Witch's Honor
Archive: master_apprentice, TBC
Category: AU (Anne Higgins' Bonding Universe) drama
Rating: PG
Warnings: None so far
Spoilers: None, pre-TPM.
Summary: Qui-Gon and Xanatos find themselves tangled up in
the power struggles of the royal families of Siluria and
Madlaria and the intrigue somehow revolves around Xanatos'
new friend Truani.
Feedback: One can never have too much of a good thing!
Disclaimer: George, you taught me more of about life and
hope than my family ever did. It was your fault I became a
writer. Allow me to play with Qui-Gon and Ben and Yoda
just a little, I won't hurt them, I'll make them eat their
veggies and I won't even muss up Ben's braid. I do this
for love. Taking money for this would be obscene.
Besides, this is Anne's universe and I have the Get Out of
Jail Free card.
A wave of prescience, unfocussed, lanced through Jedi
Master Qui-Gon Jinn as he stood before his apprentice, his
lightsaber raised at the ready, eyes locked with the
glimmering blue-violet of the sixteen-year-old before him.
Sometime, somehow, someday, they would be doing this for
real in deadly seriousness.
The thought rocked him, and for a moment a pain sharper
than any stab wound could be choked him with hopeless
denial.
"Master?" Xanatos stopped and his blue-white lightsaber
blade disappeared as he moved to the side to avoid his
Master's lightsaber and came close, taking the humming
green blade from Qui-Gon's suddenly numb hands, switching
it off. "What is it, what is wrong?"
The touch of Xanatos' hands on his arms, holding him up,
brought him back to the present abruptly. He shook his
head free of the precognition and looked around, then down
at his apprentice. All was as it should be as he searched
the boy's eyes. A willowy, pale creature with straight
jet-black hair, an elfin face, the long-fingered slim hands
on Qui-Gon's shoulders now. Another growth spurt had
recently added another few centimeters and they would need
to stop by Coruscant sometime soon to replace his uniforms
yet again. The usual reserved, guarded watchfulness that
broke only briefly for quick smiles given only to his
Master. Qui-Gon had to suppress a smile himself then.
Xanatos was completely unaware as of yet of the admiring
glances thrown his way by everyone from planetary monarchs
to housemaids.
Or perhaps not so unaware. Or so glacially calm that he
could prevent his own lingering looks. If there was
anything to test the control of a young Jedi Padawan it was
the realization that you were attractive to others who
might want to act on that attraction. Qui-Gon wondered how
long it would be before he'd have to give the Morning After
lecture.
"I'm all right, Xani," he finally said, pulling himself
from his reflections and the lingering feeling of dread.
"The Force trying to tell me something, that's all." He
gave his apprentice a wan smile and a brief hug which
Xanatos returned after a moment. Qui-Gon could feel the
worry radiating off his apprentice before the emotion was
released into the Force. "Come, then, back to work."
Xanatos gave him one more worried look before nodding and
stepping away, activating his lightsaber again and going
back to the ready.
They were practicing this morning in the odd bell-shaped
stone building their Silurian hosts called the "Decision
Hall". It was open to the air on all sides, the dome of
the roof supported by the graceful archways of the outer
walls. High above, at the apex of the dome, a capstone
carved from Silurian rock crystal refracted the bright
sunlight into millions of prismed rainbows around the
interior of the structure. The floor was smooth
flagstones, carefully joined and leveled so as to prevent
stumbles, worked in an intricate design of hexagons. Birds
fluttered through the dome at will. The dome was at the
top of a small hill on the palace grounds of the Queen of
Siluria. A broad tree-lined avenue led up the hill from
the river, acting as a natural funnel to channel the wind
from the plains up the hill and into the dome, providing an
almost constant cooling breeze. It was built to be the
perfect place to hold duels of honor.
Siluria had an active and thriving dueling tradition,
though in these more enlightened days they refrained from
killing or even drawing blood. Disputes were still decided
at the point of a sword, albeit the swords were wooden and
the points and edges on those swords were too blunt to hurt
anything. Qui-Gon had watched the Queen's Swordmaster the
day before at practice with his senior students and was
quite impressed. If the man had Force-talent he'd be
Master-level with the lightsaber, that much was certain.
[Your thoughts are wandering again, Master.]
[Then why haven't you swatted me, Xani?] Qui-Gon
mock-growled back.
The whirling blue flash came too fast to parry and Qui-Gon
felt the sting on his arm as Xanatos' low-power blade
connected. [I just did,] came the laughing mindvoice.
Qui-Gon ducked out of the way with a snort of laughter of
his own as his arm went numb. It was no worse than a light
stun charge but would take several minutes for the feeling
to come back. He quickly transferred his lightsaber to his
right hand and spun as Xanatos continued his attack,
parrying the apprentice's lightning-like flurry of blows,
lightsabers rasping together throwing shadows onto the
stone floor. Xanatos' eyes were almost glowing with the
excitement of the fight, getting much too involved in his
emotions.
Qui-Gon gave a mental sigh and centered himself again,
felt the Force steady him, a welcome invasion. Xanatos'
aggressiveness sometimes got the better of him and he had
to be reminded to control his emotions. A looping, darting
pattern of the green blade as the apprentice pressed his
attack forward hooked Xanatos' blue lightsaber out of his
hands to clatter to the stone floor, deactivating as it
left his hands.
Qui-Gon gave a small smile and a raised eyebrow at his
apprentice as Xanatos stopped, stumbling to a halt,
suddenly disarmed. Xanatos' hand reached out toward his
lightsaber. As his attention wavered Qui-Gon lunged
forward at him again, trying to catch him off-guard.
Xanatos yelped and dived sideways, tumbling in a
somersault to spring to his feet again as the blue
lightsaber flew to his hand and activated in one blur of
movement. And suddenly it was Xanatos on the defensive as
Qui-Gon proceeded to chase him around the Decision Hall.
[Payback's a bitch, isn't it?] Qui-Gon sent with a laugh
as Xanatos yelped again when the green blade connected with
his leg.
Xanatos fell to the floor as his leg went numb and refused
to hold him up any longer. [Just remember I cook your
meals.]
Qui-Gon chuckled and turned off his lightsaber as Xanatos
rolled over and sat up, wincing as the movement made pins
and needles shoot through the numb leg. He dropped down to
sit beside his apprentice, trying to knead some of the
feeling back into his own benumbed arm.
They sat together in companionable silence for several
minutes, the birds flittering above them again now that the
clash of lightsabers had stopped for a few moments. They'd
not had much time to practice together lately in the press
of events here on Siluria. They had been sent here by the
Council to enforce the provisions of an arms control
treaty, a hard-won treaty that both sides already
half-regretted signing. Siluria and her sister world
Madlaria had conducted a sporadic war with a nomadic nation
of ship-gypsies called the Druvan for several generations.
The Druvan mining ships gleaned metal ores and valuable
minerals from the vast asteroid fields between the two
systems and sometimes practiced a bit of opportunistic
piracy on the two allied planets' transport ships. The
situation had been relatively stable until a few years ago
when the ship-gypsies suddenly began using much more
sophisticated weaponry. An arms race ensued, and now
Qui-Gon and Xanatos were here to enforce the peaceful
resolution of the conflict.
Xanatos wiggled his toes a little, testing to see if the
painful tingles were going away yet, glanced up at his
Master. Qui-Gon's eyes were distant, thoughtful, wistful.
Xanatos could all but hear what was on his mind without
having to even peek. [How is Obi-Wan today, Master?]
Qui-Gon smiled sadly. "He tells me he managed ten
back-flips on the balance beam today before Master Yoda
caught him." The sapphire eyes twinkled at this. "And
that he passed his hyperdimensional physics exam, but only
just barely. And that they're serving tanatha cake for
dessert today." Qui-Gon sighed and looked down at his
hands rubbing on the silver of his lightsaber. "We have
been away from the Temple for so long...."
He didn't need to go on. They had been gone a long
time. Almost eighteen months. They'd been back to the
Temple on Coruscant once in all that time, a visit that
lasted three days, almost every waking moment of it spent
reporting to the Council on the missions they'd been
involved in. Qui-Gon had had a grand total of two hours
with his bondmate.
So Xanatos had tried to help by asking about Obi-Wan
nearly every day, trying to keep his Master focussed on the
living reality of his bondmate and not the inescapable fact
of their long separation. Tried to keep Qui-Gon thinking
about Obi-Wan in the present tense rather than as something
small and far away.
The deep tones of the palace time-bell broke the peaceful
birdsong quiet. The birds flittering above them suddenly
winged out of the dome in surprise as the bell rang three
deep chimes and then fell silent.
Qui-Gon nodded and got to his feet, held down a hand to
help Xanatos to his feet again. "That's all the time we
can practice today, Xani. I'm to meet with the Queen's
council at the fourth hour and you must be there too.
Let's go get cleaned up. Formal uniforms tonight, the
Druvan clan leaders will be there as well."
Siluria's long purple twilight was falling as Xanatos
escaped the Queen's Meeting Hall at last with his Master's
admonition not to wander too far off in case he was needed.
He settled his cloak around him again and pulled the hood
up as he left the palace, heading for the grove of giant
greeli trees some distance out in the preserve lands
surrounding. Soon after arriving a month before he'd found
the small spring and trickling stream at the heart of the
grove and ever since had gone there to meditate. There
were several small fountains and pools within the grove
that had been constructed of native river stone, artfully
made to appear natural while providing privacy and shade.
The Queen herself often came here for much the same purpose
that Xanatos did now: to escape for a few minutes' peace.
However, peace looked to be the last thing he was going to
find here this night. As he crossed from the pastureland
into the shade of the trees he began to hear rowdy voices
echoing in the grove. Bright shapes flickered amidst the
trees ahead of him, jewel-tones of amethyst, ruby red,
citrine yellow. Xanatos paused for a moment and considered
turning back before he realized who it was. The Druvan
clan leaders had brought their children with them, a
boisterous bunch of teenage boys and girls who Xanatos
thought privately acted far too young for their ages. Even
Obi-Wan was more mature in Xanatos' withering estimation.
Worse, the Queen's nephew and the son of the Prince of
Madlaria had fallen in with the wild bunch of ship-gypsy
children and now the dozen or so were inseperable. They
made any function they were forced to attend a trial for
all involved.
And, consequently, earned his Master a great deal of
respect for Xanatos' impeccable behavior while earning
Xanatos himself more than a few black glaring looks from
the unruly bunch. Qui-Gon was not fooled. He'd assigned
Xanatos the topic of pride for his meditations until
further notice.
At any rate, peace would not be in this grove tonight. He
began to turn away--
"So, Jedi, running away?"
Xanatos turned back to find one of the group, the Prince
of Madlaria's son Jorn, jumping heavily from stone to stone
in the stream nearby. He was a large boy, much larger than
Xanatos himself, with an unruly shock of red-orange hair.
Jorn was well aware of his status as a future King and
tended to back up his bullying ways with strenuous
swordwork as Madlaria shared their dueling tradition with
Siluria. As the young Prince approached the others of the
bunch behind him saw who he was talking to and began to
call each other and hoot with laughter.
Xanatos regarded the group converging on him
expressionlessly. Jorn was highest rank among them as a
full heir presumptive of Madlaria and so was their leader.
Xanatos bowed to the Prince briefly. "I did not wish to
disturb you, Lord Jorn. My apologies." He began to move
away.
"Found someone else to pick on, Jorn? It doesn't surprise
me."
Jorn's contemptuous laugh then, just a hair short of
insulting. "Should have known you'd show up here."
Another person came up beside Xanatos, a young lady
perhaps his own age, dressed in a simple emerald velvet
dress, her long straight brown hair gathered into a net of
tiny crystals. She carried a printed book in one arm and a
small cloth bag in the other hand. Xanatos couldn't place
the rich alto voice, could only recognize the soft burring
accent of the coastal people of Siluria.
The girl turned toward Xanatos then and nodded a greeting
which he returned with a small bow. "I'm Truani, daughter
of Losani of Tre'al Karth."
"Padawan Xanatos of Telos," Xanatos replied softly. He
sensed an open, generous spirit in her, something quite
different from the various shades of scorn and arrogance
radiating from the gathering group of rowdies. Her face
was oval, thin, strong, expressive. She might have been
considered plain if not for her smiling eyes.
Introductions made for the moment, Truani turned back to
Jorn and gave him a faint frown. "Must you and your
friends disturb the peace of the grove, Jorn? Why not take
all that energy to the Decision Hall and Master Warlan?
I'm sure he'd say you all could use more practice."
Xanatos had to supress a grin. The Queen's Swordmaster
had made a few pointed comments the day before to the Queen
about the truancy of her nephew and the heir of Madlaria in
front of the Druvan clan-leaders. Apparently the two royal
children were skipping sword practice to run wild with
their new friends.
"At least I'll have some kind of honor to fight for when
the time comes for it," Jorn sneered, giving the girl such
an insulting look that Xanatos stepped forward
involuntarily.
Jorn's attention transferred to the young Jedi then and he
laughed, sliding a look at Truani. "Figures you two'd get
along. Come on, let's let the two witches alone. Who
wants to go out to the river with me?"
A chorus of agreement from the rest of Jorn's gang and
they moved off out of the grove with laughs and knowing
looks at the young Jedi and the girl in green, the bright
silks of their clothing a blaze of colors in the gathering
gloom of twilight. When the last of them had passed beyond
the boundary of the trees Truani sighed for a moment and
turned back to Xanatos with a smile. "So, Jedi, what
brings you to the grove? Are you not needed at the talks?"
Xanatos tucked his hands back inside the sleeves of his
cloak. "My Master says not. I come here often to
meditate. I find it difficult to do so within the palace."
Truani nodded. "I can well believe that with all the
guests from Madlaria and the Druvan. Even when it is just
the palace folk and the family it can be a bit hectic. I
find it hard to concentrate myself." She lifted the small
cloth bag in her hand to show him. "Plus my grandmother
has asked me to see to the koi in the contemplation pool."
"The fish?" Xanatos asked.
"Yes, they were brought from the south and need certain
minerals that aren't found in the water here," Truani
explained. She was leading the young Jedi down a nearby
pathway. Xanatos hadn't yet explored this particular
section of the grove and blinked in surprise as they came
out of the overhanging greeli leaves into a tiny
rock-strewn valley thick with moss and ferns. A small
waterfall bubbled at one end of the valley down over a
sizable chunk of granite into the deep glass-green water of
a shallow pond. The other larger boulders had been sublty
arranged to provide convenient places to sit around the
little valley. The fluffy white of hyacampa blossoms
seemed to float like clouds around the little valley, the
soft lemony scent pervasive but by no means unpleasant.
The pathway lead down a stairway of stones to the edge of
the water and across several stepping stones to curve
around the other side of the pond. It was almost a little
world to itself here, cut off from even the remainder of
the grove.
Truani had stopped at the top of the stairway with him as
he looked at the little valley. "It's beautiful," Xanatos
said quietly. "The Queen's foresters and gardeners outdid
themselves here."
Truani gave him a sunny smile. "That they did." She
started down the stairway toward the pond. Xanatos
followed after a moment.
"I must tell my Master of this place," Xanatos said as
Truani put her book down on a nearby rock and began to open
the bag she carried. The koi were beginning to gather in
front of her in the water, obviously well acquainted with
the routine.
"I'm sure my grandmother wouldn't mind if the Jedi came
here to meditate," Truani said as she sprinkled the fish
food into the water. "She knows you wouldn't do any harm,
unlike those vandals that hang out with Jorn."
"Ah. You are one of the Queen's grandchildren?" Xanatos
asked.
Truani sighed a little and her expressive face became
quietly saddened. "In a way, yes." After a moment she
continued. "My father was Prince Risham."
"Ah. I see." Xanatos said in understanding. The Queen's
first son and heir, Risham, had died many years before in a
skirmish with the Druvan. Common knowledge had it that the
young prince had died without an heir, but a dozen years
later a lady from the coast had presented herself at court
with a little girl she claimed was Risham's illegitimate
heir. As the royal family's favorite summer manor house
was only miles away from the village the woman and child
hailed from it was more than possible. A genetic scan had
confirmed it.
Jorn's enigmatic comment about honor became clear to
Xanatos then. "Why did Jorn say we were witches?"
Truani snorted a most unladylike laugh at that and tossed
another handful of fish food to the gobbling koi. She
gestured back at the book she had brought. "The Madlaria
are a superstitious people. Anyone who doesn't fit in is
almost always called a witch and treated with a great deal
of suspicion. I'm perhaps a bit stranger than most, and
you Jedi are of certainty considered dangerous and
unpredictable."
One corner of Xanatos' mouth twitched upwards at that.
"Yet they are willing to accept my Master as enforcer of
the treaty?"
Truani shrugged one shoulder. "The Jedi are known to be
honest and impartial. And we need such in dealing with the
Druvan."
Night-blooming flowers were beginning to unfold around
them now as the forest sank further into gloom and the
first stars were beginning to appear amidst the waving
canopy of leaves above. Birdsong and the chitters of
insects began as the last light slid behind the distant
horizon. Xanatos closed his eyes for a moment and breathed
deep of the quiet and the coolness of the rising breeze.
When he opened his eyes again it was to find Truani looking
at him consideringly, her arms crossed on her chest.
Xanatos raised an eyebrow. "Yes, my lady?"
Another unladylike snort of laughter at the title he had
given her. "I have often wondered what the life of a Jedi
must be like. I should be screaming mad before the year
was out if my lifework was playing duelmaster for every
squabble in the galaxy."
Another twitch that almost became a smile. "I have often
felt the same way. Were it not for the Force...well. Best
not to think on might-have-beens."
Truani arranged herself on one of the larger rocks. It
was only when she curled one leg beneath the other that
Xanatos realized she was barefoot. "Is it permitted to ask
of the Force?"
"In some aspects, yes," Xanatos answered. "There are some
things I cannot tell you, but what I can say I will."
"Ah, good. How is it you feel this Force?"
Her sharp curiosity surprised him, the almost scientific
order of her thoughts and questions. The book she had been
reading proved to be a comparison of philosophies from many
different cultures of the Republic. As the granddaughter
of the reigning Queen she had been surrounded by tutors and
teachers from the moment she had been proved as her
father's child. While no one ever expected her to rule
Siluria none would think of denying her education and
training. And Truani was the sort who absorbed everything
with which she came in contact.
"I have not seen you at the talks," Xanatos said, half a
question.
Truani shrugged and he could barely see it in the dark.
"I did ask to attend, but Grandmother asked me to watch
from outside the Meeting Hall. She says I have 'eyes to
see with'. Her words. I'm to be watching the Madlaria
especially. That's why I showed up here at the grove
today, because I was following Jorn and his gang."
"Not to feed the koi?" Xanatos asked.
"That too."
They sat in silence for a long moment as the wind rattled
the leaves of the trees and ferns around them and the small
waterfall chuckled. Xanatos felt something, some sort of
presence, unfocussed, gathering in the little valley,
tendrils of some sort of faltering power. He reached to
touch the Force and felt the answer.
"Does your grandmother realize your 'eyes to see with' is
in fact Empathy?" Xanatos asked quietly.
Truani turned to look at him and he felt the unfocussed
power brush about his mind, testing the truth of his words.
"Grandmother knows I have...insights. She finds those
insights of use, and I am happy to tell her of my thoughts.
But Empathy? I would call nothing so nebulous by so
definite a name."
Xanatos nodded once. "It is Empathy. I have felt such
many times. Many Jedi also have this ability, though it is
not exclusive to us of course." He tossed back his Padawan
braid absently. "My Master has somewhat of the ability,
among others."
"And you?" Truani asked.
"I have other abilities," he said easily. "For one, a
fine sense of time. We have been out here far too long.
It is nearly midnight."
Truani snorted a laugh at this, looking away, and Xanatos
suspected she was blushing. "Well, a witch has no honor or
virtue so fear not for my reputation."
"If this is so it applies to me as well," Xanatos said
with a grin.
"Ah, we're as bad as that lot of vandals that follow Jorn
around!" Truani said with a fine show of disdain, imitating
the disparaging remarks of the Queen's Swordmaster. "Next
it will be playing pranks on the kitchen workers and hiding
the Chamberlain's keys!"
"Or souring the milk and turning new wine to vinegar,"
Xanatos added. "As we are witches."
Truani hopped off the rock and scooped up her book and the
bag of fish food. "Happy to be one!"
Xanatos nodded again. "I too."
Qui-Gon sensed the tentative brush of the Force beyond the
door of their rooms, allowed the touch to slide over and
around him without resistance, hiding his presence. A
moment later the door opened silently and Xanatos slipped
inside quickly, glancing around in the dark of the suite.
Qui-Gon didn't move at his place in the shadows of the
window seat in the corner of the room.
Qui-Gon touched the small lamp on the table beside him and
the yellow light caught Xanatos halfway across the room.
The apprentice froze in midstep.
"What's her name, Padawan?"
A moment's pause, then, "Truani, Master. She is the
Queen's granddaughter, her father was Prince Risham, the
one who died many years ago."
Qui-Gon quickly hid his grin as Xanatos turned toward him
slowly, eyes focussed on the floor, obviously expecting to
be reprimanded. "I've met her. A charming young lady."
"You sensed her Empathic powers as well, Master?"
Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow. "No, I didn't. I have felt
some sort of presence occassionally at odd moments in the
talks but it was usually too fleeting to trace." Back to
the lecture, he reminded himself. One brush with the Force
at his apprentice and he reconsidered. "I trust you
enjoyed yourself?"
Xanatos gave him a long expressionless look. Fatigue made
his mindshields shaky enough that Qui-Gon sensed the brief
surge of annoyance rising quickly to anger. But the voice
was as controlled as ever. "I did, but not in the way you
were obviously hoping." With that he gave his Master a
brief bow and turned toward his room. "Good night,
Master." And the door clicked shut behind him firmly.
Qui-Gon somehow managed to keep his laughter silent, but
it was a near thing.
The bright morning was noisy with songbird chatter as Xanatos hefted his Master's
pack and slung it over his shoulder for the short walk to the landing grid behind
the royal palace. "Master?"
"On my way, Xani," Qui-Gon said as he came from his room, swirling his cloak
on as he walked, one hand holding a datapad and the other a fruit pastry from
their breakfast tray, juggling both as he somehow got his cloak on without dropping
any of it. Nodding to his apprentice as he took another bite of breakfast he
followed Xanatos down the hallway toward the courtyard and the landing grid.
"I'm to inspect Clan Tsori's transport first. A converted Aldharan troop transport.
I have the feeling all these Druvan ships are nightmares of jury-rigging and
kit-bashing. I've no idea how I'm supposed to judge power readings and performance
factors if they aren't using standard equipment."
"I fear you shall have to investigate every power spike on the ship, Master,"
Xanatos answered with a grimace. "If you do not they may have hidden something
that you cannot detect in the background fluctuations." He glanced back at his
Master worriedly. "This is a job for a team of technicians, not one Jedi Master."
"Unfortunately true, Padawan," Qui-Gon said with a nod. "But I am the only one
all sides trust to carry out these inspections." They came around the corner
of the Queen's armory then and out onto the broad cobblestoned lane leading
to the landing grid. On the grid now sat a most improbable shuttle. The small
craft looked like someone had managed to weld a pair of ion engines onto the
underside of a squashed ovoid and then painted the whole thing in a wild psychedelic
patchwork of neon colors.
[One wonders if the real 'secret weapon' is the Druvan sense of artistic expression,]
Xanatos sent with laughter in his mindvoice. [Maybe that paint job is meant
to have a stun effect.]
[So long as stun is all it does I can't order it disarmed,] Qui-Gon answered
with mock-anguish.
Xanatos' mouth twitched but he caught himself just in time. Turning, he handed
his Master his pack as the Clan Tsori pilot got up from his perch on his ship's
landing gear, waiting for the Jedi Master to board. "Be careful, Master. Remember
these are ship-gypsies."
Qui-Gon nodded and turned so that only Xanatos could hear him as he lowered
his voice. "Xani, I want you to stay close to the Queen while I am gone. The
other Druvan clans are still here and these people have been at war for generations.
Try not to get in trouble." He gave Xanatos a knowing smile. "Perhaps you can
practice with Swordmaster Warlan while I am gone."
Xanatos gave his Master a raised eyebrow at that. "Are you certain you wish
me to, Master? When you return I may be able to defeat you."
"That's the idea," Qui-Gon answered. He put a hand on Xanatos' shoudler, gave
him an affectionate squeeze, and turned to go.
[May the Force be with you, Master,] Xanatos sent as the tall form walked up
the rampway of the wildly-painted shuttle. Qui-Gon sent a swift acknowledgement
as the hatch closed behind him.
Senara Queen of Siluria raised one spidery hand without taking her eyes or attention
from the elder Madlarian Prince as he expounded to the room at large on the
benefits the Madlarians and Druvan would gain from this newest treaty. Xanatos
came forward instantly from behind the throne to lean close so the Queen could
speak to him in a whisper.
"Yes, my lady?"
"Fetch a page and send to find my granddaughter," the Queen said softly. "I
wish to see these proceedings through her eyes."
Xanatos half-smiled. "I can go myself to fetch her if you wish, Majesty."
The Queen glanced up at him at this with a fleeting smile. She was on the far
side of middle age, beautiful still though her beauty was starting to fade,
her famous natural silver-gilt hair cascading around her in a waterfall of ice
threads over the dark blue Silthan silk of her simple gown. A lifetime spent
as Queen of a world at war had put steel in her carriage and ice in her blood,
but there were times when she was the doting grandmother. "Yes, Jedi, go to
fetch her yourself. Look for her at the Decision Hall first, the youngsters
should be taking their lessons about now."
Xanatos bowed in acknowledgement and headed for the door silently, nodding to
himself in approval as Swordmaster Warlan immediately moved to the Queen's side
protectively, his hand resting on the pommel-stone of his auralanium longsword.
As per the Queen's suggestion he went first to the dome-shaped Decision Hall.
There were far fewer young people taking their lessons there than there should
have been, only a double handful where the floorspace should have been filled
with sword blades and darting bodies. And Truani was not one of those few who
practiced under the goad of Master Warlan's senior assistant.
Neither was the young Prince of Madlaria, Jorn. Nor any of the Druvan children.
Puzzled, Xanatos began to retrace his steps back toward the palace, wondering
where Truani might be if not in the Decision Hall. He had not seen her at all
today, but he had been with the Queen since his Master had left earlier in the
day.
For no reason he could put a name to, he felt there was something very wrong.
He stopped at the elaborate and beautiful gateway entrance to the preserve lands,
looking up at the odd sinuous lines of the woodworking, the way the figures
in the carving seemed to twist and writhe without moving. Tucking his hands
inside his sleeves, he began one of his Master's quick meditation exercises
and allowed his puzzlement and faint worry to dispel into the Force, then allowed
his inquiry to drift into the Force as well.
The answer was definite. Go to the grove, to the koi pool.
He spun on his heel and was through the gate in an instant.
Qui-Gon glanced down at the readings on the sensorpad he held, frowning at the
irregular spikes of power. There was no corresponding identification of the
source, the sensors couldn't pinpoint exactly what kind of device was pulling
the power. He glanced up at the cabling running down the claustrophobic little
corridor and took a handlight from his toolbelt. As he'd suspected, the ceiling
grates hid a crawlspace above.
"Open this," he instructed the Druvan clansman who accompanied him, gesturing
up at the grating just above his own head. The gypsy gave him another in the
man's seemingly endless succession of disgruntled grimaces and climbed nimbly
up the cabling brackets on the wall. A tug on a hidden release lever and the
ceiling panel was moved aside into the crawlspace above. Qui-Gon pulled himself
up through the opening revealed easily, knelt just inside the space as he set
his handlight to illuminate the space before he tried to stand. Already he'd
bashed his head on things too much today.
He smiled a little as he felt a familiar inquisitive presence impinge on his
concentration, a feeling very much like a curious eleven-year-old had just poked
his head inside a doorway to get a look at what was going on, hoping he wouldn't
be caught. [Yes, imp?]
A mental shiver of a giggle. [Sorry. Are you all right?]
[Quite all right, Obi-Wan. These Druvan ships would give the shipwrights of
Corellia nightmares.] Another smile then as he swept the handlight around the
irregular space filled with humming enginery and shadows. [Not to mention their
idea of decoration.] He flashed his bondmate an image of the Druvan shuttle
he'd travelled in earlier and smiled as he felt Obi-Wan having a giggle fit.
[Xani thinks that's their real secret weapon.]
[And you had to fly in that?] Obi-Wan sent, his mindvoice breathless from his
giggles.
[Fortunately the operational condition did not correspond to the decoration,]
Qui-Gon answered. [I love you, Obi-Wan, and I will talk to you later.]
A sigh from the boy as he heard the unspoken order. [I love you too, Quigee.]
And his presence faded from Qui-Gon's thoughts.
Turning his thoughts back to the matter at hand, Qui-Gon soon located the source
of the irregular power spikes. There was some sort of jury-rigged device wired
into the the engine components here, small indicator lights blinking erratically
on the control panel ziptied onto a support strut nearby. Wires and chipboards
had been secured into a gutted droid chassis, connected by a dozen cables to
various terminals on the hyperdrive components.
I am not an engineer, Qui-Gon told himself for the thousandth time that day.
I am a Jedi Master who nearly failed starship mechanics class thirty years ago.
He could all but see his old Master's small wrinkled green face smiling up at
him teasingly, expectantly, measuringly.
Damn. Admit it, Jinn, you're out of your depth, he grumbled to himself.
It could mean another month or two of negotiation to get the Druvan to allow
independent engineering teams into their ships, but Qui-Gon had to stop fooling
himself that he knew what he was doing. Too much was at stake here and he'd
not allow the Silurians or Madlarians to come to harm simply because his stubborn
pride would not admit he couldn't handle a simple ship inspection. Xanatos had
been right this morning, this required a team of techs, not one Jedi Master.
He started back to the waiting Druvan clansman, recognizing his own slight anger
and disappointment. He had so much wanted to get this over with so he and Xanatos
could go home.
'Desire and fear, the ruin of man are these,' he quoted to himself
ruefully from his old Master. Well all I desire is to go home to my bondmate.
But duty must come first.
"Ah, but Lord Jedi, it was only a modification to the hyperdrive." The Tsori
clan chief had been trying to stall for time for the last half hour. It was
clear to Qui-Gon the Tsori did not wish him to give up on the inspection. He
felt a sort of furtive anxiety well covered by the usual Druvan bravado and
evasion. But how much was typical ship-gypsy chicanery and how much was outright
cover-up?
"A modification I could not decipher," Qui-Gon said quietly as he retrieved
his cloak from where he'd thrown it over a railing at the entrance to the ship's
engineering section. "It is clear to me that this ship has been modified for
possibly several generations of your clan, and I suspect that the great majority
of those modifications have gone undocumented. I am not an engineer and I am
unable to determine the function of many of these devices. Therefore I will
insist that your ships be inspected by a team of technicians and engineers from
the Republic starfleet."
A vague wave of nervous denial swept through the dozen Tsori clansmen gathered
around him in the cramped engine room and Qui-Gon suddenly sensed other presences
moving in the crawlspaces and catwalks around him. But the Druvan gave no real
outward signs of that nervousness and fear other than a few quick furtive glances
between some of the younger men at the enginery consoles nearby.
Qui-Gon marked the reactions swiftly. So that was why the Druvan had insisted
he be the one to carry out the inspections. They had taken the gamble that he
would not know much about engineering. They'd hoped he wouldn't know what the
majority of their modifications entailed and that he'd dismiss them as harmless
or unrelated to weaponry. But a team of starfleet techs would not be so easily
fooled.
Now it was imperative that he call for independent inspections.
"I wish to return to Siluria," he said, tucking his hands inside his cloak sleeves.
"The negotiations will continue--"
The green lightsaber blade flashed into existence, flaring actinic light in
the shadows, deflecting the stun bolts fired from the crawlspace above and behind
him. Too late, he realized it was a distracting tactic as something sharp and
heavy struck unseen, and darkness clawed him down.
to be continued...