The Future of the Family

[Faith Organa]

It was clear Laira did not understand that look in her eyes it said I don't really want this. Perhaps Faith thought I should tell her she doesn't have to, that Theo could easily be made to be the heir and she could become the Aldera Queen. Another world a lot less complicated and yet still in need of someone who could look to the future.
If anything she wanted her children happy.

Faith listened with an attentive ear to Laira as she spoke of her friends. The way her emotions roller coastered when talking it was easy to see that some of these were the ones that had died.

Death was a part of life it would happen no one knew when or how it would end only that everyone had an expiration date somewhere.

She sighed when Laira brought up Caleb and the Day of Demand.

"Yes...so...the Day of Demand." Faith's concern was twofold that Laira's fear would never go away and that when she needed her most she would not be there. While she hoped that all of the things they had been taught over time had given them a sense of duty.

Laira was the one the rebelled the most that was most vocal about what she didn't want.

Stubborn, a bit too flirty right now, and she had a feeling that Laira was going to dictate terms to her. Terms that she wasn't sure she was going to accept.

"What about the Day of Demand?"

[member="Laira Darkhold"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"I've already decided what I'm doing mom." She said, the soft stroking of her hair as her mother tried to comfort her carefully. Laira had thought about it some before hand, and her father had given her some advice. "I'm with the Resistance, they need me there. They need all the help they can get." Laira started quietly, knowing that this was going to be difficult and that her mother might heavily resist the next bit. "You can't have your daughter running around fighting for the Resistance. It would turn the Sith towards Alderaan."

"I'm not leaving them, and I know we have to do something to keep Alderaan safe. I don't know how, but we need to come up with something so that people don't see me and figure out my ties. I've done a pretty good job of keeping it secret you just need an alibi for where your heir is while I'm off fighting. And we need to be quiet about the Day of Demand. Only invite people you know you can trust to keep quiet." Laira wasn't a spy or a secret agent, but she was smart enough not to know that the Queen needed to go about covering her bases. So far only the Eldorai knew that the redhead even traveled with an alias, not all of the ones she used.

Part of the redhead hoped that they had a few friends in the other houses that could be counted on, that could be trusted. She hoped quietly that Caleb might be one of those people before she ran off for the afternoon with him. "As for Caleb, I was going to ask how much you trust him? Enough to share some secrets with? Enough to be truthful about what I'm doing out in the galaxy?"

[member="Faith Organa"]

 

[Faith Organa]

[member="Laira Darkhold"]

It felt like a slap in the face.

This rite that she so easily relegated to the annuals of secrecy. It was an event that all the families of Alderaan witnessed for they were who she would work with who she would represent.

Faith didn't know what to say. She felt the pain in her heart though the safety of her child on so many levels. She already put herself into so many situations where death could have taken her hearing her say she was with the Resistance was almost a relief. Almost. Not quite but almost.

Faith folded her hands neatly into her lap and thought about what to say without making it sound like Laira had just stolen the wind from her sails.

Caleb she barely new the boy, "Caleb comes from one of the oldest families of Alderaan. I...don't know him well at all. I know his cousin Ana better." Ana would have been Theo's wife if Arianna had anything to do with it. But that was a while ago. Now.

Faith sighed, "I need to think Laira. Some of what you request is not difficult, some of it is....I need to think."

Where was Draco? He should be here....she needed that catalyst right now.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"Okay," Laira responded, happy that for now there didn't seem to be any argument about her plans to remain with the Resistance. Laira believed that she needed to be willing to fight to protect Alderaan, even if they weren't in direct danger yet. Eventually all the other pieces would fall if no one stood up.

"Well, I'll leave you to it while I go to Cloud Shape with Caleb. Tell dad thank you." The redhead wrapped her arms around her mother, squeezing her tightly, "Thank you too." As she left, she took up the ancient blade once again and carried it off with her away from the queen, leaving her mother in peace for once. Laira made her way back to her room to change and get cleaned up after her ordeal in the Old Palace cellars, fixing her make up and hair. She changed into her swimsuit and then pulled on a long white t-shirt and sandals to travel in. Once she was satisfied, she placed the Sword and the Ring from the dungeons on her bed, curious about inspecting them but otherwise satisfied to leave them for now.

A few minutes later she met Caleb Panteer at a speeder dock where he was waiting, still wearing that rainbow gem earring but he'd changed out of his formal wear and into red swim trunks and a black shirt. "Hey there, was getting worried there for a minute." he said, waving her over to his speeder, one of the new luxury models on the market.

"Mother and I just lost track of time. I'm sorry I made you wait. I'll be sure to make it up to you at the falls." The redhead winked, slipping into the Pilot's seat without opening the door, leaving the young man holding the passenger's side for no one.

"Hey!" He started to playfully retort, but the young man dropped into the seat without hesitation, brushing his long brown hair away from his face. Laira decided she liked his hair and complexion, how much darker his skin was than hers.

"Don't worry, I won't scratch the paint, but you are gonna wanna buckle up." Behind them the Knight of the Wolf-Cat, a Loyalist from her mother's staff, and her aide Sera Nuran gathered into a different speeder. Laira had no intention of waiting around for them or traveling along a safe route. She wanted to see what this luxury model could do and she wasn't about to ease back because of her mother's rules. She'd just leave the tracking beacon on so they could catch up later.

It wasn't long before they were off and buzzing through the sky at break neck speeds, pulling twists and turns, spins and cutting through mountain passes until the Royal Guard had lost track of them. Sera messaged the Queen mother with an update,

//My sincerest apologies Your Royal Majesty, we've lost track of the Princess and Lord Panteer. Sir Altrin says he can still follow them on GPS but can't catch up to them until they stop.//​

Of course it wasn't very long before the pair of teenagers had found the spot they wanted to stop and began their afternoon at the beach admiring one another's swimsuits. They swam together for a while, sprawled out in the sun alongside one another. The redhead continued her flirty nature, feeling his muscles, rubbing his abdomen and allowing him to do the same. At one point she had him give a foot rub and later rubbed oil over his back.

The trio of chaperones stayed back and tried not to watch the pair and gave them a decent bit of privacy other than ensuring they weren't running off.

~

At the palace it wasn't long after Laira left for her afternoon that Draco wandered back into the upper levels after getting cleaned up. The tall, broad man had just come from the showers and hadn't bothered to dig a shirt out from his closet before seeking Faith out. As he stepped into the Royal Family's private dining quarters, light glistening off his skin. His stomach still had a line of gray and black hair from his navel into his gym shorts.

His towel was thrown over his shoulder, the man sat on the table across from his wife. "Hey honey. Things with Laira go alright?"

[member="Faith Organa"]

 

[Faith Organa]

Lord she looked at the message Laira had given the security team the slip. She was going to throttle the girl before she ever reached the age of taking over as Queen. Speaking of being Queen.

She could already hear Draco's boots in the hall her ring told him when she was in trouble aggravated or any emotion other than happy. She looked over to the door waiting anxiously for him to come in. The guards who had stepped inside stepped out knowing the Prince was near.

He came in with a towel sitting down as if it was just another day on Alderaan, she looked at him as he asked that question. "I don't know really Draco." She sighed heavily.

"You know she..gives me every impression that she will never be ready to be Queen. That she does everything because she's been told it is her duty. I...or we gave them their freedom to be themselves. She...wants to keep the Day of Demand secret. I can't do that Draco. Alderaan is a planet of custom and tradition this is a HUGE tradition. To secret it away it like saying we are ashamed or she is ashamed to be the heir."

Faith raked her fingers through her hair, "What did you say to her?" Faith was already thinking about how to give Laira what she wanted but also to give the people and the nobility what they demanded.

But first she'd discuss her hair brained idea with her husband and see if he thought she had lost her mind too.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Draco smiled and left the table to sit beside his wife, wrapping one arm around her shoulders. Their daughter was nothing if not rebellious, she'd always been a handful, but recently Laira was becoming more distant and challenging their authority for her freedom more and more. "I talked to her about what she wanted. I told her that if she really didn't want the throne or the crown she could walk back up empty-handed and that'd be just fine by us. She went and got it anyway, so that's good news. That means deep down she knows she wants the crown one day."

"She's scared and she's untested and untempered. She's also nineteen so its to be expected." Draco squeezed Faith reassuringly. The crown was a heavy burden, one Faith had worn for years and even then she took it younger than Draco would hope for. He didn't like the idea of testing his children so young, he wanted them to be free to make mistakes and live for themselves before having the terrifying amount of authority placed upon them. "She just needs time, ner runi. She's afraid and she's irresponsible; she's stubborn, brash, and hot-headed but she'll grow up in time."

He sighed, knowing that Laira was a difficult child and now Faith didn't have the help Draco had been able to provide when they were growing up. Now it was a matter of the throne, a Queen to her heir, not just parent's to their children. The old man didn't like that he was on the outside looking in regarding the future of his little girl and his only son, but there was little he could do. He'd given up his responsibility to be with them, his priorities had always been his family and when it came time to chose, he put down his sword to be with them.

"We just need to give her that time. If we press her for results, she'll break." the big man grinned, pressing his whiskers against Faith's flawless caramel skin, kissing her cheek. "Give her some freedom, but we make her take up some responsibility while she's running around finding herself."

[member="Faith Organa"]

 

[Faith Organa]

Faith looked at Draco he was trying he really was. That was what she needed his calm in her storm. As she has tried to be there for him over the years it was his turn to help her weather what lay ahead.

"Did she go and get it because she wanted, or because she was provided an option?" Faith frowned as she stared into his eyes she couldn't help but see Laira there. They shared the same eye color. Did he realize how young many of the Queens were through the galaxy? At 19 in some circles Laira was getting old in others she was just beginning. Custom. Culture. So many dictates.

Did he realize that maybe she wanted to step down so that they could do something too, like have a life that didn't include guards all the time, or a schedule for every minute of each day. Maybe not. She could understand Laira not wanting it.

She nodded, and prayed that she hoped by time Laira was ready that she would not be dead. Uncertainty had Faith ever experienced it? A few times but she had always known what she wanted.

Give Laira some freedom she already had A LOT of freedom. She didn't live at home, she lived under an assumed name, had ship, went wherever she wanted when she wanted. Freedom, feth Laira had nothing but freedom. Perhaps Draco wasn't seeing the entire picture here. Sometimes she wondered what it was he did see.

Faith shook her head, it wasn't freedom Laira wanted. She wanted no responsibilities. Faith wasn't sure about the Day of Demand. But she couldn't put it off, Laira should have completed it at 16. Which was slowly becoming a lifetime ago in her mind.

"She wants to fight with the Resistance and have nothing but visitation privileges on Alderaan. That's what I hear her wanting Draco. I feel that all we do is give them what they want." Maybe they as a family didn't deserve to be the Royal Family.

"She wants the Day of Demand to be secret. I can't do that. MY responsibility, MY duty to the people is to show them the Heir that will declare her intentions, to show them a future, to have a heart that is in tune to those she will serve." Faith rubbed her face she was growing tired.

"I am an enabler, and indulgent parent, and a fool." She felt it in her bones, "She will perform the Day of Demand here on Alderaan by my decree. To protect her though so that she can go off and continue to be irresponsible and whatever"

Faith was upset more than perhaps Draco, or Laira would ever know. How she felt would haunt her.

"We will find a way for her to not have to stay here." Here where she would be...ahhh Faith gave up. No one could imagine the hurt Faith felt and it would slowly chew on her mind, her spirit and leave a trail of doubt.

"Maybe a double for AFTER the ceremony to be here on Alderaan to...." Faith thought about it to lie, that's what it felt like a lie. She would be perpetrating a lie on her people.

But what was she to do.

"That would require secrecy" Secrecy to cover for a lie.

"That would require assistance" to help continue the lie.

"What do you think?" she looked at Draco.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"She had a choice and she made it, love. If we start questioning it and doubting her when she actually accepts responsibility there is no winning for her, we may as well put an end to it now and give it to Theo." It was an extreme exaggeration, but they needed to accept that she chose what she wanted, that at least part of her wanted to be queen one day. Laira would grow in time, but it would take time and they couldn't just sit back and wait for her. They needed to press her forward and get her moving rather than running in circles.

"I think we should support her with the Resistance. She needs that experience, what it feels like to be at war and have people that rely on her in life and death scenarios. Laira could use all that for when she sits on the throne." His daughter was much like him, she was a fighter. She was also very different with a wanderlust that he just didn't understand. Perhaps it came from her namesake, his departed sister. The two of them had always been similar, both naturally gifted pilots and both rebellious despite that they had never had the opportunity to meet. Draco smiled, pulling his princess closer to him so she could take some comfort in his arms.

"Oh, you are too hard on yourself. Laira wasn't going to sit and be the perfect proper princess at home, and if we had tried to force her to be anything other than herself she wouldn't have come back at all." He hadn't ever returned to the nest once he left, and he'd always regretted it in the back of his mind. Draco hadn't seen his sister, mother or father for almost ten years when they died and he could have saved them if he had kept in better contact with them. That was his great fear, that they would press Laira into being afraid of coming home like he had been.

"She needs to hold to the traditions and understand she has to bend to them and us not just when it suits her." He breathed in deeply. There needed to be a Day of Demand and Crowning Ceremony in plain sight, that all the people could see and accept their future ruler. That much was certain. But they couldn't become the cage the little redhead was afraid of, or she would run off like a frightened animal from a trap. "We have the ceremonies with her in public, we tell her its time she took on some responsibility in her travels. She needs to grow up, whether she becomes queen or not. Did she tell you she's been studying the Jedi?" Not something he particularly liked, but Faith had always favored the Jedi Orders in some manner. Trusted them, told stories about their heroic deeds and legends. "Not the worst thing we could encourage."

"If we don't keep her here," Which Laira had demonstrated over the past year that they couldn't force her to remain and that she could survive on her own without their assistance, "We will need a double to fill in for her, or it will draw attention. Someone that knows her that we can trust to fill in for her to make public appearances. Someone to attend family functions and be seen around Alderaan." Draco snuggled against Faith, his skin pressing against her dress and feeling the smoothness of the fabric that cloaked his wife with his thumb and forefinger.

[member="Faith Organa"]

 

[Faith Organa]

Faith frowned at Draco, "I didn't say I didn't support her participation with the Resistance, did you think that's what I said?" She hadn't really said anything about the Resistance except that Laira wanted to go off and be with them and visit whenever she felt like it. Is that saying NO don't go to the Resistance. Hmm maybe she was losing her ability to speak.

Too hard on herself he had no idea did he how much she agonized over their children, she had lost one. She wasn't prepared to lose the others. Surely he understood that? Surely he knew her better than to ...she didn't know what he was thinking at this point.

Then he finally said something that helped her, he said that Laira needed to hold to the traditions. Studying with the Jedi great...then they would take her too wouldn't they. Look at what had happened with her brother he went and fought their war and never came home. She knew it was a growing inordinate fear that was pulling her down into this despair but so much of her family was gone..she just couldn't bear it if..

"that is what I said, a double for afterwards" Maybe he didn't listen to her when she spoke. Maybe he had other women on his mind, maybe she was picking up his fething socks since they no longer appeared here and there. She groaned. She was becoming a nut job.

"I hate telling a lie." She looked down and then snuggled closer to him she really needed him. "who is there to trust with such a " she almost said lie, "secret, Draco?"

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"No, I was just saying why I supported her being in the Resistance." Draco pulled himself up against his wife. She was stressed dealing with their daughter, who was admittedly a handful and stubborn. Almost as stubborn as Faith could be when she dug in her heels, but that was one of the things he liked about her. Hell, if Faith hadn't have been that way they might not have ended up together after all she had to resist to get to him.

Draco pressed his head against her shoulder. "Yes, a double. I agree." Now he felt a little bad, "Who was that one girl, the one who was her assistant while she was living on Alderaan a while back?" He didn't remember the young woman's name, mostly because he hadn't bothered to learn it in the first place, but now he was realizing that was one Laira's few friends from her childhood and he didn't even know her. How much did he not know about their oldest? How much had he mulled over with Theo?

"We trusted that girl enough to put her in charge of Laira's schedule and bank account a while back. Certainly she didn't just go from being an aid to the Royal Family to disappeared, she's got to be around somewhere." Hopefully attached to Faith's cadre of aids and loyalists somewhere and still in the inner circle. "We can at least ask her." Though filling in as a double would require a few surgical alterations to anyone, and some work on the part of the royals. They'd have to get used to having someone else living with them and acting like their daughter, treating her like their daughter.

That would be very hard on Faith and Draco.

"So, we get her to go through with the Day of Demand and Crowning as is expected of her, complete the trials of body, heart, and mind." He sighed deeply, "I don't want her to go, ner runi. They are growing up too fast and it feels like we didn't get that finding ourselves free time."

[member="Faith Organa"]

 

[Faith Organa]

[member="Draco Vereen"]

Faith appeared to have the air let out of her as she shrunk down to lean on Draco. "Don't feel bad I don't remember either. I have Bekka find out. NO they don't we re-assign them to other areas of the household. She might be down in public relations." Faith reached over and put her hand on Draco's she needed that touch. That connection.

"Yes through the Day of Demand she has to be able to wield the sword which I have no doubt she can. She will name her three challenges and if deemed worthy then she will be tasked to complete the challenges. If anything I know she will choose difficult challenges nothing is ever easy when it comes to Laira. I will probably ask [member="Duke Kyle DeVoe"] to stand in as viceroy since we've not had one in recent years."

There was a script to follow sometimes these rites were just too complicated.

Challenges of the heart, mind and body though for anyone was a test that could make a candidate question their right to rule. It was not for the faint at heart.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Draco wasn't well versed in every Alderaanian custom and tradition, though he tried to respect them as they came up. There were certain duties he was supposed to fulfill as Prince-Consort, expected responsibilities that fell to the monarch's spouse he occasionally complied with rather than just be Faith's arm candy. Even if he was pretty good arm candy. Laira would have to learn to do the same and at least try to participate in her people's customs if she was really going to lead them in the future.

"I'm sure you will need to sit down and work out her trials, otherwise she'll pick something stupid that is meant to take a long time." The big man nuzzled against Faith with a deep sigh, nothing ever started easy with any of their children. Parenthood had turned out to be much more difficult than he would have originally guessed, but his children seemed to turn out okay. Even if Laira was a little rebellious at times.

Draco twisted a on the couch, "You know, you haven't said anything about how I look and I trimmed up and everything," He was referring to having trimmed his body hair to leave smooth skin on his torso except for a small amount on his stomach and lower abdomen, skin still shining from his shower. "Makes me think I can't distract you anymore, might have to do something drastic to get attention." His hand rubbed against her thigh, feeling the soft fabric of her dress against her silky smooth flesh beneath.

[member="Faith Organa"]

 

[Faith Organa]

She knew exactly what he wanted he did smell really good that spicy musky soap that he liked so much always made her want to be closer.

She shook her head, "I don't know Drahr while you like very yummy to me laying here quite available on the couch." She smiled and winked.

As she slowly moved towards him, "I think a man like you who has gained so much wisdom might not be able to handle anything more than a nap this afternoon" She was teasing him.

"So maybe what I should do is offer to get you some warm milk and a cookie?" Her eyes sparkled with mischief as her fingers began to slowly walk across the contours of his stomach muscles. He really was in great shape and he worked at it.

After all the Queen couldn't be seen with her Consort in yoga pants and a wife beater.

She had watched him change from a man with long dark tresses to a man with shades of gray and short hair. But still he made her heart stir with longing to be near him. Even now with 2 grown children.

"What could you do to get my attention that is if you really wanted it?" She asked him in a low temptress voice one that she used on him many times over their marriage.
As Draco and Faith spoke with one another guards quietly left, and the palace staff began to close doors giving the couple their privacy. They too had learned over the years the signals and patterns of the royal couple.

If he was wanting to take her mind off of Laira it was working.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Draco squeezed Faith's thigh tightly with his hand as a mischievous grin appeared on his face as she teased him playfully. His stomach tensed at her touch, a soft rumble of expectation escaped his throat. "Hmm, well I could use a nap and some sweets, something to help me sleep if you don't mind?" His whiskers pressed against her caramel skin as he kissed her neck softly.

The doors closed as the last of the palace staff left the room to the royals, and Draco was grateful he didn't have to be blunt with his requests anymore. How awkward it could be to have him announcing they would be intimate to onlookers. Luckily after years together the signs were pretty simple and obvious when the two wanted some privacy with each other.

His teeth nibbled at her skin as the prince slid atop his princess, heart beginning to pound and blood beginning to heat with the anticipation of her touch. His muscles tensed and relaxed at the touch of her fingers, the hot need for her affections rising in his soul.

He grinned devilishly, "What could I do to get your attention? Well," his hand slipped under the him of her dress, calloused hand rubbing against the taunt flesh of her bare leg, "You're overdressed for a massage," He whispered as the large man pulled himself onto the couch trying to lean Faith backwards so she was laying beneath him, nudging her gently.

"But we could change that. Or maybe something a little different?" His lips pressed against her neck once more, hungrily kissing at her as his breathing became ragged and uneven, "Well, we haven't danced in a long time."

[member="Faith Organa"]

 

[Faith Organa]

Soft kisses placed against her skin all she could do was revel in how he made her feel. She was his treasure and he always made her feel precious.

The warmth of his hand on her thigh and thoughts of massages and dances filled her head. She hooked her ankle behind his knee.

"I'd love to dance with you. We haven't danced in a long time."

This wasn't one of those times where Faith would allow the affairs of Alderaan to press upon her. This was one of those moments where all her focus was on her husband. She smiled up at him sometimes it was nice just to touch and murmur teasing temptations to one another.

She placed her hand on his chest feeling the soft hair there he had always been a bear of a man. His face buried into her neck she hung on to him not wanting to let go. She wanted to feel more of him, feel the heat of his skin to lay upon him, with him and enjoy him.

Her breath caught as heat pooled in her belly.

"Do you want to lead?"

[member="Draco Vereen"]