The Silent Maiden

Chapter 10

For someone who led many men to battle, his wife was curiously ignorant about men. Just because she told them to get along did not mean they would, and just because she thought of Mical as a little brother and might have had to change him when he was little, did not mean the brat did not still admire her behind her back and watch her with adoring eyes. Atton was pretty aware of what a catch Svana was, and so was Mical, which was not unreasonable, but while the former assassin was more comforted than he expected by his wife's assurances, he could not fathom what it was Svana saw in him. Mical was, he had to admit to himself begrudgingly, handsome, even if rather young and not quite fully matured. He had all the features of a fine man, had that stupid cultured accent and gentlemanly mannerisms that frankly probably fit Svana better than his own scoundrel persona. Sure, the runt was seventeen years old, but in a year he would be eighteen, and then nineteen, and then twenty, while his own wife truthfully looked like a girl in her sweet sixteens even after Atton banged her. Mical and Kylin just…made more sense than Atton and Svana.

It did not help that the twerp thought pretty much the same of the situation, even if his reactions were much more refined than Atton's. He had taken to ignoring Atton at every opportunity, but that gesture was one that was tinged with awareness. Jaq had been in enough situations where Jedi Masters pretended to ignore his presence just to catch him off guard, and he had to learn how to differentiate when his prey was actually oblivious or just feigning it. Mical was definitely the latter, and he did not have the years a Jedi Master had to even hope to improve his acting skills.

Use the wires, Jaq whispered in his mind, Electrocute him. She will never know.

It had been months since Jaq spoke in his head.

There are so many things on this ship we can use, the assassin in him continued. They were on their way to Coruscant on one of the Republican freighters. Mical had snuck them on board the ship with him after talking to his superiors, and as far as Atton could tell, Jossa was unaware they had left Bandomeer. Still, she could follow after—it is hard to miss that the couple disappeared from the planet as soon as the Republican freighters departed from the system. So many ways to kill a man and no one would know it was murder…

But he could not do that to Svana, as much as he did not really care about Mical. Svana had stayed, Svana had forgiven him, he could not let her down.

Svana was exasperated with them both, which was perhaps not surprising. She did seem oblivious of the fact that Mical was attracted to her—older sister's blind spot, perhaps, and usually chastised Atton to be more civil. Still, at nights there was no arguing who she slept with, so Atton had that much. Mical could go off himself and stick with imagining…actually, if that twerp even dared, Atton was so letting Jaq free rein—

'Coruscant,' Svana signed, 'Only been here once, see council,' She leaned against Atton, looking out at the vast metropolis twinkling even as they were entering the atmosphere, some of the taller skyscrapers peeking out past the clouds. 'Never see rest of planet. Should take advantage and go touring.'

He wrapped an arm around her, wondering what phantom pains she was feeling, but when he looked at her face, her expression was content.

She wanted a tour. Did Jedi even tour? It occurred to Atton that however guilty she had felt, his wife probably preferred life with him than life as a Jedi. It was a very happy thought.

'We can,' He signed to her, 'We check out all the sites, see anywhere you want.'

She beamed at him, looking like a child with candy, and Atton remembered her tearful description of Jedi mentality, how they looked at the rest of the galaxy and longed for the things everyone else had. He could kind of see why Svana did not really want to feel the Force again.

The couple looked into each other's eyes for a moment, but then Mical walked in, breaking in almost rudely.

"Ahem," He cleared his throat, "We're landing in a few minutes, Kylin. You should strap in."

'Thanks, Mical,' Svana signed.

Atton scowled. "He still calls you Kylin."

Svana punched him. 'You are hopeless.'

"Yeah yeah…"

The noise of Coruscant hit them as soon as they exited to the landing pad. Atton felt disoriented, partially by the cacophony of the numerous ships and the sounds of the city, but also by the sheer weight of the Force flooding his senses. Svana looked a little lost, but not nearly as affected as he was. He wondered if it was because she could no longer sense the Force.

Mical spoke to his superiors first before calling the two of them over. "My apartment is down that way," He said to Svana.

'We find inn,' Svana signed.

Mical paused at this, while Atton secretly rejoiced. "They're a bit expensive," The blonde pointed out.

'Only stay a little while,' Svana told him, 'Should be okay.'

"If you say so," Mical hesitated, "Really, it's probably better if you stay with me. There's room. Those inns charge a lot."

'No," Svana was adamant, 'If stay too long, inconvenient. Better have our own. We can stop by your place. I want to see your place, then we find inn.'

That was a fair compromise, Atton allowed, and Mical wisely agreed to it. His speeder was stationed in a parking lot, and the three of them flew to his apartment complex.

Mical's apartment looked very much like the home of the bachelor that he was, making Atton think of the tasteful butterfly curtains and the little knick-knacks that adorned his own home. Sucks to be you, kid. Never mind that his own home was probably worse before he met Svana—the point was, he had her now, and Mical did not, even if the brat met her before Atton even knew she existed.

The boy brewed them some tea. Atton did not drink any, but Svana took some while Mical turned on his holocomputer.

"There's no place that's really cheap, so to speak," Mical told them, "But here are a few manageable locations. Let me check the comments…"

Svana looked over his shoulder, while Atton gritted his teeth and restrained himself from pulling her away from him. Better have Svana keep an eye on Mical, in case he decided to send them someplace ratty. He knew Svana use to tolerate such conditions before, considering where she had been living when he first met her, but that did not mean he would condone it. Svana was now his wife. That Mical better watch himself.

"What do you think?" Mical asked after a moment. Svana nodded her head emphatically, prompting Atton to walk over. It was a decent inn, the prices manageable, though Atton was going to have to work some extra hours once they get back to Bandomeer.

"Alright then," He said to the blonde and could not help but smirk, "We'll just be going now."

'Can you fly us there?' Svana asked.

"Certainly," Mical nodded, avoiding Atton's gaze.

The couple took a nap once they settled at the inn. Atton was the first to wake, and he roused Svana by loving her, pleased because for the first time since meeting the blonde, he had her all to himself. Svana reacted to this with some fond exasperation, but she went along with it, smiling through their kisses and surprising him with her clever hands.

She wanted to go out and explore the neighborhood, so she rose afterwards to brush her hair.

'Need to cut it,' She declared, as she examined the split ends. It was trailing past her waist and was slightly tangled.

"I like it long," Atton protested.

She looked uncertainly at her hair. 'Good stylists on Coruscant, never tried as Jedi. Always wondered.'

Atton laughed. His Svana was indulging in some vanity, it seems. "Did you have your hair short or long before?"

'I was padawan," Svana pointed out, 'Short, with padawan braid.'

"Don't cut it. You're not a padawan now."

'I no get padawan haircut!' She wrinkled her nose. 'I get holomovie star haircut.'

"I like it long!" Atton whined. "Don't cut it!" He made a sad face at her.

Svana giggled, blinking at herself when she heard her voice come out like bells. She needed to get over that. At some point, Atton wanted her to stop signing most of the time.

'But first, business,' She said, 'May want to visit temple. Come with?'

They took a cab to the central district where the Jedi Temple faced the Senate building. Svana had decorated her hair a little and put on one of her nice clothes, looking nothing like the long lost Jedi Exile that she was. The Jedi themselves paid them no attention as they stood in front of the steps to gaze upon the tall structure.

Atton had to admit, as much as he hated Jedi (with the exception of one very special someone), the temple was a marvelous structure, soothing to the eyes and calming to the heart. He heard the Jedi Enclave was similar, and imagined his Svana growing up in a place like this, only to be cast out from it for doing what she felt was right. He hugged her as they both considered the building.

Several Jedi emerged from the entrance.

"I want all forces concentrated on the main ship," A human female Jedi was saying, "Deflect the other ships only for the purposes of getting them out of the way so you can attack the main ship. Make sure you are only in one direction—I don't want his ship spinning around chasing you, so if your pilots—" She drew up short, staring at Svana in amazement.

"Well," She exclaimed. "What do we have here."

She sounded imperious and hostile enough that Atton pulled Svana closer to him. The woman was beautiful in her own way, older than Svana and very regal, but in a cold, icy way. She sprouted two dark pigtails, but the juvenile hairdo somehow did nothing to detract from her intimidating look.

Svana glanced at her once, seeming to appraise her, before turning her head away to regard the temple again.

"Don't do that," The Jedi stalked forward, "I know you heard me. I thought you were in exile." Her companions glanced at each other, obviously not recognizing Svana the way she did. "You have a lot of nerve, coming back here."

"Is this how all Jedi talk to people?" Atton pulled his wife close. "Thought they were supposed to teach you guys some negotiation skills, at least."

Svana did not respond, her face an emotionless mask.

"Do you know her?" He asked her gently.

'Shan,' Svana signed. 'Bastila Shan.'

Bastila Shan stopped in front of the two of them, just out of range for Atton to punch her in the face. She seemed to realize something was wrong, because a long silence fell before she asked, "What happened to you?"

"Wandered around for three years after you Council cast her out like she was trash," Atton replied, while his wife remained motionless, "Nearly died of infection. Met yours truly," He cupped the side of Svana's head. "Though if all the Jedi were like you, getting cast out seriously isn't a bad thing."

Shan narrowed her eyes. "They took away your Force sensitivity, didn't they?"

"It's really none of your business," Atton replied.

"It's interesting that you keep talking for her," The Jedi glared at him.

"'They' took away her voice too." You schutta.

Shan seemed speechless at this.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Atton sneered. "Some ship to attack, or something? What do you care if Svana shows up on Coruscant anyway? She has as much of a right to be here as anyone else. Just because you folks cast her out from the Order doesn't mean she's banned from civilization."

"No, but she hasn't shown up for all these years," Shan stared at Svana again. "What are you two doing here?"

"None of your business."

"I'm asking Kylin—or whatever you're calling her—"

"She can't talk, you imbecile—"

'Revan is after me,' Svana signed, 'No know why.'

Shan blinked at this; apparently all Jedi knew sign language or something. "You were his pet. Surprising that he waited so long, to be honest. You were the only one who got away from him."

Atton was this close to stepping forward and punching the Jedi—Force-sensitive or not, he had been Jaq before, and right now Jaq was screaming at him to defend his wife (which was curious in of itself, since Jaq was not the protective type), but something about the way the woman looked at Svana gave him pause.

'I no Force now,' Svana signed. 'No know why Revan wants me, but no defense either.'

To his surprise, Shan heaved a sigh, looking irritated.

"For crying out loud," She muttered, "They shouldn't have done that. The Council—you were just a padawan, and you didn't even fall." She shook her head to herself, and then appeared to think for a moment.

Svana turned to him while the Jedi pondered. 'She was Revan's friend.'

'Why she Jedi then?' He asked. It was not fair that Svana got cast out and this Shan did not, not that he was complaining. Much. Only in the sense that Svana was hurt by it all.

'She no go to war,' His wife clarified.

The other Jedi who were with Shan had moved closer.

"What is going on?" One of them asked.

"A new problem," Shan looked annoyed. "I don't know where you're staying, Kylin, or whatever you're calling yourself, but keep low for now." She stepped closer. "We're on our way to accost Darth Revan and Darth Malak. Force willing, the issue will be resolved before you even have to worry about any of this. I'd ask you to come along," She hesitated, looking grim, "But perhaps the Council did you a favor, in this regard. You seem to have done well by yourself."

Atton hugged his wife close as Shan looked up at him, and he suddenly felt the presence of another mind brushing against his own.

Sith take the lot! He thought angrily, ready to draw up pazaak cards, but Bastila Shan withdrew as quickly as she had intruded.

"A fellow Force-sensitive too," She observed, "But your future…it is clouded."

It was Svana's turn to be defensive. 'He no Jedi,' She signed, 'No power to be seduced.'

That was a bit of a lie, but it was no business of Shan's, either way. The obnoxious woman continued staring at him, even though she was no longer trying to read his mind, or whatever she had been doing.

"You've had enough training to know the signs, Kylin," She said to his wife. "As long as he cares for you. You are no longer a Jedi, and have no need to follow the Code."

"That's right," Atton said acerbically, sick of her judgmental attitude.

Svana reached out to take Shan's hands, surprising the other woman, though Shan did a lot to hide it.

'Force be with you,' She let go to sign, and then reached out to hug her.

Bastila Shan was awkward about it, but she did hug back. "You idiot padawan," She muttered, "Stick close to the temple. I wouldn't go to the Council about this, but if this mission fails, he might still come for you, Force-sensitive or no. I'm sure you're wily enough to get the information you need if that happens."

Svana smiled, though tears leaked from her eyes.

"And you take care of her," Shan waved at Atton absently, "In case I make it back." She did not seem to find it necessary to make sure he understood her, walking away as she spoke, but then Atton had been doing little else other than protecting Svana since meeting the woman.

What a strange character.

'Bastila is softie,' Svana signed to Atton as the other confused Jedi followed Shan away to their ships, 'Puts on show, but softie inside. Thought she might hate me, glad she no hate.'

Yeah, Atton decided, watching as the Jedi powered up their ships, I can see how she's soft on the inside. Maybe. She's still very annoying. Jaq would have loved to put someone like her in her place. But she is Svana's friend…sort of.

Maybe the Jedi were more complicated than he thought.

Svana wanted to go inside the temple to search for other Jedi she had known, but Atton suddenly had that bad feeling—the same one when he sensed Svana might have figured out about Jossa and was planning on leaving him, and the one that had never failed to warn him that something bad was indeed about to happen.

When he was by himself, with only his own life to look out for, he usually reacted by making a mental note and plunging ahead anyway. Jaq was not a minor enemy, and he could survive scrapes—it was what assassins did, and he was a good assassin.

Svana was not really a pushover either, but there seemed to be more at stake. The Jedi had hurt her, and they could twist the blade even more. In addition, Bastila Shan's almost idle comment that they should not go to the Council about this rang with the kind of resonance that alarmed him.

Cowards run away to live another day.

So despite her protests, he dragged his unhappy wife back to the hotel.

'I think I know them better than you!' Svana signed to him in irritation.

"Yeah," Said Atton, "But for some reason you look up to them. We call that sort of thing a 'blind spot', get it? I don't think we're going to keep being as lucky as we have been with blondie and that ice princess."

'Jedi no evil! No idea where you have this idea—'

"Sweetheart," He grabbed her face, "Just because I'm not a Jedi doesn't mean I haven't worked with some, alright? Just trust me for once." It was not a fair statement, considering that Svana was trusting him a lot lately, especially ever since she learned about his past, but his wife did not seem to notice. "My gut instinct is telling me to wait, to keep back, and by the Force, Svana, it's usually right."

She pulled away, rubbing her face in distress.

'Fine,' She signed after a while, 'No up front, but no sit and wait either. If I wait here, will you investigate for me?'

"Alright." It did not seem like anything, but for Atton, that comment was just like a tactician, using resources available in the most efficient way possible. He would be a fool to believe that his wife had forgotten what he use to be, but that she trusted him enough to resort to this, to remember he had skills and be alright with him using them again—it warmed the heart.

'Go with Mical,' She then said, which instantly killed his spirits.

"Really?" He whined. "Blondie?" Being a husband, as it turned out, is sort of a paradox—on one hand he felt a strong urge to protect his wife, but on the other hand he sort of felt like she was his mother and he was a child again.

'He know temple, use to be there, good gatekeeper,' Svana signed, meaning that Mical could smooth his entry to the temple and cut through a lot of red tape just by virtue of being a former initiate. He could not argue with that logic, but still…'He good boy! You so crazy.'

"Ugh…"

Mical was good at cutting red tape. The kid was actually quite crafty. He looked all innocent and everything, but that head of his was unfortunately not filled with air.

"You don't befriend someone like Kylin and not take away a few things," He remarked with disinterest when Atton sneered out this observation. Around them, the Jedi Masters seemed to be preparing to go somewhere, and once they realized Mical was only here to look at some records from a war that was well over, they went back to whatever they were doing without paying the two men any attention.

"Apparently," Atton grimaced. "You two must not have been too close, if you keep calling her 'Kylin'."

"She called me Mical," The blonde said breezily, "I was just always respectful."

They went to the archivist, who remarked on how much Mical had grown before going away to retrieve records.

"She use to be at the Dantooine Enclave," He said to Atton, "Kylin would sneak cookies into the library. She use to get so mad. She's changed a lot, Kylin."

"Yeah, fighting a war and then getting kicked out by one's family would do that to a person."

"I really wish she had come to me," Mical sighed, "I mean…I was young, true, but I was still fourteen. I could have done something. She didn't need to spend all those years by herself."

"What could you do?" Atton exclaimed ungenerously, "She lost the Force. I doubt she wanted anything to do with Force-sensitives, much less you. You wanted to learn from her."

"That's true," Mical conceded, "Perhaps she felt inadequate, but still…not all of us agree with the Council. There was discord, you know, in the Order—at that point I was no longer part of it, but I still had some connections. Shortly after she left for war, there was a great massacre—it's all hushed up now, but some obscure division of Jedi Masters slaughtered almost all of the padawans. Kylin might have been one of them, had she stayed, so going to war—saved her life, and saved my life as well; I don't think I would have been spared had I been a padawan at that point, so her leaving and forcing me to leave saved both of our lives."

Just like the Jedi—hypocrites, Atton thought, even as he swallowed his astonishment. He never heard of any padawan purge, and the idea that Svana had nearly been a victim of it—the Force did work in mysterious ways.

"But when she was cast out, there was talk, too. None of us knew what happened to her, but everyone knew there was this padawan who came back, and the Council threw her out, and even the conservative masters outside the Council thought it was over the top—she was a padawan, a fourteen-year-old at that when she first left, and she came back—Jedi punish disobedience, true, but she came back. At the time I tried to accost Kavar, who was her master before she left, and he gave me the impression that something is going on, more than what it seemed. They gave the impression that she had sinister plans in returning, or something, that she had actually fallen and the Council cast her out because of that, but then she just left, and everyone thought that was just…strange."

"Ever occur to you that maybe your council was just filled with schuttas?"

"Of course it did," Mical looked at him with hard eyes, "Why else do you think I'm keeping Kylin's presence quiet?"

The archivist returned. "Here we are," She said to Mical, handing him a case of chips, "That is everything. Let me know if you need anything else."

"Yes Master," Mical inclined his head, suddenly the epitome of what Atton assumed to be a respectful padawan, or former padawan, anyway. "I'll return these to you once we're done."

"What was her relationship to Revan?" Atton asked when they looked over the files. There was absolutely nothing about Kylin, which was even worse than what Jossa gave him. Mical was trying to logically assemble what might have been left out based on the data they did have.

"There wasn't much of one," The blonde's voice was a bit distracted, "He was more than ten years older than her."

Oh. Well, yeah, I knew that.

"She was pretty famous though," Mical went on, "Her lightsaber skills were tremendous. Everyone wanted her as a padawan, she eventually chose Kavar." He sighed. "Do you know how absurd that is? A padawan choosing her master. It's always the other way around."

"This Kavar didn't vouch for her at all when she faced the Council?"

"He was on the Council."

Bastard. His own padawan, and he did not even defend her.

"In any case, it wouldn't be surprising if Revan knew of her before the war." Mical scrolled down on the computer. He looked back and forth suddenly, and produced a chip from the folds of his tunic.

Sneaky son of a… Atton also produced a chip and slid it to the man. Mical accepted it without a word.

"Did she have any other friends at all?" Atton asked.

"As far as we know, everyone else fell," Mical said ominously, even as he copied the files, "At least any friends from the war. Here…she was the youngest of us to go. Masters blamed it on her pride and over-confidence—everyone else was too cowed to disobey the Council."

"What do you think?"

"I don't know. She was fourteen, and she wasn't a fool. Only an idiot would do something like that out of pride. She went because she had ability, but it was hard for her. She left many friends."

Atton folded his arms. "Including you?" He drawled.

Mical's eyes grew distant. "I wasn't the only initiate she had associated with. There were others."

"Well she contacted you. Why not someone else?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask her?" Mical took Atton's chip to copy the files as well. "There's something very odd about the end of the war."

Atton knew this, but he played dumb. "Oh?"

"Malachor V was the only site of action," Mical pulled up the map of the galaxy, "There were skirmishes around these areas here and here and here, but they were small—the other Jedi were dispatched all over here on this side but they saw no activity for a long time. There were no Mandalorians reported either." Mical frowned. "Why did Revan do that? He sent Kylin all by herself to the most important battle of the war. After that, he pulled his team out to the Unknown Regions without even cleaning up the remaining skirmishes."

"It was a setup, genius," Atton drawled, "The only question is for what."

Mical pulled up the log of Revan's movements. "After Malachor V…when he was heading out to the Unknown Regions, supposedly he made a stop here, based on hyperspace trails…this is around the region of Korriban. They've said they suspect this was when he first started falling, or showed signs of."

The two fell silent for a moment.

"Kylin should take a look at this," Mical murmured.