Of Love and War Book 1: Dawn of a New Life

Chapter 3: Injuries

When Zelina woke up the next morning, the first thing she realized was that her back hurt. The second thing she noticed was the pair of bright round eyes staring at her.

Startled, Zelina shot upright from where she'd been lying on the ground.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I startled you! I am—"

"3PO..." Zelina said with a sigh, lying back down on the floor. "Don't do that! If someone's sleeping, you don't hover over them, okay?"

"I'm sorry miss; I'll not do it again."

Zelina shook her head. "3PO, what time's it?"

"Well, Master Anakin already left for Watto's shop—"

Zelina started. Already? She was supposed to be at the cantina by now! Scrambling to her feet, Zelina ran a hand through her hair a few times. "Oh no, I'm late...." she mumbled, scurrying out the door without looking back. Shmi glanced at her in surprise when Zelina skidded around the corner.

"Zelina, I thought you'd already left?" she asked, startled. Zelina shook her head.

"No, I'm going to be late," she groaned. Shmi gave her a worried look as Zelina scuttled out the door and made her way as quickly as she could back to the filthy cantina.

Lucky for her, Shal'ma was't there when Zelina slipped into the kitchen. Garth looked up from the food he was currently making and frowned once he saw her. "Shal'ma isn't happy, Zelina. You're in for it this time..."

Zelina sighed, shaking her head and resigning herself to the growing pile of filthy dishes she decided to tackle first. "I know...there's nothin' I can do about it..."

Garth's frown deepened, though the look he gave her seemed to border more on the side of curiosity. Thankfully, he chose not to say anything about the bruise on the side of her face; he was used to it by now. Instead, he chose to speak very quietly and briefly on a different subject. "I hope for your sake it isn't as bad as I suspect it will be..."

Zelina flinched. Shal'ma's disciplines could be quite...cruel, to say the least. The best Zelina could do was silently prepare herself for what was to come and silently go about her chores to get out of the wamp rat nest as soon as possible. She had to be out early today, anyway: the pod race was today, and she was supposed to help Anakin with the speeder.

Zelina scowled. Punishment or not, Zelina was going to be there for her friend. Shal'ma could whip or hit her as much as she wanted afterwards; Zelina was going to help Anakin.

Zelina felt a tug in her gut, her stomach seeming to twist around in knots as she glanced around the room. She had a bad feeling...

Shal'ma appeared around the corner and Zelina couldn't help but pale at the sight of her, almost losing her grip on the dish she was washing. Shal'ma's cruel eyes narrowed in her direction, and Zelina stood straighter; an action that only served to anger Shal'ma more. Zelina knew why. Shal'ma's slaves were not supposed to hold any pride. They were supposed to be broken and disposable, but Zelina refused to be anything like that.

Despite the fact she knew she would only make it worse, Zelina still struggled as Shal'ma dragged her out back.

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Qui-Gon put away his comm link as he slowly descended the stairs, watching Anakin as he worked on the pod a few paces away. He hadn't had a chance to test the boy's midi-chlorian count yet, or the girl's for that matter, but he was sure the opportunities would present themselves.