"Exari. Let her go."
Words are being spoken. But they have no meaning.
"Exari, she's dead. Let her go."
Firm hands grip his arms, pull him to his feet. He doesn't let go.
"You have to let them take her. You have to let her go."
She's being pulled from him now. Slowly. She's still warm. She's still alive. She must be alive.
"No!" The first scream rips from his throat. That's not his voice, it can't be his voice. It sounds so distant. He struggles against his restrainer. Arms come around him and he's held close to someones chest. Someone. He knows who it is, but it makes little difference.
"No! Let me go!" Someone screams. He screams. His world is getting colder. His world is getting smaller. His eyes are wet, he can barely see now. The arms around him tighten.
He sits in a chair across from Darth Kress' desk. He stares at a small yellow holocron near the edge, he doesn't really see it.
It was only two hours ago that they were walking, Darth Vex was explaining saber techniques. She was alive and breathing and talking. That changed so fast. How could that change so fast?
He didn't even see it happen. She was standing next to him, and then, then she was on the ground. Then there was so much blood.
Darth Kress walks in and places a datapad on the desk. He knows Kress is watching him, he turns his head down. Kress and Vex were much closer then friends.
It doesn't matter now, she's dead. Assassinated because the murderers were too cowardly to approach her and fight fair. They knew they would lose. He feels sick.
Kress spins the datapad absentmindedly. He watches it spin.
"They're giving her seat on the Council to Roosan." Kress begins, he clears his throat, "They believe he is solely behind the attack. He has proof that she was," he pauses, contemplating his next words, "that she was a threat to the Empire. So they rewarded him." Exari hears it. With all the training on Korriban, Kress can't keep the growing anger and the pure disgust from his voice.
He watches the datapad. She worked in secret. Someone told.
Kress sits, leans forward on the desk and rubs his eyes.
He cannot go back to the Jedi, but he cannot stay with the Sith.