Princess Cut Diamond

[Holden Tark]

Holden loved payday, especially when it came with an unexpected price tag. Salvaging rarely paid off like this, but when an item was old and had sentimental value, it was possible. Holden knew he’d gotten lucky with this one, but why not him. Fortune was bound to smile on him, and he didn’t even have to get shot for this one. All he had to do was make his way to Sabarene.

His YT-1300 landed where it was directed. Dang, security was tight, but the Corellian didn’t let that stop him. He was going to jump every hoop he had to in order to get the ring to his buyer.

He was looking at his notes while walking down the ramp. A few guards stopped him, all Echani. Great, naked martial artists. The problem with Echani was they didn’t care. There was no admiring anything with them, even when it all hung out there. So they weren’t really naked, but still.

“Right so I’m here to see... Princess Viren... she’s buying something from me...”

The squad captain looked him over with a stuck up look of some sort. Just because Holden was in cargo freckling pants, a blue denim button down with the sleeves rolled, and green work vest over it, didn’t mean he was some classless low life.

“Wait here... we will bring her to you...”

[member="Chiara Viren"]

 

[Amz]

The Guards didn't need to tell Chiara to come.

The moment she heard that a ship matching the description of Holden's had entered the atmosphere, she was on her way.

The nature of this meeting was perplexing. How this [member="Holden Tark"] managed to come across the artifact, she didn't know. But, regardless, he had found it. Or something that looked like an exact replica of it. Chiara would know the authenticity of it with closer inspection.

Historical pieces that came from Chandaar were of interest to the Royal Family, but what she was buying today could hardly be considered noteworthy in that sense, though an absolutely confounding find, in another.

If it were true.

Her gut twisted the closer she came to the meeting area, and a few feet from view she came to a full stop. Teeth found her bottom lip, experiencing a brief and hesitant pause. She wasn't sure of the odds for this being legit and reminded herself to keep her expectations low. The chances of anyone finding such a small thing like the wedding ring Ash had given her, was slim to none.

Still, maybe this relic hunter had indeed found it. Wouldn't that be something?

With a deep sigh, she pushed forward to the area where he waited, trailed by two Echani guards who flanked her when she stopped. The same ones who greeted him earlier, giving him an icy stare from behind the Princess.

If Chiara knew, she didn't seem to pay any attention to it, and the smallest of smiles pulled up onto her pale, freckled face.

"Hello, Mr. Tark. It's nice to finally meet you face to face. I hope you didn't have too much trouble getting here?"

 

[Holden Tark]

“Wow you’re gorgeous,” he said out loud as she stepped up to greet him.

Holden was not accustomed to greeting royalty, and most of the people he knew were low lifes anymore. Sure there was the pretty woman here and there he was acquainted with, he would not be a true Corellian otherwise. Still, this one made him forget his filter.

“Sorry... wow forgot my filter there a minute. Travel was fine, got some light reading done.”

His eyes looked past the princess and to the guards giving him a cold stare. If looks killed Holden was dead many times over. He sighed. His lips pursed as he jabbed a thumb in the direction of the guards.

“You don’t suppose there is a better and uh.... more private.... place we can conduct business? These guards are uh... making me a tad uncomfortable...”

[member="Chiara Viren"]

 

[Amz]

"Thank you mister Tark, that's very kind of you." Chiara just smiled and moved on. It was obvious on some level that she was used to this. "That sounds lovely, hyperspace is good for that. I used to do a lot of traveling when I was younger, reading as the stars pass by overhead...there's not much else like it..." she cleared her throat softly and inclined her head to look at her guards, per his mentioning.

The guards stood there looking straight ahead, they were exactly like the others patrolling the palace, these two she handpicked herself for her protection. "Of course." she agreed, "I had a room set up for us before you arrived. I very well didn't plan on doing the exchange here, out in the heat. Basir and Noru will accompany us there."

The room they were lead to was cool upon entering, a welcome relief from the sweltering desert sun of Sabarene that beat upon them.

"Please, come in! Take a seat." she gestured to a long couch and took her place in the adjacent chair, a table made of dark kriin-wood between them.

The guards that he was so concerned with did not come in with them but, planted themselves near the frame of the door outside where they would remain throughout. It would need to be good enough. Chiara didn't know much about this Holden, and after all of the deaths and tragedies she'd faced in her previous life, she simply couldn't take chances.

"Would you like something to eat? I've already ordered some red tea. In the meanwhile, shall we make a start?"

[member="Holden Tark"]

 

[Holden Tark]

At least the princess handled his lack of filter gracefully. Pretty women were not usually a problem for Holden. Being a Corellian he was rarely tongue tied, but there was something about this one that made his stomach knot up in a bundle of nerves. It might be worse if he knew the ring he was selling back to her was already her property, an engagement ring from a previous life. Holdon tucked away that she also liked to travel. A completely undignified thought crossed his mind about inviting her to one of his artifact hunts, but it was likely a very improper request for him to make of royalty.

For some reason Holden wasn't expecting her detail to follow them into the room, but Holden should have expected it. His feet were heavy as they walked to the place that Chiara had set up for them. Spending as much time as he had on his ship lately meant that he had not been walking as much. His boots seemed to be heavier than usual, but only because of the inactivity. He nodded when she invited him to have a seat. They had ye to get down to business, which was fine with Holden. Every client was different, and he learned if the client didn't directly get down to it, he didn't need to say anything.

The pleasantries of refreshments had to be out of the way before business could begin. Holden liked that. He nodded. "Tea is fine, and whatever else you've had prepared. I'm not picky and like trying new things." It was the part of these meetings he liked best. Gracious hosts that thought of good food that was new.

It seemed with that said she was ready for business, and without much fanfare, Holden took the box out of his pocket. It was the one place no one would ever expect someone to carry a priceless artifact. That fact made it the most secure place to hide it.

The ring box was set in the center of the table.

"I can promise you, everything about it is authentic. I had it verified by several sources. This is not only original, but it is the wedding ring which belonged to the princess of Chandar some 800 years ago."

[member="Chiara Viren"]

 

[Amz]

Chiara noticed that her guest still felt a smidgen uncomfortable, the unease in his clear blue eyes. Unable to help herself, the corner of her lips twitched upward, a memory evoked of Ash and his first few years in the Chandaari palace. The discomfort of it all, always acting as tense as a pulled bowstring. She sighed, forcing away the memory of him. “If you are correct, then you will have done a great service in bringing us this relic,” she said, slender white hands reaching for the small worn-box that he’d placed between them. “Right, then. Let’s give it a look, shall we?”

She would know her own wedding ring, without the help of a jewelers eye to verify it.

Grazing her thumb across the front of the black velvet box, she gently pressed it open.

For as old as it was, the diamond within gleamed bright as the sun's rays when reflected off the ocean at dawn. There was no question that the object had traveled through more time than a person ever could, but to her, it had not lost its shine.

Servers, dressed in white moved wordlessly into the room with full arms. Platters were brought in, filled with savory fruits, nuts, and cheeses. The red tea, was placed on a mahogany tray and poured carefully into two dainty teacups for the both of them, the pot left behind in case they wanted to refill.

And as quickly as they had come, the servants were gone again.

It was obvious that Chiara was transfixed, having not noticed any of those who had entered or exited within the last few minutes, nor paying any mind to the smell of fresh tea wafting through the room. Everything else had faded around her.

Her heart was thumping wildly against her ribcage, and she hastily removed the antique from its encasing, turning over the delicate ring in her palm and holding it up to eye-level. Her eyes followed the engravings on the inside of the band. She touched the letters, tracing the grooves that were worn and shallow, but still clear. Her mind spun back to centuries before, as though it were a time machine connecting her to the person that she’d loved and lost so long ago. It was the conduit to some of her best memories, as well as the most traumatic ones. Chiara’s hand dropped, and her lips clamped together after a quivering breath, replacing the silver band to its box.

As though a shade had dropped behind her eyes, the feelings that had shone a moment before were suddenly hidden, snapping back to the realization that she was in the presence of another. She smiled, brief, seemingly back into herself again. Slowly, her heartbeat returned to normal.

“This is quite...well, remarkable, Mr. Tark. How did you say you came across this, again?”

[member="Holden Tark"]