First Knight - Part Fifteen
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Anakin turned, his heart thumping at the sound of that harsh, imperious voice. Lady Tsara stood in the doorway of the sitting room, her wrinkled face blazing with both anger, and surprisingly, what looked like fear.
"Mother," K'lia cried. He quickly went over and took her arm. "You've returned."
"You know how remote Lujsaso Province is, K'lia. I came as quickly as I could once I'd heard Onara had gone into labor."
Then her black eyes glowed with a predatory glimmer.
"Has the child been born?" she asked eagerly.
"Yes, Mother, a boy."
Tsara clapped her hands together, her face upturned to the ceiling.
"Praise be to the gods. A boy!"
"But, Mother," K'lia went on sadly, "Onara is---"
"What are they doing here?" Tsara asked sharply.
"Who?"
"The Jedi," she said, waving brusquely at Anakin and Obi-Wan. "They have no business here." Then her eyes widened. "You can't let them take him, K'lia!"
"Take him? Mother, what are you talking about? Take who?"
Tsara went over and stood in front of Obi-Wan, her wrinkled lips working.
"I won't let you have him," she hissed as she gazed angrily up at him. "If that's why you've come, you can just turn around and go back to Coruscant."
"I came to see Onara," Obi-Wan said tightly, his blue-gray eyes darkening. "And I'm going to see her."
Obi-Wan turned towards the bedroom. Tsara made as if to stop him, but Anakin grabbed her arm. She glared up at him.
"Release me, young one. Or I swear, you will live to regret it."
Obi-Wan had stopped, but K'lia nodded for him to continue into Onara's room. Obi-Wan looked over at Anakin and, for a moment, the young Jedi thought he was going to be reprimanded for having grabbed Lady Tsara. However, Obi-Wan said nothing. He opened the door to Onara's bedroom and, closing it behind him, went inside. Lady Tsara jerked her arm from Anakin's hand and whirled on K'lia.
"Why are the Jedi here, K'lia?"
"I asked them to come. Onara wanted to see Master Kenobi. She's dying, Mother."
"Dying?"
"Yes," K'lia said sadly. "The physicians say there's nothing to be done."
"Well, these things happen, K'lia. Women sometimes die as the result of childbirth. Look at Onara's mother. It happened to her."
"But this could have been prevented, Mother. The Jedi Healer who examined her said that if Onara had received the proper medicines, she would not be dying."
"Proper medicines? For what?"
"The baby has a high midi-chlorian count. It's a trait of those who are Force sensitive. It affected Onara, drained her of her life energy. That's why she's dying."
"The baby is Force-sensitive?" Tsara whispered. Her eyes glimmered. "A child who has the ability to use the Force will one day rule our province?"
Tsara clasped her hands together and Anakin could see it was all she could do not to jump up and down with glee.
"Our family will one day rule this world, K'lia. Count on it!"
K'lia stared aghast at Tsara. "Have you not heard a word I've said, Mother. Onara is dying!"
"I heard you," Tsara snapped. "But, if as you say, nothing can be done about it, we must look to the future. To the future of our family."
She reached over and clasped K'lia's shoulder. "You have a heir now, my son."
Tsara smiled, but to Anakin her smile looked ravenous, like that of a womp rat salivating over its prey. It looked nothing like the smile of a woman who had just learned she had been made a great-grandmother.
"Think of it, K'lia," she went on, her dark eyes glittering. "A grandson to rule after you are gone. And, with his Force powers, he will one day rule this world. And our family will finally take its rightful place."
But, before she could say more, Master Eo and Simtro entered the sitting room. If K'lia and his sister had been surprised by Eo's appearance, Tsara was not only surprised, but horrified.
"What is that thing?" she screamed pointing at Eo.
"He is Jedi Master Healer Eo," Anakin said sharply. "And you _will_ show him the proper respect!"
Tsara glared at Anakin. However, if Eo was affected by her words he gave no sign. He ignored her and went over to K'lia.
"I have examined the baby, Dynast K'lia. He is perfectly healthy. I took a sample of his blood and his midi-chlorian count is, as I suspected, very high. High enough to warrant acceptance into the Jedi Order."
"No, I won't let you take him!" Tsara cried.
She walked over and stood in front of Eo, her wrinkled, enraged face thrust up towards his. "You'll have to take him over my dead body!"
"Mother, please. I think that decision should be left up to Onara and Edress. They are the baby's parents, after all," K'lia said.
Eo calmly turned away from the incensed Lady Tsara and looked over at K'lia.
"I'm sorry. That is not true. This Edress of whom you speak is not the baby's father."
"What?" K'lia cried.
Eo raised a palm-sized datapad.
"I carry in here the medical records of all Jedi who are currently active within the Order. When I detected the midi-chlorian poisoning in your daughter and," and Eo stopped and cleared his throat, "taking into account the presence of Master Kenobi, I did a genetic comparison between him and the child. It was as I suspected. Master Kenobi is the father of the child."
"But, how can this be?" K'lia cried, dumbfounded. "Onara received a potion before the blessing ceremony which should have prevented her from becoming pregnant. It is forbidden for a woman to bear a child other than that of her husband's. Never in all the centuries that the blessing ceremony has been a part of our culture has such a thing happened."
K'lia walked over and took his mother by the arms. "You did give her the potion, didn't you, Mother?"
"Of course I did," she snapped but Anakin, though not as adept as his master at detecting falsehood, clearly sensed Lady Tsara was not telling the whole truth.
"She's hiding something, Dynast K'lia," he said.
"How dare you?" Tsara shouted at Anakin. "Are you going to let him speak to me like that, K'lia?"
"Did you, Mother?" the Dynast asked softly. "Did you give Onara the potion?"
"Yes, I gave it to her." She glanced over at her daughter. "Ask Gendra. She saw me give it to her."
Gendra walked over and stood next to K'lia.
"I saw you give Onara something, Mother," she said. "I thought it was the preventive. But, now, I'm not sure what it was you gave her."
"Traitorous child!" Tsara spat at her. She wriggled out of the grasp K'lia had on her arms.
"All of you are fools", she raged.
She looked over at Master Eo who was watching her quietly, his face tentacles waving languidly. She pointed at him.
"I'm not going to let that....that _thing_ take my great-grandson away. He's going to rule this province and then, someday, he's going to rule this world. And our family name will go down in history."
"That will be up to Master Kenobi," K'lia said firmly. "If he wishes to take his son back with him to the Jedi Temple, I will not stop him from doing so."
Tsara's eyes widened. She rushed towards K'lia, her hands raised into claws.
"No, no! I won't let you do that! I won't let you ruin all my plans."
Then she stopped, her face blooming with horror as she realized she had said too much.
"Plans, Mother?" K'lia asked, his eyes narrowing. "What plans?"
Tsara shook her head as she slowly backed away. She looked like a trapped and cornered animal. Suddenly, like the pieces of a puzzle falling into place, it all became clear to Anakin.
Tsara's eyes widened as the young Jedi advanced on her. He kept his blue eyes locked on her black ones. Master Obi-Wan would not approve of what he was about to do, but there was no way he was going to let K'lia suffer in ignorance any longer. He had to know the truth.
"Tell us, Lady Tsara," Anakin said softly, drawing upon the Force. "Tell us all about your plans."
The Jedi mind trick was one of the first really difficult Jedi powers Anakin had mastered and, his mastery of it was such he didn't even need to use his hand.
"Tell us everything you did concerning Onara and the blessing ceremony," Anakin went on, his voice pitched low and suggestive.
"I...I..." Lady Tsara swallowed heavily.
Anakin felt her struggling against the mind trick. It was true it usually only worked on the weak-minded, and Lady Tsara was possessed of a very strong mind, but Anakin was determined. There was too much at stake. The baby that Obi-Wan had given Onara, albeit unknowingly, was also responsible for her being deathly ill.
Anakin knew his master well. He would take total responsibility and blame himself entirely for what had happened to Onara. Anakin narrowed his eyes as he concentrated, drawing the Force to bear on Tsara. No way was he going to stand by and watch Master Obi-Wan flay himself with guilt over something that wasn't even his fault. Lady Tsara had something to do with what had happened to Onara and Anakin was going to see it was exposed.
"Before...before the blessing ceremony," Tsara began, her voice trembling as she struggled to hold back her words, "I...I gave Onara a potion that augmented her fertility."
"What? Why would you do such a thing, Mother?" K'lia cried as Gendra and Simtro gasped. "You know it is forbidden. The traditions of the blessing ceremony---"
"Pah! What do I care about the traditions of the blessing ceremony," Tsara snarled.
Anakin was so taken aback by her words regarding the ceremony, considering how much fuss she had made over adherence to the traditions surrounding it, he almost lost his hold over her. But he quickly recovered and focused back on her. Tsara grunted softly as she felt him pushing at her mind. Then her eyes seemed to bulge out of her skull as she stared at Anakin.
"Did you think I was going to pass up the opportunity your master presented with his presence here on Ahjane?" she spewed. "I didn't care about the blessing ceremony! It's nothing but superstitious nonsense. I wanted Master Kenobi to make love to Onara so he would impregnate her. And, despite all his protestations to the contrary, he did. Because all men are alike." She glared over at K'lia, her lips twisted with disgust. "Blinded by lust. Nothing better than animals."
Anakin clenched his hands into fists, his eyes boring into Tsara's. Only his adherence to all his master had taught him over the years kept him from rampaging through her mind and ripping it to shreds.
"If you think my master is nothing but an animal and made love to Onara out of lust," he raged, "then I feel sorry for you, for it's obvious you know nothing of love. He loves Onara. You have no idea what it took for him to leave her here in the hands of that...that so-called husband. But he did leave. He did his duty, just as she did hers."
Tsara only stared blankly up at Anakin as if she had no idea what he was talking about.
"And what of Dynast Edress," K'lia interjected. "Did you think of him, Mother, when you conceived this plan?"
Tsara laughed harshly. "Edress? He was in on it!"
K'lia drew back, a look of disbelief on his face. "He was in on it?"
"Edress is sterile, K'lia, but Onara had to marry him for the sake of this ridiculous peace accord. He would give her no children, and therefore, she would bear you no heirs. So, in exchange for some lands of mine, Edress agreed to go along with it. He would pretend the child was his."
"Why did he barge in on Master Obi-Wan and Onara the morning after the ceremony?" Anakin asked.
"I wanted to get Onara away from your master as quickly as possible. If he had impregnated her, I was afraid he might detect it. I'm not that well versed on what you Jedi can or can not do concerning such things. I was afraid he would claim the child, take him back to your Temple and raise him as a Jedi."
"So that little whole little performance was just a ruse?" Anakin asked.
Tsara didn't answer right away. Anakin felt her resistance. He nudged her mind with the Force. She grunted, her eyes rolling slightly up into her head.
"When I left you outside the bridal chamber," she rasped, her face twisting as she continued to try and resist him, "I went to Edress. I told him what I wanted. Ordering his guards to drag Onara from the bed and his pawing over her like that was done merely as a distraction, to anger your master, cloud his perceptions and, hopefully, keep him from sensing anything regarding her."
K'lia stepped forward, his face so pale and drawn he looked like a walking corpse.
"But, Onara? She must have known whose child she was carrying."
"Don't be a fool, K'lia," Tsara snapped. "Of course she knew. Edress never touched her once they arrived at Kindah Province. He found the idea of her being pregnant repulsive."
"But....why didn't she say anything?"
"Because I convinced her not to. I told her the Jedi would be disgraced and expelled from his Order if it was revealed he had fathered a child while on a mission for the Republic."
"But that's not true," Anakin cried, but even as he said the words he wasn't so sure. He had no idea what the Jedi Council would do to his master if they found out he had fathered a child while on a mission.
Tsara give him a scornful look.
"Fool! It didn't matter if it was true or not. Onara believed it. She would have done anything to protect your master. The foolish girl. She had fallen in love with him," Tsara sneered. "And I convinced her not to tell anyone, not even you, K'lia, in order to protect the Jedi's honor."
Anakin was almost dizzy from the implications of what Tsara had confessed. She had callously used both his master and Onara as pawns in her scheme to secure a heir for her province. And not just any heir. A heir that would be strong with the Force. Even if the child did not receive the proper training, he would still be a power to be reckoned with. One quite capable, as Tsara seemed obsessed with, of one day ruling this planet. Anger ripped through Anakin's soul.
"You evil, old hag!" he shouted at Tsara, suddenly overwhelmed by feelings of both rage and helplessness. "Don't you see what you've done? If my master had known Onara was carrying his child, and she was becoming ill as a result, he could have brought medicines from the Temple to help her. She wouldn't be dying now!"
K'lia, who had been staring down at the floor, slowly raised his head. He gazed long and hard at his mother and Anakin saw the growing horror in eyes.
"You did this," K'lia said in a deadly, quiet voice. "This is all your doing. You did this to my little one."
"What are you talking about?" Tsara cried.
"You've always hated her," K'lia went on, his voice becoming ragged and harsh. "Since the day she was born. Hated her because she was so like her mother. Beautiful and kind and loving. Everything that you're not and never was. And now you've killed her. You've killed my Onara!"
"Pull yourself together, fool! I didn't kill Onara. These midi-whatever they are did that. If you want to blame someone, blame the Jedi. He gave her those things, not me!"
K'lia stared aghast at his mother as she reached over and desperately clutched his arms.
"Put your personal feelings aside, my son," she urged him. "We must look to the future now. To the future of our family. Think of it! A Dynast with the power of a Jedi!"
K'lia pulled away from his mother. "Get out!"
"What? What did you say?"
"Get out! I never want to see you again! I will have you banished. Banished! And if you dare defy my edict and return, believe me, Mother, I will not hesitate to have you put to death."
K'lia turned to Simtro. "Summon the guards. Quickly!"
Simtro nodded and ran. Lady Tsara watched him leave. Then she turned back to K'lia, her thin, wrinkled lips trembling. But, as she looked up at her son's face, Anakin sensed she now knew she had gone too far. For not only had Onara, Obi-Wan and K'lia paid the price for her schemes, so had she. She looked over at her daughter.
"Come, Gendra."
Gendra slowly shook her head.
"No, I will not go with you, Mother. I never want to see you again." Tears welled in her eyes and spilled down her wrinkled cheeks. "How could you, Mother? How could you do such a terrible thing to Onara? To the Jedi? To us?"
Tsara stared in shock at her daughter, then her face darkened with anger.
"Stay with your brother then!" she cried. "He's nothing but a weak fool. You're all nothing but weak fools! Our family's name will die as a result of your contemptible lack of will but, perhaps that's as it should be. I did what I could. But, as always, none of you are grateful. I wash my hands of the lot of you!"
Anakin heard the measured beat of heavy boots coming down the hall. Simtro appeared in the doorway with two heavily armed guards.
"Take the Lady Tsara to her chamber," K'lia said wearily. "Keep her there under guard until I am ready for the banishment ritual."
The guards quickly surrounded Tsara. She stood for a moment, glaring at everyone in the room. Then, head lifted, she sharply turned and, with a sweep of her robes, left the room in the custody of the guards. Anakin was about to comment that banishment was too good for her, that she should be imprisoned or, perhaps, even put to death for what she had done. But, before he could open his mouth, he watched horrified as K'lia slumped to the floor.
Simtro, Gendra and Anakin rushed over to him, Anakin reaching him first. He put his arms around the old man. Master Eo, who had been standing quietly to the side during Tsara's interrogation and tirade, also rushed over. He placed his suction-tipped fingers along K'lia's head and closed his eyes for a moment. He opened them and nodded at Anakin to let him know that, at least physically, the Dynast was all right.
"Onara, Onara," K'lia sobbed, the tears streaming down his face as he leaned against Anakin. "Oh, my little girl, my dear, sweet little girl. All those years I should have protected you from her. But I didn't. I didn't! Forgive me. Forgive me."
Anakin held K'lia tight as the old man wept against his chest.
To be continued....
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Anakin turned, his heart thumping at the sound of that harsh, imperious voice. Lady Tsara stood in the doorway of the sitting room, her wrinkled face blazing with both anger, and surprisingly, what looked like fear.
"Mother," K'lia cried. He quickly went over and took her arm. "You've returned."
"You know how remote Lujsaso Province is, K'lia. I came as quickly as I could once I'd heard Onara had gone into labor."
Then her black eyes glowed with a predatory glimmer.
"Has the child been born?" she asked eagerly.
"Yes, Mother, a boy."
Tsara clapped her hands together, her face upturned to the ceiling.
"Praise be to the gods. A boy!"
"But, Mother," K'lia went on sadly, "Onara is---"
"What are they doing here?" Tsara asked sharply.
"Who?"
"The Jedi," she said, waving brusquely at Anakin and Obi-Wan. "They have no business here." Then her eyes widened. "You can't let them take him, K'lia!"
"Take him? Mother, what are you talking about? Take who?"
Tsara went over and stood in front of Obi-Wan, her wrinkled lips working.
"I won't let you have him," she hissed as she gazed angrily up at him. "If that's why you've come, you can just turn around and go back to Coruscant."
"I came to see Onara," Obi-Wan said tightly, his blue-gray eyes darkening. "And I'm going to see her."
Obi-Wan turned towards the bedroom. Tsara made as if to stop him, but Anakin grabbed her arm. She glared up at him.
"Release me, young one. Or I swear, you will live to regret it."
Obi-Wan had stopped, but K'lia nodded for him to continue into Onara's room. Obi-Wan looked over at Anakin and, for a moment, the young Jedi thought he was going to be reprimanded for having grabbed Lady Tsara. However, Obi-Wan said nothing. He opened the door to Onara's bedroom and, closing it behind him, went inside. Lady Tsara jerked her arm from Anakin's hand and whirled on K'lia.
"Why are the Jedi here, K'lia?"
"I asked them to come. Onara wanted to see Master Kenobi. She's dying, Mother."
"Dying?"
"Yes," K'lia said sadly. "The physicians say there's nothing to be done."
"Well, these things happen, K'lia. Women sometimes die as the result of childbirth. Look at Onara's mother. It happened to her."
"But this could have been prevented, Mother. The Jedi Healer who examined her said that if Onara had received the proper medicines, she would not be dying."
"Proper medicines? For what?"
"The baby has a high midi-chlorian count. It's a trait of those who are Force sensitive. It affected Onara, drained her of her life energy. That's why she's dying."
"The baby is Force-sensitive?" Tsara whispered. Her eyes glimmered. "A child who has the ability to use the Force will one day rule our province?"
Tsara clasped her hands together and Anakin could see it was all she could do not to jump up and down with glee.
"Our family will one day rule this world, K'lia. Count on it!"
K'lia stared aghast at Tsara. "Have you not heard a word I've said, Mother. Onara is dying!"
"I heard you," Tsara snapped. "But, if as you say, nothing can be done about it, we must look to the future. To the future of our family."
She reached over and clasped K'lia's shoulder. "You have a heir now, my son."
Tsara smiled, but to Anakin her smile looked ravenous, like that of a womp rat salivating over its prey. It looked nothing like the smile of a woman who had just learned she had been made a great-grandmother.
"Think of it, K'lia," she went on, her dark eyes glittering. "A grandson to rule after you are gone. And, with his Force powers, he will one day rule this world. And our family will finally take its rightful place."
But, before she could say more, Master Eo and Simtro entered the sitting room. If K'lia and his sister had been surprised by Eo's appearance, Tsara was not only surprised, but horrified.
"What is that thing?" she screamed pointing at Eo.
"He is Jedi Master Healer Eo," Anakin said sharply. "And you _will_ show him the proper respect!"
Tsara glared at Anakin. However, if Eo was affected by her words he gave no sign. He ignored her and went over to K'lia.
"I have examined the baby, Dynast K'lia. He is perfectly healthy. I took a sample of his blood and his midi-chlorian count is, as I suspected, very high. High enough to warrant acceptance into the Jedi Order."
"No, I won't let you take him!" Tsara cried.
She walked over and stood in front of Eo, her wrinkled, enraged face thrust up towards his. "You'll have to take him over my dead body!"
"Mother, please. I think that decision should be left up to Onara and Edress. They are the baby's parents, after all," K'lia said.
Eo calmly turned away from the incensed Lady Tsara and looked over at K'lia.
"I'm sorry. That is not true. This Edress of whom you speak is not the baby's father."
"What?" K'lia cried.
Eo raised a palm-sized datapad.
"I carry in here the medical records of all Jedi who are currently active within the Order. When I detected the midi-chlorian poisoning in your daughter and," and Eo stopped and cleared his throat, "taking into account the presence of Master Kenobi, I did a genetic comparison between him and the child. It was as I suspected. Master Kenobi is the father of the child."
"But, how can this be?" K'lia cried, dumbfounded. "Onara received a potion before the blessing ceremony which should have prevented her from becoming pregnant. It is forbidden for a woman to bear a child other than that of her husband's. Never in all the centuries that the blessing ceremony has been a part of our culture has such a thing happened."
K'lia walked over and took his mother by the arms. "You did give her the potion, didn't you, Mother?"
"Of course I did," she snapped but Anakin, though not as adept as his master at detecting falsehood, clearly sensed Lady Tsara was not telling the whole truth.
"She's hiding something, Dynast K'lia," he said.
"How dare you?" Tsara shouted at Anakin. "Are you going to let him speak to me like that, K'lia?"
"Did you, Mother?" the Dynast asked softly. "Did you give Onara the potion?"
"Yes, I gave it to her." She glanced over at her daughter. "Ask Gendra. She saw me give it to her."
Gendra walked over and stood next to K'lia.
"I saw you give Onara something, Mother," she said. "I thought it was the preventive. But, now, I'm not sure what it was you gave her."
"Traitorous child!" Tsara spat at her. She wriggled out of the grasp K'lia had on her arms.
"All of you are fools", she raged.
She looked over at Master Eo who was watching her quietly, his face tentacles waving languidly. She pointed at him.
"I'm not going to let that....that _thing_ take my great-grandson away. He's going to rule this province and then, someday, he's going to rule this world. And our family name will go down in history."
"That will be up to Master Kenobi," K'lia said firmly. "If he wishes to take his son back with him to the Jedi Temple, I will not stop him from doing so."
Tsara's eyes widened. She rushed towards K'lia, her hands raised into claws.
"No, no! I won't let you do that! I won't let you ruin all my plans."
Then she stopped, her face blooming with horror as she realized she had said too much.
"Plans, Mother?" K'lia asked, his eyes narrowing. "What plans?"
Tsara shook her head as she slowly backed away. She looked like a trapped and cornered animal. Suddenly, like the pieces of a puzzle falling into place, it all became clear to Anakin.
Tsara's eyes widened as the young Jedi advanced on her. He kept his blue eyes locked on her black ones. Master Obi-Wan would not approve of what he was about to do, but there was no way he was going to let K'lia suffer in ignorance any longer. He had to know the truth.
"Tell us, Lady Tsara," Anakin said softly, drawing upon the Force. "Tell us all about your plans."
The Jedi mind trick was one of the first really difficult Jedi powers Anakin had mastered and, his mastery of it was such he didn't even need to use his hand.
"Tell us everything you did concerning Onara and the blessing ceremony," Anakin went on, his voice pitched low and suggestive.
"I...I..." Lady Tsara swallowed heavily.
Anakin felt her struggling against the mind trick. It was true it usually only worked on the weak-minded, and Lady Tsara was possessed of a very strong mind, but Anakin was determined. There was too much at stake. The baby that Obi-Wan had given Onara, albeit unknowingly, was also responsible for her being deathly ill.
Anakin knew his master well. He would take total responsibility and blame himself entirely for what had happened to Onara. Anakin narrowed his eyes as he concentrated, drawing the Force to bear on Tsara. No way was he going to stand by and watch Master Obi-Wan flay himself with guilt over something that wasn't even his fault. Lady Tsara had something to do with what had happened to Onara and Anakin was going to see it was exposed.
"Before...before the blessing ceremony," Tsara began, her voice trembling as she struggled to hold back her words, "I...I gave Onara a potion that augmented her fertility."
"What? Why would you do such a thing, Mother?" K'lia cried as Gendra and Simtro gasped. "You know it is forbidden. The traditions of the blessing ceremony---"
"Pah! What do I care about the traditions of the blessing ceremony," Tsara snarled.
Anakin was so taken aback by her words regarding the ceremony, considering how much fuss she had made over adherence to the traditions surrounding it, he almost lost his hold over her. But he quickly recovered and focused back on her. Tsara grunted softly as she felt him pushing at her mind. Then her eyes seemed to bulge out of her skull as she stared at Anakin.
"Did you think I was going to pass up the opportunity your master presented with his presence here on Ahjane?" she spewed. "I didn't care about the blessing ceremony! It's nothing but superstitious nonsense. I wanted Master Kenobi to make love to Onara so he would impregnate her. And, despite all his protestations to the contrary, he did. Because all men are alike." She glared over at K'lia, her lips twisted with disgust. "Blinded by lust. Nothing better than animals."
Anakin clenched his hands into fists, his eyes boring into Tsara's. Only his adherence to all his master had taught him over the years kept him from rampaging through her mind and ripping it to shreds.
"If you think my master is nothing but an animal and made love to Onara out of lust," he raged, "then I feel sorry for you, for it's obvious you know nothing of love. He loves Onara. You have no idea what it took for him to leave her here in the hands of that...that so-called husband. But he did leave. He did his duty, just as she did hers."
Tsara only stared blankly up at Anakin as if she had no idea what he was talking about.
"And what of Dynast Edress," K'lia interjected. "Did you think of him, Mother, when you conceived this plan?"
Tsara laughed harshly. "Edress? He was in on it!"
K'lia drew back, a look of disbelief on his face. "He was in on it?"
"Edress is sterile, K'lia, but Onara had to marry him for the sake of this ridiculous peace accord. He would give her no children, and therefore, she would bear you no heirs. So, in exchange for some lands of mine, Edress agreed to go along with it. He would pretend the child was his."
"Why did he barge in on Master Obi-Wan and Onara the morning after the ceremony?" Anakin asked.
"I wanted to get Onara away from your master as quickly as possible. If he had impregnated her, I was afraid he might detect it. I'm not that well versed on what you Jedi can or can not do concerning such things. I was afraid he would claim the child, take him back to your Temple and raise him as a Jedi."
"So that little whole little performance was just a ruse?" Anakin asked.
Tsara didn't answer right away. Anakin felt her resistance. He nudged her mind with the Force. She grunted, her eyes rolling slightly up into her head.
"When I left you outside the bridal chamber," she rasped, her face twisting as she continued to try and resist him, "I went to Edress. I told him what I wanted. Ordering his guards to drag Onara from the bed and his pawing over her like that was done merely as a distraction, to anger your master, cloud his perceptions and, hopefully, keep him from sensing anything regarding her."
K'lia stepped forward, his face so pale and drawn he looked like a walking corpse.
"But, Onara? She must have known whose child she was carrying."
"Don't be a fool, K'lia," Tsara snapped. "Of course she knew. Edress never touched her once they arrived at Kindah Province. He found the idea of her being pregnant repulsive."
"But....why didn't she say anything?"
"Because I convinced her not to. I told her the Jedi would be disgraced and expelled from his Order if it was revealed he had fathered a child while on a mission for the Republic."
"But that's not true," Anakin cried, but even as he said the words he wasn't so sure. He had no idea what the Jedi Council would do to his master if they found out he had fathered a child while on a mission.
Tsara give him a scornful look.
"Fool! It didn't matter if it was true or not. Onara believed it. She would have done anything to protect your master. The foolish girl. She had fallen in love with him," Tsara sneered. "And I convinced her not to tell anyone, not even you, K'lia, in order to protect the Jedi's honor."
Anakin was almost dizzy from the implications of what Tsara had confessed. She had callously used both his master and Onara as pawns in her scheme to secure a heir for her province. And not just any heir. A heir that would be strong with the Force. Even if the child did not receive the proper training, he would still be a power to be reckoned with. One quite capable, as Tsara seemed obsessed with, of one day ruling this planet. Anger ripped through Anakin's soul.
"You evil, old hag!" he shouted at Tsara, suddenly overwhelmed by feelings of both rage and helplessness. "Don't you see what you've done? If my master had known Onara was carrying his child, and she was becoming ill as a result, he could have brought medicines from the Temple to help her. She wouldn't be dying now!"
K'lia, who had been staring down at the floor, slowly raised his head. He gazed long and hard at his mother and Anakin saw the growing horror in eyes.
"You did this," K'lia said in a deadly, quiet voice. "This is all your doing. You did this to my little one."
"What are you talking about?" Tsara cried.
"You've always hated her," K'lia went on, his voice becoming ragged and harsh. "Since the day she was born. Hated her because she was so like her mother. Beautiful and kind and loving. Everything that you're not and never was. And now you've killed her. You've killed my Onara!"
"Pull yourself together, fool! I didn't kill Onara. These midi-whatever they are did that. If you want to blame someone, blame the Jedi. He gave her those things, not me!"
K'lia stared aghast at his mother as she reached over and desperately clutched his arms.
"Put your personal feelings aside, my son," she urged him. "We must look to the future now. To the future of our family. Think of it! A Dynast with the power of a Jedi!"
K'lia pulled away from his mother. "Get out!"
"What? What did you say?"
"Get out! I never want to see you again! I will have you banished. Banished! And if you dare defy my edict and return, believe me, Mother, I will not hesitate to have you put to death."
K'lia turned to Simtro. "Summon the guards. Quickly!"
Simtro nodded and ran. Lady Tsara watched him leave. Then she turned back to K'lia, her thin, wrinkled lips trembling. But, as she looked up at her son's face, Anakin sensed she now knew she had gone too far. For not only had Onara, Obi-Wan and K'lia paid the price for her schemes, so had she. She looked over at her daughter.
"Come, Gendra."
Gendra slowly shook her head.
"No, I will not go with you, Mother. I never want to see you again." Tears welled in her eyes and spilled down her wrinkled cheeks. "How could you, Mother? How could you do such a terrible thing to Onara? To the Jedi? To us?"
Tsara stared in shock at her daughter, then her face darkened with anger.
"Stay with your brother then!" she cried. "He's nothing but a weak fool. You're all nothing but weak fools! Our family's name will die as a result of your contemptible lack of will but, perhaps that's as it should be. I did what I could. But, as always, none of you are grateful. I wash my hands of the lot of you!"
Anakin heard the measured beat of heavy boots coming down the hall. Simtro appeared in the doorway with two heavily armed guards.
"Take the Lady Tsara to her chamber," K'lia said wearily. "Keep her there under guard until I am ready for the banishment ritual."
The guards quickly surrounded Tsara. She stood for a moment, glaring at everyone in the room. Then, head lifted, she sharply turned and, with a sweep of her robes, left the room in the custody of the guards. Anakin was about to comment that banishment was too good for her, that she should be imprisoned or, perhaps, even put to death for what she had done. But, before he could open his mouth, he watched horrified as K'lia slumped to the floor.
Simtro, Gendra and Anakin rushed over to him, Anakin reaching him first. He put his arms around the old man. Master Eo, who had been standing quietly to the side during Tsara's interrogation and tirade, also rushed over. He placed his suction-tipped fingers along K'lia's head and closed his eyes for a moment. He opened them and nodded at Anakin to let him know that, at least physically, the Dynast was all right.
"Onara, Onara," K'lia sobbed, the tears streaming down his face as he leaned against Anakin. "Oh, my little girl, my dear, sweet little girl. All those years I should have protected you from her. But I didn't. I didn't! Forgive me. Forgive me."
Anakin held K'lia tight as the old man wept against his chest.
To be continued....