young girls filling up their tiny house,

    "What if he marries her and you get to be a Princess?!" Yelled one overexcited girl.

    "You'd get to wear fancy gowns ever day!"

    "Could we come to your palace?"

    "Princess Rylee, at your service," Rylee said, putting on her most regal voice and pretending to put on a tiara.

    "I'll be a visiting noble!" said another girl eagerly, miming her own tiara.

    "I'll be a lady in waiting, so I can help you pick out your outfits, cause I'm the best at that," said the red head proudly.

    Ojed stood there, watching the conversation. He had come to surprise Rylee in the middle of the day, when he knew she had recess, but when he heard what they were talking about, he stopped to listen, just out of sight behind a tree.

     The pink that flooded his cheeks when the conversation had turned to him and Flora had not quite faded. The girls buzzed around, continuing to pretend to be Princesses. He knew he had no chance on earth with Flora. But he could let them have their fun.

    He did his best to make sure Rylee had friends. He was terrified when she started school that everyone would leave her out because of her disability. But no one seemed to care. Kids were so accepting.

    The girls' coming over for sleep overs and play dates resulted in a fair bit of cleaning before and after, and left him completely exhausted. But for the chance to give Rylee as normal and happy a childhood as he could, it was worth it. Not much longer, and it would no longer be a worry. All thanks to Flora. Stupid Ojed, stupid. You can't go falling for her. She's so far out of your league it's laughable. No matter how much he tried to talk sense into himself, his self just didn't listen.

    Every detail of her dinner visit the previous evening kept blissfully floating back to his mind. Her total willingness to jump in and help with dinner, even cleaning up afterwards. The silkiness of her light blonde hair. Her compassion for Rylee. The warmth of her smile and the sparkle of her blue eyes. Her undivided attention provided to the ramblings of a nine year old girl. No wonder Rylee had always looked up to her.

    White hot shame burned through him when he looked back at the way he had treated her when he captured her. Rude and cocky was all part of his bounty hunter persona. Nice guys don't get hired. And not getting hired meant nothing for Rylee's operation. Jobs had been few and far between, and he was barely earning enough to cover expenses. The cabin in the woods didn't cost anything to own, it was already paid off. He had inherited the tiny vacation home from his parents. But the memories were too painful, and he found it impossible to stay there. Besides, Rylee needed to be close to the city for school, so he kept their little apartment.

    It was a tremendous burden off his shoulders that the operation cost was covered in full. It might've taken ages for him to acquire the necessary credits. Not to mention he would get to stop bounty hunting, get a normal job. Bounty hunting was his only option because it was the only job he, an offworlder and a non-human, could get that made enough credits to stay afloat and have leftover to save.

    Despite it all, he wouldn't change anything that had happened given the choice. Without that bounty hunting job, he never would have met Flora.

    "Ojed?!" The excited shriek came crashing through his thoughts like a shot down TIE fighter. Rylee had noticed him.

    "Came to surprise you Sis," he said with a grin. He hopped over the fence and hugged her. There was the expected chorus of giggles from the other girls at Ojed's appearance.

    "What's so funny?" He demanded playfully, though he knew perfectly well Rylee's latest piece of gossip was the cause. They found themselves so consumed by laughter that they were unable to answer.

    The bell rang almost immediately after to signal the end of the recess.

    "Aw, you only just got here!" Complained Rylee sadly.

  "No worries, I'll be back in a few hours to pick you up. Don't forget, we'll soon be attending a very special dinner!"

    She immediately perked up at this reminder, and hugged Ojed goodbye before steering towards her next class. He stood there waving, unaware that while his mind drifted back to Flora, a goofy smile had creeped across his face. He was eventually jerked back to the present by the sound of a speeder engine zooming along quickly behind him, and finally, headed back home.