Author's Notes: Happy New Year (a little late)! I hope whoever stumbles across this story enjoys the tale. This was a fun chapter to write, as I enjoy writing emotional pieces, and I hope you find it as enjoyable to read as it was to write.

Chapter 13 – The Assassin and the Aristocrat

Sanctuary of Inspired Hope
Planet Tiandul

Gavan moved slowly about the hallway on the second floor of the sanctuary, careful to not tip the tray in his hands that contained a small tea set and a couple biscuits. Gavan felt his thoughts still tumbling and turning, despite the conversation he and Mar'taan had recently shared during the last hour of the night while they had cleaned up the bodies and the destruction. He couldn't help replaying the scene in his mind, reflecting on what they had discussed.

He was the first one to break the silence between them as he was dragging the body of one of the Weequays closer to the entrance. He somehow felt responsible for the attack because he had made himself a distant stranger in the last couple years. So, when his question finally opened the discussion between them, he feared Mar'taan's disappointment more than anything else.

"Which one of us is going to admonish the other?" Gavan asked.

Mar'taan had thrown another half-eaten sweet biscuit into the trash receptacle that he had brought with him from the kitchenette. He regretted that the wasted food that those disgusting criminals had left behind was supposed to be for the younglings, and now that left them with very few treats. Feeling an uncharacteristic anger at himself for his lack of actions to prevent the near-tragedy that took place tonight, he paused in his cleaning efforts and looked to his former student. He didn't want to reprimand Gavan, but there was now a tension in the air, and they both knew it needed to be cleansed.

"It is not my place to discuss your abilities with anyone," Mar'taan answered. "I eventually realized during my conversation with Kaelyn that you hadn't told her what you were. You have your reasons for keeping what you do concealed. The whole lot of you have your reasons, and I have never disagreed with them. As for what happened here, I had never been left vulnerable like this before. Usually at least one of you is lurking somewhere in the background keeping watch. However, in the last couple weeks, the others have been receiving communications and telling me they were called away for missions. The last time I remembered this happening was right after the Empire declared its rule on the galaxy."

Gavan looked to the pile of bodies he had arranged and was grateful that Ponn had offered in the morning to give them proper rights before he made them disappear. "The Empire is reclaiming what it lost after the Death Star was destroyed. It has regrouped and recovered from the loss, making a bigger push across the galaxy."

Mar'taan did his slow blink that he occasionally would when he needed a moment to prepare his words, understanding now why his guardians have become so infrequent. In return, he offered his own explanations for what had happened tonight.

"There is a crime boss named Zendor that has been expanding his syndicate, and for whatever reason he has his sights set on our lands. I have turned down his offers twice. The first time I met him, he came here for a cold, but supposed-friendly visit. He had warned me that not giving him our land would result in a less cordial visit. The second time he sent the Zabrak, as a warning to scare me into changing my mind, but Ainslee had been here to ward him off. What you saw tonight was the third visit, and I do not expect him to end his quest until he has taken what he wants through force."

"He's not getting this sanctuary," Gavan said firmly.

Mar'taan shook his head, knowing exactly what his former student had in mind. "This isn't your battle, Gavan…"

Caught between anger for what had happened and the confusion over losing Kaelyn's trust, Gavan couldn't hold in his pent up frustration any longer. "Whoever this Zendor is, he violated space sacred to me and you and the others. I'm going to end it."

The Duros took a slow breath, knowing that he would not change Gavan's mind. He could see that his former student believed he had to atone for his absences, and he would do that by ensuring safety for the sanctuary and those who lived on its grounds. "Then, I cannot stop you."

Moving now to the contents of the cabinet that had been strewn across the far end of the sanctuary, and knowing he had Mar'taan's blessing to solve the Zendor problem, Gavan knelt down to gather up the beads and the multitude of small flimsi cards that were imprinted with various prayers on them. While the sanctuary did not receive a lot of people who sought a quiet place to pray in quiet, Mar'taan maintained the façade of such a place in case a stray traveler decided that he or she wanted to offer silent words to whatever deity he or she worshipped.

Looking at one of the cards without really reading it, Gavan finally asked the question that had been eating away at him for the last hour. "How is she?"

"Stronger than she appears," Mar'taan replied, knowing exactly for who Gavan had developed such concern and was glad to be off the topic of Zendor and the attacks from his underlings. "Kaelyn is emotionally shaken, as is expected. Yet, I see a strength in her. I believe her fear is because she doesn't understand, but she has a desire comprehend who you are. She has no hate of you. She just needs an explanation."

The Duros stopped what he was doing and moved closer to Gavan, noticing that the younger man had set the prayer cards back on the floor and instead was holding his miniature datapad in his hands. "She troubles you, Gavan. I can see this, but you can't seem to let her go."

Struggling with the decision to look at that data file again, Gavan stared at the black screen in his hands. He had read and reread the information in the file he was given, and while he didn't want to believe any of it, he saw just how much truth it contained.

"She didn't know what I was, not until tonight. I was trying to keep that from her, but I don't know why. I had promised her safe passage to a place where she could start over, but I stalled with it because something about her kept setting off my instincts. I sent her here to be safe, thinking I could keep my life from her."

"You fear she would resent you now that she knows the truth," Mar'taan filled in, despite how Gavan had not left his words open. "And, this bothers you in ways you don't understand."

Gavan blinked in silence for a moment, absorbing the Duros' words and still looking blankly at the datapad, as though it would give him answers that he hadn't considered yet. "That call I received just before Zendor's men attacked was Edee telling me that a file had been sent to me about Kaelyn, and when you left with her, I read the file."

"Tell me what you have learned that has put such alarm in your eyes."

Now Gavan did turn on the datapad, and he accessed the encrypted file. He offered it to Mar'taan, but the Duros refused to take it.

"As I taught you, Gavan, you tell me in your words, not someone else's."

Gavan sighed heavily, and looked to Mar'taan for that strength the Duros always seemed to offer his students. He watched the alien's red eyes blink once in slow motion, and it gave Gavan the time he needed to finally put the words in an order that would make sense. He only hoped that Mar'taan would help him find clarity with what he learned about Kaelyn Wynsridge because right now he imagined he felt as broken as she did the moment she saw what he was capable of doing.

And now Gavan hesitated as he stood outside the wooden doorway that had become Kaelyn's temporary quarters. Mar'taan had explained that bringing hot, brewed tea was a reasonable excuse to have her accept his presence. He also had made it very clear that Gavan needed to go to Kaelyn before anything else happened tonight, and he had expressed that Gavan have nothing but clear intentions to have a discussion. The older Duros had told him that Kaelyn needed to know the truth because it had been hidden from her for far too long. She needed to know what she was and make choices for herself with the knowledge that Gavan could give her from Edee's slicers. And, if he kept secret what he knew, it would make him no better than the people she left behind on Blyne.

Finally building up the courage he needed to tell Kaelyn the truth about her and him and an entire war taking place in secret that he was certain she knew nothing about, he moved his hand to knock softly on the door.

Sanctuary of Inspired Hope
Planet Tiandul

Kaelyn had been grateful for the ability to take a real bath, and she took the offered clothes that Mar'taan had left for her. She was provided a simple tunic in a pale shade of blue that was slightly bigger than she was, as well as a long, flowy, dark tan skirt that brushed the floor as she walked. She gratefully took the clothing and after her bath, she resigned to laying on the bed.

Resting now on her side, her thoughts were rushing with too much turmoil, and she felt entirely too restless to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Gavan swirling around those repulsive attackers. He moved so precisely, so knowingly, and she realized it was his abilities that he had tried to keep hidden from her. He was a killer – an expertly trained one – who was so efficient that the people in the gang never even suffered. And, if Gavan didn't arrive when he had, Mar'taan would have been killed and she would have been enslaved to the gang in ways that made her stomach turn.

Her fingers curled into the soft blanket upon which she lay, and Kaelyn stifled those tears of confusion once more. Edee had told her that Gavan had a good moral compass, and she believed that was why he had been so kind and gentle to her. But, this side of him that was ruthless and cunning had scared her, and she wasn't sure if she now regretted seeing who he truly was. She wondered if she could continue trusting him to keep her safe, and she didn't know if she could even stay here with Mar'taan because Gavan would know where to find her. The question about where she should go to stay hidden from her family and Torace once again filled her with dread because she had gotten no further away than she was the moment she was in hyperspace on Gavan's ship.

Soft knocking disrupted Kaelyn's racing thoughts, and she decided the interruption might salvage some of her sanity. She expected Mar'taan, as she could envision him making nightly rounds to all he welcomed in his sanctuary.

Her voice came out rough, her thoughts still swirling with so much confusion. "Come in."

Gavan slowly pushed the door open and found a small table upon which he placed the tea set. Glancing at Kaelyn, her eyes revealed to him a fear that she hadn't shown him before, as well as a mixture of sadness and confusion and concern about what he would do to her.

"Mar'taan believed you might like some tea," Gavan said, moving slowly and unthreateningly, closing the door behind him. He needed her to see that he would bring her no harm.

Kaelyn slowly sat up on the bed and watched him, seeing nothing of the killer that he was. Instead, he looked regretful, and his concern for her was fully reflecting in his dark eyes. She glanced briefly at the tray he brought, not certain what else to say other than to offer polite manners. "Thank you."

Gavan turned from the tray and brought his eyes to hers, showing her his regret. "If I had known that Mar'taan had trouble of his own, I never would have put you in harm's way."

"I don't blame you for that…" she paused and then let her words fall. Gavan did not deserve blame for something of which he had no knowledge. But, was it fair to blame him for not telling her what he was capable of doing? How was he even supposed to begin telling her that he was some kind of trained killer when their companionship had been so guarded?

Gavan took the air between them and filled in her lost words. "But you do blame me for keeping the truth from you."

Kaelyn could offer nothing else, and she did not wish to put further tensions between them. After all, she was the one who stowed away in his cargo, with no other expectation than finding a place that was not Blyne. There were a number of other space-worthy vehichles in that docking bay, but for reasons she still didn't understand, she was drawn to his ship. The only person she could really blame was herself for blindly running into the life of a man who clearly kept his distance from others, but she had somehow managed to forcefully manipulate herself into his life.

Gavan took the simple, wooden chair in the room from its place against the wall and lifted it before him, aware of Kaelyn watching him suspiciously. He set the chair down and then slipped the holster from over his shoulder, the dart blaster still encased within it, and placed it on the floor. Moving slowly to show her he meant no harm, he removed his long coat and draped it along the back of the chair so that he could show Kaelyn exactly what equipment was beneath it. He watched her eyes scan over him, glancing between the armor around his torso that she had seen briefly at Hurster's mansion, as well as the remainder of the weapons she had no idea he carried: two blasters, a belt with four pouches, and the uniquely-constructed retractable blades upon his wrists. Moving before the chair, he now gently sat upon it, his eyes never leaving Kaelyn. He unstrapped the wrist blades from his arms, and continued to move without making any threatening motions.

"The time has come to offer an explanation, and I can only apologize for needing to keep what I do a secret," he offered quietly. "But, all this equipment is what I use to keep innocents safe in the galaxy."

Kaelyn studied Gavan, watching him seem strangely broken as he set the blades on the floor next to him and followed suit with his blasters and the belt pouches. When she first met him, he was confident, perhaps even arrogant. It was like he had the punch-line to some kind of joke that he refused to share, but during their time together traveling the galaxy, he had softened and seemed to even warm up to her company. While he never told her anything about what he did in regards to his solitude, he still only treated her with a kindness that she sensed he barely shared with anyone. And, then she could have sworn there was a spark in his eyes – something that was more than just simply being concerned for her safety.

"Gavan," she said softly, "I don't understand any of this."

Looking down to his hands for a moment, he gathered his thoughts, deciding how best to explain. When he brought his eyes up again, he found clarity in her blue irises as they now shone with hope for what he would tell her.

"There are numerous factions always at odds with each other all over the galaxy," he told Kaelyn, leaning slightly forward so that the glowlamps from above lit his face with shadows.

The subtle change of position in the light now accented that scar along his cheek, making it seem larger and deeper than it truly was. Gavan's dark eyes blended with the shadows, and he seemed to take on the air of an ancient story-teller. The only betrayal of his youth was the lack of lines along the corners of his eyes, as the sparkle within his irises kept her attention focused solely on him and his soft voice.

"There are battles as old as time itself, regardless of who is leading the charge on either side," he continued, aware of Kaelyn's undivided interest. "The Jedi and the Sith once attracted the most attention before their Orders had dwindled in numbers that may as well be non-existent. The Empire and the Rebellion were built upon that foundation. But, on any given planet in the galaxy, there will always be two opposing factions. The one side always wants to rule by force, to take away one's personal freedoms – to make beings into drones without choices who are forced to follow blindly the rules set forth before them. The other side believes that beings have their choices and should allow for the galaxy to grow and change as those choices are made. My brethren and I believe that no one should be in total control of another's lives and decisions, and our war against the other faction is not unlike the Jedi and the Sith or the Empire and the Rebellion in that regard."

Gavan paused, watching his words absorb into her eyes as comprehension solidified in her irises. Now, the woman who unknowingly trespassed on his ship was ready to understand. "The life you fled was one that would have designated you into an enemy of mine. While you believed you were just running away from a marriage that was arranged without your consent, the forces around you were setting you up for a future in the Templar world – a world that controls others. Your marriage to Torace Rhouse is to elevate him financially within the Templars and see that the children you and he produce become wards of the Templars – should they be considered worthy of it."

Again, he waited and watched while Kaelyn grasped the knowledge that Edee's slicers had spent the last few days investigating – the knowledge he hesitated to share with her until she was ready to understand – the knowledge that Mar'taan insisted she learn.

Taking a quiet breath, he finally told her in simple terms, "Kaelyn, you are the daughter of Templars, and that makes you a Templar as well."

Kaelyn started to shake her head, not understanding anything about Templars, but she abruptly stopped her movements before they started. "How could you possibly know any of this about me when I had been denied such knowledge?"

Gavan braced himself internally before replying, knowing that digging for such information was a breach of her privacy, but it was necessary to ensure the safety of others. "Before I could bring you somewhere you would be safe, I had to be certain that you would not be a threat…"

"I never lied to you," she interrupted with a broken look in her eyes.

"I know," he responded, "But, you also did not know your own past, and there is no way to be certain if you had been unknowingly manipulated to bring harm to the very beings I am trying to protect."

Kaelyn turned away and looked into nothing. Her voice was soft, reflecting the scattered shards in her irises. "Have I ever once given you the impression that I was a threat to you or anyone else?"

Gavan shook his head and felt the guilt of her words pass over him. "No, and that is why I sent you here instead of somewhere else. Kaelyn, I trust you, and I honestly believe you are an innocent who is involved in something beyond your control."

Kaelyn's eyes fell to her fingers, absorbing the sincerity of Gavan's words as she felt her forehead crease in some kind of distant understanding. The pieces started to fit with everything Gavan had told her about the Templars and their way of controlling others, and she understood now the potential threat she could have posed.

"There was no choice in my life," she told him softly, regrettably, seeing beyond her hands to something larger than she imagined. "There never really was. Everything felt like it ended when I was only ten, and then I was told when I was eleven that I was betrothed to him – to Torace."

Gavan took her long pause and continued filling it in, knowing more about her right now than even she did. "Since your birth the Templars were gauging your intelligence, your mannerisms, and your demeanor. They needed to know if you were worthy of being brought into the secret life and what role you would play once there. Had you been chosen for Templar training, they would have started with it when you reached your tenth year. For whatever reasons, they believed you weren't worthy of such training, so they decided instead that you would not be worthy of being anything more than a domestic servant to one of their chosen brethren. It's probably why you were never trained or told about the Order."

Kaelyn did not resist as her eyes rose to Gavan's irises, seeing someone within them that was so different than the man who spun and swirled around six murderous people, and she had mentally dubbed him "the hurricane of death" after that. But, her instincts had told her so differently that Gavan wasn't killing them for fun – he was doing it to save Mar'taan and herself. And, it was only later that Mar'taan told her about the younglings who resided with him at this sanctuary. Gavan was protecting them as well. She took in a nearly-shattered breath at the truth that was there, the way his irises opened and closed between the shadows and the light, and how he was a man who walked a path in both death and life.

Kaelyn took Gavan's words and reflected on them, realizing that no matter how well she performed in her physical and mental studies, she was always considered less than exemplary in her youthful years. She thought she had been keeping up with the physical training and had received compliments from her instructor, but by her tenth birthday her instructor had told her that she had not passed the trials and was not qualified to continue the lessons.

Even her studies were above average in standard schooling, but when she was allowed into the advanced schooling, something in the curriculum had been changed, and she struggled, never able to push beyond the plateau of adequacy. Her father had instructed her tutors to drop her back to standard learning, and to deny her any advanced knowledge.

Her music studies and art studies were inconsistent, and she considered herself just an average child with waning interests that would come and go like the waves from an ocean crashing along the shoreline. And with that realization, Kaelyn now came to the conclusion that her own parents had decided that she could not be anything more than what she had already become. She was a disappointment to them and the Templars of which her family was a part, and they had chosen to see her married within the Order where she might provide worthy heirs to make up for what she lacked.

The pain that struck her at that last thought felt like a knife twisting in her lungs, and she now stood from the bed and turned from Gavan to look down at her hands as they wrung in confusion before her stomach. She had done nothing productive in her childhood, and even in her young life, she had not found any constructive purpose for herself. The pain of being insignificant in her life and on her world sucked her breath away, and brought an agony so hurtful, she didn't even feel the tear on her cheek until Gavan's rough thumb gently brushed it away.

Kaelyn realized that she never heard him get up from the chair, and as he stood before her – a man that was a walking arsenal and a skilled executioner – she saw that there was no longer anything lethal about him. He was now kind, compassionate, and concerned for her in a way that went beyond what she had seen of him at any other point in their companionship. And, as she looked at him, she realized this was the true Gavan – the man that Edee had proclaimed had a good moral compass.

"Do not grieve for the life they stole from you," he told her quietly, hesitating to take his hand away from her smooth skin, afraid to break whatever was happening in this moment.

Gavan had seen how Kaelyn had absorbed the truth of who she was with a dignity that he was certain others never saw in her. They may have begun this insane companionship as two strangers – she a stowaway on his property and he a mystery that he never intended to reveal – but something had changed between them in the last few days, and he was not immune to it, as his soft-spoken manner and his gentle demeanor had arisen considerably from the depths where he protected it. Kaelyn had awakened a kindness in him he had thought was beginning to perish, and at some point she had unknowingly found his threads of attachment that he kept hidden away.

Refusing to break his eyes from her face, Gavan now told her the most important truth he could. "You are free to make choices. Just because you were born within the Empire to a Templar existence, it does not mean you can't choose a different path."

Kaelyn took a steadying breath as her hand reached out to touch upon the hand he held by his side – to connect with the noble man she saw before her. She forced herself not to be curious and trace the jagged lines across his skin, for as much as she could feel the scars beneath her fingers. She would not deny that she felt like she hated Gavan at times, but she could not imagine moving through the galaxy without him.

In some strange way, she was imprisoned on his ship as they traveled together, but she now wondered if she had subconsciously chosen to stay with him because even she knew that there was more freedom in that little room on his ship than there would ever be in Torace's arms.

"If your enemy call themselves Templars," she whispered softly, feeling a pull towards him, despite the uncertainty of finding out if his answer was what she really wanted to know, "Then, what are you referred to?"

Gavan held his breath for a heartbeat, feeling her exhale graze over his lips, as his hand buried within her thick hair, feeling the damp tendrils between his fingers. He heard Mar'taan's voice in his head reminding him that he was only supposed to have a clear discussion about the truth of her Templar lineage with her. Whatever attraction this was between them was not part of the plan, and Gavan wondered if maybe he shouldn't have told Kaelyn about choosing her own path because she had obviously chosen now to step down the one that he knew he should resist, but was finding harder to ignore.

Finding the innocent kindness in Kaelyn's blue irises that he could not overlook, Gavan only hoped that his answer to her question would not scare her away. With a rush of excitement and a tremble of fear, he uttered one word so close to her lips that the syllables forced his lips to graze upon hers with the slightest brush. "Assassins."

Kaelyn found she had more questions, but she didn't want to ask them suddenly, as she was consumed with a trembling that was unlike anything she had experienced previously in her life. Any pursuit for further information evaporated like a mist in the bright sun. Gavan's closeness – the mere breath that barely kept them separated – finally gave out, and whether it was mutual or she moved first, it no longer mattered. As her eyes closed and her lips pressed to his, she felt a gentleness in his strength, and it awakened a longing in her that she had never felt before.

Lost in the hunger of their kiss, Gavan's hand gently pulled Kaelyn towards him, and his other hand broke from hers to curl around the small of her back, lightly pressing her to him. He felt more of her hair spill between his fingers, and he gently deepened his kiss, fighting his need for air so that he could drown in the kindness that consumed her.

Kaelyn gripped his arms, coming to the realization that this single kiss with an Assassin held more passion than she had ever shared with Torace, despite all the years she had been involved in that forced courtship. What she felt with Gavan was raw and strong, wild but tender, and while her lungs longed for air, her lips weren't ready to release him just yet.

Suddenly, reality struck Gavan so hard, he felt the iron grip in his chest, and he pulled back from her, breaking whatever had just happened between them. While he felt her warm breath heavily brushing over his lips and chin, he knew he couldn't get involved with Kaelyn – not like this. He couldn't get involved with any woman, other than the occasional one-night affair. He was no good for a long-term commitment because, while he was experienced enough to survive what he does now, he couldn't maintain it forever. One day he would be destined to cross the wrong enemy or involve himself in the one fight that he would not win.

Kaelyn was not a woman who deserved a man like him. She was honest and sincere and compassionate in ways he had long forgotten existed. She needed someone other than an Assassin and certainly someone better than the Templar obligated to her through doctrines and laws that dictated her commitment to Rhouse. Gavan could not, in good conscience, allow this kind and gentle woman to be led under false beliefs that he would always return to her because if he did, he would be no better than her awaiting Templar.

Kaelyn grasped his arms tighter, looking at him with a mix of curiosity and confusion. She didn't understand how he could just push aside the obvious tidal wave of attachment that had washed over them. She had seen the way his dark eyes seemed hurt and broken as he looked at her, and she wondered how she had done that to him.

Gavan pulled his fingers from her hair and brushed his thumb across her cheek gently, his forehead touching to hers. He then let his hand fall to her shoulder, finding it difficult to push her away, as he fought against the connection he longed to continue having with her.

Whispering now, his soft voice was gravelly in a way that was new to him. "I'm no good for you, Kaelyn. You would be alone more often than you would be with me."

Swallowing down her confusion and breathlessness, Kaelyn hesitated to move from Gavan's touch, but reluctantly, she lifted her head from the heat of his forehead. Instead, she took her hands from his arms and slipped his free hand into her fingers. She brought his captured hand before her and looked down to those few scars along his skin. This time she did trace those marks – marks she was certain he received from training in his youth and conflicts he had survived.

Softly, almost to herself, she admitted, "I'm used to being alone."

Kaelyn's touch was like a healing that Gavan did not realize he needed, and the longer he stayed close to her, the more he wanted to be attached to her, and the more he hungered for the kindness she could give him. "Kaelyn…"

"Torace never allowed me to have a choice," she said, interrupting whatever he planned to say, and only imagining the pain he had endured for each of the cuts that had sliced across his skin to produce the scars. "He never thought of himself as someone I didn't deserve. He told me I was his, and that was the life I was to live. You don't believe you're good enough for me, and it gives me the choice to determine that for myself."

"Kaelyn, you see what I can do, and I know it scares you," he countered, watching as her blue irises looked up again, her eyes meeting his.

He knew he had to fight against this, but he was unable to stop his hand from sliding down her shoulder to reach around her once more. The connection between them was something that had developed its own life, and he could see so clearly in her eyes that she did not want to stop it any more than he did. Whatever this was, it was wrapping tightly around them, almost ensuring that they not walk away from the opportunity to share it.

"And, I see who you are, Gavan," she told him softly, aware of his encircling arm and seeking the comfort that it offered. "You are a good man, and I don't care that your abilities scare me."

The fluttering in her that had started just before that maddening kiss had not relented, and Kaelyn welcomed the trembling, relishing this sensation that she had never felt before. For so long, she had believed that she was destined for a meaninglessness existence with a man who could not stir her emotions. But, somehow Gavan had been able to ignite something in her – a longing and a need that she had believed simply would never exist for her. And as her eyes saw that noble and honorable man in the Assassin before her, she felt a connection unlike anything she had ever known with this man.

Gavan felt the galaxy laughing at him with the cruelest intentions it could throw in his direction. Kaelyn was the most unassuming being he had come across, and every part of him ached for her closeness. She had been bred from enemies he had sworn to stand against, but Kaelyn Wynsridge merely had the blood in her veins that made her a Templar. She was never indoctrinated into the Order and was never given the knowledge that other Templars were taught. It would only have been her breeding that would have made her his enemy, and he saw very clearly that she was no Templar, regardless of her parentage.

Breaking his hand free from her touch, Gavan found his hold again on her cheek and knew he was as scared of her as she was of him. He felt her hair tangle around his fingers and as he closed his eyes, he took a different leap of faith as he leaned forward to continue that kiss he had broken earlier. This time when his lips touched upon hers, Gavan mentally silenced the galaxy's cruel laughter.