Chapter Forty-Four
Obi-Wan's body immediately shifted into battle mode as Aalea advanced on him. The clash of their swords echoed in the cavernous room. Obi-Wan quickly ascertained Aalea's fighting style. What she lacked in strength, she made up for in speed and agility.
As he parried one of her strokes and made to counter it with a swing, she spun away from him; then she flipped over his head and engaged him from behind. He turned to meet her.
Her eyes never left his. Good, he thought. She had been taught to keep her attention on her opponents' eyes.
They exchanged a flurry of blows and hits. He had to admit, she was quite good and, he also noted, her expression never changed; it remained calm, almost serene, her eyes locked on his. He twisted away as she tried a movement that should have knocked his sword from his hand.
Aalea's eyes widened slightly at his having anticipated the move. But he had recognized it. It was one Qui-Gon had taught him. He was not surprised she knew it. His master had instructed her on many things when she was a child.
Aalea engaged him again, her movements swift and precise, but Obi-Wan had already detected a vulnerability in her style. She frequently left her right side exposed.
As their swords rang and clashed against each other, he slightly unfocused his thoughts so that nothing would appear in his eyes that would warn her of what he was about to do.
Then, quickly, he thrust his sword towards her left side. Aalea was caught slightly off-balance as she twisted to parry the lunge. Obi-Wan then attacked her right side and, as she moved to parry that, he knocked her sword from her hand. It clattered to the floor.
Obi-Wan raised his blade and pointed it at Aalea. As was the custom, he addressed her.
"Do you yield?"
She stared at him for a long moment, her chest heaving, her eyes boring into his. Then, quick as a flash, she reached out her hand and, using the Force, called her sword back to her. She raised it en garde to him.
What was she doing? All right, Obi-Wan thought grimly, if a sparring was what she wanted, a sparring was what she was going to get.
As he and Aalea dueled about the gymnasium, Obi-Wan noted out of the corner of his eye that all of the Sylvonnan guardsmen were now watching them.
Just then, Aalea swung at his legs, apparently having noted his attention had wavered for a moment. Obi-Wan jumped and leapt over her.
Aalea spun around, her braid swinging. He saw a brief flare of anger in her eyes. He would caution her about that later.
As Aalea attacked him, Obi-Wan noted once again that she left her right side open. He made a mental note to discuss that with her also. This time when he exploited her weakness, he used a different maneuver, but the result was the same. Her sword clattered to the floor.
"Do you yield?" he asked again.
Aalea lifted her chin and boldly met his gaze. Obi-Wan groaned softly when, her violet eyes blazing, she reached out and drew her sword back to her hand.
They battled about the room and, once again, Obi-Wan disarmed her and asked if she would yield. This time she answered him by not only calling her sword back to her hand, but flipping over him.
The guardsmen cheered. Obi-Wan sighed.
As they fought this time, Obi-Wan slowly, but methodically, guided her towards the wall. This time he was determined to end their match.
He had restrained himself before, in deference to her inexperience, but now his sword was a blur as he forced her backwards. He saw she was breathing hard as she frantically tried to match his strokes.
When he had her where he wanted her, he swiftly disarmed her. This time, however, he dropped his own sword, grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her against the wall to keep her from leaping away from him.
"All right, Aalea. That's enough. Do you yield?"
"Yield?" she gasped, her chest heaving. "To you? Never!"
She raised her chin as she glared up at him.
Obi-Wan looked down at her and squeezed her shoulders. By the Force, she was willful. How had her master put up with her? Aalea stared up at him, her violet eyes flaring with defiance. But, he noted with surprise, she was also trembling under his hands.
He looked down at her lips which, he saw with a tightening throat, had parted slightly and were also trembling. His gaze lingered on her mouth. How had Queen Samar described it at the audience? Like a warm ripe fruit, just waiting to be plucked and tasted. Obi-Wan's heart thudded in his chest. He looked back into her eyes.
They were still burning with insolence as she gazed up at him but, oh, he thought, they were also so dazzling and so incredibly beautiful. As Obi-Wan leaned closer to her, he thought he saw something else in her eyes besides her usual impertinence, something soft and alive, like a rose just beginning to bud. He gripped her shoulders tighter.
"The prize is won, young master Jedi. She is yours. Take her," a voice suddenly cried out.
Obi-Wan turned his head. The guardsmen were looking over at him and Aalea, broad smiles on their faces.
Obi-Wan knew that to the Sylvonnans his and Aalea's sparring had looked like some kind of love-play and, now that Obi-Wan had defeated her, they expected him to claim her as his reward.
He looked back at Aalea. She frowned darkly at him.
He let go of her shoulders and turned to the guardsmen. Suddenly a line of dialogue from The Scarlet Baron of Corellia popped into his head and, for a long time afterwards, Obi-Wan would never really know what possessed him to say it. Maybe he had just wanted to knock some of that insolence out of her eyes.
"I fear I have yet to prove myself worthy of such a prize," he said, gesturing towards Aalea. "The battle is won, but the war remains to be fought." He bowed slightly.
The guardsmen applauded, their laughter ringing through the gym.
"Well said," one of them cried out.
As the guardsmen turned away, Obi-Wan looked back at Aalea. She had moved away from the wall and was glaring at him.
"Prize?" she cried. "Prize? How dare you, Obi-Wan Kenobi! I am no one's prize. Especially not yours!"
"I meant nothing by it, Aalea. I only said it to appease the Sylvonnans. You know how they are." He cocked an eyebrow at her and tilted his head. "Or would you rather I had done as they asked and taken you?"
Her violet eyes darkened as she stared at him.
"I would have liked to see you try," she replied slowly in a low voice.
Obi-Wan crossed his arms.
"You know, Aalea, if you had just yielded the first time, none of this would have happened."
"Oh, so now it's my fault you had to go off and start blathering like one of those puffed up noblemen from those awful Old Republic holovids."
"No, but----"
She abruptly turned away from him and walked over to where her sword lay on the floor. She picked it up. Obi-Wan noted she kept her nose in the air as she walked with stiff dignity past the guardsmen over to the sword rack, but they only smiled at her as if they expected her to be insulted.
Obi-Wan picked up his sword and took it to the rack. He then went over to his things. As he clipped his lightsaber onto his belt, he looked hard over at Aalea where she stood waiting for him.
"Aalea, where's your lightsaber?"
"In my quarters."
Obi-Wan drew on his robe.
"It's not wise for you to be separated from your lightsaber."
Aalea crossed her arms, her lips thin with irritation.
"I'm not separated from it, Master. I just didn't think I needed it to do my exercises. I knew they had practice weapons here."
"That's not the point, Aalea," he said firmly. "A Jedi must always be prepared for any contingency. Remember what we discussed before, how we must always be on guard while we're on this mission."
"I didn't think a war was going to start while I was in the gym, Master," she said irritably.
"From now on I want you to have your lightsaber with you at all times. Is that clear?" he said.
Aalea inclined her head. When she raised it, her gaze was scorching.
"Perfectly clear, Master," she said evenly.
"Good. After you've showered and changed, come to my quarters in the Tarkasian complex and we'll discuss tonight's banquet."
"As you wish, Master."
Aalea bowed, turned and marched out of the gym. Her braid danced along her back and the end of it, Obi-Wan noted with a tightening throat, twitched bewitchingly over her taut rear.
As he walked out of the gymnasium, Obi-Wan was not surprised to hear more laughter coming from the guardsmen. He sighed heavily.
To be continued.....