CHAPTER ELEVEN

Peaceful Rest

Lenora spent the rest of that day and night and part of the next in a bed in the prison's infirmary. The bed itself was actually taken from the guards' facilities. The doctor recommended the bigger and higher quality accommodations would aid healing.

The infirmary consisted of one large room with twenty beds arranged in two even rows. Lenora was stationed in the first row near the entrance door. She wore only a hospital gown. It was made from a stiff poor quality material but compared to the usual prison fare provided it was comfortable. The blankets were itchy but warm and she slept most of the time anyway.

The medical treatment provided was primitive by any standard. The doctor was able to seal the injured gums quickly which went a long way toward calming the pain from her teeth, but he was not sure her body would be able to repair the damaged roots. He feared she might lose the teeth that were exposed.

Her cheek was actually stitched closed. A technique she had never seen before but it was necessary to close the injury to stop the bleeding, the doctor explained. He said a second surgery will be required to see if the severed nerves and muscles could be repaired. Until that time she would have no sensation or control of the right side of her face. The bandages were thick and still required changing every few hours as the wound was still bleeding slowly. Most of the larger arteries and veins were reattached and stitched as well.

Other than the still throbbing pain, the time in the infirmary was her most peaceful on Hutta. She slept for the first time, finding rest under the watchful eye of a team of prison guards acting as her personal security force, all in their spare time, for free. Her meals were purchased from a nearby restaurant and served to her in bed. All other patients were removed so she had a private room. The warden checked on her several times to be sure she was comfortable.

The warden arrived in her room for a third time this day. The frequency was suspicious, especially coming so late in the evening. He was as nervous and shifty as usual and smiled at her warmly.

Lenora couldn't follow his pacing across the floor. She had to keep her head on her left side, with her back toward the door. She could only move her mouth on the left side and it was difficult to speak clearly. It took some time to work up the nerve to endure the pain of a conversation.

"What do you want?" she mumbled out.

"Well, you do look comfortable, all things considered. Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"No," she answered the frustrating question for what seemed like the tenth time.

"I see," he said as he paced around the room again wiping his nose.

"What?" Lenora mumbled again, a little louder.

"It seems we have a dilemma on our hands, don't we?"

"We?"

"Well, yes. It took only minutes before the whole prison heard of your display. Only hours to reach outside the prison walls. Seems like everyone on Hutta believes there is a Sith in this prison. Needless to say, there's quite a demand for your services."

"I don't care."

"Perhaps you don't, but I'm responsible for your safety, yet I no longer feel you are safe here."

"No Hutt's willing to protect me?"

"Plenty. And any who don't will seek to have you killed. No Hutt would allow a rival to get you. I'm afraid the calls for your head get louder by the hour. There will be assassination attempts, very soon I'm sure. I don't know how long you will be able to stay safe."

"I'll just kill whoever steps through the door."

A rustle of noise outside the door caught the warden's attention.

"Ah! You have a visitor."

Lenora exhaled loudly.

"Tell him to leave."

The warden laughed nervously.

"I can't do that, as much as I hate to anger you."

"Yet you are," she threatened.

"Yes, but sometimes you must accept some risks to avoid others."

The door to her room opened abruptly. Heavy armored footsteps struck against the floor. Lenora felt the steps vibrate up into her bed. She could not immediately see who entered but a feeling of dread filled the air.

"Ah, yes. Here she is," the warden presented Lenora.

When Lenora's eyes met the gaze of Darth Talus she bolted up out of bed. Her body filled with power. Adrenaline blocked the pain from her cheek. Once her bare feet touched the floor she seized the hospital bed, the heaviest object she could find, and hurled it at Talus with tremendous force.

He sped out of the path. The bed crashed hard into the wall cratering the point of impact and sending metal pieces scattering all over the room. The warden hit the deck and covered his head with both arms.

Talus collected himself after completing his dodge. The sudden attack took him by surprise and his escape was by the narrowest of margins. Lenora threw one hand forward and sent a Force Push at him. He countered with a push in the opposite direction but Lenora's attack area was much more concentrated. Her smaller region of power punched through Talus' diffused counter and slammed dead center into his armored chest. The impact staggered him backwards. Only the wall close behind saved him from being knocked down completely.

Lenora saw his lightsaber hilt as he staggered backwards. She focused on it trying to pull it from his side. It pulled free from his side and moved towards her but Talus managed to grab it with his hand before it got out of reach. Lenora immediately followed up with second Force Push. This time Talus was ready. He countered perfectly, canceling out the attack and responded with a blast of power directed back at Lenora.

The invisible wave of power surged out from Talus as an ever expanding cone. The blast launched everything in its path that wasn't anchored to the floor backwards, including Lenora, slamming it all hard against the back wall. Her back made contact with the wall about the same time her head hit the ceiling. The impact from the Force Wave tore all the stitches from her face opening the wound though not dislodging the bandage.

She lost her bearings after the impact and couldn't catch herself. She fell face-down on top of the pile of medical equipment that formed under her. Her shins banged against some metal bars. Her hands reached for the floor but her chest dropped on top of a metal cabinet preventing her hands from reaching it. She felt something cold cut a streak through her exposed thigh as she rolled off the pile onto the cold hard floor.

She rolled onto her back. The hospital gown caught on the corner of something sharp. She tugged it loose and pushed it down pressing her thighs together to hold it in place and rolled onto her side with her back to Talus. She took a deep breath. Blood trickled into her mouth. She parted her lips and let the trickle continue to find its way onto the floor.

Talus was still poised for combat. His ferocious expression was unchanged. He stared down at Lenora waiting for her next attack but it never came.

The sudden silence gave the warden the courage to uncover his head and cautiously look around. He saw Lenora laying on her side and Talus menacing the room. The center of the infirmary had been completely cleared of all beds and rolling racks of equipment. Believing the battle over the warden stood up and wiped his nose.

"Well, I see," he said to no one. He reached into his coat to produce a small datapad and offered it meekly to the Sith Lord. Talus snatched it out of his hands still keeping his gaze on Lenora.

"Yes. I will be leaving then. I'm sure you two have much to discuss," the warden said as he dismissed himself and scurried out of the room.

Talus stalked towards Lenora. She could feel his footsteps through the floor getting closer. She kept her eyes closed half expecting a death blow or perhaps a painful assault of some kind. Nothing happened.

Curiosity finally overwhelmed her so she sat up and adjusted the gown again to get some material between the floor and her skin. The blood flow changed direction now dripping a slow steady trickle onto her chest. Talus gave her one more look over and then walked a few strides away leaving his back to her.

He waited until the people he could sense outside the room, including the warden, were far enough away not to hear his voice. He stared out the window at the dreary Hutta sky.

"A shameful condition for a warrior to be in," he started. His voice made Lenora's stomach sink but she said nothing in reply.

"Do you have enemies among the Jedi?" he asked her. "I ask because I don't see why they would subject you to this."

She still refused to answer but a picture of Master Sesh appeared in her mind's eye.

"A rumor that a Sith was discovered in a prison on Hutta was brought to my attention. That, of course, is impossible but I thought it might be you. I see I was correct."

Lenora remained silent and let her hate for him increase with every word he spoke.

"No doubt pretending to be a Sith has brought you a measure of peace. I wonder how long you will be able to maintain such a ruse."

"What do you care?" she growled at him through clenched teeth and then winced with pain.

"About you? I don't," he assured her and walked to another position in the room closer to the door.

"It's clear you will die here long before your two years are completed. Do you agree?"

Lenora shrugged and let her hands drop into her lap.

"I'm here to help you, Jedi."

"Help me?" she laughed.

"I actually have a proposition for you I believe you'll find agreeable," he continued as if she had said nothing.

"It's about Anise. She's dying, slowly. Every day she slips further away from me. I'm afraid she won't last much longer than you will. I need her to live."

As he spoke his voice betrayed the slightest emotion, almost concern, buried between the words and his harsh tone.

"When she was with you," he continued, "she was much more animated. She spoke; she listened to the directions you gave her. I've never been able to find another to affect her the way you did. I want you to do so again."

"What?" she mumbled again from one side of her mouth.

"I can have you legally transferred into the Empire's custody."

"You are out of your mind."

"The offer is genuine."

"So I could be tortured by the Sith?"

"Not at all. I would take you into my personal custody. I could guarantee your safety. You need only help me with Anise. In exchange you can live, quite comfortably I expect."

Lenora's temper flared again. She bent one knee and pulled herself back onto her feet, then took several slow measured steps towards him.

"You put me here so you could force me to babysit your Evanni?"

"I put you here?" Talus asked as he turned to face her. His merciless stare stalled her forward progress.

"How do you suppose I did that?"

"This was your plan?"

"Are you suggesting I knew you were on Alderaan, I knew which city you were in, knew what cantina you would have lunch in, at what time? Had two weaklings wait for you to attack them? I'm flattered you think me so insightful to pull that together but I'm afraid you've misjudged me. I'm an opportunist, nothing more. And this," he said motioning to the room, "was Sesh, not me."

Lenora walked to the back wall and sat on one of the beds that were clumped together with her back to him holding her head in both hands.

"If you leave with me you will be treated by competent doctors, be free from abuse for the duration of your sentence, even if Anise dies, you have my word you will remain unmolested."

"And what good is the word of a Sith?"

"What have I ever said to you that was false?"

"You killed Master Sar'on. I know you did," Lenora spoke the accusation but with sadness, not anger.

"You saw the recording of my final battle, did you not?"

"No."

"Well I can provide it to you. It's been entered into the official records. The recording was sent to the Dark Council only minutes after it occurred. I had no time to alter it. It will show I finished the battle against Vuull and his apprentice alone. Master Sar'on was already dead. Would he not have joined the battle with me had he been able?"

"I don't believe you. I never will."

"Fine, believe what you wish. But consider my offer. Stay here and die. Or come with me and live. If I wished to kill you I would have done so already. You're in no position to stop me. Keep Anise alive, finish your sentence in peace, then go back to the Jedi."

A silence passed for nearly a minute. Lenora's mind raced playing out so many possibilities, none of them good. But she had already decided staying in prison meant death. What could the Sith do? What could Talus do that would be any worse? She wondered if this was the Will of the Force at work. She did manage to find him on Nar Shaddaa. He found her on Alderaan.

"What are your terms?" she asked.

"You're in no position to bargain with me."

"I can leave here any time I choose. I can walk right out the front door, pick a Hutt and make him the richest crime lord on Hutta. I think I can live quite comfortably here."

Talus smiled behind her back. If they were negotiating, then he already had her.

"Do that and you'll never be able to return to the Jedi. You'd be expelled from the order. Come with me, and you can return to your faction a free woman in less than two years' time."

"I can't do this," she said quietly as her head sunk lower.

"The terms are you will be my prisoner. But to everyone else concerned you will be my Apprentice. You will assume the identity of a Sith. Enjoy the privilege that comes with such a title. Anise will be your charge. Outside of this you may do as you wish."

Lenora looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath.

"I'll be identified as a Jedi the instant I'm seen by a Sith."

"True, but there are no Sith on Kote except by my order and I will not allow anyone else to arrive. The planet is useless to the Empire. It is quite conceivable that you will not encounter a Sith for the duration of your visit."

"Conceivable. Not certain."

"No."

"You'll keep me secret, huh?"

"You must pass as a Sith. Both of our lives will depend on your cover. If a Jedi is discovered among my properties I can be accused of being a spy or incompetent. The penalty for either is most likely death. The last thing I want is for you to be discovered."

"You're risking death based on how good I am at lying?"

"I need Anise for a while longer. My life is already at risk. Adding you is improving my odds. But if you fail and are discovered then we both die. If you succeed, we both live. What could be simpler?"

Lenora stood up from the bed again and faced Talus. The two stared at each other both probing the others' mind, both defending.

"I want you to train me as you train the Sith with lightsaber combat," Lenora demanded. They were words Talus hoped he would hear.

"Why would I do such a thing?"

"If I go with you, I will leave when my sentence is over and I will return to the Jedi with knowledge they don't have."

"You wish me to train you to be a better adversary?"

"I need an incentive. I'm quite prepared to die here. You need to offer me something more than my life."

"A strange request. Lightsaber techniques, not our command of the Force?"

"I have no interest in the Dark Side. I can counter that with my Jedi training."

Talus crossed his arms in front of his chest and stroked his chin with one armored hand.

"So you will agree to be transferred into my custody, assume the identity of a Sith, while caring for Anise. In return, I give you your life and training in Sith saber techniques. At the end of your sentence you return to the Jedi. Is it agreed then?"

The sick feeling in her stomach returned. She had no idea what to expect if she agreed. This was going into the belly of the beast. She didn't trust Talus but they already worked together twice without proof of betrayal and staying in this prison was a death sentence. She wondered what Dorian would make of the transfer. Would he contact the Empire and try to find her? Would that blow her cover?

"What if I can't save Anise?"

"If you cannot save her, you will be free of that obligation. The remaining terms will remain in place. Maintain the disguise until your time is served."

Lenora turned away deep in thought. She hugged herself and tried to push the fear down inside. She nodded weakly.

"Agreed. Sign this document and we can leave at once," Talus said as he extended his arm holding the datapad.

Lenora walked cautiously towards him and took the datapad. She moved back to the bed and started to read through the terms of a prisoner transfer. Most of the language was too specific and written in a legal jargon that made it difficult to fully understand. She skipped through it and found the relevant section which required her signature to make the transfer to Empire custody legal. With several deep breaths and choking back some emotions she signed.

"You will be transferred immediately to my ship. You will board as a prisoner. After we leave Hutta we will reintroduce you as a Sith to the crew. I'll make preparations with the warden."

Talus called to his men through his communicator. A few minutes later the warden arrived in the room and both he and Talus signed as witnesses the document Lenora had signed. With that formality completed, Lenora Cyntesa, as 'Marsha Vost' was now a prisoner of the Empire.