The Hidden Truth
** I have a new beta-reader, and he did a wonderful job. Thank you Scott! **
Chapter 19: the show will go on
**Palace**
Draju gathered his soldiers. This Edi Bignis had told him all he had to know. Now she was useless, but he would keep her alive to witness the death of her brother… She was still laying in front of him shaking to her core. She cried until no more tears were left. The King chose to ignore her constant form of whining; instead, he inspected his troops and declared,
"my soldiers! At last we know where these terrorists are heading for! They are travelling to the ghost-towns!" A murmur went through the rows of the strong guards. This was a fact that scared even these "brave" and "intelligent" guards. Again the King chose to ignore the disturbing noise and continued with his heroic speech.
"The one of you who kills them will be rewarded with wealth, but the one who brings them alive before me will not only be rewarded with wealth, but also with my gratitude." He laid stress on the word gratitude and forced his mouth in to a smile. The soldiers knew what this gratitude meant: A courtly life, as many women as they wanted and enough alcohol to drink.
"But the only condition of my offer is that you'll capture them in the next three days!" Then he clapped his hands and bellowed "let the hunt begin!" The men stormed out of the palace, all motivated by the promises of their ruler and each one of them was carrying a more dangerous weapon than the person in front of them. Draju watched the hasty actions from his throne and was pleased. Now his niece would learn that he would always win and get his will. It would only take some time. His fingers started to itch. How long had he longed for the moment to kill Kyah with his own hands? He regarded his flesh and made some warming-up movements. His creepy eyes suddenly spotted the woman on the floor again.
"You will never succeed, Draju! Kyah will find a way to defeat your darkness and I'm looking forward to the day that I meet you in hell," she spat out. She wasn't afraid any more because nobody could inflict more pain on her than she had done on herself in deciding to go to the tyrant.
Enraged, he kicked her in her side and she coughed blood. Maybe he wouldn't wait to let her watch her brother die. But, on the other hand, making her suffer more for her lack of cooperation. . .
"Guards, take her to her cell," he yelled in to the room.
**Forest**
The trio hurried through the jungle. Obi-Wan always had a hand on his lightsabre and was ready to defend the group. Det had a blaster hidden in his backpack. Kyah hated any kind of weapon, but this time Det had been right to carry one with him. They had to pay attention to their environment and the group had to move as if they were one person. The Jedi tried to explain that serenity had priority and that they couldn't use any fear or even worse panic right now. Kyah felt stiff and her leg began to hurt again, but she couldn't let her focus slip. Sweat was flowing down her nose and her teeth were clenched; nevertheless, she didn't even wince.
"I think we can stop here for a few moments," Obi-Wan told the other two.
"I don't sense any danger right now, so try to relax a bit," he added, looking into Kyah's tight face. Kenobi wandered to a tree and climbed a few branches. He needed to be alone for a while and to call his master. He shut his blue eyes and inhaled deeply. The Force was his ally and it collected itself like a cloud around the Jedi. Then, he prepared a message in his mind in order to send it light-years through the galaxy.
~Master, they are trying to kill us~
He couldn't send more because it was too exhausting, though it had been easier than the last time! His master was nearing the planet fast. Obi-Wan enjoyed this private moment before he slowly made his way back to the ground. The ginger-haired Jedi was sure that his Master would make it in time and within a couple of days, they would be able to communicate over their bond again. But the bits and pieces had to be enough for now…
Tbc..