> According to the Royal Bureau of Tourism, up to five million off-worlders are expected to attend the Festival of Blossoms this year. The Arboreal Service has said that they expect Lankash's sakoolas to be in full bloom throughout the festival's four-day run, raising hopes of a Golden Week. The Metrology Bureau projects good weather, with seasonable high temperatures ranging from twelve to fifteen degrees and mostly sunny skies, although the possibility of some passing showers cannot be ruled out.
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> The Chieftess's office released a statement welcoming, quote, 'citizens, denizens, and travelers from worlds near and far to enjoy the beauty and splendor of Inusagi's sakoola blossoms.' The festival is expected to be the largest in years, following the more austere observances that were favored by the prior Imperial administration.
- Araneesha Galtingh, Festival Watch
Royal Broadcast Bureau
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41:03:29 GrS
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Neela led the way through the house toward the front entrance, Taz shuffling behind her in the unfamiliar thong sandals and divided socks that were apparently required footwear with the sayaka. They passed a few other servants and household members who Taz had seen, but hadn't spoken to.
Lyra was waiting on the long portico when Neela opened the door. "I've prepared honored guest Mr. Taz," announced the girl as she rose from her bow.
Lyra's golden-colored silk tiyaka faded to rosy pink, embroidered with fan-shaped pale green leaves, and printed with five-lobed blossoms and clusters of sakoola fruits. Her hair was pinned on the side with a golden sakoola blossom pin.
Taz stared unabashedly. The way the silk wrapped Lyra's trim torso and flowed around her legs with the morning breeze made his breath catch in his throat. "Gods, you're beautiful."
Lyra blushed under his intense gaze. "What have I told you about staring at me, Oktos?" she complained, feigning indignation. In return, she reviewed him with a critical eye, making minute adjustments to his gray robe with its subtle geometric weave and clusters of bamboo printed on either side near the shoulders. A broad blue sash held the sayaka closed. "You'd make a good Inusagian, Oktos."
Taz's face broke into a delighted smile. "Thanks, Lyra."
She touched Aurora Ascendant, tucked at his side next to a small medpack. Wearing a suspicious frown, she felt around the sash until she found the telltale bulge of his compact blaster at the small of his back. "You really think you'll need those?"
Taz raised his hands, looking guileless.
Lyra said quick words to Neela. The teen darted inside and returned a minute later with an open-fronted jacket that fell halfway to his knees. It had the same bamboo print as his sayaka. Lyra helped him put it on, then took a step back. "There. That's better."
"I won't look out of place?"
"Horutou jackets are pretty common unless it's really hot out. Besides, people are coming from all over the sector for the festival, Oktos. You'll blend right in, and you won't look like a paranoid Rebel."
"A prepared Rebel," he corrected with a wicked grin that only got bigger when Lyra rolled her eyes. Neela looked uncomfortable as she shifted from foot to foot, despite her best effort to keep disapproval off her face.
Sera and Rei emerged onto the long portico. Reiko's tiyaka was dyed in every shade of blue, each fading into the next, and covered with festive yellow flowers and vibrant green leafy vines. Sera wore a bright, spring-green top printed with white navawood silhouettes, blousy trousers, and a jacket like the ones worn by the members of the household. Both women had pins in their hair, Rei's at the side like Lyra's, and Sera's holding her red hair swept up in a loop behind her head.
Lyra took Reiko's hands and held her at arm's length. "You look perfect! You were born to wear a tiyaka, Rei."
"Thanks, Lyra, you too!" Reiko enthused.
"Your partner, on the other hand," Lyra groused, scrunching her mouth to one side. "I figured a tiyaka wasn't your style, Rendix, but you could've at least put on a sayaka."
Sera shrugged. "I'm more comfortable in pants."
"Mm-hmm," Lyra droned. "And how many blasters are you hiding under that jacket?"
Sera put on her innocent face and shared an irreverent grin with Taz. "Gotta be able to protect my girl, you know." She kissed the top of Rei's head. "Listen, are we going to stand here talking all morning, or go enjoy the festival?"
She didn't relinquish her scowl, but Lyra sighed. "You'll do." She gave Taz and Sera exasperated looks. "Just both of you try to stay out of trouble."
Sera held up her hands. "Listen, I'm not the one who got us involved in an interspecies incident with the Rayeths."
"Well I think you both look fantastic," Taz offered and aimed his winningest smile at Lyra.
"You too, Doc," responded Sera. "That robe really suits you."
"Yes it does!" Reiko agreed with a wholehearted nod. "Come on, everyone. It's been years since I've been to a festival!" She wrapped her arm around Sera's and pulled her toward the waiting Aerosine flyer.
Uttering a mock sigh, Lyra took Taz's offered arm and walked after the other two.
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Lyra emerged from the speeder ahead of the others, squinted into the late-morning sun, and took a deep breath. Thrill and dread had mingled inside her since the start of the festival three days ago. She hadn't attended any of them during her final years on Inusagi. Instead, she'd spent those days in a dark rage, locked in her room, alternating between hopeless sobbing and furious tirades shouted at the indifferent walls until her voice was spent and her eyes stung from the flow of tears.
Thirteen years. She shivered, even though the day was warming up nicely. Children raced around and dashed for the gates where the festival attendants stood in queue upon queue waiting to be cleared through the security scanners. She didn't see any of the Asantu-sar protesters they'd observed on their last visit, and she wondered where the authorities had shuffled them off to.
Off-worlders many hundreds deep gathered before the entry gates. The insular Inusagians cast furtive glances their way and tried their best to ignore the foreigners. Every member of the feather-festooned Parahanei seemed to be present, and a good percentage of them wandered through the crowds with portable scanners. The Gray Caps were there too, but in small numbers. Lyra decided that the palace must have ordered them to keep a low profile; their ugly human-centric prejudice would surely ruin the festival of blossoms. At least Lady Pindu's showing a little sense.
Visitors flocked to the stalls outside the gates where vendors offered sayakas and tiyakas for rent. Hovering holography droids captured the tourists' three-dimensional likenesses on memory chips and portrait pucks in exchange for a few credits. Hawkers wandered through the crowds selling festival food and the distinctive wooden-handled jalami nets for catching the falling blossoms.
Reiko could barely contain her excitement, turning this way and that to take in the spectacle. Lively music drifted through the air with the sakoola blossoms. A light-skinned Tavit-wey woman approached. Her tiyaka fluttered with innumerable long streamers that were looped through her sash, and more of the ribbons wound through her plaited black hair. She carried a tall pole with crossbars that held a score of the jalamis. Yet more ribbons waved from their turned wooden handles.
Seelam started to intercept her but Lyra shooed him off. "We'll be fine from here, Seelam."
He glanced at the vendor before giving Lyra a bow. "Very well, Lady Lyra." Looking a little reluctant, he and Panil took their places on the boot of the speeder and drove away, threading the big vehicle through the dense crowds.
Lyra beckoned to the vendor. The woman bowed to her, drawing a chuckle from Sera. Lyra ignored Rendix and picked out nets, handing one to each of them. Before she could open her purse, Taz was counting coins into the woman's cupped palm. She thanked them in Inusago and hurried away.
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He gave Lyra a big grin and sniffed the air. "All those cooking smells are making me hungry!"
"It does smell good," Sera seconded. She nodded toward the Feather Caps maneuvering through the crowds. "Those scanners probably won't pick up our blasters but if they do, are we going to have trouble with them?"
"Not as long as you're with me. We'll go in the gate reserved for the Sajoku and I'll clear you through."
"I guess it pays to consort with a noblewoman, even if she is an Imp," Sera japed.
"Keep that up and I'll make them confiscate your hardware," Lyra shot back. She led the way to the entrance reserved for the noble festival-goers. The palace guards deferred to her but scrutinized the others.
"Bodyguards," Lyra explained. She filled out the requisite permit forms for their weapons, just to be on the safe side. Taz and Sera received flexible metal bands fit precisely to their wrists, then they were admitted into the grounds.
She stepped to the side of the broad path that led through the sakoola groves to the huge pool in front of the palace. "Pace yourselves," Lyra advised. "There's enough food and sweets here to choke an Exogorth."
"What should we do with ourselves?" asked Reiko, already dancing eagerly as she watched some children running to show their parents the blossoms they'd caught in their nets. She waved her jalami. "That looks like fun."
Lyra smiled at the engineer's adolescent enthusiasm and nodded toward the adults walking among the trees or sitting on benches to take in the spectacle. "We usually forego the blossom-catching." Seeing Reiko's smile falter, she added, "but by all means, have at it if you'd like." Rei looked heartened, and indeed many of the off-worlders were busy plying their nets to snag the petals floating in the morning breeze.
Reiko waved and pulled Sera along, her net already swishing. Lyra tied the jalami to her sash. She found Taz's hand and slipped her fingers between his. They strolled along the path, drifting in and out of the groves and wandering among the visitors crowding the edge of the pool. She saw Grey Caps patrolling in twos and fours, though as outside the gate, their numbers were small. The Parahanei were more numerous, which made her feel better.
After a while, Taz said, "Is this how you remember it?"
Lyra hesitated before answering. "We used to come to Lankash on the final day, though we didn't always make it to the palace's event. Every park in the city has vendors, and the Sajoku compounds host their own celebrations. Lots of years, we'd never make it here, but a few times we did."
Catching the troubled look on her face, he gently asked, "Are you alright? We don't have to stay."
"I'm fine," she answered with a thin smile and gave his hand a squeeze. "You don't need to worry about me."
"I do, though," he said, lightly rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb.
"I know, and I appreciate it but I want you to enjoy yourself." She put on her most convincing smile, sniffed, and tried her best to push away the sadness.
Lyra's answer seemed to mollify him, at least mostly. He returned her expression. "The palace grounds are beautiful." He flicked his jalami, snagging a fluttering petal out of the air. Taz took it from the gossamer net and examined it up close. "This gold color around the edge... It's so vibrant, it almost looks painted on."
"The trees at the palace are a special variety. They've been carefully nurtured for decades, grown from the best stocks by the Bagasajna, foresters, arborists, and horticulturists." Lyra nodded toward members of the Royal Arboreal Service who hovered beside the thick-trunked trees, distinctive in their pale yellow-pink jackets and blousy pale green pants with gold cuffs.
Lyra voiced a greeting to one of the Tavit-dar arborists as they passed. "Pretty much every year somebody accuses the palace of manufacturing the petals. The rumor is that they gather millions of the them in the days leading up to the festival and print the gold onto the edges, to ensure that each one is absolutely perfect."
Taz shared her skeptical smile. "Seems like a lot of trouble to go through."
"Yeah, but it's true that you don't often find them looking this good except at the palace. I'm going to choose to believe that careful cultivation is responsible." She screwed up her mouth. "I'll leave sakoola petal conspiracies to the tabloid holos."
The smell of sweet, fried confections wafted from a nearby pavilion. "What is that?" Taz said, looking hungry and curious all at once.
"Come on, you can buy me a cone of shalifus!"
They waited in a queue at the shaifu stand, watching as the workers slid trays of half-moon dough shapes into big hammered vats full of boiling oil, and fished them out minutes later with long-handled strainers. A Tavit-wey woman perhaps Neela's age tucked four of them into a paper cone, drizzled sakoola honey and a dusting of spiced, powdered driftcane over the morsels before handing them to Taz in exchange for four silvery coins each worth a hundred kindhra.
"Good thing I stocked up on local currency; I haven't seen a credit terminal anywhere."
"We prefer cash at the festivals— it's tradition." She wiggled her silk purse, which jingled with the sound of coins. Lyra picked a shalifu from the cone and bit into the hot pastry. Sour sakoola jelly oozed from the cavity inside and she yelped excitedly as it dribbled onto her fingers. "Oh! It's hot!" She sucked in air to cool her singed tongue.
Taz laughed at her, then put her fingers in his mouth and licked up every bit of jelly. The feel of his tongue and lips made Lyra quiver. She looked around self-consciously and caught a few amused looks, along with disapproving stares. She glared at a couple of the latter, but took her hand back.
Taz noticed the stares, too. He looked chagrined. "Sorry, I think I caused a spectacle."
"Don't worry about them; they have small minds," she said, loud enough to be overheard. When she swept the crowd again, the critical onlookers had quickly moved away. She'd never given it much thought before, but it occurred to her then that her mother must have endured that kind of censorious scrutiny for years. It made her sad to think about, but in the next instant, defiance replaced sorrow. None of those idiots matter, Lyra; Mum realized that.
She took another bite, feeling fierce and proud. "Here, try it." She poked it in his mouth with a playful look.
"Mmm!" he said, eyes wide at the complex flavors lurking beneath the sweet glaze. "More of those!"
Lyra laughed and leaned against him. "Plenty of time for sweets, Oktos. Let's go find some games!"
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Rei slipped her arm around Sera's waist, unsurprised at the hard bulge of the small blaster under her jacket. Sera winked at her as they threaded their way between the festival-goers, past a throng of spindly Draikians, and a guided tour group from the nebula world of Rageezia VI, atmosphere globes fixed firmly on their bulbous heads. There were even a few Gungans and rather more Humans from nearby Naboo. Almost as numerous as the native Inusagians were the Aluians, whose vestigial rainbow-hued wings scintillated under the bright sun.
A barker stood on a platform so he could shout over the crowd, inviting the attendants to try their luck at games of skill. At the side of the broad path was a long pavilion with red, green, and yellow panels that flapped lazily in the breeze. A score of booths lay beneath, each host to a different kind of game.
"Ooh!" cried Reiko, pointing at one of the games. "Let's try that one, Sera-sha!" They elbowed their way through the crowd and stood at the booth.
The woman behind the counter wore a big smile with a conspicuous aurodium-plated front tooth. "Fancy a try, honored guests?" Between her fingers she held a trio of star-shaped iron pieces.
"What're those?" Sera inquired.
"Sturkas." The woman pinched one between the knuckles of her first two fingers and flicked her hand casually. The sturka flew, sticking in the wooden wall behind the row of targets. "See?"
The corner of Sera's mouth curled. "How do I play?"
"You have but to topple a target to claim a prize for your beautiful lady friend." She made a flourish with her arm to indicate an array of cheap trinkets in the prize case. "You seem a formidable woman, honored guest. You should have no trouble at all with such a simple task."
Sera laid her coins on the counter and the busker handed her three of the sturkas. Rei gave her an encouraging smile. Sera let the first one fly. It impacted with a solid thunk, dead center in the target. The wooden disk wobbled but didn't fall. She tried again, harder this time. The sturka stuck right next to the first one and the target wavered even more, yet still it refused to fall. Sera spun the last sturka with a powerful flick of her wrist, hitting the target near the edge. It twisted on its base and tottered, but remained upright. She frowned at the proprietress, then gave Reiko a sheepish look. "Sorry, Rei-sha."
"Oh, that's okay," Rei assured her, plucking some coins from her purse. "I'd like to try."
"But of course, honored guest," said the woman, sliding three sturkas across the counter.
Reiko imitated the grip that Sera had used. She kissed Sera's cheek. "Wish me luck, Sera-sha!"
Her first throw went wide, clattering into the wooden backstop.
The busker clucked sympathetically. "Try another."
"You can do it, Rei-sha," Sera offered encouragement with an amused grin.
She scrutinized the targets, then threw the second sturka. It hit low on the wooden disk, which wobbled, then clattered forward. Reiko jumped happily and blushed at the applause from Sera and some tourists who'd stopped to watch.
"An excellent throw, honored guest," said the woman from the other side of the counter. "You may choose a prize from the case, or—" her smile grew and she gave Reiko a wink— "topple this one for an exclusive reward." She indicated a larger, heavier-looking target perched above a case that held more expensive items.
Reiko looked uncertain, but she said, "Should I, Sera-sha?"
"Of course, my love," answered Sera brightly.
She weighed the last sturka in her palm and spent some seconds studying the target, which was about 40 cm in diameter. Like the others, it was painted with alternating rings of blue and yellow, leading to a bright red center.
Reiko took a breath and threw the sturka. It made a loud crack as its point sunk into one of the yellow circles in the upper left quadrant. The round wooden plank reverberated and twisted on its block, then fell over, seemingly in slow motion, making a loud clatter against the prize case.
Applause and hoots erupted around her while Sera lifted her and whirled her around. "That's my girl!"
Rei's joyous expression contrasted with the busker's momentary frown. "Congratulations honored guest!" managed the woman, plastering on a smile that made her golden tooth shine. She took a big brass key from her belt and brought the case forward.
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Munching on skewers of crunchy fried cheese sticks, Sera admired the dark lustrous bracelet Reiko had won for her. "How'd you knock down those targets?"
Reiko waved her skewer. "When you took your throws I watched how the targets reacted. It looked like they were differentially weighted. I could just see the grain patterns on the wood, and I figured they correlated to the density of the wood, so it was just a matter of picking the right spot to hit!"
"You're a genius, my love. I was just going for the bulls-eye."
Reiko wore a huge grin. "That's what they want you to do; it's why all the targets had that bright red center."
Sera slapped her knee. "Misdirection! Typical military tactic and I fell for it like a raw recruit."
Reiko laughed and kissed her partner. "You're hopeless without me around."
"I'm hopelessly in love with you is what I am."
Reiko looked elated as she hugged Sera's arm. "I'm yours forever Sera-sha."
Rendix looked supremely happy. "So, what would you like to do now, my love?"
Rei pointed to the pool. Dozens of rowboats bobbed gently in the water. "How about a boat ride?"