Chapter Three
Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows at the spit on the floor. Vespera had walked away and stood near one of the white stone pillars, her fists clenched at her sides. The Force trembled with her anger that she hid behind a cold mask, but Obi-Wan felt the crimson rage leak through the walls she hid her Force-sensitivity behind. He scrunched his brow and his chest tightened with a shallow breath. Anakin and Ahsoka handled Valerius and Cathal, leading the struggling young man to the cruiser. Obi-Wan approached Vespera, who tilted her chin skyward. A breeze fluttered a few strands of hair across her lips.
"He needs to be taken to the palace for detainment and interrogation, but I think we should investigate his room more to see if we discover who his contact on Raria might be, if he has one."
"Anakin, Ahsoka, and I can investigate here." Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes. Vespera seemed to want to ignore what happened, though the Force still throbbed with bright flashes of anger and anxiety, slipping through the crevices of her attempts to mask her Force-sensitivity.
"You will not be leaving those Jedi scum in my house unsupervised!" hissed Cathal.
Vespera's eyelashes fluttered as she cut her gaze toward Cathal, who trained his gaze on Obi-Wan. The galaxy regarded Jedi differently. Some planets almost revered them, some viewed them as heroic, some as crazy wizards, some as kidnappers—an insult that Obi-Wan was not fond of—and some people hated the Jedi. Obi-Wan tensed and let the glare of Cathal deflect off his emotional shield, honed and hardened by years of serving the Jedi Order. Something tugged in Obi-Wan's chest. It took him a moment to place it—sympathy for Vespera—and once he did, an overwhelming sadness weighed on him.
"Then Masters Kenobi and Skywalker will accompany Valerius to the palace, and Senator Amidala, Padawan Ahsoka, and I will search the room." Vespera turned to Obi-Wan. "I presume I can trust you, Master Kenobi?"
Obi-Wan dipped his head. "Of course, your majesty."
A ghost of a twinkle appeared in Vespera's eyes. "I do request that you wait to interrogate him, at least until we have more information."
"Agreed."
Vespera leaned closer, so that Cathal—who had returned to his son's side—could not hear. "Keep an eye on Valerius. Cathal has powerful allies."
Obi-Wan nodded and joined Anakin by the cruiser. "Ready?"
Back inside the palace with Valerius in a holding cell, Obi-Wan and Anakin stood in the hall and waited for news from Vespera, Padme, or Ahsoka.
"I knew things were rough for the queen, but I didn't realize it was this bad." Anakin eyed at Cathal, who spoke with a guard in hushed tones.
"Right. She wasn't exaggerating when she said she had very few friends here."
"The way he spat at her…" Anakin grimaced.
"I know," Obi-Wan furrowed his brow. To disrespect a queen like that… Obi-Wan's commlink beeped. He raised his wrist and answered the call.
"Good news," Vespera's voice announced, "we found evidence that Valerius was communicating with someone on Raria. Ahsoka was able to track the signal to the general vicinity of the person's location."
"I'm not sure if that's good news or just steps to advance our investigation," Obi-Wan smirked.
"Have you interrogated Valerius yet?"
"Not yet," said Obi-Wan. Cathal's voice raised to a shout at the guards. "You ought to hurry back. I'm not sure Anakin and I are enough to handle the politics here."
"Are you always in need of rescuing, Master Kenobi?" The smile in Vespera's voice piqued another smirk from Obi-Wan.
"Apparently only on Azyrion." Obi-Wan's mirth vanished when Anakin raised a brow. Obi-Wan ended the comm, and thanked the Force that Anakin chose not to comment on the exchange with Vespera. There was nothing wrong with healthy banter.
When Vespera, Padme, and Ahsoka arrived, King Callan also butted into the investigation. Obi-Wan and his companions stood off to the side while Callan leered down at Vespera. Something about the way Callan's lip curled when regarding his wife made Obi-Wan's stomach churn. He sensed the unease from his friends, too.
"You can't do this to Valerius," Callan seethed.
Vespera raised her chin defiantly. "Yes, I can. He isn't above the law."
"He's the son of a councilman."
"And that puts him above the law?" Vespera challenged. Callan shrank back, though he still bore the ghost of a snarl on his lip. Vespera folded her arms. "Valerius is guilty of breaking the law, and will be handled accordingly."
Callan lifted a spider-like finger in Vespera's face. "You won't have me to get you out of this one."
After Callan swept off, Padme approached Vespera and placed a hand on the queen's arm. "Your husband isn't exactly the romantic type, I see."
Vespera stared ahead. "I don't believe the state of my marriage is appropriate for discussion."
"You're right. I'm sorry." Padme withdrew her hand.
Vespera squared her shoulders. "It seems that everything points back to Raria. If you're to investigate, you'll need me to accompany you."
Her anxiety oozed past the block around her aura. Despite her best efforts to hide her Force-sensitivity, her resolve was cracking. Obi-Wan's stomach twisted. Hopefully the presence of three Jedi had not opened Vespera back up to the Force and endangered her. Or perhaps it was not them at all, but the anxiety that Raria caused. What could be so bad about this moon that had Vespera's anxiety bleeding through the Force?
"Do we need to prepare for a fight?" Anakin queried.
"Unlikely, but with everything tracing back to Raria… I'm concerned that it might be possible."
"Well, in the meantime, we should figure out why Valerius shot our ship down in the first place," said Obi-Wan, stroking his beard.
"That might be a problem," said Ahsoka, her eyes trained past Obi-Wan and Vespera. Turning, Cathal and another man approached.
"Kriff," muttered Vespera. She flashed a smile at the two men. "Councilman Cathal, Esidor, we have not had the opportunity to interrogate Valerius yet."
The other man—some sort of lawyer, by the look of him—stepped around a fuming Cathal. "Your majesty, if I may, Councilman Cathal has requested I represent his son in this case."
"Which you are in your right to do—"
"You are not letting these spoon-benders use their tricks on my son!" Cathal seethed, pointing a gnarled finger in Vespera's face.
Spoon-benders? Obi-Wan exchanged a glance with Anakin and Ahsoka. That was certainly a new one.
"I will be present with them." Vespera sounded like she was trying hard not to laugh.
"Are you mocking me?" Cathal tried to push past the lawyer—Esidor—but Vespera remained nonplussed.
Esidor thrust his arm out to the side. "I will be present as well. We don't want the wizards using any tricks to force a confession."
"That's not how the Force works!" Ahsoka scoffed.
"They're Jedi," snapped Vespera, "and I can assure you, they want the truth as much as I do. You may be present Esidor, but Cathal must remain out here."
But the interrogation turned out just as much of a dead end as everything else on Azyrion. Not only did they not have anything on why they were shot down, but they were still no closer to finding out how exactly Padme's ship got sent into the heart of a battlefield.
"This is pointless," snapped Anakin. "We're not getting anywhere in this investigation."
"I'm sorry," Vespera murmured.
"Your highness," Ahsoka gestured. Vespera turned. King Callan stood at the end of the hall, beckoning for Vespera to join him. Her shoulders tensed, and without a farewell, she left Obi-Wan and his companions.
"She's hiding something," Anakin decided.
"What could she possibly be hiding?" Obi-Wan frowned.
"I don't know, but I sense it. Don't tell me you don't sense something weird about this place or her, too?" Anakin pushed past Obi-Wan and trekked down the corridor.
In truth, Obi-Wan did sense something weird about the planet. The Force hummed with a vibrancy that not many other planets shared. There was something weird about Vespera, too. Mostly, Obi-Wan sensed her walls to keep everyone out. But he also sensed that she carried secrets, dark and heavy ones, that burdened her heart and exuded sorrow into the Force. But what could possibly cause that?
"Master, where are you going?" Ahsoka demanded.
"To find out what she's hiding." Anakin hurried off.
Padme shrugged. "We better go with him."
Wandering a palace without knowing it and without knowing what they were looking for proved almost hopeless. But Obi-Wan relied on the Force to guide them. Whatever they needed to find—if anything—they would.
"Are they even repairing our ship?" Anakin muttered to himself after several minutes of wandering.
"We have been here a long time," Padme admitted. They turned another corner, and another, and then up a staircase and down another corridor.
"You have no idea where you're going, do you?" Ahsoka tilted her head and lifted a brow at the back of Anakin's head.
He twisted and extended his arms. "I'm following my instincts."
"Uh-huh. And did your instincts mean to lead you to a dead end?" Ahsoka gestured at the end of the corridor, where a massive, open doorway led to a library.
Anakin's face brightened. "Wait, that's perfect! Where better to find what she's hiding than an archive?"
Obi-Wan's frown deepened. "If she is hiding something from us, I doubt she kept it on record for easy accessibility."
"She's hiding something about Raria. Maybe there's some information on why Vespera's so scared of that place."
The library yawned before them. Inside, it was even more vast. Bookshelves lined the walls from floor to ceiling. A landing upstairs allowed for perusal of the upper sections of the library. Stars decorated the navy ceiling. Placed at every few bookshelves was a research terminal station that resembled the ones at the Jedi Archives. Rows upon rows of datacards and other sources of information were placed in the center of the library. The outer edges of the library—the one with bookshelves stretching toward the ceiling—contained real, paper books. Vespera must be a collector, because Obi-Wan had not seen so many paper books in one place before.
"We can't possibly sort through all of this," Obi-Wan murmured.
"Let's split up. Anything you can find on Raria within the last—how old is Vespera?"
"Anakin—"
"I'm guessing about early thirties, if she knew you as a Padawan," Anakin plunged on, dismissing Obi-Wan's hesitance. "So look for information on Raria occurring within the last thirty years or so."
Anakin, Padme, and Ahsoka dispersed. Obi-Wan's shoulders slumped and he shook his head. Always on the move. They never slowed down, even level-headed Padme. Anakin and Ahsoka could at least try and use the Force a bit more. With a sigh, Obi-Wan reached out and allowed the Force to guide him through the library. Part of him hoped they found nothing. Vespera was entitled to her own secrets. However, if those secrets directly betrayed the Republic…
In a quiet corner of the library filled with datacards, the Force blanketed Obi-Wan in comfort. Safety. Familiarity. Peaceful. Stretching his fingers out, Obi-Wan grabbed a datacard and his heart dropped into his stomach. Queen Vespera Nuelle Stellavis-Acheron: The Bloodborne Queen.
Obi-Wan approached a research terminal. Bloodborne scratched into his brain.
"Anakin."
Anakin, Padme, and Ahsoka joined after a few moments. Obi-Wan inserted the datacard, which revealed different files. Here was Vespera's reign, divided into neat categories of her accomplishments.
"Civil War?" Ahsoka gestured.
Anakin opened the file. HoloNet articles and holorecordings showed bombings, a younger Vespera on the frontlines of a battle—the first queen to ever do so—a vicious battle between Queen Vespera and Lady Lorelei of Raria that ended in Lorelei's incarceration. A holorecording of the day that catalyzed the war blinked into view: Vespera, about ten years younger, stood on a platform with the then king and queen of Azyrion, her parents. An assassin took out the king and queen, leaving Vespera to kneel at their sides. When she rose from their bodies, blood covered her hands, the new queen of Azyrion.
Padme placed a hand over her heart. "What a terrible way to become queen."
"This explains why she's nervous about Raria being involved," said Anakin, withdrawing from the terminal. "She's scared of another uprising."
"If we find out that Raria does have the backing of the Separatists, that would make this more than just an internal affair for Azyrion." Obi-Wan stroked his beard, unable to tear his eyes away from the blue holographic image of young Vespera, covered in blood.
"The Republic would have no choice but to get involved," Padme agreed.
Ahsoka folded her arms. "I have a feeling Vespera won't like that."
"That's why she's been hiding this," said Anakin, looking rather smug. "She doesn't want another war or for the Republic to get involved because she wants to remain neutral."
"Can you blame her?" Padme put her hands on her hips.
Anakin shook his head. "We should talk to her. This affects us—someone tried to kill Padme twice! No matter the queen's personal feelings and fears, she shouldn't hide this from the Republic."
"Anakin, where in the blazes are you going?" Obi-Wan demanded.
"To confront the queen!"
It did not take them long to find Vespera, because she had been looking for them, too. Obi-Wan sensed the anger rolling off of Anakin in bright red waves. The Force flashed around him in jagged edges. Of course. Whenever Padme seemed to be in danger, Anakin's emotional response looked like this. Or rather, felt like it in the Force. Obi-Wan placed a hand on Anakin's shoulder.
"Anakin—"
Anakin shrugged Obi-Wan off and pointed a finger at Vespera. "I knew you were hiding something from us!"
Vespera widened her eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"The war with Raria! You didn't tell us about it, and that's information that directly affects our investigation!"
Although Vespera usually masked her feelings behind that solid wall to disguise her Force-sensitivity, Obi-Wan felt her composure crack. Red anger flared and stabbed through the cracks of her walls, anger to rival Anakin's. Oh dear.
"Why should I just divulge everything to you? I don't trust you or the Republic, butting in wherever you see fit because you think it's right and just! The Republic is not the galaxy's police force, and anything concerning Raria is an internal affair for Azyrion."
"Unless they're working with the Separatists to attack Padme!" Anakin barked.
"If someone on Raria is allying with the Separatists in any way, they'll be dealt with. But Azyrion's business with Raria is my business, not yours, General Skywalker." Vespera turned on her heel and stalked away, fists clenched at her sides.
Anakin turned and frowned. "What?"
"Anakin, we need her help, and that would work best if she doesn't hate us," Padme placed a hand to her forehead.
"I didn't hear any of you complaining when we were snooping or just now," Anakin glowered.
Ahsoka sighed and looked around at the adults. "Well, what now?"
"Yeah, she seems to like you, Obi-Wan. Why don't you go talk to her?" Anakin's anger gave way to amusement.
Obi-Wan sighed and shook his head, but chased after Vespera. When he caught up to her, he grabbed her gently by the arm. "Vespera, allow me to apologize for Anakin—"
Vespera jerked her arm from his grasp. "Do you always apologize for him, or is he capable of taking responsibility?"
Obi-Wan blinked and withdrew slightly. "Anakin is very capable. I have to admit, all of us were curious about what you were hiding. Anakin was looking out for Senator Amidala and the Republic, just as you are protecting Azyrion. We all have reasons for not trusting one another."
Vespera's eyes cut to a security camera and then away from Obi-Wan. She opened up a glass door to the side and stepped out onto a balcony overlooking the gardens. She gripped the balustrade. Obi-Wan followed her, hands clasped behind his back and brow furrowed. They were out of range of the camera, free to speak.
"There was a time when we trusted each other. We need to again if we're to get to the bottom of this," Obi-Wan insisted earnestly. Vespera's brow creased and she turned her head away. Obi-Wan leaned closer. "As one Jedi to another."
Vespera looked at him sharply, and their noses brushed. Obi-Wan drew back, the pain in Vespera's eyes cutting into his heart. "I'm not a Jedi anymore."
Her voice wavered, and Obi-Wan's stomach lurched with another stab of pity for Vespera. "I'm not sure if one can ever truly stop being a Jedi."
He tried to imagine growing up in the Temple, with the Order to always fall back on, only to leave and rejoin a family he never knew, and to try and forget his identity as a Jedi. All he could envision for that kind of future was darkness, a void. It wasn't possible for him.
"To be a Jedi alone is more painful than you can imagine."
Vespera's life seemed like a nightmare. She had chosen not to cut herself off from the Force. Instead, she hid her abilities. That told Obi-Wan that this woman still felt like a Jedi at heart. This was someone who obviously missed being a Jedi, suffocating in a loveless marriage most likely forced upon her, a crown crushing her head, with not a friend in the world—Obi-Wan wouldn't wish that fate upon anyone. This was someone who he trained alongside, who stressed out about it with him, made jokes to make things easier, fantasized about becoming a Jedi, and passed the trials to become a Knight before him. This was someone who would've made an incredible Jedi—maybe even a Master on the Council. No, Obi-Wan mused with a smile, Vespera probably wouldn't have wanted that. She was much like Qui-Gon in that regard, or even Quinlan Vos. She should've been a Jedi, not a queen.
Obi-Wan placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're not alone. The Force will be with you always."
Vespera slid her watery gaze to his. A sad smile toyed with her lips. "The Force isn't much of a talker."
Obi-Wan smirked. "Maybe you're not listening hard enough."
"Perhaps."
Obi-Wan removed his hand. "Why didn't you tell us about Raria? What are you so afraid of?"
"What do you want to know, Obi-Wan? That my cousin and I were pitted against one another in a war, that I chose to lock her away, that my parents were assassinated in front of me on her orders? I'm sure you and your friends dug all of that up in the archives." Vespera turned her gaze back toward the gardens, hugging herself.
As a Jedi, Vespera was happy. Confident. Here, she seemed so small. Obi-Wan's eyes widened. "You're ashamed."
Vespera's eyes snapped to Obi-Wan's, and he braced himself for a scathing retort, for her to argue like Anakin. Instead, her shoulders slumped and she bowed her head. "It's true what they say: politicians get their hands dirty."
"I'm sure you did what you had to do."
Vespera snorted. "Oh, yes. Of course…" She placed a hand over her stomach. A fresh wave of cerulean sadness leaked into the Force. Obi-Wan's throat swelled at the feelings bleeding through the cracks of Vespera's walls. But just as the overwhelming sadness seemed ready to break Vespera's walls completely, she blocked Obi-Wan out. Straightening and squaring her shoulders, Vespera offered Obi-Wan a smile. "I'll have a ship prepared to go to Raria. Meet in the hangar in an hour."
Obi-Wan parted his lips, but Vespera walked away. As he left the corridor, Obi-Wan forced himself to release the tension in his body. Speaking with Vespera seemed to have this effect on him.
What could Vespera have done that caused her so much sorrow that it bled through her Force walls, like tears desperately held back? Whenever she did smile, sadness cracked through it. There was a time when Vespera smiled and seemed truly carefree. In the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan practiced saber dueling with Vespera from time to time. She used to grin as they dueled, egging the other on, or taunting each other. Whenever he passed by her in the halls, Vespera offered him a grin and a little wave, which Obi-Wan always returned.
Obi-Wan gathered up his readings assigned to him by Master Qui-Gon. As much as he enjoyed missions, Obi-Wan liked the stillness of the Jedi Archives, where he could read in peace. But today, the Archives were rather busy. There were no tables that weren't unoccupied. Obi-Wan approached a familiar blonde head, a smile quirking the corners of his mouth.
"May I sit with you?" Obi-Wan gestured to the empty seat at the table.
Vespera looked up at him and offered him a sweet smile. "Of course. Here, let me move my stuff."
Obi-Wan sighed. Now it seemed that Vespera carried sadness with her everywhere. When Obi-Wan returned to the others, his mind spun. He needed to meditate, to quiet his thoughts, but Anakin had other plans.
"How'd it go?"
"We're still going to Raria. She didn't seem angry anymore."
Anakin relaxed, but his brow furrowed, sensing the busyness of Obi-Wan's mind. Blast the bond between master and apprentice. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing that relates to our mission," Obi-Wan said shortly. Anakin scowled, but did not raise any further questions. Obi-Wan closed his eyes and allowed the Force to wash over him, and quieted his mind to rid it of any anxious thoughts. They had a job to do, and Obi-Wan needed to stay focused.
An hour later, they met Vespera in the hangar. Free of her circlet crown and gown, Vespera looked more like a Jedi in civilian clothes and a messy braid. She greeted them with a tight smile.
"General Skywalker, I hear you're a skilled pilot." Vespera fell in-step with Anakin, who eyed her with a lifted brow.
"The best," he said with a sheepish grin.
"Then you can fly the ship," replied Vespera. They boarded a small ship, and Anakin took his seat in the captain's chair. Vespera sat beside him as the co-pilot.
"You can fly?" Anakin queried.
Vespera's lips twitched. "I know my way around."
"You're full of surprises, your majesty."
"I like to keep people on their toes."
Obi-Wan sat in the chair directly behind Anakin, while Padme sat behind Vespera. Ahsoka sat behind Obi-Wan, folding her arms with a slight pout at being pushed to the back. Once the ship exited Azyrion's atmosphere, and Anakin piloted it toward the moon of Raria, Anakin swiveled in his seat to face Vespera.
"Anything we should expect here?"
Vespera's jaw tightened for a moment. "On Azyrion, I have very few friends. On Raria, I have even fewer."
"Because of the war?" Anakin prodded.
Vespera's shoulders tensed. Obi-Wan furrowed his brow and leaned forward. Vespera lowered her gaze, but Anakin continued to stare at her. "Yes. How much do you know of it?"
Anakin rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, that you and Lady Lorelei were cousins fighting for the throne, that she had your parents assassinated… And you led people into battle yourself."
"You had her locked up, right?" Ahsoka queried from the back.
"Yes. For a time, only someone I appointed was allowed to be the Prime Minister of Raria, but I didn't want the people to feel controlled or exiled, so I let them elect their own leaders. Unfortunately, the war is still fresh on people's minds, which makes me unpopular."
"Wait, if Lady Lorelei is eligible for the throne, why did you have to leave the Jedi?" Ahsoka queried.
Vespera rotated in her seat and lifted an eyebrow. "Remember how I told you lineage is important? Lorelei is not part of the Stellavis line. Not to mention that she is rather bloodthirsty. Some call her mad."
"Oh."
"Coming up on Raria," announced Anakin. He steered the ship toward the landing pad. Vespera led the way off the ship. Obi-Wan reached out with the Force, but he hit a wall around Vespera. So that's why she said to meet in an hour. She didn't need an hour to change, she needed it to meditate to reinforce the walls around her to keep her emotions and Force-sensitivity from leaking through. As if sensing him tapping on her walls, Vespera cut Obi-Wan a sharp glare. Obi-Wan snorted quietly as heat prickled up the back of his neck. Of course, Vespera felt him reaching out with the Force occasionally. Of course, it probably felt rather violating, or at least annoying. He withdrew his presence as an elegantly dressed man approached.
"Your majesty, to what do I owe the pleasure?" The man bowed to Vespera, and she dipped her head in greeting.
"Prime Minister Aleksey, I'm afraid we're here on grave business. We need to find where this signal leads." Vespera handed over a datacard to Aleksey.
His brow puckered as he examined it, but gestured for them to follow him into the visitation center. Sticking the datacard into a terminal, Aleksey pulled up a holographic map of Raria. He pointed to where a beacon blinked with a wide radius. "Whoever received this signal did not want to be found. The signal pinged off several areas within the vicinity of each other to sow doubt on the true location. But it looks like here, on the Eastern Cliffsides, is where you'll find the source."
"Thank you, Prime Minister."
…
They borrowed a set of speeders and Vespera led the way to the Eastern Cliffsides. Raria's terrain was much rockier than Azyrion's. Mountains loomed in the distance. The moon was beautiful, but in a cold, almost foreboding way. And just like on Azyrion, the Force felt strangely charged here. Vespera sped along a winding pathway along a cliff's edge. Eventually, she stopped. Obi-Wan dismounted his speeder.
"We should divide the group," said Vespera, "but no one should go off alone. Once we start climbing down, we'll run into the mine entrance. We'll split up there to cover more ground. Do you all still have the comms I gave you?"
"Yep," said Anakin, flashing his. "You think they're in the mines?"
"It's the only explanation," said Vespera, turning to gaze past the cliff. "That's the only interesting point here."
"Let's get going," said Anakin, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
Vespera dipped her head and led the way along the path that descended the cliff. She hugged the wall of the cliff, and Obi-Wan followed directly behind her. Padme slipped behind Obi-Wan, followed by Ahsoka, with Anakin taking up the rear. At first, the path seemed easy. Then, it started to narrow until Obi-Wan wanted to flatten himself against the cliff's wall. The wind whistled in his ears and blew his hair about his face. The cold sea crashed against the rocks below. To fall would make an unpleasant death.
"Are you sure this is the right way?" Anakin called.
"Yes!" Vespera called back. She held up a hand to signal everyone to stop. "Careful!"
Grabbing a chain screwed into the stone, Vespera stepped onto a wooden plank and shuffled along the cliff's edge. Obi-Wan's stomach lurched. He grabbed the chain and shuffled beside Vespera. The plank groaned underneath his feet.
"The mines are closed, right?"
"Yes."
"I see why," Obi-Wan grimaced and forced himself to not look down. They shuffled along as the cliff curved, and then Vespera dropped onto a walkway extending wide enough to give comfort. Obi-Wan dropped beside her. "Well, that was not the most pleasant hike I've had."
Padme looked a little pale as she dropped beside Obi-Wan. Ahsoka cringed as she peeked over the edge of the walkway. Anakin joined them, his hair ruffled from the wind.
"Miners did that every day?"
"At one point," said Vespera. She continued to lead them until they arrived at the mouth of a cave. Inside, no one spoke until the cave diverged into separate paths. Vespera turned to them. "No one should go off alone. These mines are a labyrinth, and its easy to get lost."
"Alright. Padme, Ahsoka, and I will take the left one. Obi-Wan, you go with the queen."
"Right," Obi-Wan nodded. Anakin, Padme, and Ahsoka disappeared down the left passage. Obi-Wan drew his lightsaber and ignited it before heading down the right passage with Vespera, who checked their tracking device every so often, as if to make sure it still existed. "You don't seem very hopeful."
Vespera cast him a look. The blue glow of Obi-Wan's lightsaber reflected in Vespera's eyes so powerfully that he could not make out their true color. "The mines could lead anywhere. Even if the person who received Valerius's transmission were here, they could be long gone by now."
"Let's hope they're not that smart, then."
They continued their walk in silence, picking their way along the abandoned tracks of the mining shaft. The darkness pressed around them, almost pushing them together. Obi-Wan walked so closely to Vespera that their shoulders bumped every now and then. The rocky interior of the mining shaft protruded in some places, causing Obi-Wan to squeeze closer to Vespera. Then, the shaft broadened, opening into a crossway. Empty tunnels led in different directions.
"Val was a kriffin' idiot."
Obi-Wan deactivated his lightsaber. Vespera pulled him to the side, and they crouched behind a rock, straining their eyes in the darkness.
"He was just trying to warn us."
"Yeah, but we'll have the Republic all over us like flies on a bantha. They're going to investigate. You can't shoot down a Republic ship and not expect consequences."
Two men entered the cavern, carrying a light and boxes of equipment. They trekked toward one of the tunnels.
"The queen planned for this, though. She knew this would happen, and now we're prepared."
The queen? Vespera planned for this? Obi-Wan's stomach twisted as the voices faded. Then, he wheeled on Vespera.
"What did you plan for, exactly?"
"I didn't plan for anything. Obi-Wan, you have to believe me. I have no idea what those two were talking about!"
Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes. "From the sounds of it, you know exactly what is going on. You've led us into a trap, haven't you?"
Vespera's breath tickled Obi-Wan's face. He hadn't realized how close she was. Suddenly, she grabbed his hand, and a wave from the Force crashed over Obi-Wan—Vespera had allowed her walls to crumble and let Obi-Wan in. "I'm telling the truth. I don't know what they were talking about."
He sensed Vespera's anxiety—it made his own heart race—and her confusion. He didn't sense a lie. Underneath all of that, Obi-Wan felt a deep blue sense of loneliness. He withdrew his hand from hers. "Alright. Let's find out what they were talking about, then."
Obi-Wan led the way through the tunnel that the two men exited. As they walked, Obi-Wan rubbed his hand. Being exposed to someone's emotions—connecting with them through the Force—was an intimacy that was hard to prepare for. But Vespera had already refortified her walls in the Force, blocking Obi-Wan out. He clenched his jaw. If those men weren't talking about Vespera as their queen, then who did they mean?
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