Chapter Text
Our tale begins in a time long ago, set in a galaxy said to be far from here, and in a world much different to our own; but dear reader, the story is not unfamiliar. Though the time of princesses and their knights in shining armour has long since passed, they continue to enthral and entertain us with imaginings of the honourable knight who lived according to his code or the princess who is rescued from languishing in her tower, and ultimately the chronicle of how they fell in love. The tale I have for you has a daring warrior, a valiant princess, and a plucky young boy, who together discover that the pursuit of honour, loyalty, and character can lead them to what has been in front of them all along.
So, dear reader, shall we begin?
“Kid, if you don’t stop touching the equipment, you can’t stay here.”
Behind her, Bo heard Grogu make a disagreeable noise, followed by the distinct click of a switch being flipped, and then the navi-computer she knew Din was operating made a terrible high-pitched beep. There were several muttered curses before the beep was silenced, and then a small shriek as Din evidently manhandled the kid away from the navigator’s seat and promptly plopped his son down on the console next to her.
“Hey, you!” she said brightly as Grogu narrowed his eyes at his father’s retreating form. “I know this journey has been long, but you shouldn’t do things your father has asked you not to. My ship is not a toy.”
The kid chittered irritably before he jumped into her lap, making himself comfortable.
“Yes, well, if your father hadn’t gotten his ship busted up, none of us would be here,” she replied, deliberately interpreting the boy’s sounds as she pleased. “Though, without me, you’d be taking a passenger shuttle to Avalona, and that would have taken you weeks.”
“We were ambushed,” Din grumbled behind her. “I avoided most of the hits. Got us back safely.”
“Safely?” Bo turned in her seat to face him, an incredulous look on her face. “One of your engines was operating at less than 15%, the undercarriage was hanging off, and the hyperdrive was on fire. Frankly, it’s a miracle the ship made it through re-entry into Mandalore's atmosphere.”
Din merely tilted his head at her and shrugged his shoulders in that cocky, self-assured way that always made her stomach flip pleasantly. Kriff it all, she couldn’t even scold him without being reminded of her feelings anymore. Why did he have to be so attractive? How had she even managed to fall for a man she’d never seen the face of? It was ridiculous, and yet Bo couldn’t help the way her heart sped up every time Sundari’s control tower let her know his ship had cleared the atmosphere. That was how she’d managed to get herself in this situation, hurtling towards a planet she’d never heard mention of before, simply because Din had a job to do, and she hadn’t found herself able to say ‘no’ to him yet. Not that he’d actually asked her to do anything. Bo knew she was the one who’d offered to take him on this mission, and it was all because she desperately wanted to spend more time with him.
Pushing those feelings down, Bo gave him a look of mock annoyance. “Unbelievable. You’re lucky I was free and willing to take you all the way out here. I could have just left you to mope about until your ship was fixed, y’know.”
“Or you could have let me borrow this one.”
Smug, mudscuffing bastard!
“Not a chance!” she hissed playfully, grinning broadly at him. “I’ve seen what you do to ships you’re in charge of. Your gunship on Trask was held together with rushed repairs and a dream. The N-1 isn’t looking much better at the moment. If this ship is at risk, then I damn well better be piloting it when it is.”
The soft huff of laughter that escaped his modulator was worth it. “I forgot to ask; given my sketchy history, how did you convince the council it was safe for you to take this trip?”
Bo froze.
Technically – technically – no one had sanctioned her to go off-world, and that wasn’t because she’d put in a request and had it declined. To have her request declined would have meant that she’d actually asked for permission to be there in the first place, and Bo knew she hadn’t done that. She wasn’t going to have the chance to spend some quiet time alone with her two favourite sentients thwarted because some old men were too stubborn to let her leave. The Armorer knew where she was and who she was with. In fact, the older woman had even gone as far as to inform her of when the Council was most occupied. A clear sign that she’d given her permission to go; that was enough.
“Bo-Katan,” Din said slowly, immediately picking up on her reticence and reminding her instantly of the way her father used to say her name when she was in trouble as a child. “You were sanctioned for this mission, right?”
“Define ‘sanctioned’.”
There was that cocky head tilt again that made her insides turn to mush. “I’m beginning to think I’m a bad influence on you.”
She hummed lightly. “You’re certainly no help, but I think you’ll find that, as Mand’alor, I’m perfectly capable of creating my own trouble.”
“Of course you are.” His voice was deep and low in that way Bo knew it got when he was teasing her. “Never doubted you for a second.”
“If I ever find you’ve doubted me, I’ll kick your ass,” she threatened playfully before she turned back to face the windscreen, watching the ripples of hyperspace wash over the transparisteel. “So, what are we supposed to be looking for on Avalona? Did Teva give you any intel?”
“A local there reported suspected Imp activity in the woods near the main city,” Din said as she heard the soft beeps of him fiddling with the instruments of the navi-computer. “The Republic doesn’t care because there hasn’t been any threat to the Avalonians, but Teva wanted me to look into it anyway. If Imps are using worlds far out in the Outer Rim to make deals, then we need to know.”
Bo nodded in agreement. “Can’t give them an inch, or the Republic will lose what little control it has.”
“This is the Way.”
Smiling fondly at the familiar words, Bo glanced down at Grogu only to find he’d somehow got into one of the compartments beneath the console. In his claws, scratched up and with a patina over the buttons that showed frequent use, was a holonovel puck. The kid flipped through the pages at speed, but with great interest, cooing at the illustrations of fearsome monsters and towering fortresses. She recognised it immediately. Though it usually remained buried at the bottom of her collection, there was no mistaking the puck of myths and legends from other worlds she’d had as long as she could remember. Bo had read it repeatedly as a child, buried under the covers of her bed in her childhood chambers as one of Kalevala’s frequent storms raged outside. Tales of Krayt dragons being defeated by old knights on Tatooine, a wandering warrior on Cerosha who helped defeat pirates and saved them from a storm, or even female Wayfarers travelling the stars and competing in races before the time of hyperdrives; they’d all fascinated her. There were even stories about other princesses doing daring deeds that her father had suggested in the hopes of tempering her dislike of the title. But while she’d loved to read about women in battle, Bo had never taken to using it.
“You’ve found that one, have you?” she said with a smile, plucking the puck from the kid’s claws. “I used to read these all the time as a girl. My favourite tale was about a Twi’lek who could turn sentients who tried to hurt her to stone simply by looking at them.” Bo looked down at Grogu, who excitedly babbled up at her. “Wouldn’t that be a useful power?”
The kid giggled, chittering wildly as if to tell her all about how he’d use that ability to his advantage, and somewhere behind her, she heard Din try to mask a snort of laughter at his son’s obvious excitement as a half-sneeze. Ridiculous man.
Stars, she’d missed travelling with the two of them.
“Well, if that caught your interest, maybe I can read some to you later?” She hugged Grogu tighter against her for a moment as he cooed in delight. “It’ll give us something to do on the journey back.”
Din groaned. “You indulge him too much. He’ll end up expecting this from me, too.”
“Indulge him too much? Coming from you, mister ‘I told him he couldn’t have the fruit that’d make my ship sticky, and then gave it to him anyway’?”
Bo knew that if anyone indulged Grogu too much, it was his ever-protesting father who repeatedly insisted that he’d never given in to any one of his son’s demands. Din was incredibly sweet with his son once you understood that the gruff, long-suffering façade was all an act, and it was one of the things that had endeared him to her as they’d come to know each other better.
“That’s never happened,” Din grumbled before quickly changing the subject. “We’re about there. I’ll begin dropping us out of hyperspace.”
Bo smirked to herself as she heard the telltale clicks and whirrs of Din reducing the power to the hyperdrive before her navi-computer lit up, and she reached out to lower the throttle. There was a jolt as the hyperdrive disengaged, and then the ripples of passing stars ceased as they abruptly dropped out into the space around Avalona. Before them was the greenest-looking world she’d seen in a long time. Though it wasn’t a large planet, Avalona looked like a gleaming jewel against the inky blackness of space; deep blue oceans lapped at the edges of verdant continents and smaller islands, rivers and estuaries winding through the leafy landscape like sapphire serpents. In some areas, silvery peaks rose from the land, forming mountain ranges that marked the boundaries where the plates beneath the crust had collided with each other long ago. But what she noted with surprise was the lack of any visible cities from this distance. On almost every world Bo had ever visited, there’d been visible metropolises, yet here, if there were cities, they were small and blended into their landscape seamlessly.
In her lap, Grogu trilled in wonder, and she smiled down at him. “It is beautiful, isn’t it? I feel like I haven’t seen green and trees in so long.”
The kid babbled again, pointing at the steering controls and then towards Avalona with great enthusiasm.
“He hasn’t either,” Din said softly, a note of sadness tingeing his voice. When she looked over her shoulder at him, he shrugged almost too casually. “It’s been a lot of desert worlds lately. I think he misses them, too.”
Bo didn’t think it was just the kid who’d missed it, but she knew Din would never admit he did, too. She tipped her head and smiled gently at him, gratified to find her assumption was right when Din quickly looked away. Turning back towards the windscreen, Bo gazed at the planet in front of them before flipping the controls to manual.
“So, whereabouts are we landing?” she asked, taking control of the steering. “There’s a lot of green planet ahead of me, and only you know where we’re going.”
“The capital, Kameloth,” Din replied, marking the coordinates so they appeared on her navi-computer display. “It’s on a small island in the northern Logres region. Teva said it was an interesting place and I should fit right in.” There was a heavy sigh, and Bo could almost feel his confusion. “I don’t know what he meant by that.”
Locking the ship’s pathing towards the tiny island, Bo began to steer them towards their destination. “Well,” she said, looking down at the excited Grogu in her lap. “There’s only one way to find out. To Kameloth, then.”
Unlike on so many planets she’d visited before, Bo noticed there was no dust kick up as she gently manoeuvred the ship between the trees that surrounded Kameloth’s spaceport. Instead, the grassy meadow beneath the tree cover was disturbed and flattened as the Gauntlet’s thrusters blew it about, appearing like an ever-shifting emerald sea, strewn with wildflowers of every colour, as numerous in variety as there were stars in the sky. The scent of them wafted pleasantly through the ship as she lowered the boarding ramp, the gentle breeze tousling her hair slightly before Grogu bolted between her and Din’s legs, and out onto the docking platform, chittering wildly.
She heard Din sigh heavily before he trailed after his excitable son, his armour glinting in the late morning rays of the day star. It was only ever on worlds where the weather or climate was particularly bright that Bo truly appreciated just how clearly Din’s beskar made him stand out from everyone else around him. While the flash of silver always drew the attention of other sentients, there was just something about him in light like this that made him seem so otherworldly, even to Mandalorian eyes. It was like he’d strode confidently out of the projection of the warrior myths from her childhood holonovel, and just the thought of that had Bo experiencing the pleasant fluttering in her chest she’d long ago begun to associate with thoughts of Din Djarin.
Shaking her head to clear those imaginings, Bo followed them off the ship just in time to see Din bodily grab the kid, preventing him from escaping into the long grass towards a very obvious ash-rabbit snare. “Where are you meeting your contact?”
“There’s a cantina in the centre of the city,” Din replied, situating Grogu on his shoulder. “Teva said I should ask for Antor there.”
“Lead the way.”
There was a short, tree-lined path that led away from the port that could have almost given the impression that the city was nestled within the forest itself, but at the end of it, the tree line gave way to a horizon of rolling hills and valleys, and there, sat atop them, gleaming in the sun, lay Kameloth. It was like no city she’d ever seen. Large, crenellated stone walls surrounded it entirely, with watch towers standing proudly at regular intervals. The only access to the city seemed to be beneath ornate gatehouses at the cardinal points, guarded by bored-looking men with blaster rifles. Metal spiked gates that would prevent access in the event of an attack were held above by chains that clinked softly in the breeze, the sound echoing as they passed under them into the city itself.
Those Avalonians that were bustling about on the streets were dressed as she would expect a typical sentient to be dressed – jackets, trousers, and boots all in various states of cleanliness and repair – yet it somehow felt to Bo as if she’d entered a city from a time long before this one. The buildings that surrounded them looked like they’d stood for several ages or more. Though they had up-to-date technology in the form of powered doors, cell-fuelled lighting systems, and transparisteel viewports that wouldn’t look out of place on Coruscant, there was something about their construction that told her they’d been built in a time before travel by starship. These materials were local; a first storey made of stone or red brick with each subsequent floor set at a slight jetty over the last, and were rendered in timber frames consisting of blackened wooden beams crisscrossed with off-white clay inlays. They were well-maintained, but showed their age in the way the wood had warped, and some buildings leaned a little too far off level, giving them a unique look she knew would never pass inspection on any other world.
As the buildings gave way to a small square, Bo could see the narrow streets ahead wound their way upwards towards what looked to be a heavily fortified stone building, surrounded by yet another stone wall, and a central building with lofty towers that looked as if they could pierce the clouds above them. In many ways, it reminded her of how Kryze Castle used to be, though the architecture here was far less harsh than Mandalorian design, and she felt the familiar pang in her chest at the thought of the home she lost.
“Must be some sort of celebration going on,” Din said, pulling her attention back to him and gesturing to the square in front of them. “Look.”
As she did so, Bo could see the bunting that seemed to decorate every available surface in the square. She’d been so busy looking at the fortress beyond that she’d failed to notice the white garlands that were strung across shop fronts and between lampposts. Their design looked to be in the shape of small shields quartered by a blue river, a rampant Orbak, a silver helmet, and a similarly silver diadem. Their motifs were old, perhaps even older than the buildings, which meant that whatever the Avalonians were celebrating must be linked to their past.
“If we stick around long enough, we might even find out what for,” she suggested deliberately to provoke a squeal from the kid on Din’s shoulder. She was immediately delighted when she heard Grogu’s excited chitter, followed swiftly by his father’s weary sigh. “Don’t tell me you’re not up for a festival?”
“No,” Din said shortly. “I’d rather be crushed by a Sandcrawler.”
Bo barely contained her smile. “Then I think we'd better see your contact asap lest you be forced to participate in revelry.”
The way he tilted his head at her in playful acknowledgement of her teasing made her stomach flip pleasantly again before she followed Din in the direction of the cantina he’d said was where his contact was located. A wooden board bearing the name ‘The Lady of the Lake,’ painted with an image of a woman’s hand grasping a sword as she emerged from a lake, hung from the wall above the door, swinging lightly in the breeze. But to Bo’s surprise, Din didn’t enter. Instead, he turned a corner, down a narrow alleyway to reach the yard at the rear and disappeared through a wooden gate.
As usual, when she joined Din on these jobs, she stayed outside. Many of his contacts, or those with whom Teva sent him to speak to, were uncomfortable with the presence of more than one sentient, let alone more than one Mandalorian. While she didn’t like being separated from him all that much on an unknown world, it was better this way than jeopardising the mission. Leaning against the wall outside the gate, Bo tried to act nonchalant as many of the Avalonians stared at her curiously. It was quite likely that many here had never seen a Mandalorian warrior before, so her beskar, and Din’s for that matter, was bound to draw interest. After a few minutes, Din reemerged, quietly closing the gate behind him and tipping his head questioningly at a child who stared at them as they passed.
“Did you get what you needed?”
“Yeah,” he replied, discreetly guiding her back towards the square. “Apparently, they like to land in the forest to the west of the city every other week. No one’s been brave enough to check it out – they don’t have the resources to fight back, but Antor confirmed they’re definitely Imps.”
Jabba’s tits. Even when the Imps weren’t harming worlds, they were making them afraid.
“Are we heading there now?” she asked, already knowing the answer as Din steered her through several narrow streets heading westward while the kid chittered at those they passed. “Is it the right time to catch them in the act?”
“Not the plan,” Din said as the narrow streets opened out towards the western gatehouse. “We just need to find evidence of them being here and try to work out who’s supplying them. Teva said no engagement. It’ll help the Republic track them better if they don’t know we’re on their tail.”
The chains holding up the city’s gates clinked ominously as they passed under them, before Bo found herself on a dirt path heading towards the forest edge. Why couldn’t Imps do their dirty business in the basement of cantinas or storage facilities? It made them so much easier to track. But doing it in a forest? They had a rough location for where the Imps made landfall, but it was going to take some searching for the clearing where the deal had taken place. As they walked deeper into the forest, the tree canopy thickened, dappling them in the light of the day star, as the thick trunks of the trees with their gnarled branches wound their way across the sky. This place was ancient; she just knew it. Bo could almost feel the weight of that history carried on every bough, a feeling only displaced by her amusement every time Din tried to convince his son that the bugs and insects that flew around them were not for eating.
After walking for several minutes, Din stopped and then suddenly veered off the path towards an area where the trees seemed to thin out, the area brighter as if a light shone through the trunks, calling them to look at it. That was how it felt to her, at least. But Bo was sure, given Din’s skills, that there must have been a piece of tracking evidence that she missed that led him in that direction. Sure enough, as she followed closely behind him, she could see depressions in the flattened grass that wound a path through the trees, very much resembling standard-issue Imp grip-boots that had, by the look of it, traipsed the clearing only recently. Entering the clearing, it became obvious that two ships had landed there after rainfall; the ground had been soft enough that the landing gear had left deep impressions in the dirt.
“VCX freighter,” Din said, walking around the edge. “Imps have been using these because they fly under Republic radars. No one’s likely to stop such a common ship.”
“Who do you think are the ones meeting them?” she asked, crouching to examine the footprints left around the imprints of the other landing gear. “I don’t recognise the ship, but these footprints seem humanoid at least.”
“Looks like the XS freighter smugglers use,” Din said, allowing Grogu to hop off his shoulder before he stood and surveyed their surroundings. “Impossible to know where they came from without seeing them. Our best bet is to see if they’ve stored anything around these parts that we can identify them with.”
Bo shook her head. “Unlikely. Unless we find any evidence of subterranean storage. I think the Avalonians would have noticed if the Imps had stayed long enough to dig up the place.”
“Then they’ve gotta just be using this place for the exchange. A place they don’t think the Republic will look, and one where the locals are too afraid to interfere.”
“So do we scout it out?” she asked, but Din didn’t get the chance to reply.
In the middle of the clearing, Grogu suddenly stood alert, his ears twitching in multiple directions as if trying to pinpoint something. Bo looked at Din, who immediately unholstered his blaster, looking around to see if he could spot what had caught his son’s attention. Dropping into a defensive posture, Bo did the same, reaching for her blasters as she scanned the treeline. But there was nothing to be seen. Not with human eyes, at least. The kid, on the other hand, made a bright noise and headed off towards one of the larger trees. As she looked at Din questioningly, he motioned for her to get behind him, and together they quietly followed Grogu towards the intruder.
At the foot of the tree, its roots emerging from the forest floor like twisted vines, moss-covered and ancient, the kid stopped and looked upwards, giggling to himself. What’s got him so amused? Bo thought to herself as she exchanged glances with Din. The man shrugged, as lost as she was, but they both relaxed their guard, content in the knowledge that if Grogu was giggling at the ‘threat’, it probably wasn’t much of one. That assessment turned out to be correct as when Bo gazed upwards in the same direction the kid had, she spotted a small auburn-haired girl sitting in the branches, kicking her feet as if two armed Mandalorians hadn’t just been looking for her.
“What are you doing in our forest?” the girl asked, tilting her head, her twin braids swinging with the movement. “Outsiders don’t usually come this far out unless they’re looking for trouble.”
“Trouble is what we are looking for,” Din replied, holstering his blaster. “But to remove it, not cause it.”
“Ohhh! You’re looking for the men in white helmets!”
Men in white helmets. The girl could have been no older than ten, a mere babe when the Empire began to crumble, and with Avalona existing in the furthest reaches of the Outer Rim, it was likely the foot soldiers of that Empire never truly set foot here. She wouldn’t know to call them Stormtroopers. She didn’t know the evils of the Empire. But she knew enough to know they were trouble.
“Yes, we are,” Bo replied, relaxing now that it was clear there was no danger. “What are you doing here? You’re a little young to be looking for a fight.”
“I’m not sure I should tell you,” the girl said with all the cocky confidence that came with youth, as she folded her arms across her chest. “How do I know you’re not working with them?”
Din sighed, and Bo had to stifle a laugh as he made a visible attempt, despite the beskar, to look less threatening. “Do you know Antor from ‘the Lady of the Lake’?” The girl nodded vigorously. “Antor tipped off the Republic to what was happening here, and they sent us to take a look at it.”
“Just the two of you?”
“We didn’t want to draw too much attention,” Bo replied. “Just a quick look around to see what we could find out, and then we’ll be on our way.”
“Well…” the girl drew out as she began to swing down the branches. “If you’re here to catch them, then I guess I could tell you.” She landed on the ground with a soft thud and waved at Grogu, who giggled and waved back. “I’m Morgen, by the way,” she said, reaching out and shaking the kid’s claw before she looked up at Bo. “Those men in the white helmets have been meeting with smugglers from the mainland. Every two weeks, they arrive in their ship and move crates of stuff out, then the white helmet men come to take the crates away. They’re never here very long.”
Bo looked at Din, who tipped his head in a way that told her he believed the intel that Morgen had provided. It just seemed so unlikely to her that a child as young as she was could have monitored what seemed to be Imperial weapons deals all by herself.
“How do you know all this, Morgen?” she asked. “To know how often they meet, you would have had to have been watching them for a while.”
“I have!” Morgen exclaimed, sounding excited and pleased with herself at the same time. “I like to come to the woods and look for creatures that could harm Kameloth.”
“Did you find any creatures other than those men?”
Morgen looked crestfallen. “No. Only ash-rabbits and wild Orbak, which are boring. But really, I wanted to fight a great dragon like the warriors in my stories!” Her enthusiasm reminded Bo a lot of herself at that age, and she was immediately endeared as Morgen began to mime fighting the imaginary dragon she’d been searching for before she stopped and her attention suddenly snapped to Din. “Are you a warrior?”
“I am.”
“Why haven’t you taken your helmet off?” It seemed to Bo that Morgen was clearly unafraid, given the way she twirled the ends of her braids as if she were completely enamoured with him. “Are you not allowed to?”
Din shook his head. “The Creed I live by forbids it.”
If Bo were to time the speed at which Morgen’s eyes lit up at the mention of Din’s Creed and the way Grogu’s did at the mention of food, she was sure Grogu’s would only have marginally been faster. This kid was excited by the prospect of the Creed. Usually, sentients were afraid of Din, or at least deeply distrustful, because he wouldn’t show his face. But to Morgen, the prospect of a mysterious warrior seemed enthralling. You would have been too at her age, her mind whispered knowingly. If you had braids to twirl at him, he would have already noticed how you feel.
“You’re just like Princess Guenora’s Shining Knight! He couldn’t remove his helmet either!” Morgen exclaimed before she turned to Bo, eyes bright. “Are you a Princess?! It’d be just like their story if you were!”
“Uhh…” As Bo floundered for an answer, she heard Din let out a soft hiss of laughter and had to fight not to glare at him. “Are this princess and her knight characters from a myth of some sort?”
Morgen nodded excitedly. “They’re from a time long ago in our history! The princess is kidnapped by an evil sorcerer who wants to rule Avalona, and the shining knight has to rescue her from the sorcerer’s castle. Once the knight rescues her, they travel home together and save Avalona from the sorcerer!”
Ahh, it’s one of those tales, Bo thought to herself with a smile. A romanticised retelling of something that may or may not have happened long ago, with tales of daring knights battling fantastic beasts that still enthralled those living centuries later. She glanced quickly at Din, who tilted his helmet in the way she knew meant that he wanted the conversation to quickly wrap up. He’d got his intel and now he wanted out of there. But Morgen reminded Bo of herself as a girl, and she wanted to indulge her inner child that had long since forgotten that there were more things to the galaxy than struggle and strife.
“I used to love those sorts of stories as a little girl,” she replied, ignoring Din’s annoyed sigh. “I’ve never heard of the Avalonian one before, though. If it’s recorded anywhere, perhaps we can pick up a holo-copy for Grogu here?”
“You could! You could!” Morgen exclaimed. “The festival that starts today celebrates this story! If we go to see my father, you can tell him about the men in white helmets, and I can give you a copy of the story!”
She heard Din sigh again. “Why would we need to tell your father about the Imps?” At Morgen’s confused face, he added. “The men in white helmets.”
“He’s the ruler of Avalona!” Morgen said as if the information should have been the most obvious thing in the world to them. “He didn’t believe me when I told him there were bad things in the forest, so maybe he’ll believe you. Oh! And I can tell you all about Guenora and her knight, too! Maybe you can even stay for the festival?!”
Bo watched Din immediately tense. He absolutely did not want to stay for any festival, but she knew they were going to have to speak to Morgen’s father. Even if the Avalonians had been too afraid to engage with Imps on their lands, they needed to know what they’d been up to and that the Republic was actively dealing with the issue. When the black of his visor turned towards her, obviously looking for backup in his attempt at avoidance, Bo raised a single eyebrow in return. For a moment, it looked like he wanted to argue, but when she pouted playfully, his shoulders sagged, and Bo knew she’d won.
“We will speak to your father,” Din said with a resigned sigh. “Then we will stay for some of the festival.”
Morgen squealed immediately and began to run towards the forest path that’d lead back to Kameloth, earning Bo a look of tired annoyance from the man next to her as he bent to retrieve Grogu.
“If I have to dress up or participate in anything, I will make you regret it.”
She smiled, knowing that meant he would, at the very least, drag her out for a job on a world with a terrible climate and even worse food. “I would expect nothing less from you.”
Din’s stance softened, his helmet tipping playfully, and when the familiar words came, Bo knew it was with more affection than threat.
“This is the Way.”
By the time they passed under the gatehouse and back into the city, there’d been a remarkable change in the populace. Whereas before they’d been dressed like any other sentients in the galaxy, many of them now wore strange garb the likes of which Bo had never seen before. Men were in colourful long tunics under which they simply wore leggings, whereas the women wore what looked to be woollen dresses and veils that covered their hair. Despite the sudden change in wardrobe, many of them continued to stare at Din as their little group headed towards the fortress.
Leaning into him, she whispered, “Do you get the feeling people are staring more than usual?”
“Yeah. It’s unnerving.”
“Of course they’re staring,” Morgen said, turning around and giving them a look that Bo knew meant she was exasperated with them. “You…” She pointed at Din. “…look like the Shining Knight! And you…well, you’ve got red hair, so they probably think you’re trying to look like Princess Guenora.”
Bo glanced at Din, who simply shook his head and continued walking. The message was clear: no point in being concerned about it. There was no way of telling whether it was as Morgen had said, that they looked like they’d emerged from the myth, or the Avalonians simply weren’t used to seeing sentients as armoured as Mandalorians were. If she had to pick, Bo would have put more stock in the idea that the Avalonians found them strange than either of them looking like they’d walked out of a mythical tale, but they’d certainly had stranger experiences.
That strange experience followed them all the way to the fortress, a structure that had looked imposing enough from afar, but simply towered over them as they passed over the moat and through the gatehouse into a bustling yard. Sentients ran to and fro over the cobbled bailey courtyard carrying crates of decorations similar to those that were strung up around the city. Others seemed to be ferrying veritable mountains of foodstuffs from the kitchens in one of the outbuildings in the direction of what looked to be a large hall attached to the side of the keep. Morgen simply skipped ahead of them, taking no notice of the chaos around her as if this were her everyday life, and simply headed towards the hall just the same.
Following her, they entered the hall, its flagstone floors and rich tapestries marking it just as old as the rest of the structures in Kameloth. Above them was a wooden vaulted ceiling with intricate carvings, which Bo assumed must have been of mythical beasts, but they weren’t of any she recognised. The dais at the far end of the hall was familiar enough; the stone steps leading up to the platform reminded her strongly of what had been at Kryze Castle, with thin, stained-transparisteel viewports flanking either side of it. Except on Kalevala, there had been a throne to sit on in between those viewports, but here there wasn’t one, just an auburn-haired man, perhaps no older than his late thirties, sitting in a simple chair, flipping through flimsi on a small table next to him and scratching his beard in confusion. The way Morgen was making a beeline for him, she had to assume that this was the girl’s father.
Turning to face Din to gauge his reaction to their surroundings, she was surprised to find him staring up above the dais where the man was sitting, seemingly entranced by what he was seeing. A quick glance at Grogu showed he was similarly enthralled, and when she followed the direction of their gazes, Bo discovered why. Above the dais, slightly faded, with a patina that betrayed its significant age, was a mural depicting three sentients so familiar she simply stopped in her tracks. One figure was evidently the Shining Knight, his silver helmet dulled by the centuries, still shone in the light from the iron coronas that hung from the ceiling. Though his armour was decidedly not Mandalorian, it still bore a striking resemblance to the beskar Din wore. No wonder the Avalonians had been staring at him, Bo thought to herself as her gaze moved to the other figures. He really does look like he just walked out of the pages of their history.
Next to the Shining Knight was a woman with long red hair, half hidden by golden crespinette hair nets on either side of her head as the rest fell as twin braids which hung down the sides of her neck. Atop her head was a bejewelled coronet, marking her clearly as Guenora, the princess, seemingly turned queen of Avalona, that Morgen had told them about. In her arms was a babe, dressed in a long white gown, gazing up adoringly at the other two as only a child would gaze upon their parents. Clearly Queen Guenora and her Knight, saviours of Avalona, were more than just friends – they were lovers.
Now that she’d seen the image of Guenora, her Knight, and the child they’d had together, it was clear to Bo that the Avalonians hadn’t just been staring at them because of Din’s beskar; she and Grogu, judging by the mural, simply completed the set of sentients from their history. Next to her, Grogu cooed softly, and when she turned to face him, the kid was pointing insistently at the mural, a look of wonder on his little face. But Din hadn’t noticed either of them. He was still fixated on the image in front of him. It was only his son’s tapping on the side of his helmet that caused him to turn his gaze back to her, and when he did so, Bo felt her breath catch in her throat. Though she could not see his eyes, there was an intensity behind his stare that made her face heat, and without thinking, she took a step towards him as if drawn in by his very gaze.
He's your knight, her mind whispered. The warrior sworn to protect you, who stands at your side as you rule Mandalore. The thought of Din like that was intoxicating, and Bo wanted it. She wanted to reach out and take it. But her mind was pulled back to reality as the man who was sitting on the dais made himself known.
“Morgen Igraine Penddraig; where have you been?!” He looked between Din and Bo. “And who are these people?”
Morgen sighed in the put-upon way children did, which made Bo smile a little. “I was playing in the forest, father…”
“I have told you not to go there alone! There are men there, terrible men, who would seek to harm you if they knew who you were!” the man scolded, beckoning Morgen closer. “They were seen only yesterday, too!”
“I was hidden!” Morgen protested before she pointed at Din and Bo. “It took them several minutes to find me, and that was only because the little boy heard me with his big ears!”
“And who are they precisely?” The man said, levelling a suspicious glare at them. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.”
Din stepped forward, adopting the stance Bo knew made him as least threatening as possible. “We’re here on behalf of the Republic to investigate your Imp problem. Antor at the cantina in town directed us to the location. When we arrived, we found evidence of Imp activity and your daughter hidden in a tree. She provided us with valuable intel on their movements. We’re very grateful.”
“Ah, in that case…” the man said, his demeanour immediately softening as he stood. “Allow me to introduce myself; I am Artgur Penddraig, ruler of Avalona, and I believe you’ve already met my daughter Morgen.”
Morgen grinned and waved frantically at them, as Grogu trilled giddily and waved back with equal fervour.
“I am Bo-Katan Kryze,” Bo said in return before gesturing at her companions. “This is Din Djarin and his son Grogu.”
“So you are a princess!” Morgen exclaimed. “If you’re Mandalorian and a Kryze, that makes you a princess! Why didn’t you tell me?!”
Momentarily stunned by the girl knowing that much about her already, Bo could only stammer. “I…uh…”
“Please do excuse my daughter,” Artgur said brightly, a placating smile on his face. “The festival has her very excited. For weeks now, she’s been obsessed with finding other princesses in the galaxy. You have no idea how many holo-histories I’ve had imported to satisfy this curiosity of hers! Frankly, I’m surprised she didn’t know you on sight!”
“I am a princess,” Bo admitted begrudgingly, ignoring the soft exhalation of laughter from Din next to her. “But it’s not a title I like to use for myself. I much prefer Mand’alor.”
“King is what they used to call my position,” Artgur chuckled, putting his arm around his daughter’s shoulders. “This is why my rambunctious heir is so engrossed with the idea of princesses. Technically, she is one. Though like yourselves, it seems Avalona did away with those titles long ago. I am more of a figurehead with an elected council these days, but once a year, specifically for this festival, we like to use them, and Morgen always looks forward to this time!”
Morgen narrowed her eyes at Bo. “What’s a Mand’alor?”
“The Mand’alor is the ruler of the Mandalorians,” Artgur said, swiftly attempting to placate his daughter. “Just like I am ruler here, or Guenora was queen all those years ago.” He turned to Bo and bowed his head in deference. “We are incredibly honoured to have you here, Mand’alor Kryze. Unexpected, but an honour nonetheless.”
There was a moment of perfect clarity where Bo knew that Morgen having this information was going to prove to be a problem. The girl’s eyes lit up as her gaze flitted between Bo and Din, evidently putting the pieces together in her mind before a wicked grin spread over her face.
“Father?” she asked, too sweetly for Bo’s liking. “Don’t you think they look like Guenora and her Shining Knight? I think we should invite them to the party tonight.” Morgen turned to gaze up at her father in such a childish, pleading manner that Bo heard Din suppress a groan as he realised what they’d been roped into. “Please, father! Please, please, please!”
Artgur looked as if he were a man who could never deny his daughter anything. “I would be more than happy for them to attend the gala, my darling girl, but it is up to Mand’alor Kryze whether she can stay.” He looked up at her expectantly. “Is an overnight stay amenable to you?”
Bo could already hear the telltale creak of leather and beskar that told her that it certainly wasn’t amenable to Din. He was never one for mingling socially, and anything he did attend, she usually found him in a corner, determinedly ignoring anyone but her and the kid. But she’d seen the mural, seen Din’s reaction to it, and part of her wanted to know more about Avalona’s myth. If they stayed, then she was certain Morgen would regale them with just how Guenora and her Shining Knight met, and how a woman much like herself came to love a man whose face she’d never known.
“We’ll stay one night,” she agreed, looking directly at Din, who, mercifully, held in his disagreement as Grogu squealed, clapping his claws together. “On the proviso, Morgen here tells me more about Guenora and her knight.”
“Wonderful, wonderful!” Artgur exclaimed, stepping down from the dais and signalling to one of the Avalonians present. “I shall make all the necessary arrangements! In the meantime, Morgen here can tell you more about our history. She’s been practising all week!”
As they were led out of the hall towards the main keep, Bo couldn’t help but steal one last glance at the mural, Guenora’s soft smile and the silver visage of her knight seemingly following her as she moved in a way that struck something deep inside her. Unwilling to face those feelings, Bo turned back, only to find Din staring at her again. She held his gaze for a beat before he bowed his head and gestured for her to walk ahead of him. The message was clear, as it always was, Din would have her back, but she couldn’t help but think back to the mural once again, and how part of her, a part she’d tried to bury, wanted her warrior to walk at her side as her lover instead.
