Anice eyed Kyia suspiciously as she dressed "Last night you looked as if someone had stolen your speeder. Someone slip you glitterstim?"
Kyia smiled playfully "Maybe." She brushed her hair and looked out of the window at the gardeners tending the purple Lamni flowers that lined the paths. It was still very early and most gardening in Elphora was traditionally done between the setting of the last moon and when the sun reached its zenith.
"As I understood it he wasn't exactly your favourite Jedi yesterday" Anice replied
Her smile grew wider "Things can change, it's a new day"
"Well" said her assistant exchanging the datacards on Kyia's desk "You had better hope he hasn't got the same look on his face or even the non-Elphorans will start to talk" She tried to close the door before the Quelena could reply but the other Jedi stood at the entrance.
"Is Kyia up" He asked slightly nervous, he knew how astute this woman was.
Anice rolled her eyes then nodded, she caught Kyia's eye back through the door; she had turned her eyes to the floor in amusement. Obi Wan missed the joke that passed between them but then again he did not have the Elphoran sixth sense and he was not a woman.
"You're up early," She said once Anice had gone.
"Haven't slept" He replied simply
They stood apart and the silence stretched "You do realise that if you tell me it shouldn't have happened again, I'm going to kill you"
Obi Wan smiled, the ice broken "That's not exactly what I was hoping for either"
She tilted her head and gazed at him softly "And what were you hoping for?"
"Honestly?"
"Honestly"
He sighed, "To find out that the code had been changed over night"
"We've got to be realistic" Kyia said, she took a step unconsciously away from the window "And it's going to keep happening".
"What?" This was not what the Jedi was expecting, he had been up half the night practicing how to receive the 'its unfortunate, but have a nice life' speech.
She looked around as if checking for unseen presences "Are you telling me, that right now with no one here watching, Anice out of the room and your padawan not likely to rise for at least half a triact you are not even tempted" she whispered. Obi Wan stayed silent, suddenly he understood her point. "I thought as much. Although I'm sure once you've been recalled we won't find it a problem"
"But until then…" He said finishing her sentence, he moved closer to her, liking the arrangement she was suggesting, "Is this what you had in mind when you said you would try to help me to relax?"
"Watch it Kenobi " Kyia thumped him playfully on the chest, "If I remember accurately it was you trying to" She coughed lightly "correct my grip, that got us into this trouble in the first place"
He took hold of her arm lightly and used it to close the remaining distance between them "It still needs work".
"Careful," She teased "Sounds like something Kal of Corellia would say"
He raised an eyebrow, unamused, Kyia laughed again, her face close to his. Just as they were about to kiss again there was a knock at the door.
Kyia groaned "I'm not going to get it"
"Fine" He replied, his lips next to her.
There was another knock.
"We both know you are going to" Obi Wan added with a smile.
She pulled away "Being Quelena has its downside at times."
It was Anice.
She looked over towards the Jedi "I thought you'd like to know your padawan awake" Obi Wan started to turn red, "And I'd bear in mind he's not the only psychic on the planet"
His cheeks flushed further, mumbling a barely audible goodbye he hastily exited.
"That was cruel" Kyia said, speaking round a half smile.
"Sorry" Anice grinned openly, "Couldn't resist".
The Quelena shook her head, "I'm going to see how the people from Hellebore's Light are doing, tell the Jedi I'll meet them for breakfast"
"Both of them?"
"I'm leaving before you make me turn to the Dark side"
"No, it wasn't Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are Jedi" The adult survivors were gathered in a lilac conference room. In the centre was a vast white round table and they were seated formerly in white high-backed chairs. "I would have felt their intentions the moment I met them if they had been any different. The man who attacked me fears him, that was why he was framed, to create dissent."
"But we saw him" One of the women insisted
"What you saw was a trick" She countered "There are many ways it could have been done"
One of the surviving Elders of the village nodded in agreement "Her Royalness is right, even without the Force, it isn't hard. It could have been anybody"
The crowed started to turn in Kyia's favour; she breathed a sigh of relief. If it had not keeping them on the planet would have been questionable. Again, as Quelena she would not have been forced into anything but it would have been a betrayal of their respect, something she desperately wanted to keep. "I have encountered great evil and I have encountered Master Kenobi, I know the Dark Side can be cunning but I would have felt it so close in the Palace. If you trust nothing else trust my ability in the Force" Okay she knew it was just short of emotional blackmail, but it was the best way to get through to her people sometimes.
A few more nodded in agreement "Very well Your Royalness, we will put our trust in you once again, you have never led us astray so far"
The Quelena let out a breath she had not realised she had been holding. "Thank you, for your faith."
Conversation naturally flowed over breakfast
"At least no one's had to get their lightsabres out yet" Anakin commented
Kyia looked at him sly "Now you've jinxed us"
The boy laughed "Normally all it takes is for Master Obi Wan to say I have a bad feeling about this."
She sniggered. Anakin seemed to have picked up the ease in the atmosphere but her Elphoran senses suggested that luckily that was all, "At least you didn't have Master Yoda saying 'a disturbance in the Force I feel', every time that happened without fail we ended up on some backwater world covered goo"
"Speaking of disturbances" Obi Wan looked down at his plate absently, "Do you have any idea who the man pretending to be me was?"
The Quelena shook her head "No, my guess is it's the new apprentice, there's always supposed to be two. It seems us teaming up has scared somebody. A good Force projection or even a holo-imager would have been enough to make him look like you."
"What have you told them"?
"The truth" She spoke deliberately "They deserve that much after what they've been through. And they will trust my judgement."
"They trust you a lot here" Anakin interceded
The Quelena smiled "They've no reason not to, my family have served them loyally for generations. The entire system is based on that, without it Elphora would collapse"
"Like the Republic?"
"Yes" she replied gravely, "Like the Republic" She played with the remnants of her breakfast, suddenly she did not have an appetite. "I'm sorry, I have to go, business"
Obi Wan looked towards her, concerned about her sudden change of mood
"I'm fine" She said sensing it, "I'll see you both later. Anakin, remember what we discussed earlier?"
He nodded "Yeah"
"We'll do it when I return"
The padawan grinned mischievously
"What was all that about?" Obi Wan enquired after she left
"Can't tell you, it's a secret"
The Jedi frowned sceptically. "Kyia's idea?" the reply was a positive, "I thought so".
"Anything else?"
"Just a message from Senator Valorum" replied one of her aides. "He says he says he is on his way"
Kyia looked up from her desk puzzled, "He's coming here?"
"It seems so Your Royalness, directly to the Palace"
That in itself was strange, normally he would first visit the Governor's building on the northern edge of the Eastern sector "When I spoke to him last night he said he would be sending a report in a few days. When is he due to arrive?"
"Later today"
She half closed her eyelids in thought. "I wonder why the change?"
Kyia smiled playfully "Maybe." She brushed her hair and looked out of the window at the gardeners tending the purple Lamni flowers that lined the paths. It was still very early and most gardening in Elphora was traditionally done between the setting of the last moon and when the sun reached its zenith.
"As I understood it he wasn't exactly your favourite Jedi yesterday" Anice replied
Her smile grew wider "Things can change, it's a new day"
"Well" said her assistant exchanging the datacards on Kyia's desk "You had better hope he hasn't got the same look on his face or even the non-Elphorans will start to talk" She tried to close the door before the Quelena could reply but the other Jedi stood at the entrance.
"Is Kyia up" He asked slightly nervous, he knew how astute this woman was.
Anice rolled her eyes then nodded, she caught Kyia's eye back through the door; she had turned her eyes to the floor in amusement. Obi Wan missed the joke that passed between them but then again he did not have the Elphoran sixth sense and he was not a woman.
"You're up early," She said once Anice had gone.
"Haven't slept" He replied simply
They stood apart and the silence stretched "You do realise that if you tell me it shouldn't have happened again, I'm going to kill you"
Obi Wan smiled, the ice broken "That's not exactly what I was hoping for either"
She tilted her head and gazed at him softly "And what were you hoping for?"
"Honestly?"
"Honestly"
He sighed, "To find out that the code had been changed over night"
"We've got to be realistic" Kyia said, she took a step unconsciously away from the window "And it's going to keep happening".
"What?" This was not what the Jedi was expecting, he had been up half the night practicing how to receive the 'its unfortunate, but have a nice life' speech.
She looked around as if checking for unseen presences "Are you telling me, that right now with no one here watching, Anice out of the room and your padawan not likely to rise for at least half a triact you are not even tempted" she whispered. Obi Wan stayed silent, suddenly he understood her point. "I thought as much. Although I'm sure once you've been recalled we won't find it a problem"
"But until then…" He said finishing her sentence, he moved closer to her, liking the arrangement she was suggesting, "Is this what you had in mind when you said you would try to help me to relax?"
"Watch it Kenobi " Kyia thumped him playfully on the chest, "If I remember accurately it was you trying to" She coughed lightly "correct my grip, that got us into this trouble in the first place"
He took hold of her arm lightly and used it to close the remaining distance between them "It still needs work".
"Careful," She teased "Sounds like something Kal of Corellia would say"
He raised an eyebrow, unamused, Kyia laughed again, her face close to his. Just as they were about to kiss again there was a knock at the door.
Kyia groaned "I'm not going to get it"
"Fine" He replied, his lips next to her.
There was another knock.
"We both know you are going to" Obi Wan added with a smile.
She pulled away "Being Quelena has its downside at times."
It was Anice.
She looked over towards the Jedi "I thought you'd like to know your padawan awake" Obi Wan started to turn red, "And I'd bear in mind he's not the only psychic on the planet"
His cheeks flushed further, mumbling a barely audible goodbye he hastily exited.
"That was cruel" Kyia said, speaking round a half smile.
"Sorry" Anice grinned openly, "Couldn't resist".
The Quelena shook her head, "I'm going to see how the people from Hellebore's Light are doing, tell the Jedi I'll meet them for breakfast"
"Both of them?"
"I'm leaving before you make me turn to the Dark side"
"No, it wasn't Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are Jedi" The adult survivors were gathered in a lilac conference room. In the centre was a vast white round table and they were seated formerly in white high-backed chairs. "I would have felt their intentions the moment I met them if they had been any different. The man who attacked me fears him, that was why he was framed, to create dissent."
"But we saw him" One of the women insisted
"What you saw was a trick" She countered "There are many ways it could have been done"
One of the surviving Elders of the village nodded in agreement "Her Royalness is right, even without the Force, it isn't hard. It could have been anybody"
The crowed started to turn in Kyia's favour; she breathed a sigh of relief. If it had not keeping them on the planet would have been questionable. Again, as Quelena she would not have been forced into anything but it would have been a betrayal of their respect, something she desperately wanted to keep. "I have encountered great evil and I have encountered Master Kenobi, I know the Dark Side can be cunning but I would have felt it so close in the Palace. If you trust nothing else trust my ability in the Force" Okay she knew it was just short of emotional blackmail, but it was the best way to get through to her people sometimes.
A few more nodded in agreement "Very well Your Royalness, we will put our trust in you once again, you have never led us astray so far"
The Quelena let out a breath she had not realised she had been holding. "Thank you, for your faith."
Conversation naturally flowed over breakfast
"At least no one's had to get their lightsabres out yet" Anakin commented
Kyia looked at him sly "Now you've jinxed us"
The boy laughed "Normally all it takes is for Master Obi Wan to say I have a bad feeling about this."
She sniggered. Anakin seemed to have picked up the ease in the atmosphere but her Elphoran senses suggested that luckily that was all, "At least you didn't have Master Yoda saying 'a disturbance in the Force I feel', every time that happened without fail we ended up on some backwater world covered goo"
"Speaking of disturbances" Obi Wan looked down at his plate absently, "Do you have any idea who the man pretending to be me was?"
The Quelena shook her head "No, my guess is it's the new apprentice, there's always supposed to be two. It seems us teaming up has scared somebody. A good Force projection or even a holo-imager would have been enough to make him look like you."
"What have you told them"?
"The truth" She spoke deliberately "They deserve that much after what they've been through. And they will trust my judgement."
"They trust you a lot here" Anakin interceded
The Quelena smiled "They've no reason not to, my family have served them loyally for generations. The entire system is based on that, without it Elphora would collapse"
"Like the Republic?"
"Yes" she replied gravely, "Like the Republic" She played with the remnants of her breakfast, suddenly she did not have an appetite. "I'm sorry, I have to go, business"
Obi Wan looked towards her, concerned about her sudden change of mood
"I'm fine" She said sensing it, "I'll see you both later. Anakin, remember what we discussed earlier?"
He nodded "Yeah"
"We'll do it when I return"
The padawan grinned mischievously
"What was all that about?" Obi Wan enquired after she left
"Can't tell you, it's a secret"
The Jedi frowned sceptically. "Kyia's idea?" the reply was a positive, "I thought so".
"Anything else?"
"Just a message from Senator Valorum" replied one of her aides. "He says he says he is on his way"
Kyia looked up from her desk puzzled, "He's coming here?"
"It seems so Your Royalness, directly to the Palace"
That in itself was strange, normally he would first visit the Governor's building on the northern edge of the Eastern sector "When I spoke to him last night he said he would be sending a report in a few days. When is he due to arrive?"
"Later today"
She half closed her eyelids in thought. "I wonder why the change?"
