“I never realized the House of Organa got into so many fistfights.” The joke was implicit; everyone throughout the galaxy was familiar with her parents’ reputation for peacemaking. If only the worlds knew the truth.
Hurriedly Leia said, “Honestly, I think my parents just want me to blow off some steam. I wish the lessons could start tomorrow.”
Kier took another bite of his sandwich, chewing thoughtfully before finally saying, “I’ve never studied hand-to-hand combat, but I’m pretty good at sharpshooting.”
“What, like with blasters?”
He nodded. “If you’re game for a thirteenth tutor—and not afraid of a challenge—we could try that sometime. If you’d like.”
Leia could get a sharpshooting tutor from anywhere, any time she wished. Probably that would’ve been covered by her combat instructor anyway. And she knew full well that Kier wasn’t offering to teach her because he thought she needed to know. He was making an excuse to spend time with her.
She said, “Yeah. I’d like that.”
Two days later, on Coruscant, Leia and Kier walked into a target practice arena—a skinny, pyramid-shaped space that at its highest point reached ten meters over their heads. The faint metallic shimmer of its pale walls hinted at the holographic projectors and electronic scorers embedded within. Beneath her booted feet, the darker floor had some springiness to it, not unlike a gymnastics mat.
As she bounced on her heels, Kier noticed. “You can request the softer surface, so you get used to judging your terrain without relying on a flat, solid floor every time.”
“Makes sense.” Like her, Kier wore a formfitting white coverall lined with silver reflective piping. The pale clothing emphasized the golden tan of his skin. She blinked hard, refocusing her attention. “Let’s get started.”
“Show me your firing stance,” he said, and she went into the position she’d seen her guards in several times. After a second, Kier nodded and raised his eyebrows, impressed. “Okay. You’ve got that part down.”
She’d thought he might put his arms around her to correct her position, and wondered whether she should’ve fudged the stance just a little bit….
No. Leia wanted anyone who was interested in her to know who she really was, what she could really do. If Kier Domadi wanted to put his arms around her—well, he’d find a way.
Or she would.
Focus, she told herself as the lights lowered to one-quarter their usual brightness. But she’d spent so little time with anyone her own age, much less anybody she was attracted to. Being close to Kier energized her in a way she hadn’t experienced before, and she liked it.
“Run target practice simulation one,” Kier called out as he took his position, his back almost against Leia’s. “On my mark—go.”
A small golden polyhedron appeared in the air overhead, on Kier’s side of the arena. Instantly he fired one of the bluish test-pistol blasts, which “shattered” the holographic image. A transparent scoreboard hovering above showed ten points.
“Points? We’re scoring this?” Leia adjusted her grip.
At the edge of her peripheral vision, she saw him turning his head toward her. “You’re not scared of a challenge, are you?”
She answered him by pointing her weapon at the next floating polyhedron and firing. The bolt only clipped the hologram, but that was enough to hold it in place for a few moments, more than long enough for her to fire again and finish it. “Five points,” said the scoreboard.
“All right, then,” Kier said, and somehow she could hear the smile in his voice.
Most of the next hour passed in a happily violent blur. Leia kept winging her targets instead of hitting them straight on until she realized she was regularly leading left. Once she’d figured out how to adjust for that, her scores started rising dramatically. When the lights finally came up, she was thirty points behind Kier—but she’d been more than a hundred and fifty points behind at the halfway mark. “Another few minutes,” she panted, surprised at how tired she was, “and I would’ve caught you.”
Leia expected him to argue, but he nodded. “You would have. I think you have a talent for this.”
“We’ll have to practice again and see, won’t we?” She raised one eyebrow.
Luckily, Leia wasn’t the only one who enjoyed a challenge. A slow grin spread across Kier’s face. “Yeah. We will.”
That night she took the Polestar back to Alderaan, her mind filled with thoughts about the day’s target practice, and when she could go again. For the first time in months, she came in without wondering where her parents were, or whether they’d even notice she had returned. So, naturally, this was the time they were waiting for her.
“We were hoping you’d be here for dinner,” her father said as he walked into the library, where Leia had planned on a long daydreaming session. “It’s been too long since we ate as a family. And you look hungry.”
Was that what she looked like? Leia sat up straighter, trying not to look like anything at all.
She failed. “To me she looks happy.” Breha came in only a couple of paces behind him, carrying a frosty glass of mintea, Leia’s favorite. “What did you do today?”
“Sharpshooting. Kier and I practiced together. He goes a lot, and I thought it sounded like”—Good practice for combat probably wasn’t the answer her parents wanted to hear—“lots of fun.”
Bail and Breha exchanged glances. “Kier?” Bail said. “That’s Kier Domadi from the Apprentice Legislature, right?”
“And from the pathfinding class,” Breha added.
At least the shadows in the library would hide any hint of a blush. She didn’t want her parents prying. How was she supposed to explain what was going on with Kier before she knew herself? Time to switch to a distracting new subject. “Yeah, that’s him,” she said as airily as she could manage. “He won this time, but I nearly caught him. I think I might be good at this.”
“We might have a target shooting champion on our hands,” Breha said to Bail, her smile widening. “Do you think she could compete incognito?”
“Until she wins her first major match.” He put his arm around Breha, pulling her close. “Then we have to announce our daughter’s latest brilliant talent.”
Her parents’ approval had always warmed Leia, and after so long without it, she felt as if she wanted to drink it all in. She even had news that would increase it, she hoped. “By the way, I’m leaving for my next humanitarian mission tomorrow.”
Breha folded her arms across her chest, deliberately theatrical. “Nowhere dangerous, in any sense?”
“Onoam,” she answered. “It’s a moon, actually. Mining conditions there are rough, so I’m taking them new safety equipment. That’s all.”
“That should be fine,” Breha said in obvious relief.
Bail frowned slightly. “Onoam. I think I’ve heard of it—years ago, maybe—”