Chapter 14
There is no peace, there is torment.
The woman heard a strange, mysterious voice whisper the words into her ears and smiled as she accepted them. She knew that her disagreement with the Jedi with whom she once trained had deeper roots than her taste for political power, even though she did not think so at the time she left the Jedi. Those Jedi had not the slightest clue about how wrong the very first part of their code was. Anger and lust, the woman's two strongest emotions, had not only existed but tortured people and drove every last vestige of peace away from the Skywalker descendant.
The woman accepted the teaching with ease, for it made sense to her more than the Jedi Code ever did. There was never peace, but there always was emotion. Because emotions always played a key role in torment, it was safe to say that the words from the unknown stranger only made sense.
How could those ignorant fools who call themselves Jedi Masters not see this? Sithspit, my father was even on that council! The woman wondered. She was only eighteen years old, much younger than the Jedi on the Council, yet she had already seen the nonexistent truth behind the lie that they call the Jedi Code. She had anger, she had hatred, she had love, she had jealousy, and she had not, since she was born, had a single second without the torture of having emotions.
There is no teacher, there is ignorance.
The mystical voice spoke again and the woman once again accepted without argument. Because no one amongst the Jedi Masters was willing to open their eyes to the naked truth, not even the greatest of the great, Kyp Durron and Jacen Solo, who had unlocked all the secrets of the Force, there were no teachers. When there was no one to teach, ignorance was notoriously widespread.
"This isn't right." The woman muttered as a gust of wind blew forth her light brown tresses. She had seen how anger helped her to level her adversaries with her searing, silver blade and she could not stand and watch as those fools on the Jedi Council vehemently denied what she uncovered.
There is no serenity, there is passion.
The fiery red of blood burned in the woman's eyes. A distant passerby might label the expression as one of wrath, but a close examination of her eyes revealed the fires of passion that burned in the once-serene eyes. The occasional black specks in the close-up view of the woman's eyes were like the ashes of the serenity that she once had about her. Serenity was consumed completely in the wildfire of passion that, alongside anger, drove the woman to slaughter en masse.
The fires of the passion with which she hated her lover's killers and with which she loved her Kyril had spread throughout the woman's body as the last vestige of her youthful serenity was destroyed. There was a mental explosion as every part of the woman's mind and personality caught fire. Within minutes, every recognizable aspect of the woman was dead.
On the outside, the woman's face merely reddened, as if the firestorm raging within her was nothing but a bit of summer heat. The woman rose and threw her hair back wildly when her head finally emerged from between her shoulders.
"Princess, what had happened?" What seemed to be hours later, someone stepped into the scene and inquired about the massacre. Sil turned and narrowed her eyes. She heard a gasp as the other woman had a good glance at the flaming-red eyes.
Sil had hoped to find another target to beat upon, but she was disappointed as she recognized Lady-Duchess Ceraith, her soon-to-be sister-in-law.
"Rosanna Ceraith! The Ni'Korish killed Kyril and I returned their favor. All debts have been repaid, as is the order of the angels." Sil replied.
"Oh, by the angels, none of this should have happened! Brother, dead, and sister, committing mass murder!" The older woman dropped to her knees and pounded a fist against the dirt. Sil knew she felt some forgotten emotion toward this woman, something different than what she felt toward the one named Kyril, but she, for the life of her, could not name it.
"Oh, dear sister!" The young Sil gave an anguished cry and squeezed the other woman in a bear hug. In the comfort of embrace, she shared some of the pain that resided in her tormented conscience and soul. Ceraith returned the hug and unconsciously opened her torrent of emotions to Sil. Tears streamed from the older woman's closed eyes onto Sil's clothes and eventually soaked through them, but Sil did not care about the wet spot on her shoulder.
End of Flashback
"What was that all about?" Sil put a hand on her forehead and sat up. A glance at the chronometer told her that only one standard hour had passed. She wondered. Why do I remember this? What was that that I felt toward Kyril? Sil knew that why was always a question deeper than its answer, but she sought answers nonetheless and knew just where to start from the information in her flashback
The vampire covered her sensitive skin with layers of black cloth and finished by drawing a veil over her face. She then proceeded to search the HoloNet for Rosanna Ceraith. If anyone knew anything, it was she.