A Star Wars Fairy Tale: Return, Part 5

Lando left before the night was even over to rejoin his patrol. The droids went at first light to deliver the message from Luke that they were coming peacefully. Leia went with the Ewoks and Chewbacca to the edge of the kingdom, a desolate place where the last fringes of the Enchanted Woods met the vast sand dunes of the Kingdom of Tatoon. Luke said he would come in two days' time. He had someone he needed to contact first.

Leia dressed herself in her mother's armor, all gleaming and polished in the morning light. She made sure her knife was quite visible. She wanted the ruffians in Jabba's palace to know she could take care of herself. She'd heard about the court of King Jabba the Ogre. It was the most licentious, most degraded, and most sinful palace in all the Alliance.

It was also the wealthiest, outside of the Kingdom of the Empire...but only because Jabba kept the money he stole from his people for himself and his nobles. If they could, in fact, be called noble. Corruption flourished in Jabba's Palace. It was said that once you became Jabba's servant, you were his for life. He didn't release his good workers lightly. There were rumors that he even stole or bought children from other countries and raised them as servants, treating them little better than the sand under his fat legs.

She was determined that Han should be the first to flee his grasp. That disgusting creature had been allowed to flourish for far too long. It was time to take him down.

Here it is! Wicket showed her the red-stone path to Jabba's home, an enormous collection of sand-brick domes and curved entrances and elaborate, colorful tiles and sand paintings. The entire roof was covered in gold, and the palace was decorated in gold trim that glowed softly in the late morning light. All she could think was how much of that gold could have gone into feeding impoverished farmers like Luke's family, instead of into such a frivolous display of status.

Leia gave Wicket a hug. You be careful! Don't let Jabba's people see you. I don't want you to end up as a throw rug!

I won't! Wicket hugged her back. You be careful, too! Don't let that mean old Jabba hurt you!

I can take care of myself. She climbed on Chewbacca's back and turned to wave to the retreating Ewoks. Thanks again, to all of you...for everything.

You're welcome! Chief Chirpa chattered. And if you or your friends are ever in the Kingdom of the Endor and need our help, just tell the trees. They always know.

I will! Leia watched them as they scampered off into the woods. She then lowered the visor on her helmet and turned Chewie down the road.

It was easier to gain entry to the palace than she thought. She passed herself off as Boushh, a bounty hunter from the Kingdom of the Empire, who was bringing Jabba a fine Wookie stallion to trade. Bib Fortuna was Jabba's major domo, a pale-skinned, balding man with watery, red-rimmed eyes and a slender, sharp face. He was fairly easy to manipulate into bringing her before Jabba's court.

Jabba himself proved far more difficult to negotiate with. The fleshy mud-colored ogre reclined on his enormous throne in the center of the palace. Around him sat his court, the nastiest, most degraded scum in all the Alliance. Dancing girls with long braids woven with pale-green ribbons sat chained to the throne, wearing bits of cloth and metal and little else.

She concentrated...and wasn't surprised to discover that she couldn't read Jabba's mind. She'd heard that ogres were immune to Force magic. She was rather amused to see Cecil, now wearing the fanciful gold and white robes of Jabba's court servants, rush up to the ogre's throne. “Yes, Your Highness?” He simpered.

Leia spoke in Ubese, the language the real Boushh had known. “She says she wants five thousand credits for this fine specimen of a Wookie stallion,” Cecil told Jabba.

Jabba only laughed. “Even Chewbacca, the mightiest of all Wookie horses, is only worth three thousand at most,” Cecil translated. “He wants to know why he must pay you five thousand.”

Leia wished Jabba could have seen her smirk under her visor. It was lucky that Boushh had said to be one of the finest archers anywhere before he was killed during a deal that went wrong. She shot an arrow into the chandelier, shattering a tiny candle...and then shot another arrow into that one.

Cecil gasped. “Because that's what she'll do to you and your court if you don't give her what she wants!”

Jabba only laughed. This woman is my kind of scum, he chortled, fearless and inventive.

Cecil translated as he went on. “He agrees to your terms, Mistress Boushh. In fact, I think he quite admires your spirit.”

She grinned under her visor. Luke would be coming in with help within a few days' time. For now, she had to stay on Jabba's good side long enough to find Han.

The armor-clad young woman almost literally ran into Lando and Arthur on her way to the stables with Chewie. “Lando,” she whispered, “have you found where Han is yet?”

He just barely nodded. “The crystal coffin is being kept in the garden. Jabba says it's on display as a warning to anyone who doesn't make their payments.” Lando wrinkled his nose. “I heard his three daughters go out there at least once a day, trying to open the coffin and kiss Han awake. So far, they haven't had any luck. No one's been able to open the crystal by the usual means.”

“I'll find some way.” Leia wasn't leaving without her beloved rogue. There had to be a way to break the crystal her father made and kiss Han! Luke said when he was kissed by his true love, he would awaken. She suspected that even if the ogresses did manage to open the crystal, their slimy lips wouldn't have any effect on the spell.

She waited until midnight, when all of Jabba's court was scattered around the palace, drunk from too much date wine and drugs and their own love-making. The princess stepped around the bodies, the moonlight giving her silver armor a strange, watery glow. She was so busy searching for the entrance to the garden, that she didn't realize she was being watched by a man in very familiar green armor...

The moment she entered the garden, she felt as if she'd stepped into another world. The snoring and moaning of the dark, smoky palace was replaced by long sand-brick paths lined with roses, blossoming cacti, and colorful desert blooms of every sort. Graceful date palms swayed overhead. It was like having found an oasis after being lost in the dusty desert for weeks. She could even hear water tinkling in a fountain off in the distance.

Han's coffin was nearly in the center of the garden, set amid thick brambles of blood-red desert roses. They were so dense, Leia had to hack her way through with the vines. It was a good thing she wore her armor. She lacked the tough leather-like skin of the ogresses.

Moonlight hit the coffin as she crept towards it, giving the reposing man inside a soft, gentle glow. His handsome, rugged features looked as peaceful as they did the horrible night Vader sealed him away, hoping to keep her from touching him. She recalled what Lando told her about ordinary tools not being able to break the crystal. “Maybe not ordinary tools,” she murmured to herself. “It was created by magic...so it probably needs magic to open.”

She concentrated on the gold lock, hoping she had enough power left to break the seal. To her delight, blue sparks appeared around the lock, quickly snapping it open. Her silver-clad hand easily lifted the delicate cover, pushing it away from the sleeping beauty within.

Every rose in the garden, every flower and cacti that was still awake, seemed to turn to the young woman as she pushed open her visor, then took Han's strong chin in her hands. They watched intently as she lifted his face to her lips for one of the most passionate, enchanting kisses the Kingdom of Tatoon had ever known.

Though only a few seconds passed, it seemed like an eternity to Leia before the familiar hazel eyes blinked and slowly opened. “Wh...where am I?” The gruff voice sounded frightened, worried.

“Jabba's Palace,” she said.

Fear made his voice go up an octave. “I...I still can't see.” He touched her face. “You...your voice...you can't be...”

She smiled, taking his hand in hers. “I'm someone who loves you.”

“Leia!” He pulled her into another intense kiss.

“Come on.” She helped him to his feet. His knees wobbled like a newborn colt's. “We have to get out of here.”

Han clutched her arm. “Everything's a blur. I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm not going to be much help.”

She put an arm around him. “I've saved your skin before. I can do it again.”

That was when they heard the laugh. It was a great, heaving bellow of a laugh, filled with wickedness. Leia groaned and pulled Han closer to her. He squeezed her torso tightly. “I know that sound.”

Indeed, King Jabba himself reclined on a stone bench in front of the rose garden. With him were Bib Fortuna, Boba Fett, a very scared Cecil, and several guards. Three smaller ogres with lighter, slightly less wrinkly skin, somewhat smaller eyes, and equally large and nasty smiles were settled on either side of him in the prickly desert grass. “There he is, Daddy!” shrieked the first ogress, at least according to Cecil. “There's my husband!”

“Your husband?” the second ogress sneered. “Daddy promised him to me!”

“I'm the oldest!” whined the largest ogress. “I should have him!”

“He doesn't belong to any of you!” Leia stepped in front of him. “I'm the one who broke the spell. He belongs with me!”

“Jabba,” Han started, groping for Leia's hand to keep her from leaping at the ogresses, “look, I was on my way back when I got a little sidetracked. It's not my fault!”

“Not your fault?” Jabba snorted. “I've heard that from you before.” He turned to Boba Fett and two of his guards. “Take him to the servants' quarters over the stables, until I've decided which of my daughters will have him.”

“Jabba, I'll pay you triple!” Han tried to struggle, but he was still too weak from his long imprisonment. “You're throwing away a fortune! Don't be a fool!” But his protests fell on deaf ears. He was finally dragged into the palace.

Three more guards gathered Leia in their arms, taking her knife out of its scabbard. She noticed that one was Lando. “Don't worry,” he whispered. “I'll make sure nothing happens.”

Jabba, however, was intrigued by this spirited human. “Bring her here,” he ordered. “She has rare beauty. I might keep her with my collection.”

She glared at him. “I won't be one of your ornaments!”

“We shall see.” He yanked her head to his, dragging his tongue over her mouth for what to him, likely amounted to a kiss. To Leia, it amounted to being coated with slime, and it was awful. “Yes, you're very beautiful. You'll be a fine prize to show off in court.”

“I'm no one's prize!” she snarled.

Jabba just let out another slobber, longer this time. Cecil turned from the sight in horror. “I can't bear to watch!”

Leia was dragged into the castle and shoved into a turquoise and gold-trimmed room filled with other women, likely the harem. She was dressed in the gauzy deep-red skirts and brief copper-brown tops and jewel-and-medal-trimmed belts and baubles of the slave women of the court. The top clung to her breasts, exposing her porcelain midrift. A headdress of gold and pearls and a long, soft red-brown veil topped her short brown hair, and she wore soft boots on her feet. She winced as the woman snapped a gold collar around her neck.

“You're very lucky,” the woman with the pale-green ribbons in her long braids told Leia. “It's been rumored that you've been chosen as Jabba's new favorite slave. You'll attend to him and remain by his side at all functions.”

“The last thing I want is to play servant to that overgrown slug.” Leia turned from the gilt-edged mirror, trying not to show her tears. “I have to get out of here. Han needs me.”

The slave girl looked at Leia with shock in her eyes. “Favored lady, there is no way you can escape. Solowolf has been promised to Jabba's daughters. They have guards stationed all around the servant's quarters. His daughters attend to him themselves. He's weak as a kitten and blind as a bat, but he still has a very comely figure and a sharp mind, enough to please the ogresses.”

Leia was finally brought before Jabba, tugged along on a thick gold chain. Jabba and his daughters sat on the throne in the center court room, rather noisily arguing over something. The slovenly ogre yanked her into his arms. Leia didn't like the noises he made.

“He said you're perfect,” Cecil explained, his slender face turning a deep shade of crimson. “He wants to keep you as his most beautiful plaything.”

She managed to wiggle out of his flabby arms. “Jabba, I need to see Han. I'll do anything if you'd just let me be with him for a few minutes.”

Jabba was stroking her chin. Cecil translated for him. “He wants to know what you'll give him in exchange for an audience with Captain Solowolf.”

Leia thought fast. “The armor I wore when I brought Chewbacca. It was my mother's. You can have it.”

“Done.” Jabba let her go. Two men in chef's uniforms handed her a basket filled with cakes and fruit and sweetmeats. “He says he was going to send a servant to bring these to Solowolf's quarters, but since you're going there, you can do it.”

One of the men nudged her. She bowed low. “Yes, Jabba,” she hissed, hoping he missed the contempt in her voice.

Jabba watched his new slave's shapely figure turn a corner towards the servants' quarters. He had no intention of allowing her to court Solowolf. He'd intended Han for his daughters since he'd purchased him from a drunken Corellian bandit when he was a teen. The bandit claimed to have found the boy wandering the streets after the Kingdom of the Empire attacked the Kingdom of Corellia. He'd whispered that the foundling was the half-blood child of a noblewoman and a fellow thief, who had been killed during the fighting.

Not that he ever intended to tell Solowolf he stood to inherit one of Corellia's noble houses. The binding spell made sure he'd never remember his real family or titles. Once he wed one of his girls, he would claim the Solowolf holdings in Corellia for his own treasury. Solowolf would be a slave to his spoiled daughters, keeping them amused and out of his way.

Leia knocked on the door of the servant's quarters. “Hello?” she called. “I've come from your father. I brought the evening meal for you and Captain Solowolf.”

The door was flung open instantly. The three ogresses fell upon the food the moment Leia set it on the table. She hurried to Han while they bickered loudly among themselves, their table manners no better than their father's.

“Leia?” Han lay on a low, worn couch on one end of the sparsely furnished room. He now wore a sleeveless white blouse with loose red breeches and a green sash around his waist. There were heavy gold bracelets that snaked up his arm and around his wrists and a small ring in one ear. The same gold collar she was trapped in was around his neck as well, the chain attached to a hook in the wall. He reached up to touch her face. “Is it really you?”

She nodded, taking his hand and stroking it gently. “It's really me. I'm here.” She put one of his palms on her smooth cheek. “Are you all right? How have they been treating you?”

Han tugged at the collar around his neck. “Like a puppy they all want to play with at once. They've been giving me stuff to make me feel better. I'm a little stronger, but I still can't see anything.”

Leia ran her fingers over his hair and under the gold circlet on his forehead. “Han, we have to think of a way out, or at least a way to keep Jabba and his daughters occupied until Luke comes with more help.”

Han shook his head. “I don't think there's much we can do, besides stall the ogres, and even that will only work for so long. Jabba's an ass, but he's not dumb.”

Leia frowned. “I need to talk to Lando, too. There has to be a way!” She hugged him fiercely. “I swear, I will do whatever it takes to free all of us.”

She was about to kiss him when a slimy hand shoved her off the couch and onto the tiled floor. The largest ogress bellowed at her. Leia didn't need a translator to tell her that her administrations to Han weren't welcome.

Han's sightless eyes widened as he grasped at the air, searching for his beloved princess. “Leia? What happened? Where are you?”

“Han, I'll come back!” She insisted as the remaining two ogresses shoved her out the door.

The next day, as soon as it was announced that a basket of food was ready for the ogresses, she made the same request of Jabba...and once again, he asked her what she'd give him. “My mother's knife,” she said without hesitancy. “Made of the sharpest Naboo silver.”

Lando lead her there this time. “Leia, I think I found a way out. Jabba's having a big to-do for his daughters tomorrow. He's going to announce the engagement of one of them to Han.”

“Over my dead body!” Leia snapped angrily.

“Don't encourage them!” The former baron went on softly. “There's going to be a lot of guests and entertainment. It'll go right along with Luke's plan.”

“That brother of mine had better show up tomorrow like he said,” Leia grumbled. “I can't keep Jabba off my back much longer, and I've had nightmares about what his daughters are doing to my lover!”

“Here you are, Your Highness.” Lando indicated the heavy door to the ogresses' room. “Front door service. I aim to please.”

“You're very kind, Baron Calarissian.” Lando leaned in for a kiss when she knocked on the door of the bedroom, then ducked in before the ogresses could lock her out. He finally shrugged and went to see if some of the female hunters would be more responsive.

The moment the ogresses fell on the goodies in the basket, Leia rushed to Han and embraced him. “I knew you'd come back,” he said with one of his lazy grins. “You just can't get enough of me.”

“Trouble is, neither can they.” Leia nodded at the three ugly creatures stuffing chocolate-covered-dates in their wide mouths. “They're going to announce your engagement tomorrow.”

“I know. They told me.” He reached up to touch her face. “I have to pick one of them tonight, or else they'll turn Chewie into next week's prime rib and feed you to some monster.”

“They won't hurt me. Jabba has too much of an interest in me.” Han could hear the contempt dripping in her smoky contralto. “But they may hurt Chewie, or Lando, if they catch him.” She leaned her head on Han's shoulder. “Luke's coming tomorrow. He said he'll bring help.”

“Luke?” Han let out a short bark of a laugh. “Luke's crazy! He can't take care of himself, much less rescue anybody.”

Leia sighed. “Han, he's changed. He's so much stronger with the Force. He's more like a real Knight now.”

“A knight?” Han rolled his blank eyes. “I'm out of it for a little while, and everyone's getting delusions of grandeur!”

They didn't have too much longer to discuss their plans. The moment the ogresses finished the dates, they noticed Leia and Han wound in each others' arms. The largest ogress plucked Leia from Han's grip and almost literally threw her out the door.

Leia had to see Han one more time. She spent most of the next morning begging, pleading, and wheedling with Jabba to be allowed into his daughters' room. He refused. His three little girls were angry enough that she'd been allowed in there twice already and had gotten to play with their new toy.

“I'll give you whatever you want,” she insisted. “Anything at all.”

Jabba smirked, pulling her close to him. She winced as he slobbered on her again. “Anything but that,” she groaned. The idea of Jabba pawing her, his big, cigar-like fingers roaming...no! She wouldn't even consider it.

The plump fingers moved from her tight top to her throat, fingering it. Cecil's eyes widened in shock as Jabba spoke. “The mighty Jabba says you have a very attractive voice, for a human. He wonders if you'd trade it for your last chance to see Captain Solowolf before he weds one of his daughters.”

Leia's hand went to the collar around her throat. “My voice? But without my voice, how will I be able to talk to Han? He's blind. He won't know it's me.”

“He says there's other ways to communicate,” Cecil explained. “With a touch, or by smell.”

She had no choice. She had to see him again. “I'll do it. You can have my voice. Just let me see Han.”

The enormous ogre laughed heartily. Cecil brought him a blue glass bottle from a shelf to his right. “You're to open your mouth and sing for him,” he said. “Frankly, I wish you wouldn't. I'm so frightened for you!”

“I'll be all right.” She opened her mouth to perform the same Aldran folk song she'd sung in the Death Tower, so long ago. She gasped as Jabba caressed her throat. A yellow light floated from her mouth into the the blue glass bottle. The moment the light ended, Jabba corked the bottle and set it back on the shelf.

“He wishes for you to sing again,” Cecil explained. “Perform the same song you did before.”

Leia opened her mouth...but this time, not a sound emerged. She tried again, but remained silent. She could barely swallow. Her throat felt as if it were on fire.

Jabba handed her a basket. “Here,” Cecil heard him say. “Take this to my daughters. But no more of this! From now on, you'll stay with me, my pet.”

Leia nodded and took the basket. The tall butler watched her leave. Something's wrong here, he thought. Why would Jabba want Her Highness' voice? Surely he has no intention of becoming a singer!

The over sized ogre reclined on his dais, stuffing another chocolate date in his mouth. “Leave me, servant. I wish to have an audience with my oldest daughter.”

Cecil bowed before him. “Yes, Your Mighty-ness!” He turned to walk out the door...but instead of leaving, he hid himself in a shadowy recess behind a group of sandstone collumns. He made it just in time. Grishane, the largest and oldest of Jabba's girls, waddled into her father's chambers just as Cecil pulled his feet in.

“What do you mean by letting that skinny little human girl touch my future husband?” The mean yellow eyes of the ogress glared daggers at her father. “You told me one of us could have Solowolf! He's so pretty. Won't the other women in the court be jealous when I arrive at the throne room leading such a beautiful decoration?”

Jabba ignored his daughter. “Have a date. They really are delicious. Brought fresh from the Kingdom of Jakku yesterday.”

“But Daddy!” Grishane's ear-splitting whine echoed off the bright blue walls. “You promised!”

“And I'll keep that promise.” He pulled a green bottle off the shelf. “I know it's a bit of an insult, but it's the only way to fool Solowolf into believing you're the girl he's stupidly smitten with.” He turned to her. “You're going to become human. Just for a few days.”

“What? But humans are skinny and small!” she complained. “Especially the one my pet keeps drooling over.”

“It'll only be for a few days. Just long enough to convince Solowolf that you're her.” He mixed a little of a reddish powder in a clay jar into the bottle. “Then I'll make her my queen. She'll never be allowed to leave my quarters again.”

“And Solowolf will never be allowed outside of my quarters!” She let loose with one of the ogres' hideous bellows.

“Here.” Jabba handed her the bottle. “Drink this.”

She did so...and nearly spit the brownish liquid back out again. “Eeewww! Daddy, it tastes nasty! Couldn't you have put some fruit flavoring in it or something?”

“You're a grown ogre. You can take your medicine without fancy flavoring.”

Cecil put a hand over his mouth as Grishane's shape slowly changed. The ogress screamed as her fat limbs lengthened and became more slender. Short brown hair grew from the top of her head. Her fingers became longer and thinner, and she developed toes and ankles. The one thing that never changed were her eyes, which remained a smoky dark yellow. Except for her eyes, she was the spitting image of Princess Leia!

“Do I have to be human?” Grishane whined. Her voice hadn't changed, either. It could still shatter every tile in the room. “They are so ugly! How do they walk on these legs? Or live without a tail?”

Even Jabba winced at the sound of her screeching. “There's one more thing.” He handed her the green bottle. “You need the human's voice. Yours is, er, lovely, but not convincing.”

“Oh, all right! Just for one day!” She opened her mouth. Her father uncorked the bottle, allowing the yellow light to flow into her now-slender throat.

Jabba corked the bottle. “Now, sing for me.”

Grishane let out a few notes. Cecil tried hard not to gasp in shock when Leia's beautiful voice emerged. “Daddy!” she fussed. “I want my voice! Humans' voices are too thin.”

“It'll have to do for now.” He handed her a gold bottle. “You'll give Solowolf this at the banquet, right before he's asked to announce his bride. It'll make him forget about that silly female human of his and consider you in a new light.”

“What about his sight?” Grishane wrinkled her little nose. “I want him to be able to see me when we play!”

“We'll find a way to restore it.” He turned his daughter to the door. “Now, go. Spend a little time with your fiancee-to-be.”

Cecil managed to duck out the door right after Grishane did. He hurried down the halls and across the main banquet hall. He had to warn Baron Calarissian and Princess Leia! There were two princesses walking around Jabba's Palace now, and one was not to be trusted.

Leia hurried to the servant's quarters as fast as she could. She did notice that one of Jabba's daughters – the big one, Grishane? - was missing, but she may have gone out to the garden or into another room. The moment she handed the basket to the two ogresses, she rushed to Han's side. He was sitting on a fringed gold silk pillow, now dressed in an even more elaborate pair of dark-blue silken trousers, wide gold sash, and matching blue and gold vest that showed off his muscular, tanned chest nicely. His arms and fingers dripped with rings, bracelets, and jewels. She was dismayed to see that the chain on the gold collar was still attached to the wall.

“Leia?” She buried her face in his strong chest. “Honey, is that you? Talk to me, Leia!” She kissed him, trying to reassure him. He ran his fingers over her pale skin, the snub nose and delicate cheeks. “Jabba wants me to pick one of his daughters today. I'm gonna tell him where he can take his damn daughters.”

She nodded enthusiastically. She had to get him out of here, now that he was moving better. She'd just gone to try to get the chain off the wall when the door opened again...and to Leia's shock, she saw herself. The woman who walked in looked exactly like her, from her short, thick brown hair to her small, delicate form. The only difference was her feral smile...and her yellow eyes. Leia would have gasped if she could make any noise.

“Han, my love,” the other Leia said with her voice, “I'm so glad I got here just in time!” Her sisters accompanied her. “This woman is an impostor. Just one of Fa...Jabba's slaves.”

“Leia?” Han shook his head. “I don't....something isn't right here. It doesn't feel right.”

The other woman took Leia's arms and shoved her to the ogresses. The princess struggled and kicked, but the ogresses were strong and easily hauled her away. “Don't mind her,” Grishane purred. She ran her fingers down Han's chest. “Why don't we have some fun?”

“Leia...” He opened his mouth. Grishane put her fingers on his lips to silence them.

“Shh. Let your princess do all the talking.” She pulled down his head for a rough kiss before he could protest further. “After all, if we're going to get married, we'll need lots of practice having fun.” The human ogress gave him a nasty smirk he couldn't see. “You're the only hu...man I want to play with.” She pulled the ring off his neck, putting it in his hand. “This will seal our engagement.”

Han turned the ring over in his palm. “This doesn't feel like gold or silver. More like brass...”

“It's a ring!” Grishane slid the ring on his finger. “There.” The look on her face could only be described as feral. “Now, my pet, you're bound to me forever.”

Han knew, even as she pulled him to her for another rough kiss, that this wasn't Leia. It was her voice, but there was something different about it. She sounded almost petulant. And she never played this rough! He wanted to find the real Leia, but not only was he still a little wobbly, but the heavy gold chain held him fast to the wall. He couldn't leave, even if he could see the way out.

Leia wasn't able to see Han the rest of the morning. She was expected to tend to Jabba and prepare him for the banquet, and then to remain by Jabba's side. Just touching the slimy ogre made her want to gag. He kept tight hold of her gold chain, finally attaching it to a hook on his throne. Leia reclined on a silken pillow. She now wore a tight brick-red gauze skirt and skimpy top with gold fringe and jewel trim, her hair bedecked in a headdress of pearls and gold. A red veil covered most of her face but her flashing brown eyes.

Jabba pulled her close enough to smell the exotic perfumes he used to cover up his natural ogre stench. He stroked her like a kitten. “Soon, you'll learn to appreciate me, my pretty pet. I intend to keep you in my rooms as my own personal slave. No one will ever look upon your lovely face again but me.” Leia struggled, but one of his men pushed her up to his boss. He gave her another slobber across the cheek, which she tried to avoid.

Cecil couldn't stand what was going on. He managed to break away from Jabba's entourage long enough to search for the Baron, hoping that he might be able to figure out a plan. He was wandering around in the main banquet hall when he ran into a rather familiar short figure carrying drinks.

“Oh, I'm so terribly sorry! Let me help...” That was when he saw stubby fingers flying in the Language of the Mutes, and a pair of black-brown eyes he knew well. “Arthur! What are you doing here?” Arthur kept miming, indicating the cups and the tray spilled on the tile floor. He wore the same plain black and green flowing tunic, jacket, and trousers as the other male servants. Arthur's jacket seemed rather bulky to Cecil. Perhaps his friend was taking on a bit of weight. “Well, I can see you're serving drinks, but this place is dangerous! I just saw that awful Jabba the Hutt take Princess Leia's voice, and there's another ogre running around, looking like her!”

Arthur's eyebrows went up. His fingers flew again. “Magic, that's how that's possible! He took the Princess' voice, then made one of his disgusting daughters look like her. They're trying to force Captain Solowolf to wed Jabba's daughter instead of our princess.” Arthur handed Cecil a tray with drinks, then returned to arguing with his fingers. “For your information, I am being useful! I'm the court translator!”

“We have to find Baron Calarissian and tell him what Jabba has planned.” Arthur nodded, his fingers going even faster. “Sir Luke is coming, too?” Arthur nodded, his fingers now moving more broadly. “I know he's been training to be a knight, but even he can't save us all from this monster!” Arthur shook his head with a grin, his fingers moving in Cecil's face. Cecil just sniffed. “I wish I had your confidence.”