#alpineglow

Thell stumbled down the steel corridor, tying her hair into a knot to make herself look at least a bit more presentable. The hallways turned to a sudden stunning white that reflected the fancy interior of Bespin’s greatest business lord, Bleys Darand’s, mansion.

Thell had worked and lived with him for as long as she could remember. Her mother had been with her too, until the sickness that had ravaged Bespin for two years took her too, along with many of her friends. That had been over ten years ago. She was twenty nine now, nearly thirty, and twelve when her mother had passed. She had never known her father, and for the most part, she was alone. Miko, another servant in the adjacent building, was the only one she could scarcely call her a friend. He was a grumpy old man who only took pity on her because he had been fond of her mother.

That’s what it had been for years now; sympathy from others, for the people who she had come from, been born from. She herself had never been able to prove her own worth, and it was what she wanted more than anything else. For someone to appreciate her for her own self, her own spirit, to actually see her, and not someone she had been associated with.

Bleys Darand came into her view much sooner than she had expected, whirling around the corner so fast she had to skid on her heels to avoid crushing him.

“Where in the Maker have you been, girl?” He growled, tugging her forward with a harsh grasp on her arm. “I needed the entire room to be cleaned before my guests arrived, and you are twenty minutes behind schedule!”

Thell gritted her teeth and tried to stop the tears she knew were coming. She only looked away, nodded, and waited for him to release her.

“Insolent child,” came Darand’s harsh voice again. “I don’t see the reason in keeping you around if you can’t do the simplest of tasks. Don’t make me regret making that promise to your mother all those years ago.”

He shoved her forward, so hard her knees slammed into the smooth marble flooring, and when she raised her hands they were streaked with red. Thell waited until she had heard Darand move from the room until she rose to her feet again, dusting off her pants.

She hated the cleaning, the constant need to have everything perfect, when Darand already lived in the most perfect place in the galaxy. But the view was nice. For at least now, it would suffice.

The sun was rising, casting golden glows and beaming rays of yellow and orange across the cityline. Thell stepped closer to the window, closer and closer until she could let her fingertips rest against the glass, hoping, wishing, that one day she could fly past that swirl of clouds and sunshine and make it into that neverending void of space and stars.

. . . . .

The day had been lonely, like most. The other servants never made eye contact with her, wanted nothing to do with her. They knew the promise Darand had made her mother the night she died, wasting away from a sickness no doctor could cure.

“Please, momma.”

“You have to be strong, my star,” her mother whispered, her voice strained with sickness. “You have to be strong for me.”

Thell had been twelve at the time, and the pain of losing her best friend, her only friend, had not been made any easier. Watching her wither away for months, being forced to spend less and less time with her as Darand gave her more responsibilities.

But something was different that night, Thell could feel it. Her mother had told her stories of the Force, the Jedi, the thing that tied all living beings together. She wondered if she was feeling it, that mystical Force her mother had told her stories of late at night.

“Momma, please. I need you,” Thell begged, wrapping her small fingers tight around her mother’s thin arm.

Her mother’s arm came up, tucked a wandering lock of copper hair behind her ear.

“I’ll always be with you, Thell. You know that.”

Her mother tried to smile, even with her sickly skin and pale eyes.

“Momma... I don’t know-”

Footsteps echoed behind them, and Thell curled close to her mother, her eyes narrowing when she noticed Bleys Darand stepping into their chambers.

“Thell, step into the other room for a moment, please,” her mother said, but when she didn’t move, pressed, “Thell, now.”

With gritted teeth and teary eyes, Thell fled from the chamber, huddling on the opposite wall, the one that faced the window. She wrapped her hands around her knees and ducked her head down, letting the tears stain her garments. She could hear her mother and master speaking, but only faintly. She could only hear bits and pieces of their conversation.

She strained closer to the open doorway, pressing her ear against the corridor.

“You have to promise me that, Darand.”

“Seba, I...”

“You have to. She is the only thing I have ever loved. Too many children die in this galaxy because they don’t have people that care for them. I don’t care if you do not show her love as I did, but I need you to promise me that you will take care of her. I don’t want you throwing her to the streets as soon...”

The conversation drifted off, and Thell sniffed, bringing her ear closer.

“I have served your family since you were a young man. The least I am asking for is that you give her a home.”

“I.... I will.”

“I need you to promise me.”

Thell heard Darand sigh heavily. “I promise. I will take care of her.”

“I will be gone soon... I am thankful to know that.”

“That’s... another thing, I needed to speak about with you.”

Thell leaned against the wall, catching her breath as she swung the sack of cleaning supplies over her shoulder. It was nearly sundown, the end of her shift. She could relax, stretch her legs, maybe even take a walk around the artificial garden that sat atop Darand’s mansion.

Thell had just placed the sack of cleaning supplies back in their closet when she heard a loud, unnerving thump. Twisting her head the other direction, Thell’s eyes followed down the dark corridor, only lit by small yellow lamps. She waited, the only sound being her breath as she tried to slow her racing nerves.

“You’re just being stupid,” Thell whispered, trying to pluck up any courage she had.

Taking a small metal rod, meant for cleaning, in one hand, she tiptoed down the hallway, delicately placing one foot in front of the other. The hallway was quiet, almost dead silent save for the hum of the lights and air converters.

But someone was there, a large, shadowy figure standing like a statue at the end of the hall. She had blinked only for a moment and he was there, standing as stiff as a mop. Thell couldn’t see them clearly, not with the limited light, but they didn’t look like anyone who belonged in Darand’s mansion.

Her blood turned to ice, and something like panic rose in her veins. As slowly as she could, she turned on one foot, gently pacing back the direction she had come. Maybe, if he hadn’t noticed her walking forward yet, he wouldn’t bother her.

But something was wildly unnerving at having to turn her back to him. Especially when as soon as she started walking, she heard a loud clang on metal, like it was hitting the floor. Thell flinched, drawing her shoulders in, and dared a peek over her shoulder. Sweat was dripping down her neck now, past her eyes and under her shirt collar.

The stranger had stepped only a foot closer, however, Thell could see that they had placed their hand on their hip.

“Where is Bleys Darand?”

The deep voice, although modulated by a helmet, was like a punch in the chest for Thell. It was both confirmation that she wasn't going crazy and seeing people at night, and that someone was stupid enough to come after someone like Darand.

Thell turned all the way around, her hands shaking like she was holding a buzzing canister. She knew her options: obviously, this person was trying to kill or at least kidnap Darand, and would stop anyone who came in their way. And from the looks of it, this person knew their way around town.

But there was also the matter of who Darand was to her, the promise he had made to her mother over fifteen years ago. If he was killed, or taken, what would she be then? Cast out to the streets, made a slave to yet another master?

Dread prickled up her neck for both circumstances, but for once, she didn’t have to make the decision.

“Get down!”

Thell dropped to the floor, holding her hands over her head as a rush of blaster fire soared over her, explosions and sparks being thrown to each opposite end of the hall. There were footsteps around her on all sides, vibrating the floor beneath her shaking form and causing her to peak at the scene unfolding around her.

A body dressed in black, one of Darand’s guard, lay on the floor only a few feet in front of her. There were small bouts of flames on the walls, blaster marks on the white marble flooring, evidence of a battle not wanting to be won easily.

But there was no one else in the hallway. The mysterious man and the other guards must have fled down a hall, and relief surged through Thell’s body. But she scrambled toward the guard anyway, pulling him onto his back and shoving the mask off his face. He was still breathing, just barely, taking shaky, gulping breaths that made Thell realize the shot must have been fatal.

He tried to raise a hand, but it barely made it off the floor. His eyes were frantic, blood starting to gurgle from his mouth.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Thell hushed, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Man...” the guard wheezed, his eyes squeezing shut.

“I know.”

She had seen death before, seen it take away the one she cared most about, so she did not fear it. It did not make it easier, however, to know that this man was young, and suffering, and he would be dead in moments.

Suddenly she was back in real life, and something was being shoved against her hand: a blaster.

Blinking, Thell turned back to the man, whose scrunched eyes were directly on her.

“Take it,” he hissed.

Thell shook her head, knowing what a weapon of that power meant, what it could so easily do to someone in a second.

“No.”

“Take it!” The pressure of the blaster ceased as the man’s eyes rolled back, and he went limp against the floor, the weapon lying limp against Thell’s arm. There was a tear rolling down her face and she roughly wiped a sleeve against it, smearing the wetness. With trembling fingers, Thell closed the man’s eyelids, and placed her hand over his forehead, closing her own eyes.

“Udesiir,” she whispered, just as her mother before her had done when staff members of Darand’s household had passed away. The last time she had spoken the word was over fifteen years ago, and it felt just as raw.

She grabbed the blaster, stumbled away from the dead guard, and fled the opposite direction down the hallway.

The hallways were quiet, but littered with the marks of blaster fire and struggle. Windows were smashed through, letting in a more than chilly breeze that ruffled Thell’s cloak. Glass crunched under her shoes, and she made her way carefully, slowly through the halls, holding the blaster out in front of her. But as far as she could tell, no one else had been killed, and no one else but the guards that had chased after the man knew that he was here.

The hallways were silent until she rounded a corner, and came into the main living area that Darand spent most of his time in. This section was unharmed, looking as clean as she had left it, but something was off. The holo was on, showing scenes from a holodrama that Darand loved to watch. But from where she could see at her position at the edge of the wall, no one was in the room.

So she inched forward, holding the blaster out in front of her, twisting her head to look in every possible direction for an attack. Thell came closer, rounding the circular white couch that encompassed most of the room. Her goal had been to turn off the holo, probably left on by another servant or Darand himself, but her gaze had been glued to the center of the couch.

It was only when she had stumbled back, smacking her backside into the marble floor from the pure shock, that she could see clearly what was sitting on the couch.

It was some small, green alien, no taller than a foot high, from his position on the couch. If it even was a he. He was dressed in a bulgy tan robe that covered his feet and most of his three toed hands. Long, expressive ears stuck out from the side of his squashed head, and large black eyes stared back at her from his spot. From here, she could see wisps of light hair on his head, but he nearly looked bald. He was the strangest, but nearly cutest, creature Thell had ever seen.

And he was watching the holodrama. Even holding the remote in his tiny green hand.

So Thell let the blaster fall to her side, swallowing hard so she could speak without trembling.

“Um, hello.”

The small thing tilted its head, made a small squeaking noise, and directed its attention back to her. Thell’s jaw dropped.

“You’re just a kid,” she whispered to no one in particular, stunned.

So Thell stood slowly, letting her hands open so the child could see that she was unarmed.

“Hi, little guy,” she said softly, gently kneeling down in front of him. He tilted his head again, his ears twitching at her words. “Where did you come from?”

He made a soft noise again, and his nose twitched, like he was trying to say something. And Thell was ready to speak again when she heard a loud yell down one of the adjacent hallways. Her head shot up, and she expected to see that strange man walk in through the corridor. But it seemed she had some time.

Thell looked back at the child. “Come on, little guy. I need to get us somewhere safe.”

When it didn’t seem like he would object, Thell pulled him against her chest and rose to a standing position, going to grab her blaster. She had just bent down to grab it when she heard that familiar metal clang on the floor, and that same deep voice.