The Other Side of Grace 4

“No!” I stamped my foot.

Lord Vader shook his head. “I was not asking you. I was telling you.” He said.

“You don’t run my social life!” I shouted at him.

“Perhaps I should.” He said sarcastically, “However that is neither here nor there, you are expected to attend the Grand ball. You are expected to attend with me and as I am telling you, you will accompany Grand Admiral Zaarin as his escort.” He was being remarkably calm and I wasn’t.

“No!” I said crossly. “I absolutely will not!”

“Why do you insist on being argumentative?” he asked.

“Why are you making me do this when you know I don’t like that man.?”

“He expressed a desire to spend time in your company. Your like or dislike is irrelevant.” He said, with a casual wave of his hand. He was standing with his back to me staring out of the tall, lancet windows into the Coruscant night.

“I do not belong to you!” I shouted again. “I am not a palace courtesan to be passed about to the highest bidder for your pleasure or gain!”

Lord Vader turned around to face me but stayed where he was. “No, you are not. What you are is the daughter of a Jedi with the ability to tell truth from lie. I want you to accompany Zaarin and I want you to… read him.”

“You want me to what?” I could not keep the incredulity out of my voice.

Lord Vader seemed to sigh even though his breathing never changed. He stared at me for a long time before turning his back on me to look out of the window once again. The next part of the conversation took place where no one else could hear it.

“I said I want you to read him. You have caught his eye and his interest and I want you to see beneath the surface and listen.” He said in my mind. There was something he wasn’t telling me but I didn’t know what it was and I couldn’t dig deep enough to figure it out.

“You want me to spy on an Imperial Officer?”

His shoulders heaved. “Not spy, just pay close attention. You have a talent, use it.”

“How?” I asked cautiously not liking where this was going.

“Use your charm, converse with him and stroke his inflated ego. He likes to talk about his work. ” He said coldly. “You and I will be attending the Grand Ball next week as per the Emperor’s request and you will accompany Zaarin as per mine, have I made myself clear?”

“Crystal.” I hissed between clenched teeth as I stomped out of his office without permission. I was being rude but I was angry so I didn’t care. If I could have slammed the door behind me I would have. I didn’t like being used and I didn’t like this situation one bit.

I went home angry then I went to my lesson with Master Kjestyll even angrier where he proceeded to show me that his calm out witted my rage any day. I loved him and respected him more than I thought it possible but sometimes his methods just escaped my understanding. Instead of starting out with the usual fairly intense stretching regime he had made me lie down on the floor and for almost half an hour I stayed like that, my left hand resting over my heart, my right hand on my lower abdomen. He had sat beside me, cross legged, calm and placed his hand in between both of mine flat on my solar plexus. At first I had fought against him, fought against trying to breathe fully and fought against relaxing. I was so wound up and so frustrated than my anger spoke far louder than any sort of semblance of calm ever could. I could feel the warmth of his hand as he applied a certain amount of pressure, correcting my breathing subtly, carefully. He drew out my anger as though he was drawing out poison and as my breathing became more regular and softer I began to understand how powerful his calm truly was.

“You fight with yourself and your passions rule you.” He said gently when he felt I was ready to sit up. “The Bunduki arts are about centering and using the energy flow to push and pull. To deflect great force one does not need to use great force but one needs to be centered. You block your own energy when you hold your anger within as you do. How do you expect to fight fluidly if your energy cannot flow through you as you wish to move through the air around you?”

I was light headed and trembling when I sat up. “He just makes me cross sometimes.” I said as he helped me to my feet.

Master Kjestyll made a noise and smiled. “Yes, he infects you with his own anger.” He said.

“I don’t understand, he encourages me to be angry and to use it.” I said as I began my warm up stretches.

“That is because it is all he now knows to use. His anger drives him so he feels it will drive you as well but you fight against it.” My master said. “He uses his anger to fuel the power he takes from the living force but the Bunduki arts do not draw on this mystery, they were created to counter those who could, created to use the energy of the body, the air and the world around you. When you lock your anger deep within your shi-lu you block everything that allows you to move as one with the energy of life.” He corrected my position and continued. “This lesson is one you do not seem willing to learn, so often you come to me in this way, full of fire in your belly.” He tapped my solar plexus; the exact spot where I felt that hard knot of anger sit. “You must learn to let go and become the stillness.”

I sighed. I had heard these words so often I could almost recite them along with my Master. “I try.” I said as we moved from warm up stretches to the slow and beautiful kata forms.

Master Kjestyll shook his head. “Try? This is a word I do not wish to hear from your lips again. You must simply act without thought or concentration, centering should come to you as easily as breathing does. This will eventually happen, you are a good student but it is harder for you because you began your training so late and are influenced by many … outside forces.” He said.

“I feel sometimes as though I am being pulled in a million different directions at once.” I told him.

“A million no, but two or perhaps three.” He said. “You waver, paths lie before you and you have not yet chosen which one to walk.” His hands corrected my position. I could feel the steel like strength behind his firm touch. “When you make your choice, the way will become easier or more difficult depending on the path taken.”

I sighed, lost concentration and was punished for that by ending up on my butt. He pulled me to my feet and gave me a look that said, concentrate. Master Kjestyll had changed my training regime. Instead of a passive, defensive form we had switched to more offensive, more aggressive forms. I had thought I was good at what I did but training with Master Kjestyll made me look as though I were standing still. He laughed as I landed on my ass for the second time.

“Your mind is elsewhere.” He chided. “If you were fighting for your life, you’d be dead now. Stop thinking about the next moment and concentrate on the now.” He hauled me to my feet and without a single break in his motion he attacked me with a new move. It was beautiful, a sweeping, almost dance like motion full of deadly grace. When his hand connected with my body, it hurt and I went down on the floor again. I was surprised when I felt that sharp twist of anger shoot through my belly.

“Stop thinking about what you are going to do and just do it. This isn’t a dance recital, child.” He said calmly, waiting until I got back up on my feet. I swallowed my anger down. He attacked again and I failed to defend again.

He shook his head, hands on his hips as he looked down at me. “What is in your head? Not life, I think? Not living. You think this is fun? A joke perhaps? You think I teach you because I have nothing better to do? How many years now have you been under my watchful eye?”

I got up. He looked at me carefully. With a slight frown he walked around me as though I were an object of art to be studied. Then to my surprised he walked away without saying a word. For a moment I was cross and more than a little annoyed with him but this was not the first time he had done this. I knelt on the floor, meditating. My brain was busy, too busy. It wasn’t so much about coherent thought but rather the lack of it, white noise, filling, distracting and hard to shake. The problem I suddenly realised was not the noise itself, not the jumble of what ifs and whys that raced around inside my head but the fact that I let it over take everything else.

The question was how to focus. Here in this place, the Imperial palace I had problems doing that and it had been this way since my return. When I had started to train with uncle Vahlek that had not been an issue and I wondered why. I felt as though I were at war with myself.

Don’t seek the stillness, be the stillness…

I wanted to center; to find that elusive peace, which enabled me to act without forethought, see the moment unfold without trying to predict the what-next. At uncle Vahlek’s home we had worked out in the desert, there was nothing to distract us, just wind, sun and sand. I had found these things calming. Coruscant was not calming, too much traffic noise, people noise, and too much outside stimulation. I felt everything. That, I suddenly realised, was a very large part of my problem, I wasn’t letting go.

I stood up and stretched my arms upward and breathed. If breath was the key then I was suffocating my self with my thoughts. With each inhalation I took a hold of a thought, something that had been on my mind, as I exhaled I let that thought go. Why, I wondered after what seemed an eternity, had I not noticed all this clutter, all this noise in my head before?

I sensed him return to the room and I sensed rather than knew his move. I blocked it easily and didn’t even think about it. He did not stop he did not let up, he moved with a speed and a certainty that was beautiful. No thoughts, no clutter in my brain. Not only was I able to keep up and stay on my feet but one or twice I also surprised him.

Soaked in sweat and panting hard we eventually stopped when he had put me on the flat of my back with a beautiful leg and hand combination I had never seen before.

“That was called water through stone.” He said.

“Impressive.” I said catching my breath. I sat up slowly.

“I will teach it to you next time if you can manage to find that center again as you did today.” He said, motioning me to begin cool down stretches. At my side he helped me perfect my positioning. Even something as simple as a stretch had the perfect form.

“Too much in my head. Coruscant is like a big explosion in my brain.” I said. “In the desert, with Zte’sa Vahlek, everything was simple, there were no distractions.”

He nodded. “In a fight there will always be distractions. One second of your mind being elsewhere could cost you an arm, or a leg or your life.” He said. “You are like a power coupling with no ground sometimes, your focus is scattered all over the place, you send out energy in every direction. You could be so much better than this if you learned to focus properly. I am wondering how I can best teach you this. I have never had such a difficult student before. You are most challenging for me.”

“Lord Vader said the same thing about me being ungrounded.” I told him.

Master Kjestyll regarded me carefully. “You are gifted with the Force but you do not use it when you fight.”

I shrugged. “I actually don’t really know how. Lord Vader teaches me to reach through it with anger but I lose control when I do that. It isn’t as if there are any teachers around who can help out in this area any more. It is as if there is no middle ground.”

“The Jedi had a strict code, they believed that the darker side of passions and emotions led to an abuse of the power that corrupted the soul.”

“Did it?” I asked.

Master Kjestyll drew a thoughtful breath. “Does the sword corrupt the master or does the master corrupt the sword?”

“I don’t know. I just know how I feel when I use anger to fight. It’s powerful, it’s seductive but I don’t like it all that much. I feel as though a part of me dies when I do things this way, Lord Vader and the Emperor’s way. I know that Lord Vader uses it as a tool but he can control it.”

“Does he or does it control him?” he asked.

I looked at my master and shrugged. “I wish I had never been born with this gift.”

He smiled. “You will find your way. There are sources out there; you just have not discovered them yet.” He said gently.

“But in the meantime I struggle.” I said.

He nodded. “All this energy you hold, these emotions of fear, of anger and especially passion distract you when they could be used to help you, you must choose one to lead and the others to add strength. You fear they will rule you and not the other way around but, child, by fearing this you allow the very thing you wish to prevent. You have learnt very well how to lock them all up in a bundle together deep inside your being but you have never been taught how to embrace them and use them. Letting go scares you the most, yet it is what you will have to do in order to move forward. You must embrace all the talents you have and you must learn how to use them in a way that you can live with. Most of those who learn and were trained in the Bunduki arts had no connection to the Force. It was because of this these ways of fighting, these combat methods were developed. The Jedi were not only superbly trained warriors in their own rights but they had this power that gave them an edge. You need to come to terms with your gifts, this power and learn how to use it not fight against it. ”

I sighed. I had been reading the little journal my birth mother had left for me but it was not much help, and it raised more questions than it answered. I was still searching through the library the Emperor had given me access to for anything that would help me sort out these conflicting ideals in my head, but so far there had been nothing. The Sith had allowed their passions to rule them, they had used the darker emotions to fuel their abilities with the force, but there was no how to manual. I didn’t dare bring up the subject of Jedi with Lord Vader for fear of him going ballistic again and there was no one else to talk to about it, who could help me better understand.

Master Kjestyll nodded and stood up. “Have you learnt this lesson today? Will you come to me next time ready to work and learn? Or will we have to repeat these steps all over again? You think on it, either way I am patient. Eventually even the smallest, steadiest drop of water wears through the strongest, most stubborn of stone.”

I nodded. He laughed at the face I made. I stood up and bowed to him wondering as we left the room if I would ever ‘get it.’

Tired and frustrated, I lay in the bath. I lit candles and the steamy, hot water was scented by oils made with exotic flowers from a planet I had never heard of. I ached from the gruelling work out my master had put me through, but worse my mind ached from all the questions I had. I stayed in the bath until the water turned cool and I had become a wrinkled excuse for a person. I felt much better as I sat, wrapped in a robe that was far too large for me, drinking brandy. The holonet was on but I wasn’t paying much attention. I had re read Thrawn’s latest letter twice and then I settled down to answer him.


Mia e’Tekari,

Once again it is late but I like this time of night, shortly before midnight when the traffic outside has calmed down somewhat and the activity along with the noise of the city moves downward into the underworld. I always liked night time and at home I often went up on the Bluff and spent hours staring upward. Of all the things I miss, seeing the stars definitely ranks high up on that list. There is too much light pollution here, as though the entire planet wants to outshine even the brightest star in the sky. I remember a couple of the Pilots who worked for my father years ago telling me that Coruscant was one of the only planets that shone like a sun. While I can understand that people love it here, love the busy life style, the access to everything and anything the galaxy has to offer I find it sad that the natural side of the planet is missing. I am glad I never grew up here and got to see the wonders of worlds without much technology. I miss Tatooine greatly, especially at night. Maybe that’s why it is easier to write to you in this quiet time, it takes away the sensation of loss.

Yes, Shiv is mostly to blame for my surprising amount of useless popular culture trivia, although the others help. He and Antygra, both keep up on all the gossip because they hear most of it first or second hand from the courtesans and they pass it along to me. It’s good to know sometimes, even if it is just gossip, and you would not believe how often these crazy topics come up in conversation at the Palace events I am obligated to attend. Speaking of Palace events, last week I attended at the behest of Lord Vader, one of the strangest events I have ever seen here.

Grand Admiral Rufaan Tigellinus was inducted into the Order of the Canted Circle. Do you know him? I have never even heard of this strange group before so having to attend this function was a bit weird. It was an ornate ceremony held at the Skydome Botanical Gardens. What a beautiful setting for such a mysterious event. Lord Vader was not very forth coming about what it was all about, not that this is unusual. Lord Vader is not often forthcoming about anything. I got the feeling he wasn’t all that impressed by the whole event and even less impressed by the man being inducted. It is a good thing, I think, that his face is hidden behind that mask of his. I am quite sure the disdain I sensed from him would have been very readable on his face. I am sort of in agreement with him though; the whole long black velvet robe thing was a bit over the top. I never really get the whole secret society thing, especially not this one. It was one of those events with high end catering and good champagne, to make up for the fact that it was on the whole quite boring. I am quite sure Lord Vader drags me to these sorts of events with him to keep himself amused. I was a bit surprised when all the members suddenly vanished. However, when that happened it was a good thing because it meant I got to go home.

I heard some rumblings amongst some of the on lookers about GA Tigellinus’s induction. They didn’t seem that happy about it at all. He doesn’t seem to endear himself to many people in the Imperial Court. Of course that doesn’t seem to matter if you have the favour of the Emperor, who by the way was there but not looking too healthy. He did not spend much time socializing with anyone and was quickly ushered away surrounded by the Royal Guard once the induction was over.

There have been a number of strange rumours flying about the palace concerning the Emperor’s health. Lord Vader won’t speak about this topic but he did tell me that using the Force the way the Emperor does is very draining on the physical body. Since I have been back I have not had any personal contact with the Emperor and I am quite happy with that to be honest. Mostly I have been busy keeping up with Lord Vader and his affairs. I was cross as all hell to learn that he had been quite badly injured sometime ago on Aridus. This information slipped out from one of his informants, a man named Jix. I met him briefly at Lord Vader’s Coruscant Palace, which should really be called a dungeon because it’s so dark and dreary. Jix was waiting to see Lord Vader and I was there on some emergency last minute rescheduling which Lord Vader really enjoys hauling me out of bed for at the worst possible hour, before the he went off planet again. This accident happened while I was still on Tatooine and Jix was not very open about details. When I asked Lord Vader about it his answer was a terse statement about reminding some people to keep their mouths shut and that he was fine. I think he secretly likes it when I inquire about his health but you know how he is. It would be bad form for the Emperor’s right hand man to be seen as anything but mighty and powerful. I didn’t press the issue.

He is completely obsessed at the moment with capturing and dealing with the Rebels, particularly a young man called Luke Skywalker. He has also been doing some interesting experiments with cybernetics and droids, and, I might add, going through droid engineers like crazy. Since I am the one who has to make the appointments for him, the list of available engineers is rapidly getting shorter and shorter. It would be funny if I wasn’t being yelled at every ten minutes or so. He goes through more droids than anyone else I know. His latest fad is probe droids which he has sent out all over the galaxy in search of the elusive rebels. In the last two months I have learnt more about droids and their manufacturers than I ever wanted to know. I am grateful for the Cynabar Droid datalogue and I have pretty much learned its contents off by heart. Good job I have a bit of a technical background. Lord Vader likes droids though and he will talk about them sometimes if you can catch him on a good day.

It is a shame that you are not on Coruscant at the moment. Next week, which is the Expansion festival week, with Shiv in tow, I am going to a private gallery opening of a collection of works by Venthan Chassu and Isone Medeglia. At first it seems like a strange pairing but they both attended the same art school so I guess that’s the connection. I don’t know how I feel about Chassu’s works to be honest. My mother always felt his style was too nouveau and his nudes drove her crazy but I liked some of his stuff. I will be interested to see how they display these two artists together though because they could not be more different from each other. I remember seeing a self portrait by Chassu in the Art gallery on Alderaan when I was last there, I was very young, and it gave me nightmares for months afterwards. Chassu has a very twisted self image. I wondered if he had taken a mirror, shattered it, taped it back together again and used that to see his face in. I much prefer Medeglia’s works, especially her Tatooine series. There is one painting of hers that I have only seen once in a rare collection book of her more unusual works. It is called Hidden under the Endless Sky. I know exactly where she sat to paint it, because it is the view from the cliff where Jabba’s Palace is situated. I am still in awe at her ability to paint the planet’s colours so perfectly. She is the only artist of that school who ever managed to capture the essence of the planet. Well, at least from what I know. Anyway, some whacky collector has decided to put together a show of these two artists for compare and contrast purposes and since Lord Vader was sent complimentary tickets and he has no interest in going I get to attend instead. If you were here, I’d have dragged you along with me. Sometimes I do love the perks of the job. If there is a catalogue, I’ll pick you up one and I will definitely tell you all about it in my next letter.

Loss is such a strange thing. I read your words and found myself nodding in agreement with damn near everything you wrote. I miss my mother terribly and I doubt I will ever really get over that loss. Now I sometimes find myself missing my birth mother as well, even though she was not an actual physical part of my life. These gaps, these absences are so ethereal and elusive yet somehow massive and impossible to fill in or even bridge. I see now that I have a tendency to latch on to others and kind of make them a part of my own family, an extension of family, if you will. People like Shiv and Bel become my surrogate siblings. It is as though this act of adopting people into my own circle will help somehow replace the people who are no longer there. I am not sure it actually works this way, but it’s too late at night for me to ponder this aspect and come up with a good answer. Needless to say it was sad to read that you and your sister have a hard time because of your brother’s disappearance. Old ghosts do seem to have a nasty habit of sticking around, don’t they?

I am glad you found the information on the various force powers useful. I have some more stuff to send when I get it sorted out a bit. Force-choke is awful. Who tried that trick on you and more to the point why? It is one of Lord Vader’s favourites and he loves to scare the sandjiggers out of the men under his command with it. I sometimes think he just does it for kicks. Did you know that his men draw lots to see which of them will have to deliver messages to him?

No, I have never tried any “mind tricks” on you. As a general rule they rarely work on strong minded individuals. I don’t think one has to be force sensitive to receive telepathic thoughts but it helps. To be honest it is not something I use that often and so far the only person I actually communicate with in this manner is Lord Vader because it’s private and easy, well easy is a relative term. Having Lord Vader in one’s head is NEVER easy. I always thought, especially where you were concerned that to use this particular gift without your permission was a very large invasion of privacy, which in turn was a breech of trust. I admit that I have used it on a few occasions and always felt somewhat bad afterwards, but never with you. I have seen some of the more unpleasant results that mind-push can have. I don’t know how it was to have been trained as a Jedi but these force powers don’t bring me a lot of happiness and half the time I wish I wasn’t born with them.

The more you write about the Chiss the more curious I become about them. What is the CEDF? I must say that subtle and rebellious are two words only you could have used in a sentence and still have made sense.

You asked about the trials and what that entails, well I am studying the Bunduki arts, also sometimes known as Teräs Käsi. A form of fighting that was started by the Followers of Palawa on the planet Bunduki. It is a kind of weaponless martial arts, although we are also taught to use some combat weapons such as staves and swords. The trials are a test of how far I have come as a student and how well I have learned. If I pass then I will advance upward and learn more complex moves and combinations. Most of the time a teacher will evaluate his or her students themselves but the trials that take place in a few months from now are intergalactic. This is unusual and should be interesting. I have no details yet on the whole event but when I do I will keep you posted.

Shiv has said he’ll hold off on the whole Holloway Theme party until you return. I told him he had a death wish and he just laughed saying that was my thing not his. I was the one, after all, who argued with Lord Vader on a regular basis. I couldn’t top that so I let the matter drop.

Speaking of letting matters drop, you might want to reconsider your threat of frisking me for concealed weaponry. Master Kjestyll has trained me very well and I can hurt you, should you decide to pursue this course of action.

Now, on that note I am going to bed. Be safe and have fun guarding the universe from evil doers!

Mera’ta’llath’Ia
Merlyn


“Ow!” I yelled as Cati accidentally on purpose managed to stick the pin she wanted to adjust the dress with into me instead of the fabric.

“Well if you would stop fussing, my hand would not slip and this would be a painless procedure!” Cati said trying very hard to maintain her patience.

I sighed. The Grand ball was two days away and after avoiding all thoughts on the subject I finally got the energy up to look through my wardrobe only to realise that I had nothing I wanted to wear. All of the dresses I owned were beautiful and expensive and terribly revealing. The last thing I wanted to do was give Grand Admiral Zaarin the wrong idea by wearing a dress that showed more skin than what I usually wore at the office. This had meant a very frantic last minute call to Cati and hours of dress fittings that very same day.

“You know, if you had come to me sooner we could have avoided all of this and I could have designed a dress around the requirements you wanted.” She told me.

“I was rather hoping I could get out of going to the event altogether.” I replied.

She glanced up at me. “On the outs with your gentleman?” she asked.

I shook my head. “No, he’s not here. That’s the problem I have been requested to accompany another. I don’t want to give the wrong impression.”

“I didn’t think you were a Courtesan.” She said, continuing to pin.

“I’m not it’s a business thing. One does not say no to Lord Vader when he gives you a direct order.”

She nodded in agreement then added. “I must admit I was a little surprised to hear from you, it’s been well over a year since you ordered anything from me.”

“Shiv didn’t talk to you about what happened?” I asked, surprised.

She stopped pinning the dress and looked at me. “Siavaan is not my best friend, he is a business associate. He sends girls my way for clothes but he doesn’t buy them himself. We generally don’t talk about personal things, although he did mention you had been through a rough time and were off planet for a while. ”

I sighed and gave her the quick and dirty version of Jyrki’s idea of Fete week fun.

“You were kidnapped?” she asked trying to hide her disbelief, resuming her alterations.

“Yes.”

“By someone you thought was a friend?”

“Yes. Then after that ordeal was over I spent time off planet. I was on Tatooine working from there. People seemed to think this would keep me out of trouble.”

“Did it?”

“No.” I sighed and she just laughed.

“Well, I have to say, Miss Gabriel you are definitely one of my more unusual clients and you do lead an exciting life.”

“Exciting is not exactly the word I would use.” I replied tartly.

She smiled and shrugged. “Yes well, most women would never dream of asking for a dress that makes them look unattractive either, so that does make you unusual.”

“I just don’t want to give this guy any funny ideas.” I snorted.

Cati laughed. “So, you and your gentleman are still friends then?”

I just looked at her for a moment. “Yes, I think so. It’s been over a year since I have seen him but we keep in touch fairly regularly.”

“What does he think of this whole business then? Does he mind you attending the gala event of the season with another man?”

“He doesn’t know, I haven’t actually told him.” I said, and that was true. “It’s complicated, you know?”

“Yes, I see.” She said in a way that said she didn’t think that was a very smart move on my part.

“I don’t think he’ll much care one way or the other. He’s not the possessive type and it is something I am being required to do, it’s not my choice. ” I added wondering who I was trying to convince.

She only answered that with a snort.

“You disagree?”

“He’s a man.” She said by way of answer. “Even if he is not the jealous type, he won’t like being kept in the dark.”

I just made a face and stared glumly at my reflection in the mirror as she finished making the adjustments. Cati was one of the best dress makers I had ever met and there was no way she could make an ugly dress even if she tried. This dress covered me from head to toe. It had a high neck line and long fitted sleeves. No bare skin to be seen, but it fitted perfectly and the soft fabric hugged my body, flaring gently from the hips for movement. It would be a gorgeous dress to dance in. It was the colour of pale moon light and for reasons I could not comprehend it complimented my own skin tone perfectly, making my already deep red hair seem even darker, more vibrant. I sighed; this was not quite the unflattering garment I had had in mind.

“You dislike the dress?” she asked watching my face carefully.

I shook my head. “No, that’s the trouble, it’s stunning. I don’t want to look stunning. This looks like you poured moonlight over me, how do you manage that?”

“Sheer talent.” She just laughed. “I can’t send you to the Imperial Grand Ball in a sack, can I? I do have a reputation to uphold. You said no skin showing, you didn’t say ugly.”

“Next time I will be more specific. I take it there are shoes to match?”

She grinned and vanished for a moment to reappear with a pair of silver, high heeled strappy shoes. Perfect and she laughed even harder as I made a face. “That pendant you wear goes perfectly with the dress. If you have matching Zenji sticks, put your hair up with them and the look will be perfect. Very haughty princess like.” She said. “Very ice queen if that’s the desired effect.”

I just sighed, absently touched the necklace I never took off.

“Not the desired effect? What is it you want to do then?”

“Create disinterest.” I told her as she helped me get out of the now pinned dress.

“I doubt even the ugliest dress in the galaxy would do that.” She chided.

I just made a face and changed back into my street clothes.

“I should have it all ready for you by tomorrow. I can have it delivered in the evening or the day after.”

“Day after is fine. You have the office address yeah?” I asked as I signed the bill.

“Yep.” She grinned. “Can I give you a bit of advice?”

“Always.”

“Tell that gentleman of yours about this date. Men don’t like it when women keep secrets from them, especially there is an attachment. Trust me you’ll be saving yourself a ton of grief.”

She was right and I sighed. “I will tell him, right after the ball so he gets all the gory details, a letter sent now won’t reach him in time anyway. I really do hate these stupid events. ”

She laughed. “No you don’t, you are just missing your favourite partner in crime.” She stopped and gave me a speculative look. “You know, any time you want advice or even just an ear, drop round. I am usually here and always happy to stop for a little break.” She said.

“I might just do that.” I said feeling suddenly grateful.

She just laughed and waved cheerfully as I left.