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

Chapter 5: Freedom

Qui-Gon was off talking to Watto about his deals while Zelina and Anakin put up the pod, chatting excitedly about the race the entire time.

"Did you see when I flipped over that one guy—"

"—and you barely dodged those bullets from the Raiders—"

"—I flew into the air and took first place—"

"—and Sebulba's pod went crashing!" Zelina and Anakin both giggled, holding onto the pod for support.

Slowly, the laughter faded from Zelina's face as she anxiously glanced toward the empty spot Sebulba was supposed to be at. The remains of his pod was stacked there, but Sebulba was missing. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and Zelina couldn't help but shiver a little.

Anakin's smile faded a little. "Hey, what's wrong?" He playfully hit her arm. "I just won the race, cheer up."

Zelina shook her head. "I've just got a bad feeling again..."

"I'm sure everything's fine. Now come on, help me with this," Anakin requested, grabbing the line that had come loose during the race. Zelina smiled a little and went to detach the other line, piling it into the cockpit.

They had finally finished when the hairs on the back of Zelina's neck stood once again, and her eyes instinctively scanned the room. The first thing she noticed was Sebulba, finally appearing in one of the doorways with a large smirk on his face that spelled trouble considering everything that had just happened.

"Zee, you alright?" Anakin was asking her, but Zelina wasn't paying attention. Her stomach twisted painfully as he eyes continued to scan the room at a more frenzied pace, remaining perfectly still by the pod, her senses on high alert.

Sebulba walked up to her, shoving her in the chest a little. "Slave scum. You're going to get what's coming to you for what you stole from me," Sebulba snarled at her in Huttanese.

Zelina's face turned red, and she was about to give him a snarky reply when a voice rang out across the room, sending Zelina into a full blown panic.

"Girl!"

Zelina's face paled and she instinctively tried to bolt. Sebulba, however, had other plans. He grabbed her arm and pushed her in the direction of Shal'ma who was storming towards Zelina with a fury in her eyes Zelina had never seen before. She couldn't help trembling as she scrambled back to her feet, having fallen to the ground when Sebulba pushed her. Over her pounding heart she could hear Anakin shouting at Sebulba, having lost his temper, though she didn't hear what. Shal'ma had reached her.

Shalma grabbed her arm, yanking her around. "I thought I told you to stay away from these races! You're a jinx girl! I never win when you're in the arena! All you've ever brought me is bad luck!" Shal'ma spat. "I'm tired of your disobedience, I won't have it anymore! Nor your thievery! I will not be paying for what you stole from Sebulba! You will wish you'd never been born you scum! Worthless slave trash!" Shal'ma yelled at Zelina, smacking her hard across the face before throwing her to the floor. Zelina gasped as her back hit the ground, feeling some of her wounds start to bleed again.

Suddenly Anakin was by her, and Zelina could feel the panic become out of control as her friend put himself in harm's way for her. "Leave her alone!" he recklessly shouted at Shal'ma.

"Anakin!" Zelina hear Qui-Gon's voice echo across the room that had gone deathly silent at the scene playing out.

"Get out of my way!" Shal'ma snarled, flinging Anakin aside into a pod and simultaneously reaching for the whip she kept at her side. Zelina felt the sting of the whip on her cheek and arm, the sound of the whip cracking causing her stomach to lurch.