A Star Wars Fairy Tale: New Hope, Part 5

Cecil was worried. He and Arthur were searching for their friends, or the other servants, or anyone who could tell them where to go and how to get out of this mess. Cecil watched his shorter friend's hands fly as they hurried down a hallway near the main entrance. “I can't believe we're even involved in this! Me, a respectable butler!”

Arthur narrowed his eyes, his hands flying. Cecil rolled his brown eyes. “You've only been a footman for a few hours. You're a blacksmith. You're hardly in the same bracket as me.” He winced as his own fingers flew. “We're doomed. We'll be send to the salt mines, or conscripted into the Imperial Army, or worse! There's no escape for the princess this time. I've always said she was too reckless, too wild.”

Arthur kept moving, his fingers pointing at Cecil, then returning to making symbols and letters. “Don't call me a mindless philosopher, you walking lump of coal! You're the one who insisted on leaving the stables.” Arthur glared at him, his fingers indicating a very large creature. “No, I wouldn't have wanted to deal with an ogre, either, but it is your job to look after the carriage.”

Cecil started back towards the ballroom. “I think we'd better get back to the stables. This looks like it could turn into a truly sticky situation.” That was when he saw, or thought he saw, a flash of white lace and soft, shiny brown buns around a corner and realized Arthur wasn't with him. “Arthur? Arthur, where are you? You couldn't have chosen a worse time to get lost!”

He hurried down the hallway, ducking into rooms whenever stormtroopers marched by. “Arthur?” He finally found himself in one of the smaller sitting rooms. He swore he saw a small, dainty figure in white hand Arthur a parchment. The figure vanished through another door before he could take a closer look.

Arthur's fingers were flying. “There you are!” Cecil scolded. “Why did you run off like that? You very nearly gave me a heart attack.” Arthur rolled his eyes and poked his flying fingers at Cecil. “Of course I have a heart! I care about you, and the household, and Their Majesties. And who was that woman who was with you?” Arthur's fingers made a feminine shape. “The princess? Wouldn't she be back in the ballroom?” His friend's fingers patted the parchment, then went to his lips. “A secret mission? Are you out of your coal-blackened mind? You're a blacksmith, not a spy!”

Arthur was already taking off down the hallway as fast as his short, stubby legs could move. “Where are you going?” His eyes widened as he saw the ballroom entrance. “Back to the ballroom? But we can't go there! We'll get killed...or worse!” They went by the guards with barely a peep. The guards weren't looking for servants. They were searching for members of the royal family. They were able to sneak out to the ballroom unnoticed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Leia wasn't as lucky. She'd ducked out of the adjoining sitting room, hoping to find either Sir Kenobi, his apprentice, or her father. All the hiding in the world couldn't mask her obviously expensive ball gown or the darn royal buns. The guards knew her on sight. She fought as hard as she could against a squadron of troopers, managing to take down two before the handle of a sword smashed against the back of her head. Stars swam in front of her eyes...and then, blackness.

She regained consciousness in a very hard pair of arms. Spikes poked through her thin, lacy gown. She felt as if she were laying on armor. She could smell the oil used to keep armor shining and free of rust. As she opened her eyes, she realized she was gathered in two hands clad in red and black armor. Familiar red and black armor.

“Lord Vader,” she said, her voice rising in anger, “only you could be so bold. The Courts of the Seven Kingdoms will not stand for this. When they hear you've attacked a ball attended by several hundred people...”

“Don't act so innocent,” Lord Vader growled, “daughter.” The last word came out as a hiss, making the war lord sound more like a snake than a human. “The reason your family held this ball had nothing to do with you finding a husband, and everything to do with sending messages to the Rebels in the Woods.”

“Father,” Leia snapped angrily, struggling in his arms, “I don't know what you're talking about. I'm being introduced to the Imperial Court.” She glared into where she hoped his eyes were under that armor. “You will put me down now and let me and the rest of the Aldran Court go.”

Vader yanked her chin upwards to face him. She could hear his raspy, snake-like breathing. “You,” he sneered, “will not use my own powers against me. My master will teach you what you need to know to become a Black Sorceress.”

Leia yanked her chin from his hand, still struggling. “I'd rather marry a dragon than learn anything from that hideous creature you call 'master'! This ball was held to introduce me to the Imperial Court.”

“This ball,” her father growled, “was a cover for your real activities. You are one of the Rebels of the Woods and a traitor.” She opened her mouth to protest, but he wrapped his beefy gloved hand over it, muffling her angry cries. “Silence, my child. You and the entire Aldran Court belong to the Kingdom of the Empire now.” He handed her to one of the troopers behind him. “Bind her and take her to my carriage. We'll get information out of her yet.” The towering Black Knight watched as the man hefted the enraged, screaming young woman over his shoulder, carrying her off to the Imperial carriages.

One of his aides looked worried. “Holding her is dangerous, Your Lordship. If this got out, more Kingdoms could join the Rebels In the Woods.”

“I've traced the Rebels to her and the Aldran Court,” Vader insisted. “She'll lead us to them. There will be no one to stop us this time.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Han found Luke in the ballroom. Or what was left of it. Aldran guards threw stormtroopers into buffet tables; stormtroopers slammed chairs over their heads. The gypsy-turned-prince grinned as he watched the fight. “Now this is my kind of party! If I'd known they were going to have this much fun, I wouldn't have made a stink about coming in costume.”

Luke looked around. “Han, have you seen Ben or the Princess?”

Han shook his head. “Not in a while, kid. Chewie and I were out making sure the Imperials didn't try anything on the Falcon.” Chewie let out a very horse-like snort but said nothing.

Cecil and Arthur rushed into the ballroom, ducking around a stormtrooper who was in a very intense duel with an Aldran guard. “Oh, my beautiful ballroom!” the dismayed butler wailed. “These Imperials make the worst mess at parties! I hope they don't expect me to clean up all of this!”

“Have you seen Ben?” Luke asked the moment they joined them.

“No, Sir Luke,” Cecil started. His brown-gold eyes were wide. “But Arthur says there's at least four Imperial guards standing directly behind you!”

Han groaned as he, Luke, and Chewie threw up their hands and turned around. “Yeah, that's Imperials, all right. Don't even have the manners to give you a warning before they ambush ya.”

The first Imperial poked Han in the back, grabbing his longbow. The one next to him took Luke's sword. The smallest yanked Chewie's crossbow out of his long arms. “Turn around, Your Highness. We've been told to bring all royalty to Lord Vader.”

“Look guys,” Han started, giving them his infamous grin, “I'm sure we could figure something out. I never deal with half-demons this late at night. If you talk to us tomorrow, I might actually be up to looking at your boss.”

“Han,” Luke muttered, “don't annoy them. Unlike me, you're not wearing armor.”

“Kid, I know what I'm doing,” Han muttered back. He grinned back at the stormtroopers. “We're not even supposed to be here. We're just looking for a friend. We want to get back to our carriage, and I'm sure you probably have significant others you want to go home and make love to, so why don't you just let us go?”

Luke could see Han reach for his bow, even as another figure came up behind them. Sir Kenobi knocked the first trooper down with the handle of his sword. Chewie threw the second over his shoulder. Luke took out the third. Han yanked his bow from the fourth and shot him directly in the heart between breastplates when he tried to attack Luke.

Luke and Ben were already using the remains of one of the table cloths to tie up two of the soldiers. Ben looked concerned. “I'm glad I found all of you. Bail and I separated when the Imperials arrived. I'm sure Vader has already sensed my presence here. I heard one of the squadrons mention they were going to take the royal family to Aldran Town.”

The young knight-in-training's blue eyes widened in horror. “The princess, too?”

“Presumably, yes.” Ben's sorrowful, pale-blue eyes seemed to be elsewhere for a few minutes.

“It'll be all right, Master,” Luke said. “There's still a chance we can get them back.”

Han was already waving his hands. “What's all this 'we' stuff, kid?”

“We have to get to Aldran Town,” Luke exclaimed. “The royal family needs our help!”

“I hope you mean 'we' as in 'you and the old man.'” Han made a face, holding his longbow close. “Chewie and I have had more trouble than we bargained for on this trip already.”

Chewbacca crossed his long arms. “Speak for yourself, mate.”

Arthur's fingers were flying. He grabbed a parchment from the pocket in his tight-fitting white and blue trousers. “Is that what you've been going on about? That paper?” Cecil turned to the other three. “Arthur has been insisting for the past half-hour that Princess Leia gave him some parchment roll that's supposed to be a private message for Sir Kenobi. I personally don't know what he's talking about. I haven't seen anyone since the ball ended but Arthur, the Imperial troops, and all of you. With all we've been through as servants for royalty, I suspect Arthur has become a bit eccentric.”

Luke winced and rubbed his head. Ben took his in his hands. “I think it would be best if we left. There's nothing more we can do here.” The elderly knight turned to Luke. “I want you to concentrate on all of us. I'll help.” He turned to the others. “I want all of you to help. Moving large objects, such as humans, works better when there's more minds involved.”

“Even ones who really can't use the Force?” Han started. Chewie just elbowed him, his eyes already closed.

Ben chuckled. “Yes, Han, even you. Cecil and Arthur, you too.”

Arthur nudged Cecil, his fingers moving sharply. “All right, all right,” Cecil fussed, “but I must warn you, I have no such magical powers. My abilities lay in organization and translation.”

Luke closed his eyes tightly, concentrating. “How will I know when we're moving, Master?”

“You'll feel it.” Ben put a hand on his shoulder. “You'll feel the light.”

Even as Ben spoke, a soft blue light did begin to gather around them. When Lord Vader and the Imperials stepped into the ballroom, the only thing that remained of the group was a mist of fading sky-blue sparkles.

“They were here a minute ago!” exclaimed the Imperial trooper. “There was a Force knight with the Princess. He called himself the White Knight. I haven't seen armor like his since I was a child.”

Lord Vader stepped into where the last of the sparkles were rapidly dissolving. “Sir Benjamin Kenobi was here. I feel his presence. And someone else...” He concentrated, trying to feel where they may have gone. “A boy...a boy with strong magic...” Vader finally stepped back, the hiss rising in his throat. “There's no more. Kenobi is shielding him, and the others with them. He's trying to protect them, the old fool.”

The remaining Imperial troops were searching the ballroom. Two officers came up to him. “We've rounded up the remaining Aldran Court members. All other party guests and servants were sent home or arrested.”

“Good.” He sent one more impenetrable gaze around the room. “Bring the royal family to Aldran Town and my daughter, Princess Leia, to Bast Castle. I want her to see what happens to those who defy the Empire and my master.” He looked around “And burn this castle. It is no longer of use to me. Take the horses and carriages and anything else that you can salvage.” He turned to the commanding officer. “The princess is secure in my carriage?”

The man bowed before him. “Yes, your lordship. I must warn you, she's a fierce fighter. She kicks and bites like a wild dog. It took three strong men to hold her down long enough to wind rope around her wrists and ankles and get a handkerchief in her mouth.”

Vader just nodded. “I will join her momentarily. We'll be going to Bast Castle. I'm sure Lord Tarkin and my master will be very interested in learning more about her involvement with the Rebels In the Woods.” The man bowed and left the room, followed by several of his guards. Vader himself did one more sweep of the area, hoping to feel the power he'd sensed before, but he came up with nothing. Whatever it was, it was vanished now.