Author's notes. This is chapter two of the fourth Star Wars story I have written. All of my stories (so far) take place between the Yuuzhan Vong War and the Dark Nest Crisis. I would like for you to read my other three Star Wars stories first, but I highly recommend that you read Star Wars: Jedi Tahiri in Bondage, as this story is a direct sequel, although my other two Star Wars stories take place in between.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ CHAPTER 2 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Some unknown time later, Alema Rar began to regain consciousness lying face down on something soft. Instinctively, she tried to use the Force to awaken faster. A much milder pain than the one that had knocked her out shot through her, but she fought through it and stayed alert.
Almost the first lesson taught to any Jedi trainee was Force awareness. Even though it hurt, Alema Rar reached with the Force to get a sense of her surroundings. She had barely begun when she found a Force presence that shocked her.
"Good morning, Alema Rar," the presence said in a friendly manner.
"Tenel Ka, What the frakk is going on?" Alema Rar nearly shouted back at her. As she took a breath, she also realized that she was still wearing the corset, which had gotten several centimeters tighter, and that her arms were still locked behind her back.
"Please forgive me, I had to conduct a little test is all," Tenel Ka replied soothingly.
Alema Rar tried to roll over on the bed she was on, to sit up, and felt the nerfhide hobble skirt tight around her legs, not to mention the heavy anklecuffs. "What?" she asked, obvious confusion showing on her face.
Tenel Ka hit a button on the remote in her hand and the magnetic lock securing Alema Rar's hands released. "I had to see if the collar would still work," Tenel Ka said, as Alema Rar's heavy wrists fell to the bed.
"What?" Alema Rar repeated as she pushed herself up and swung her legs off the bed. Only when her feet hit the carpet did she realize that she was still wearing the ballet boots. She must have been wearing them long enough for her feet to adjust. She barely felt any pain from them. "How long was I out?" she asked, before Tenel Ka could answer the first question.
"About ten hours," Tenel Ka answered. "Now, as for the collar, I'll start from the beginning. But first, you have to absolutely promise me not to discuss this with anyone, including Master Luke, or any of the other Masters?"
Alema Rar paused a moment. She could feel how serious Tenel Ka was about keeping this quiet. "Okay," she replied as she slipped a hand behind her back to see if her lightsaber was still in its hidden compartment.
"It's still there," Tenel Ka said as her fingers found the hilt.
Embarrassed at being read so easily, Alema Rar quickly moved her hand back to her lap.
"I'm serious though," Tenel Ka reiterated. "Not even Tahiri, okay?"
"Not even Tahiri," Alema Rar replied, now more curious than anything else.
Tenel Ka took a breath. "Okay, did Tahiri tell you about what happened when she came to visit me a few months ago?"
Alema Rar frowned slight before answering. Tahiri had told her about some wildโby her standards anywayโsex that she and Tenel Ka had had with some guys, and had mentioned a collar that Alema Rar thought was the one she was wearing now, but that was it. "A little," she said after a moment.
"Alright, to make a complicated story short, Tahiri walked into a coup attempt organized by two of my distant cousins and some supporters. The key to the coup was an anti-Force collar that they had had engineered."
Without conscious thought, Alema Rar raised a hand to the collar locked around her throat.
"Yes, that collar," Tenel Ka informed her as her thumb turned down the dial on the switch.
Alema Rar immediately felt the Force perfectly clear, but felt the weight of the bracelet after only a couple of seconds. She dropped her hand back to her lap, convinced of the collar's power.
"I was tricked into trying the collar on, and was unable to use the Force without passing out from the pain. However, I refused to give up the throne without a fight, as they had hoped. Luckilyโwell, not for Tahiri, but for a lot of innocent peopleโTahiri showed up."
Alema Rar listened as her eyes followed the lines of the form-fitting purplish-gray lizard hide bodysuit that Tenel Ka wore. A dozen-or-so purple-black bracelets were on her right wrist. They clinked against each other every time she moved her hand; and since Tenel Ka only had one arm, that was quite a bit.
The lines on the bodysuit were actually seams that joined two slightly different shades of hide. One seam came from behind the neck of the bodysuit, passed between her breasts, around her back, and came out just below her belly button. Alema Rar followed it until it disappeared again under her ass.
"Tahiri was also tricked into wearing the collar, almost the same way you were, as matter of fact. The conspirators attempted to use the threat of her death to further their aims, and I again refused."
Alema Rar thought that the Hapan Queen would look better wearing some higher heels, but the blocky eight centimeter ones on her boots weren't bad. After a moment, she turned her attention back to Tenel Ka's left armโat least what was left of it after being amputated by a lightsaber years ago. The lizard hide had been cut to cover the stump exactly, and without a seam that was visible to Alema Rar.
Tenel Ka flexed the shortened arm as she continued. "Soon afterwards, Tahiri regained consciousness, and due to her torture at the hands of the Vong, she was able to fight through the pain, escape, and rescue me. I dealt with the traitors, and the scientist that engineered the collar." She leaned forward to emphasize the next part. "I ruthlessly hunted down every trace of the technology. The only remaining example is locked around your neck."
Alema Rar wasn't having any trouble with her Force abilities now. "That still doesn't explain why you put it on me," she said impatiently.
"I needed to see if the remote control for the collar would still work. Sorry about that, by the way," Tenel Ka responded dismissively.
Alema Rar processed that for a moment. She had been used as an experiment. "And what if it didn't!?" she shouted.
Tenel Ka allowed a slight smile to cross her lips as she replied, "Then, for your safety, you would have to remain in my chambers as a Royal Guest, naked, shackled, and collared, for the pleasure of the Queen Mother."
"Naked, shackled, and collared?" Alema Rar asked, half-hiding her smile.
Tenel Ka nodded as she replied, "Naked, shackled, and collared," with a smirk on her own face.