Chapter V: Stroke of Fate
The plan was ludicrous, but it was Salia's only chance to prove herself. Lord Tydis, thanks to his vast connections, had learned that one of the dignitaries attending his council was on the chopping block. The assassination was, in fact, scheduled for sometime during the event. The ex-Jedi, whoever he was, would be there, and Salia would have her shot.
At first she'd protested about being there - if this was a council to discuss strategy now that Numitor had died they would probably keep it pretty tightly wrapped in secrecy. In fact, the opposite was true. There would be a banquet first, after which the men would retire to a separate meeting room, and the women and children would stay outside and enjoy the party.
So Salia now stood in front of a mirror, thinking of the plan. Tydis had told her that the Jedi robes would have to go - the party was strictly formal. Like Numitor, he'd given her a rather…alluring dress. Coming up to strap around her neck, the dark green dress left her entire back bare, as well as dipping deeply down her front as well. She had to admit though - she did look good in it. Fortunately, it was cut as to allow her to engage the assassin if necessary. The right side of her dress was slit almost up to her hip, allowing plenty of motion should it come down to dueling.
Thank the Force that Master Yoda can't see me now Salia thought as she turned for the door. Dressed like a member of high society and without either of my lightsabers. She shook her head at that thought. The dress was too skimpy to hide a lightsaber anywhere, so they'd come up with a new plan. Earlier that day Salia had hidden her lightsabers in the ceiling and light fixtures of the dining hall. If she needed them, she had the Force.
The comm on the door chimed. "Mistress Salia? His lordship is ready for you."
Salia took a deep breath and opened the door. On the other side was the man who'd brought her here. He smiled from beneath his thin white beard.
"You look absolutely ravishing this evening, my dear."
"Thank you."
"If you will allow me…" he said, holding out his elbow. She smiled and took it, and the two of them headed towards the banquet.
"Are you nervous, young Jedi?" he asked as the rounded a corner and were suddenly greeted by the sound of a nearby party.
"Anxious, I suppose."
"Well do not worry, Salia, I have my men waiting on a moment's notice."
"And he won't have his waiting?"
"Let us hope not…now…you have a job to do." He put his warm hand on her back as the walked through the entrance and into the dining hall. There were easily about three hundred people, men with their wives and children. Salia was surprised, it seemed to her that no one even let on that their king had been slaughtered last night.
"It is Malorian custom, my dear, to not mourn the dead, but to celebrate their life." the man chimed in, as if sensing her questioning. They turned and headed down the staircase that ran along a polished granite wall. The dining hall was quite beautiful…and…something she'd seen quite a bit of on this planet…lit with torches. It added a certain beauty and atmosphere to the dining hall. Somehow it was much more beautiful at night, when one could look out through the opening in the ceiling and see the stars. On the ramparts she could see a young couple, perhaps a few years younger than she was, kissing tenderly. Looking up, she felt her heart tug just a bit, but quickly pushed it down. She was a Jedi. Love was not for a Jedi, it could be used to breed fear. Master Artur had told her once that that was why candidates were taken from their parents at such a young age. A Jedi could have no family. Glancing up again, she saw an angry parent storm up. Wishing for the two to be together, however, she implanted into the man's mind that his son and this young woman were perfect for each other. With a wave of her hand it was done.
Her companion noticed her smile.
"What?"
"Nothing." she replied, but her smile gave her away.
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, a man came to greet them.
"Gerath!" the man said, shaking hands as old friends do, "where have you been all night?" Obviously he had already started drinking.
"I apologize…I was walking the lady to the banquet." The other man's eyes fell on Salia.
"My my, aren't we the gorgeous one. What is your name, sweetheart?"
"Thireen."
"Nice to meet you, Thireen. I am Parett, the Earl of Echintara."
"If you would excuse us…Parett." insisted Gerath, putting on the air of a jealous date.
"Oh…of course ol' buddy! Hey when you two get a chance, come on over and have a few of these drinks…new Corellian mix." As he turned he bumped into the corner of the bar.
"Thireen?"
"One of the first woman Jedi." answered Salia.
"C'mon…we can have fun over there later. Right now we have a life to save…maybe even Parett's." Gerath said.
"Where would he be?"
"That's the problem…we just don't know in fact we" Salia had stopped listening. Something had just tugged at her mind. He was here…he was in he room. She stretched out, trying to keep a thin line between not finding him and not being found herself. She passed her eyes past the bar where Parett was drinking, and her eyes fell on a man next to him…looked to be in his early forties. Her danger sense went off. That was him, that was the mercenary Jedi that she was looking for. "fact of the matter is that we don't even know which dignitary he's after. Salia?"
"Gerath, let's go have a drink."
"Salia, this isn't the time."
"He's over there. Next to your friend."
"Graying hair, ponytail?" Salia nodded. That was him. Without word from Gerath she started over there. Behind her, he cursed under his breath and followed Salia to the bar.
"Parett? What was that wonderful drink you were telling us about? And I don't believe I've met you yet…" Salia said, extending a hand to the man in the ponytail. He glared at her.
"My name is unimportant." he said, turning back to his drink. Salia decided to try the annoying happy girl approach…she'd seen it work before, so why couldn't she do it?
"Oh come on, party pooper. I just wanna know your name so I can talk to you!" She swatted him lightly on the arm. His head shot back around. He's the one.
"Saraius Yavett." he said grudgingly.
"Well Saraius…that's a nice name. Is it Alderaanian?"
"Dantooine actually." He wouldn't look her in the eye.
"Oh. Never been there. What do you do? You're not a noble."
"Smart girl." Salia smiled and acted all happy.
"That's me!"
"Look, honey. If I tell you what I do, will you leave me alone?"
"Probably not!" At least that time she got a smile out of Saraius. Was he beginning to warm up? She felt his hand wrap around her arm and pull her close.
"Look you little b!tch, I don't want to talk to you or anybody else. I want to sit here and drink my drink. So why don't you just go find somebody else to annoy."
Salia wrestled her arm free. She stretched out with the Force and put a grip on her blue lightsaber.
"Because I'd rather annoy you." she said, her voice changed from that of the bubbly blond back to normal. Her shallow smile was replaced by a look bordering on anger…as close to anger as a Jedi got. "Allow me to introduce myself, Yavett. I am Salia Ara Matea, Jedi Knight." The man's eyes went wide.
"You?"
"That is what I said." she replied calmly. Her face and muscles may have seemed relaxed, but she was wound tight…her reflexes ready. As his hand fell to his side Salia fall backwards - feeling the heat as a yellow blade slashed inches above her body. Instinctively she put out her hands and sprung up on the…flipping away from her opponent.
As she landed on a table, her lightsaber was already on its way to her hand. But Saraius was already on his way as well. All around them, people were screaming and running for the nearest exits. Saraius came across from his left with a heavy downward slash at the table…but Salia had already jumped off…lightsaber igniting as she flipped.
"Are you too afraid to fight, young lady?"
"Without a lightsaber…yes. But now that I have it." Their blades met in a rapid melody of snapping and crackling. It seemed like a blur to Salia as she fought, her concentration so focused that she never noticed the guards run in or Saraius' men bring their blasters to bear. Thus she was caught by surprise when a blaster bolt cut right beside her ear.
In that instant Saraius lifted up and kicked her wrist so hard that she let go of her lightsaber. Before she could react he had snatched it with the Force and hurled it across the room and into the back wall of the fireplace. He couldn't know…
As he turned back around, Salia had another blade in her hands. It ignited with a powerful snap-hiss…its blade white with just a hint of blue in its edge. She brought it up just in time to block a blow from Saraius, who was angry at being caught off guard. The battle raged…Salia was beginning to tire, when suddenly Saraius was gone. He simply vanished behind his own lines of men. And Salia was left to deflect a salvo of blaster bolts.
"Salia! Go after him!" yelled Gerath's voice over the blaster fire. She found cover behind the stone of the fireplace and looked back.
"Are you crazy?"
"Lord Tydis and the others are that way!"
Damn! she thought. She had to get through those guards and then save a bunch of middle-aged nobles from a Jedi…or ex-Jedi. She'd need her old lightsaber as well as her handmade one. She felt it in the fire…lifted it with the Force. It didn't seem all that hot…and in fact it wasn't. The duranium casing bled heat quickly, so she would be able to use it against the guards. A few deep breaths to quiet her mind, and Salia was up and moving, both lightsabers ignited. Saraius' men, noticing the new threat, tracked their weapons towards her. It seemed that time slowed to a stop as the first blaster bolt shot at her. With practiced ease she wheeled her lightsaber and deflected the bolt. Another shot at her…and another. After an entire lifetime of training, however, deflecting blaster bolts was child's play. Two of the men she took down by deflecting their own shots back at them.
She hit the men with sabers swinging, cutting apart their blasters. As a Jedi she was sworn not to kill unless she had to…and these men could merely be disabled. One came up behind her, and was met by a heel in the forehead as she spun around and sprinted off down the hallway.
As she ran she was forced to kick off her shoes - she wished she had her boots - and her Jedi robes for that matter. The air was cooler in this hallway - the passages seemed darker and narrower. As she looked around, Salia determined that two lightsabers was one too many in a place so cramped, and shut her blue lightsaber down, deciding instead to keep the one she built in her hand. Yoda's words flashed through her mind - but the one that she cared about most was not here, so she figured that no harm could be done.
Salia slid to a stop at a corner…peering to look around as she heard uttered pleas for help. She peered around, trying to see through the dark hallway. Even her Jedi sensory tricks were useless. Anger she thought suddenly. Anger, someone, behind! She spun and extended her right arm, lightsaber and all. Mid-spin the person's emotions changed. She could almost hear the mind scream out, telling her to halt her swing. She tried with all of her might. With the momentum at which she swung she was hoping to take off Saraius' head. She got it stopped quickly, but not before it carved out a cylindrical valley at the base of the man's neck that was about a quarter of an inch deep. The Force rippled as he screamed in pain…and it wasn't Saraius. Salia spun around…and there…lay Lord Tydis…neck cauterized by the lightsaber's heat.
"S..Sal…I'm sorry…thought…thought you were him." he managed though the wincing.
"No…I did…I'm the one who should be sorry…looks okay though. Where is he?"
"Don't know…other lords…trouble." She peered around the corner…hung her head as she cursed to herself. Why her? She didn't want to leave Tydis where he was in case that madman was still stalking around, but she had to go save the other lords.
"I have to go save them…"
"Leave me."
"I won't do that your lordship!"
"Now!"
"Not even an option." She replied, words as cold as Hoth itself. Tydis seemed to give up, and snapped his comlink off his belt.
"Lord Tydis, are you alright?" came a voice.
"Gerath?"
"Salia? Is he alright?"
"Been better. Look, Gerath, I need you here RIGHT NOW. I need someone to look over him for me so I can go after Saraius."
"On my way." Salia sat with Tydis for another minute or so until Gerath came running up. Like Linder just last night, he looked at her with that same look.
"Look, Gerath…"
"An accident, I'm sure." he said, smiling warmly at her. "Go get him."
Salia was off and around the corner, headed for the meeting room when she detected something. A buzzing in the back of her head, almost, something tingling. She concentrated on it, trying to focus it. As she got closer to the room it got louder, more persistent. Then it flashed…she didn't have time to react. It was a bomb.
With all she could muster Salia strengthened herself against the blast, and was still thrown backwards over twenty feet. Flame burst down the hallway and shot out far too close to Gerath and Tydis.
After the blast, the nervous racket of the whole area immediately went silent. There were no more screams or cries for help. The only noises that Gerath could hear were coming from around the hallway…Salia. That poor little girl, he thought, to be blamed for so much. With a nod Tydis confirmed that he was alright for the moment, and Gerath snuck into the accumulating smoke to find the young Jedi.
Salia was lying on her side along the smooth floor, coughing lightly. Across from her lay her lightsaber. Gerath slid onto this knees and rolled her onto her back…glad to see that she appeared uninjured despite the beating that surrounding walls had so obviously taken. Her face was smudged with soot and sweat, but other than that she appeared alright.
"Salia?" asked Gerath quietly, shaking her shoulder. Salia stirred a bit, blinking hard as she looked at the older man's face.
"What…where is Tydis?" she asked softly as she tried to regain her senses. Her brown eyes blinked hard again.
"He is fine, Salia. He lies around the corner."
"But Saraius!"
"I have a feeling that Saraius has done his damage for the time being." answered Gerath, looking towards the flaming room. "The question is, are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. A little banged up, but no worse for wear." she said, sitting up with a slight wince.
"Are you sure?" asked Gerath as he helped her to her feet.
"Nothing a little healing trance can't take care of later tonight." she said, smiling through the pain she was so obviously in. "My lightsaber!" her head whipped to find it lying on the floor. She turned back without even picking it up, instead pulling it into her waiting hand. Behind her, Gerath followed slowly as she rounded the corner to check up on Lord Tydis.
"Your lordship, your lordship I am so sorry. I hope that you may be alright." she said, kneeling beside him.
"It is quite alright, Salia…I was the one dumb enough to sneak up on a Jedi in combat. I quite deserved it."
Salia opened her mouth as if to respond, but Tydis stopped her.
"I don't want to hear it, Salia, not right now. You are a good Jedi Knight, perhaps too young to have been given an assignment that has fallen into these depths, but you are promising nonetheless. Now, this was my fault, Salia, and when I send my report to the Council it will say as much. I want you to go take care of yourself, heal up. We will talk in the morning."
"But the other nobles…Ortorex…"
"Will not attack tonight, my dear. Some day you will learn, as I have, to make haste slowly. That other Jedi is on the man's payroll, I have no doubt of it now. This attack tonight was to destroy Malorian leadership, leaving the planet open for the taking. Saraius is expecting chaos. We will not indulge him. And when we do not, he will be back. That, my Jedi, is why you must go heal up."
"I suppose that you are correct."
"Of course I am. I will see you in the morning then…Gerath will come for you." Tydis said.
The rest of the night, the walk back to her room, peeling off her dress, were all a blur to Salia. She'd failed twice now…could she really have done anything though? She cried because she did not know. It took several minutes for her to calm herself, but when she did, she drifted off into a Jedi healing trance very quickly.
Her dreams were wide and varied. It was like a series of images flickering by rapidly. She saw the future, a great war, Jedi fighting an endless army. She saw her true love, and marriage and children, and old age. Yet she felt great sadness. The images sped up again. The abruptly, she saw herself amid the ruins of a castle…dueling Saraius. With a spin, her whitish-blue lightsaber stabbed him in the chest…she saw herself standing off of a cliff face, tears running down her cheeks.
The chirping of the door drove her awake. A bit groggy for a moment, she scrambled to throw her Jedi robe about herself as she answered the door. There stood Gerath.
"Mistress Salia. Good morning to you."
"And you Gerath. How is the Lord?"
"He is doing quite well…he is at his best under such pressure." Gerath failed to explain any further. "He wishes to meet with you, but first I have been told that you must consult the Jedi Council, they have some matters they wish to speak with you about."
"Thank you Gerath, just give me a few moments?"
"I shall be waiting. And Salia…the way you have managed to handle yourself through this charade…it is admirable. There is no other Jedi I'd rather have with us than you."
"Handle myself, after letting Numitor and all but one of the nobles be assassinated?"
"And who would have stopped that? Mace Windu? Obi-Wan Kenobi? What makes them so much better than you? Obi-Wan defeated a Sith. It was his destiny. It was his time. In the same place, you'd have done the same. Perhaps this place, this situation, is your destiny." He bowed and exited…leaving Salia to the holopad. She tied her hair back in a ponytail and then tossed on her clothes quickly. With practiced ease she dialed in the HoloNet code for the Council's encrypted line. Suddenly there appeared all of the council in front of her.
"Ahh, young Salia, interesting news of your mission have we received." started Master Yoda.
"Master, I have been doing my best…"
"Interrupt, you shall not. Always must the Jedi practice patience. Impulse leads to death, or worse."
"We are to understand that there is a mercenary Jedi on the planet?" asked Mace Windu.
"There is. Lord Tydis believes him to be in the hire of Ortorex. The man has a private army and designs on the planet's wealth. So far his Jedi hire has assassinated the king and all but one of the nobles - Lord Tydis. I have been powerless to stop him."
"So we have been told." said Ki-Adi-Mundi, tenting his fingers together.
"While disappointed we are, Salia Ara Matea, understand do we the strain of such a problem. Conducted yourself well under the circumstances does the Council agree. A problem this is, however, that perhaps more than one Jedi requires. Sending a partner are we."
"And who might that be, Master Yoda?"
"A friend of yours, Kestrel Bal'antrell"
"Kestrel?"
"Work well together you do. Find this mercenary you shall."
"We shall do our best, Master Yoda."
"One last question, Salia," asked Master Windu, "What, perchance, was this mercenary's name?"
"Saraius Yavett." Her answer obviously had some effect on the council members, as they looked at each other with that look. "What is it? Who was he?"
"He was once a Jedi, Salia. That is all you need to know." The holo cut off. Salia wanted to scream. There was so much hidden within the minds of the Council. The Jedi Order was to prestigious for its own good. Its members had this drive, this urge to cover up anything bad that happened. She closed her eyes and calmed her mind. It was time to go see Lord Tydis, and figure something out.