'lo all, nice long chapter for you this time, soz bout the masses of politics, but its kinda essential to the plot, take note another MAJOR character gets introduced here, but i'm not going to give too much way :p, anyway enjoy!

The Quelena sat up bolt straight, feeling like the wind had been knocked out of her.

"What's wrong?" Obi Wan had one hand on her shoulder.

"Nothing, just a dream that's all" Her eyes looked around the room trying to relocate herself back in reality, dispelling the waves of dizziness.

The concern was naked on his face "You don't look well" He could feel the disorientation coming off her in waves "A dream or a vision".

"I don't get Force visions, I'm a healer" She replied, hoping he did not notice that she had not answered his question.

He did not; instead he rubbed her back in soothing motions "Okay. Was it a bad one?"

She smiled and linked her fingers with his "Not all bad, and the waking up part was okay too"

Obi Wan grinned, sensing she had regained her equilibrium "How okay?" he began raining gentle kisses on her neck.

"Obi Wan"

"Hmmm?"

Tilting her head back to give him easier access she said "Don't you think this is getting dangerous?"

He pulled away to look her in the eye "What do you mean?"

Kyia smirked sardonically "Not that you should stop".

Obi Wan gave her a smile that reached his eyes "Yes Your Royalness" He returned to paying his full attention to her neck "It's not dangerous, it's just a passing infatuation"

"Just a passing infatuation" Kyia repeated in agreement before bending down to catch his lips with her own.

It was sometime before Obi Wan pulled away "What time is it?"

Kyia looked out of the window "You'd better go, people will talk if you're seen leaving my room any later"

The Jedi stretched out "Anakin might start to wonder as well" He kissed her briefly "Good night"

"Good night"

The Quelena's eyelids fluttered as Anice entering the room awakening her.

"Morning" The old woman said, "How was your trip?"

"It went well" Kyia sat up in bed "I got most of what I wanted"

She smiled sadly "Meaning that you got the treaty but did not improve the relations with the other side of the family".

"That about sums it up" She started to brush her hair "Master Yoda isn't happy though, I was tired and stressed, it was not pretty".

Anice took the brush from Kyia and finished her hair for her "Yes so I gather by the obscene mutterings. For a Jedi Master he really needs to learn the serenity part of the Code"

Kyia chuckled lightly "At least I have a reasonably relaxing day today"

Anice froze "You've forgotten again".

Kyia pulled a face "Forgotten what?"

"The Governors meeting! Honestly Kyia, look at the moons if nothing else! They'll want answers and instructions".

The Quelena suddenly felt like she had not slept "It completely slipped my mind, why is everything out to get me at the moment?" She took a breath "Okay I'm focused now. Is everything ready?"

"Isn't it always" Anice replied dryly

"Thanks Anice, how would I cope without you?"

The woman shuddered "Only the Force knows".

Kyia smiled "I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer".

"It's not me who you are going to have to give answers to" Anice sniggered "I'd be more worried about Felle Mri"

"I'm beginning to wish I could jump out of the window" The Quelena replied sweetly. She reached into her wardrobe and produced a dark green dress with the Elphoran crest etched in a darker shade on the stomach. "I'll get Obi Wan and Anakin to attend, Felle's too polite to go for a main artery with other people in the room"

"You hope"

She went into the bathroom to get changed, the dress was long and fitted with thick straps and a square neck "Very business like" She muttered to herself in the mirror.

Anice laughed, "After the Organa family now are we?"

The com buzzed in the room of the Jedi/Padawan team. Obi Wan looked up and Anakin released the heavy chair he was levitating.

"Hi, it's Kyia, can you and Anakin do me a big favour?"

The male Jedi suppressed a smile "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

"There's a Governor's meeting today and I may need some heavy duty protection"

The Jedi looked at each other confused "The Sith?" Obi Wan replied puzzled.

Kyia laughed down the com "No, from the Governors!"

"I thought you said that they would all be too busy worrying about their own sectors"

There was a slight pause, "Since when did that ever stop a representative from having a political agenda? There's a appointed Governor in particular who's out for my blood".

"Then why did you appoint them?" He laughed back.

"Because the elected Governor can be a lose blaster at times and needs someone to control him, speaking of which I wonder if it was him who let Solo in?"

"You're in a good mood" He commented

"Yup, so you're both coming?"

He looked at Anakin who shrugged "We have to stick to our mandate".

The com beeped off.

"You get on with Kyia well" Anakin noted after a brief pause.

Obi Wan used his control in the Force to push out passive feelings, and to stop his face from turning red, "Kyia is one of those people who gets on well with everyone, you like her"

Anakin nodded "She's nice, she reminds me Padmè"

The Jedi was not sure whether to feel relieved that he had avoided the topic of Kyia safely or worried about his padawan's lingering thought on the young Nubian Queen. But then again, he reasoned, he was hardly one to start chastising his apprentice on that section of the Code. It was only natural, he thought that the boy was drawn to her, he had grown up on a desert world surrounded by dull colours and worn faces, so when a fresh and youthful and in his opinion overly made up woman walked into his shop that day he could be forgiven into thinking she was an angel.



They were back in the lilac meeting room. Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker stood silently at the back like shadows. The Governors stood around the table at even intervals, not taking their seats.

"I, Quelena Kyia of the esteemed house of Levelle call this meeting to order by the authority vested in my line by Quelena Kyia The Great " She said solemnly, without a trace of the fact that she had repeated this speech several hundred times in her lifetime "I pledge my allegiance to Elphora and give myself to the service of it's people".

"As Sector Governors, and as citizens of Elphora, we recognise you, Kyia Levelle as leader, servant and Quelena of our people" The Governors voices chorused.

"I, Vagel Yyll, Appointed Governor of the Eastern Sector pledge my allegiance," A female voice sounded out.

"As Elected Governor of the Eastern Sector, I Darous Nite, pledge my allegiance", said another.

"As Appointed Governor of the Central Sector, I Felle Mri, pledge my allegiance"

"I, Bis Xandel, Elected Governor of the Central Sector, pledge my allegiance"

"As the Northern Sector Appointed Governor, I, Naplo Hanal pledge my allegiance".

"As Elected Governor of the Northern Sector, I, Iona Jay, pledge my allegiance"

"As Appointed Governor of the Southern Sector, I, Dimul Vacid, pledge my allegiance"

"I, Laina Cherylo, Elected Governor of the Southern Sector, pledge my allegiance".

"As Appointed Governor of the Western Sector, I, Ible Moss, pledge my allegiance".

"As Elected Governor of the Western Sector, I Rew Tuvite, pledge my allegiance" Obi Wan noticed the last Governor to speak, a female Elphoran with blue age lines carried a lightsabre on her belt.

All the Elphorans put a hand towards the centre of the table "I come in peace and friendship and leave hate at the door", they all took their seats.

"Good, that's the formalities over with" The Quelena said briskly "If nobody objects I've invited Jedi Knight Obi Wan Kenobi and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker to the proceedings, in an observers capacity naturally".

The female who had identified herself as Iona Jay turned a seemly vacant stare towards Kyia's direction, but failed to focus on her "They haven't sworn the oath" She stated neutrally.

"Yes, of course" Kyia handed them a datacard.

They read the Oath out loud "I pledge my friendship to the Elphoran people and to keep the secrets of those in this room. As an outsider I will respect the authority of this body and that of Quelena Kyia Levelle".

The room murmured an affirmative.

"Right, first matter at hand, who let Kal Solo into the gathering?"

A ripple of laughter echoed round the room in response to Kyia's question.

A man spoke who Obi Wan had seen talking to Kyia previously, Dimul of the Southern Sector "It didn't help that the berry wine was an extremely potent vintage this rotation"

Anakin hoped he meant year, he was still getting used to the system of pronouncing the same word two ways to mean day and year.

More laughs.

Then Kyia noticed Bis Xandel slip down in his chair, her Elphoran sixth sense confirmed it despite the expression of innocence on his face "Bis?"

He looked back at her "Sorry. I was winning, well until then. The guy's the luckiest sabacc player I've ever seen, the hand was amazing, I swear he only had a positive 5 or I wouldn't have done in but then the randomiser kicked in and he hit me with an idiot's array…".

"Well you got the idiot bit right" Felle interjected as his Sector cohort, her eyes flashing at him from under her dark brown curls before grazing them over the Jedi in the corner.

"Just make sure that next time I'm not the prize, please"

"Sorry" He repeated.

"Right, next on the order of business, Hellebore's Light. I take it that by now the phora's spread far enough that you all know about it" She said using what Obi Wan was pretty sure was the Elphoran word for plant. "The orphans have been found places already" She glanced over at Dimul "Let's hope they heal quickly. All but a few have families in other Sectors, but those remaining will have to be integrated into another community, together if possible".

"Dimul and I believe that the town of Jelsu have expressed an interest in helping. The residence are friendly and I'm sure they would welcome them," said Laina

"Good, they need to get on with their lives. The Southern Sector has been brilliant in this crisis. It won't be forgotten. " Kyia looked down at the floor, this was make or break time "But I fear it will not be the last".

Several heads arched round.

"What!" Demanded Vagel, almost rising in her seat "It is bad enough that no one knows who the attackers are, but to expect more. We cannot just stand by…"

"No one is going to just stand by" Kyia interjected fiercely.

"We are not warriors" The male Northern Sector Governor, Naplo Hanal continued " These are normal people, most of them have not even seen a blaster. Our Jedi are healers, what can we possibly do?"

That, thought Kyia is the problem.

"You're underestimating Elphora and your cowardice is insulting" snarled Bis.

"Please" Kyia raised her voice above the argument "Leave hate at the door" She waited for the quiet full attention of the room before continuing, Obi Wan become conscious of how good at this she was. "Now," She reassured in hushed tones that seemed to hold her authority "It is fair to assume that the enemy wants us disorientated and panicked, therefore we have to stay calm"

"Just who is the enemy?" Asked Rew.

It was a fair question "I believe" She took a breath, wondering how much of this the Jedi turned Governor knew, she looked around and added harshly to express her point "under no circumstances is this to go outside of the people in this room. I am branding this information the highest level of Global Security. I am very certain that the people who attacked Hellebore's Light, were in fact Sith Lord".

"But everyone knows that The Sith have been extinct for hundreds of rotations, the Jedi would have…"

"The Jedi know" Rew interrupted him, speaking frankly. "There was an element to the Naboo Crisis that was not made public, to prevent a panic. Did anyone really believe that a great swordsman like Master Qui Gon Jinn could be killed by destroyer droids? He was the victim of a Sith attack, who Obi Wan Kenobi managed to destroy. But since there are always two we know there's one more out there, training a replacement as we speak." She clasped her hands "I was surprised when he first entered the room, now I am not"

"Why Elphora?" Felle asked astutely "There are hundreds of planets in this galaxy, why pick on a small township in the middle of nowhere on a small inconsequential planet? I thought Sith's normally had better things to do with their time than randomly attack children. Is this just their way of striking out against the Jedi?"

Kyia swallowed, catching a glint in the eye of the shrewd woman, this was why she hated answering her questions "Of striking out against me, isn't that what you mean".

Felle smiled with a mixture of sweetness and cunning "Your words not mine Your Royalness".

"Probably" Kyia admitted "A day after the attack on Hellebore's Light Obi Wan and I also found ourselves at the hot end of a Sith Lord's sabre. Obi Wan was brought in because it was the second time I had been attacked"

"And you didn't tell us!" Ible Moss cried.

"There was no need for you to know, there was nothing you could do. I had no idea it would go this far and I was trying not to worry anyone" She noticed Iona once again staring into space "Iona you've been quiet over this, what do you think?"

"I am thinking what made the Sith pick you out of the hundreds of Jedi in the galaxy. And how this links in with your decision to leave the Republic, what has scared the namesake of Kyia the Great so much that she feels threatened by it?" Her yellow eyes looked up questioning.

"You know who it is don't you" Whispered Rew.

Kyia sighed, wondering how to handle this "I have a theory on a part of it, one that could get me into a lot of trouble if I made it public without absolute proof. Either way I don't like the way things are shifting in the Senate. You've heard about Finis' early return? He has since left the planet, but not before he informed me on a plan to place heavy taxation on botanicals. People are getting greedy, and the balace of power is delicate. If it comes crashing down, which with the Order of the Sith involved, is increasingly likely, I won't have Elphora caught up in it".

"A very fine sentiment, but exactly how are we supposed to survive without it? Protection and trade will be eliminated without it"

The Quelena then explained her reason for her hasty departure with an Elphoran padawan.

Laina looked at her through slightly lowered eyelids "You've thought carefully about this"

Kyia nodded.

"Then we have work to do" said Iona after a breath "We'll have to set up the new trade routes"

"And adapt cultivation methods, Hapes is harder to get to"

"Not only that" The Quelena interrupted "I want Elphora to start stockpiling things that aren't easily available, or if possible learn to produce them ourselves. Subtly so it's not seen to be being done, gradually, we've got time. I want the Quelena's Guard built up and our planetary defence systems made more comprehensive. I know we have the shield, but it can be strengthened and a few ships and pilots wouldn't go astray."

Bis looked straight at her "You sound like you are preparing for war".

"We don't know what we are preparing for, which is why I want to cover every eventuality. Hopefully if we're careful no one will notice and it won't get taken that we're planning to join the separatists."

"What about the Sith?" Naplo asked

"There's no way we can attack them directly" Vagel interceded "From what I've heard their strong and if we don't even know how to get to them…"

"Which is why they won't be expecting this. All we need to do is slow down his plans. Hopefully The Jedi will be able to take care of the rest with any advantage we can give them." Kyia finally felt like her point was being gotten across.

Darous tapped the table lightly with his fingers "Assuming his plans are for the Republic".

Bis frowned "What do you think Sith Lords do Darous? It's not spending the day with children picking wild flowers"

Kyia exhaled, she knew how Darous felt, she would like to deny it was happening, but she had to lead these people, she had to fight.

"Ummm" Laina interrupted "There is always two right? Yet I hear everyone saying he, it could be a she as well right? It could be anyone, even an Elphoran."

The Quelena nodded "Good point, I don't think it is an Elphoran because I can normally sense when a Sith Lord is on the planet, and that's not all the time. But still this is why I stress that the secrets must be kept by those in this room".

"You don't want to risk the sabacc pot" Bis added "I concur"

The Quelena looked around the room "Does everyone concur?"

"Master Obi Wan" Felle added in her rich tones "What is your view on the situation. As an outsider with experience on Coruscant, you must have a broader, lets say perspective. You must have something to say on the subject"

The Jedi smiled tight-lipped "I'm only here as an observer and guard to the Quelena".

Felle looked around "I'm sure no one at this table minds"

Obi Wan coughed nervously "I may have a wider knowledge of the worlds outside Elphora but my knowledge of your people and your planet is limited"

Kyia put up a wall around her thoughts not wanting the Jedi or her Governors to see how amusing she was finding the way he was avoiding the question.

The Governor smiled innocently "We'll forgive you. But your own opinion now" She stole a glance at Kyia "Do you think we should be leaving the Republic?"

Obi Wan proceeded cautiously, "I believe that it is a drastic decision, and not one to be taken lightly. But the Sith threat is real and dangerous, one we all have to fight against".

The female Central Sector Governor looked at him for a moment then at the Quelena "I would only trust Hapes as far as I could reach them with a lightsabre, but I concur."

Kyia felt relief flood through her, the rest of the Governors followed suit with Felle's agreement "Then I formally draw this meeting to a close. We depart as one. May the Force be with you"

This was repeated by the others; the air was heavy when they exited the room.

Felle caught Kyia on the way out "The Jedi?" She began discretely.

"I take it by the way you were staring you mean Obi Wan not Rew" The Quelena countered "He's a Jedi Felle, it means he's married to the Order".

The woman gave her a smile that could give Rancors a run for their money "I'm not exactly looking to marry him Your Royalness"

Kyia did not correct her on the use of her title, she knew the Governor only did it to unsettle her "I don't think he's your type".

"What's that supposed to mean? He's a Jedi so I take it he's unattached"

Kyia sniggered inwardly "Then I correct myself. Rumour has it anything unattached is your type"

Felle scowled "At least I have a type. So is he attached or not?"

"Not" Said Kyia firmly " Your sarcasm is duly noted. But you'd eat him alive, and to be honest I don't think you'd get anywhere".

"Oh is that so!" She tossed her hair "Understand this Your Royalness, I have no problems attracting men, they are all the same, Jedi or no Jedi."

Felle straightened herself, slightly unsettled by her Quelena's repressed smirk.