Long, long night

“Do you have someone you’d recommend to take your place?”

Thalias hesitated. []

“Yes,” she said over her shoulder. “But I’m not sure the admiral will approve.”

The admiral, Ar’alani thought sourly, very much didn’t approve. []

Che’ri was curled up in one of the oversized chairs, right where Ar’alani had left her. []

“I’m back,” she announced cheerfully as she crossed the suite toward the girl. “Did you get some sleep? Are you hungry?”

“I’m okay,” Che’ri said, her voice soft and weary.

Ar’alani frowned, studying the girl’s face. When she was Che’ri’s age, she remembered a tendency to go all dramatic when she wanted something, or felt she was being treated unfairly, or just felt like getting some attention. But there was something in Che’ri’s expression that told her none of those were the case here. “Are you upset that Thalias left you?”

Che’ri’s lip twitched, enough to show that Ar’alani had hit the mark. “She said she had to go,” she muttered. “She wouldn’t tell me why.”

Ar’alani nodded. “Yes, that always drove me crazy, too.”

Che’ri looked up, frowning. “You were a sky-walker?”

“No, but I was once ten,” Ar’alani said. “Grown-ups were always whispering and keeping secrets. I hated that. []”

Che’ri lowered her gaze. “She’s going into danger, isn’t she? Captain Thrawn’s taking her, and they’re going into danger.”

“Oh, there’s danger everywhere,” Ar’alani said, trying to sound casual. “It’s not a big deal.”

It was, she realized too late, the exact wrong thing to say. []

“She’s going to die,” she gasped between sobs that shook her whole body. “She’s going to die.”

“No, no,” Ar’alani protested, hurrying forward and dropping to one knee beside the frightened girl. “No, she’s going to be fine. Thrawn’s there, too, and he won’t let anything bad happen to her.” []

Ar’alani patted her shoulder gently, feeling like a fresh recruit on her first training mission. She would take a battle against multiple enemies any day over trying to soothe a terrified child. []

Ar’alani closed her eyes and let out a silent sigh.

This was going to be a long, long night.

~

Total Queen.

[Pin art by @maryallen138, pin by @ritarussiandoll_pins]