Chapter 24

Meri said the first thing that came to mind, which happened to be the truth. "I was looking for you," she murmured in a rush.

"Me?" The leader straightened, looking somewhere between slightly amused and mildly surprised.

//Well that didn't come out right,// Meri thought exasperated. "Not you, I mean, well, the group…" she trailed off flustered.

"And why would someone like you, be looking for the likes of us?" He tilted his head slightly as his pale eyes studied her.

"I didn't have anywhere else to go," she said quietly, and in honesty, it was the truth.

"You are young. Where are your parents?" The edge that had been in the leader's voice was now gone, perhaps because he sensed her sincerity.

"I don't have any," she answered, again telling the truth. It didn't escape her memory that these were the people who had taken that last parent figure from her life. They were responsible for Ariana's death, but now Meri wouldn't allow them to take Alex. He was all she had left.

"And I'm seventeen," she added in her defense. So far, her Life day wasn't going as planned.

"You're young, Boy," the leader said firmly, moving to stand in front of her. "We'll see how you do, however. If you are a spy you will live to regret it, or perhaps not," he added with an arched eyebrow, his pale blue eyes emotionless. The leader glanced at the sentry before speaking, his voice lowering with an added chill to it. "I don't give second chances. Remember that."

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Folly circled around the Rebel's hideout trying vainly to find out what had happened to the young apprentice. He had seen her fall down the hill and he had seen the sentry find her and take her to the camp, but he hadn't seen her since.

The one thing that was comforting to him was the fact that all seemed relatively quiet at the hideout. That meant they hadn't discovered her identity and they weren't stringing her up for the whole group to have fun with.

Another cold, dark, memory from his past surfaced and he wondered again why he had let Meri do this thing. It was dangerous. No, it was beyond dangerous. It was deadly. He knew that.

//For the both of us,// he bemoaned as he thought of what the bright blue- eyed Jedi Master would do to him, once he learned that Folly had helped her do this.

As if his very thought of the Jedi had cued him, Folly's com link beeped.

Slapping his hand over the loud, offending object, Folly dashed for cover, farther away from the rebel's hideout. Once far enough away that he knew he wouldn't be heard, he pushed the 'receive' button.

"Folly here," he answered shortly, hoping against hope it wasn't who he thought it was.

The smooth accented voice dashed those hopes. "Folly, how is my apprentice doing?"

Folly gulped. "Oh," he fairly squeaked before coughing to clear his throat. "She's fine, just fine…" he enthused.

"Are you there? May I speak to her?"

Folly shook his head vigorously, even though he couldn't be seen. "Um, no, I just left. Yes, I just left."

"Oh, I see."

The voice sounded distinctly disappointed to Folly.

"It's her Life day, you know. She's seventeen," the knight's voice carried a strange note in it. Folly almost could have mistaken it for something else.

"I didn't know that! She didn't say a word about it," he answered the Jedi.

"Well," Alex sighed. "I can't get away from these negotiations. I wish I could. Keep an eye on her for me, Folly," the knight spoke in a melancholy tone.

"I'm doing my best, Master Jedi," he murmured wondering if what he was doing, could be classified as "keeping an eye on her".

"I worry about her," Alex spoke softly as he continued. "She's not used to this cold and it's about to get worse. I can sense it. She should stay inside."

Folly didn't know what to say. It was the first time that the Jedi had ever really expressed any concern about his apprentice before. He wondered what the reaction would be, if he told the Jedi that he had lost his apprentice. //Probably something along the lines of "prepare to die",// Folly thought wryly.

There was a momentary silence before Alex exclaimed in obvious impatience, "If only this week were over!"

Folly didn't know that Jedi got impatient. "What's at the end of the week?" he questioned as concern began to poke at the edge of his mind.

"I ought to be able to close the negotiations by the end of this week. Sooner than I expected, but welcome nonetheless."

Dead silence greeted the Jedi's words.

"Folly?"

Silence.

"Folly!?"

"I'm here, Master Jedi," he said quietly.

"Are you alright?" the knight asked.

"I'm fine, Master Jedi. I'm sorry, I have to go." Without waiting for a response Folly clicked off the com link and stared wordlessly at the snow covered ground. He had to find Meri—had to speak with her and soon.