Chapter Text
57 ABY
Entry 1
I turned twenty-one years of age today and for a birthday gift my father bought me a highly encrypted datapad that can be used for journaling. He told me that he has kept a journal for the last two decades and my grandfather has kept a journal since he was only days old (my granddad is a Luke Skywalker clone that was ‘born’ as an adult with military flash training…long story).
I’m not really the journaling type, but dad appeared so excited about the gift I told him I would use it.
I am not sure how this should work. Do I write Dear Diary…I really think it is wizard that I am king of the Indupar Crown Worlds, but I truly wish my mother would stop pressuring me to marry and give her a grandchild and, of course, an heir to the throne.
No, starting my journal in a passive aggressive manner would be childish and unbecoming of royalty.
Most likely this journal will be read hundreds of years after my death by either aged university pedagogues or zealot theologians of the Bright Path (State Religion of Indupar) all who have a general understanding as to who I am and what I accomplished during my tenure as King...but…just in case I fail as a ruler and my name falls into obscurity, I shall attempt to write this journal in a way that somebody who has never heard my name could follow and understand my journey through life.
So here it goes. My name is Marcus Odaj Indupar. The public believes I am the son of the late king Odaj Indupar and his wife Queen Kaie Aiti. The queen was pregnant with his heir when Odaj died, but the baby unfortunately miscarried. Kaie believes the stress of her husband’s passing led to the death of her child. When the Queen miscarried she discovered her twin sister (my mother) Ema Aiti was pregnant.
I know what you all are thinking, ‘how convenient’. This sounds like the plot from some dreadful fantasy novel. I would agree, if it weren’t for another key player to my life story…the H’Drachi Seers. The seers have been living in the Indupar royal palace since before I was born. These cameloid looking aliens can use the Force to foresee the future and they have taken to meddling with the future feverously for the last five decades.
Upon the death of the late king, the seers foresaw the late king’s cousin Olaf Racine gaining the throne of Indupar and bringing great chaos and pain to his people. They convinced the then pregnant queen to flee Indupar and ask for the protection of the Jedi Knights. The seers knew that my father—tasked to guard the Queen and her sister—would fall in love with my mother. They predicted my conception and later they convinced my mother to switch places with the Queen and pass me off as the prince. My true father, a Jedi Knight named Talon Tantiss was never told my mother was pregnant. He discovered my existence by pure happenstance when I was two years old. He was told to stay away for my own safety and that is what my dad reluctantly did. It wasn’t until my twelfth birthday when I officially was made king of the Indupar Crown worlds that he was allowed to become a fixture in my life.
Shortly after I was crowned, a rich vein of stygium crystals was located on Ec Pand (one of the worlds under my rule). The crystals are used to make cloaking devices. Whoever controlled the crystals could rule the galaxy. Since I have no ambition to be Supreme Ruler of the universe, I made an agreement to sell the crystals to the Galactic Alliance. In return the Jedi Knight were sent to Ec Pand to protect these invaluable military assets. To be honest…that is an extremely simplistic explanation of how the Jedi Order ended up garrisoned on Ec Pand, but the full story would fill a novel.
As I said earlier, my grandfather is a Luke Skywalker clone. Although, he is barely recognizable as the Grand Master since his genetic code was tweaked to make him bigger…among other modifications. He grew a beard, died his hair and irises to disguise his resemblance to Skywalker. He had two sons, Jaden Tantiss and my father Talon Tantiss. Since my grandfather is a Skywalker clone my family is genetically related to the Solo/Skywalker families. I see the Grand Master as my great uncle and his children as my cousins. Only my family knows about my relationship to the members of this great Jedi dynasty.
Ack…I am already tired of writing. Maybe my father won’t ask if I started to use his present and I can quit journaling with a clear conscious.
Entry 2
Nope, I am not that lucky. My father asked if I was journaling. I told him. “Of course, Dad.”
Entry 3
My personal assistant, T’Zana Tasuta, came to my quarters today to personally inform me that the Dragon Queen II—Flagship of Queen Tenel Ka Djo from the Hapes Consortium—has dropped out of hyperspace quite unexpectantly and was now in orbit above Indupar.
My personal assistant freely comes and goes through the servants’ entrance of my quarters unannounced, so much so that I often joke that she’s my roommate. Usually her coming and goings conform to a schedule, but this particular visit was unanticipated. For this reason I was surprised to come out of the shower and find her standing at the doorway of my bed chamber. Fortunately I had a large towel wrapped around my waist to protect my modesty. She blushed profusely as she averted her eyes and gave me the report.
“Did the Queen Mother say why she is here?”
I can see T’Zana’s jaw tighten, a clear sign of irritation. “The Queen Mother is not onboard. It is Princess Allana who requests an audience with Your Eminence.”
“Ah,” was all I said. T’Zana does not realize Allana is my cousin, all she knows is the young princess loves to visit Indupar and make a big show of being seen with me…usually in an effort to make potential Hapan suitors jealous.
“Shall I have our planetary defense Force fire a warning shot across the bow of her ship?” Her expression remained neutral but her voice dripped with sarcasm.
“Ouch, jealous much,” I joked.
Upon hearing that comment her expression went from neutral to annoyance. I can’t help but tease her. T’Zana is a beautiful, dark haired, tanned skinned human about my age. We have known each other for eight years, ever since my soldiers rescued her and dozens of other poor souls from slave traders. In fact, I led that particular rescue mission. When I first saw T’Zana I was appalled at the extent of her abuse. She was beaten, tortured and mutilated in the most horrific ways. I was determined to give her the best medical treatment Indupar could offer. She has prosthetic devices to replace her crudely amputated legs, arms and eyes. She was also given psychological counseling and physical therapy that lasted for years. Faint scars on her face are now the only visible reminders of the cruelty she endured. Her plight touched me so much that I offered her training to become my assistant. She accepted and for the last five years we have been inseparable.
She shook her head adamantly. “I am not jealous, Your Majesty.”
“But you don’t like her?”
She shrugged the question off.
“Allana is my friend. I would hope you two would get along.”
She sighed deeply. “Sire, I have nothing against Princess Allana personally. It is her culture that is disturbing. The assassinations, the backbiting and the overall mean-spirited demeanor of her psychotic and treacherous countrymen are dreadful.”
“Nothing personal, though,” I goaded with a wide grin. I moved to my dresser and pulled out clothing to wear. I looked over my shoulder to my friend. “Please turn around while I dress. I don’t want to encourage you to break any vows of chastity.”
She gave a derisive snort before turning her back on me. “No need to worry, My Liege, I am a faithful Sister of the Bright Path. Not even the royal jewels can sway me from my commitment to the order.”
“Royal jewels. That’s a good one Taz,” I chuckled, using the nickname I had bestowed upon her years ago.
I pulled on my undergarments and trousers before addressing my assistant. “Should I wear the full dress military uniform to meet the princess or perhaps my Indupar Knight armor?”
Taz tried to suppress an eye roll but she couldn’t quit pull it off. “Your armor.”
My brow rose. I was expecting some snarky reply and not a useful answer. “I think so, too. Is it because I look dashing, but at the same time dangerous?”
Her lips drew into a tight line to hide a grin. “No Sire, I recommend it because it comes with an armored codpiece. Women with Dathomirian bloodlines are known to be aggressive with men.”
I laughed loudly. “Yep, Jealous.”
“Protective,” she corrected me.
I threw up my hands in surrender. “Fine, you are protective.”
Of course I know the truth…she’s jealous.