I always knew this day would come.

I just didn't know it would come so soon. I think back to that moment in the Dreshdae cantina, wishing that there were some way to turn back time.

"Master Uthar told me to give this to you." The strange new student everyone was talking about handed me a datapad.

"What is it?" I said, knowing and dreading the answer. There was only one command Master Uthar would ever give me, and I took the datapad with reluctance.

"Best you see for yourself."

I look at the lines on the datapad again, but looking at it doesn't change what it says.

The time has come. Yuthura is to be neutralized. See to it.

Brief and succinct, that was Master Uthar. I wipe the contents and put the pad away.

And I wait, facing the bathroom. Odd, that a Twi'lek who used to be a pleasure slave -- or so the rumors whispered -- would have such a spartan room. The only luxury she indulged in was her bathroom. Her voice interrupts my increasingly irrelevant thoughts.

"Adrenas."

I stand alert and bow as Master Yuthura brushes past me into her room, and I watch as she removes her lightsaber and places it carefully onto brackets set into the wall.

"Your bath is ready, Master." I'm proud that my voice doesn't betray me, and that the Force doesn't alert her to my intentions. I may not be one of the powerful Dark Jedi who walk these halls, but I pride myself on what small abilities I have.

"Very good. Tomorrow will be a long day." Master Yuthura pauses and a cold, predatory smile crosses her face. I control my shudder. "One way or another, there will be changes here, Adrenas. Great changes."

"Yes, Master Yuthura," I agree. I will agree to anything that would get this over with faster.

I wish this didn't have to happen.

She begins to remove her uniform, and I hear her soft laughter. It still amuses her to see me blush. I take her uniform and I turn to hang it up. Behind me, I hear the water splash.

I feel a sharp pain in my back, and the next thing I know, I'm looking up at Master Yuthura from the floor. The stiletto in her hand is bloody at the tip.

I can't move. I can't feel my legs. My arms are going numb.

"Master?" I whisper, hoping against hope that this was some game, or that I could somehow pull through, and live.

I want to scream, cry, and beg for mercy, for her forgiveness. But I don't. Even now I don't dare show weakness.

She is still half naked as she kneels down next to me. Her face is oddly devoid of cruel humor.

"There's no point trying to deny it anymore, Adrenas. I already know," Master Yuthura says.

"H-how did you know?" I thought I'd given away nothing.

"You're very good, Adrenas. You revealed nothing of your intentions." Master Yuthura gives me a teacher's nod of approval. "I taught you well."

Already she speaks in the past tense.

"That new student who gave you Master Uthar's order told me, otherwise I wouldn't have known," she continues. "You've served me well, so that's why I made sure to use a painless poison."

She rises and holds out her hand. Her lightsaber flies from the wall and nestles into her palm. A crimson beam of light ignites, filling the dark room with its lurid illumination.

"Master Yuthura," I say. The numbness has extended to my face and fingers, and I can barely make myself move my lips.

Master Yuthura waits.

"Y-you... you're very beautiful." There. I said it.

She nods, acknowledging the compliment.

And she raises the lightsaber.