The grey-haired woman led him to another room, with a high ceiling and a traditional Elphoran three-poster bed. There were clear open windows that showed the night sky outside and lead to a stone balcony; distantly he could sense Anakin asleep in the adjoining room.
"That went well," he muttered to himself. Qui Gonn would have known what to do. His old master had always been better with people than he was, and with Anakin. At the moment he still did not feel ready for the tasks that had been laid down for him since Naboo, which included dealing with another Sith Lord. Wishful thinking hoped that it was the master he had destroyed, common sense told him otherwise. Sometimes he could still hear Qui Gonn's cry as he was run through. He took a deep breath and tried to push away the thoughts, knowing that if he dwelled long enough on them they would lead to hate, and the dark side. He removed his robe, took a deep breath and stepped out on to the balcony. It was not that dark since two moons lit the sky, but something else was glowing in the garden.
A yellow bar of light was moving gracefully against a holographic opponent. The blonde plait that strayed out from beneath the brown Jedi robes gave away the lightsabre's owner. Realising his stupidity he jumped the three storeys to the garden

Kyia heard a thud on the ground behind her. Quickly she span around welding her lightsabre.
Lucky she managed to stop herself about two inches from Owen's nose. "Don't scare me like that! I could have killed you"
"You're a Jedi?" He said breathlessly
She didn't understand "Pardon?"
"You're a Jedi" it came out as more of a statement.
Kyia smirked "They didn't tell you"
"No they didn't" he paused for a second "I had better re-introduce myself. My name is Obi Wan Kenobi, my padawan is Anakin Skywalker"
A blush rose to her face "I've heard of you" Suddenly laughed. She insinuated much about him in their first meeting and he had turned out to be the complete opposite. "Sorry," she apologized "I've had a hard rotation"
Obi Wan raised an eyebrow unsure what to make of the outburst.
"Master Yoda's sense of humour hasn't changed I see" Kyia replied, "I was his last apprentice"
"Oh" he managed a smirk
"Did that hurt?"
"What?"
She shook her head "Nothing. As I said, I've had a hard rotation" They started to walk down the garden path, the flowers had been chosen for their perfume and colour and both seemed to flow from everywhere, even the various pools of water that littered the grounds. "I'm sorry about before. I could feel you weren't telling me everything and being the victim of a Sith attack, as you know makes you more than a little paranoid. And I am apologising far too much today"
"You were being careful, I would in same position no doubt, So" he cleared his throat unsure how she would react "Why do you think the Sith wants to kill you?"
"They don't" She shook her head again "If they wanted me dead I would be, it's just" Kyia tailed off and walked towards one of the pools.
"What?"
"Let's just say I have a theory that they don't like very much" She stared at the reflection and saw the puzzled look on his face as he came up beside her.
"What kind of theory" He was trying to ease it gently out of her, but had the feeling he was acting as subtle as a Hutt in mating season.
Kyia paused. Exactly how much did she trust him? He was naïve and most like under the thumb of Coruscant as well as well as the Jedi Council. But in the end it boiled down to one thing, she had no choice. It was better he found out than some backwater spy trying to tap her com system. "On the identity of one of them"
Obi Wan's eyes widened, barely containing his excitement. This was big. This was very big "Who is it?"
There was another pause as she thought about holding back again. "You won't believe me. You'll laugh, or most likely say 'that's impossible'" Her voice rose in pitch but dropped in volume "But I know what I felt and all logic backs it up"
"Calm down," he soothed, trying to imitate his former master. "Who is it? Tell me."
She closed her eyes briefly. "It's Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. We're all in very big trouble". Kyia braced herself for the fall out; she wasn't disappointed. The shock was naked on his face.
"You can not be serious!"
She sighed gently and smiled "Told you" There was another strange silence as Kyia bent down and touched the surface of the water and watched the ripples distort their reflections. "I know it sounds foolish but it's the only that makes sense" she said after a short time.
He crouched down beside her "I don't understand"
" Yes, you're right about that" She changed her position to make herself more comfortable on the grass. "There is a lot that none of us will understand until it is upon us. But the Naboo crisis, that was the first piece of the puzzle. He is the only one who gained anything out of it. If the Sith really wanted Naboo they wouldn't have stopped there. So they must have got what they wanted, Palpatine elected as Supreme Chancellor."
Obi Wan nodded, unsure whether to humour her or not. "I see your point of view, but the Trade Federation had its droid armies disbanded. It would be pointless to…"
She cut him off "They would have found some other goulsh to do the job"
"Goulsh?"
"Oh sorry um" Kyia tried to think of a similar word in Basic " imbecile, scapegoat, that type of thing. And don't you think that the Trade Federation got off a little too lightly? There are rumours that their army is nowhere near as depleted as it has been made out to be. The Viceroy responsible didn't even lose his job. And why blockade Naboo? There were plenty of planets that would do just as well, and nearer the core. Palpatine wanted control of the planet that he had enviously watched and he thought that he could control the fourteen year old most likely to get elected, the old ruler, I as I understand it was forced to resign and then ended up dying under mysterious circumstances. I think the only thing he wasn't counting on was Amidala returning to Naboo and taking it back out from under him. The man is slippery no matter what anyone says he betrayed my ambassador, Finis Vallorum is not corrupt, I would trust him with my life. He played both sides of the senate against each other until he got what he wanted, for now.
Suddenly he could see her devastating logic, and he didn't like it. "Co-incidence?"
"Maybe, if there were a few less things on the list. And the fact that I was attacked of course, a warning. "
"How did he know?" He asked
She shrugged "he's a Sith Lord. If he is the master and he as much power as people say he has" Kyia paused "I would have only had to give him the wrong look with my guard down"
Again there was another uneasy silence as Obi Wan pondered this. They stood up and began to walk back down the path. The Quelena was eccentric he had decided. He didn't understand her outbursts at any rate
"I'm sorry." She said unexpectedly. "About Qui Gon Jinn "
Obi Wan quickly became more alert "You knew him?" He said strangely.
"I met him a few times, yes. In Coruscant, mainly when Master Yoda was giving him a lecture. He had honour in infinite proportions."
A memory stirred at the compliment "yes he did." He pushed it away again. "Then why didn't we meet?"
"I was the only padawan allowed into the Jedi council chambers, to learn to rule." She replied simply. I hadn't seen him in years though. Just before my parents died." She changed the topic quickly "And I passed the trials when I was nineteen and I've been so busy here that I haven't seen the inside of the temple since then."
"Nineteen is young to pass the trials" He remarked, noticing her eagerness to avoid talking about her parents. "You must have learned quickly under Master Yoda"
She laughed, "Yes, learned to dispose of that stew he force feeds his apprentices, over the years I turned it into an art form"
The other Jedi grimaced "I remember, you could make a fortune teaching evasive manoeuvres at the Temple. I would pay the credits"
"Should I be flattered?"
Obi Wan looked nervously at his feet. They had reached the door of the Palace anyway. "That is if making it is not on the trials by then"
"Just because it wasn't on yours" She teased, then a pause before smiled again "Goodnight"
He looked back up at her "Goodnight"

The morning sun streamed through the windows landing on Obi Wan's face. His eyes opened, only taking a brief moment to adjust to the strange surroundings. The Jedi stepped out of the bed and dressed. Outside a gardener was tending the plants in the garden. The Elphora was waking up. He looked at the low level of the sun and decided he'd let Anakin sleep for a while longer. It was only just after dawn. Obi Wan opened the door to his room. The corridor was empty but he could feel someone awake in the throne room. Assuming correctly it was Kyia he headed for the stairs.
She was sitting in a side room separated from the throne room by a sliding piece of transparasteel. She turned her head towards him as he entered. "I didn't expect to see you up. It's eight triacts"
"I don't need much sleep. You?"
She shook her head "Nightmares"
"It gets easier." He tried to put conviction into his voice but failed. The truth was he still got those nightmares too.
But a sense of dread had come over her that she couldn't shake. "Something's not right. I can feel it"
Obi Wan closed his eyes in concern. He reached into the Force but could not feel anything. "I don't sense anything"
"I think," she paused briefly "that's because I'm strong with the living Force anyway but because of my Elphoran senses I feel on my planet more. And something feels wrong"
"I've never been strong with the living Force" he admitted, "I just might not be picking it up. I would rather have a lightsabre in my hand"
"I'm exactly the opposite. I have never been much of a warrior" A mischievous look briefly fluttered over her face. "I could take an educated guess at why you don't have a strong connection with the living Force though.
Obi Wan surveyed her warily. "I'm almost afraid to ask. Why?"
"If you're tense all time it won't flow through you. Try relaxing" Kyia saw his reaction, and that she was acting in contrast to any preconceptions he had before he came to Elphora. That she liked. "Yes, you know kicking back, having fun"
The human Jedi raised an eyebrow, not sure whether to be offended or not. However that happened in practically every conversation he had with her.
"Those looks may work on your padawan but they won't work on me"
"I'm not sure how to take that"
She shrugged "However you find it" Kyia took a deep breath, "Look, we both need to be at our best considering," she left out the word Sith. It didn't need to be mentioned "You teach me how to use my lightsabre more effectively and I help you with the living Force"
"Why do I suddenly have the same feeling of dread?" Obi Wan muttered.
"That's good, you made a joke!" She put a slight playful tone in her voice to let him know she was joking.
He gave her a quizzical look in return "And do I have any choice in this?"
She shook her head "No"
" I should have guessed who taught you" He replied.
Kyia laughed lightly at his comparison of her to Yoda and sat back in the green armchair. "You should have met me ten years ago, you would have defiantly come to a different conclusion. I was tempestuous to say the least. Suffice to say we had a few run ins. That is probably why I was given a strict teacher."
" Should I be afraid?" He asked, relaxing. He had a feeling he was going to have the same problem with Anakin.
" I've good control now" Her playful personality emerged once again " sometimes"
"I was wondering," said Obi Wan doggedly " I don't wish to appear rude. Is it really true both your parents were Jedi?"
"And since I was their eldest and only offspring I will marry to give Elphora its next heir" Kyia smiled briefly "I was wondering how long it would take for that to come up"
"But the code states"
Kyia cut off the recital. "There were" she paused to grasp the correct words "extenuating circumstances" Her mind wandered back to her lessons of one of the most significant events in the Elphoran royal history. "Jamoni the seer, only daughter of Hevior received visions so extreme and vivid that she couldn't control them. It was inevitable that if they continued they would drive her to insanity. Mater Yoda realised that not training her was the equivalent of turning Elphora into an overloading blaster. The Jedi and the Levelles came to an agreement. Any force-sensitive ruler would be permitted to be trained only if in the coronation oath they swore their heart to Elphora so it could never truly belong to another. It satisfies the code ".
Obi Wan felt Anakin stir on the edge of his consciousness. "Anakin is awake"
She nodded, dismissing him and he disappeared through the doors.
Kyia closed her eyes, searching for that dark presence she had felt earlier. Nothing. She stood and started to pace the room, maybe Kenobi was right. Maybe she was just being paranoid.
She felt more reassured now he and his apprentice were here, only just however. But she had the only other living Jedi that had any Sith experience, and she could not ask for any more than that. She could see she was going to get on with the pair. Kenobi refreshingly treated her like another Jedi, he accepted the informal use of her name quickly and didn't patronise or revere her as a Quelena. She was still trying to rid most of her governors some of those habits. The Elphoran closed her eyes once again, letting the cooling peace of the creams and greens sooth the tension out of her neck and shoulders. Suddenly a shadow appeared on the horizon of her subconscious, looking for it's source she took a deep breath. Her mind broke from her, letting instinct guide the way. Just as she thought she had found it a brick wall slammed into her. Obi Wan returned with Anakin just in time to see the Quelena crumple to the floor.