Ep V: Chapter 20

Scora showers without Enthea present and more importantly, without undue flirting. Dressed in casual clothes, she retires to her office with Enthea and gets straight to work: reviewing proposals, checking up on galactic markets, and sending recorded messages to her partners.

The office is a sensible space, much less obscenely flashy than everything else. To Enthea’s surprise, it really does appear that Scora only uses it for work. Comfortably ensconced on a sofa at the far end of the calm, tasteful space, Enthea sips tea as she watches, wondering if this is the real Scora. The laid back, yet passionate Scora from last night. The playful Scora from their first meeting. The Scora excelling at showmanship from dinner. They’re all the real her, of course, but Enthea can’t help but be curious.

“You seem to be in a hurry,” Enthea notes casually, breaking the silence after nearly an hour.

“Well, marrying a princess isn’t cheap,” Scora replies.

That’s a non-answer. Scora is known to be rich, but there’s no such thing as a poor Alderaanian princess. Or maybe there is. Maybe Enthea should do a little investigating after all. She opens her communicator, noticing Scora checking the time yet again.

“Do you have an appointment?”

Scora looks up. “What? No. No, I just don’t like to be in here too much. This is enough for today.”

“Working one hour a day. That’s not so bad,” Enthea remarks without judgment.

“I didn’t say that it was. But I’d rather be climbing.”

That’s not the reply that Enthea expected. “Climbing?”

“That’s right.” Scora powers down her workstation and stands up, grabbing a pair of athletic shoes, which she pulls on. “Think you can keep up, Jedi?”

“Could I finish my tea?”

“You could. Question is, do you want to?” With that, Scora heads out. Enthea sighs and sets her cup aside to follow. They ride the elevator down to the ground level, and Scora takes off at a jog.

As much as Enthea doesn’t like to admit it, it might be time for a change of costume. Running through the resort in Jedi robes isn’t very dignified, and Scora is fast. With her long legs and athleticism, Enthea has to run hard. It’s not difficult, but it probably looks to people as though there’s a foot chase.

They pass through a gate. The ground slopes up sharply, although they’re still at the base of the mountain. A path winds upward: a soft carpet of grass that probably isn’t native to this planet.

Scora stops and looks back at Enthea, who halts beside a stone statue in the shape of a… farming tool, by the looks of it.

“What are you doing?” Enthea asks as Scora kicks off her shoes.

“Climbing.”

Enthea watches. Scora’s top joins her shoes. Then her leggings and underwear. She’s naked in the open air.