A semicircle of Council elders bent their minds upon me. I felt them probing, prying, questioning, searching.

"He is too young for the Trials."

"He is irreverent of our customs."

"However, he has learnt respect since the first time we saw him."

"Moreover, though he is young, the Force is with him."

"Edethrian, are you certain, despite his age and immaturity?"

Edethrian? That was my Knight's name?

"With the Council as my witness, I am certain."

"Then it shall be done. Escort him to the summit."

Leaving them, I glanced sidelong at my Knight.

"Edith."

He stopped short, his face colouring.

"Edethrian, please, I have received enough taunts for my name. As you are my padawan, call me Ed for short."

"Ed, then."

"I never told you my name?"

"No."

"Our bond is more familiar than I thought."

"What is at the summit, Ed?"

"Patience, Joe."

888

My name is Joe-Bero Stargazer. According to the Jedi Council, I am a Gray Jedi, and the divide began upon the Temple's summit. In those days long gone, the summit was a space dock, flat and wide, as the Temple was square. The ship waiting for me was an A-Wing with carbon scoring across its hull and engine ports.

"Do you know of Dark Jedi?"

I affirmed, "Exiled Fallen Jedi, forsaking the Light Side, who fled after the Hundred Year Darkness that ended with the Battle of Corbos, approximately one thousand seven hundred and ninety years ago."

"Your trial is to negotiate with a Dark Jedi whose whereabouts on Dantooine are known."

"Did previous negotiations do that to the ship?"

"Yes. Do not return like it."

Mine was a trial indeed. Consulars are ambassadors. When an enemy appears, we go to unknown territory first, to feel out the situation and identify Force potential in the flora, fauna and people. Sentinels come afterward, assessing strengths and weaknesses. Guardians arrive last, to enforce the law and protect. This was a Consular's trial. My role was talk, not battle.

"What is known of this Dark Jedi?"

"He was my padawan before he… turned."

Sympathy flowed between us.

"I will do my best, Ed."

He smiled at me, a sad smile.

"Though he failed the Trials, do not underestimate the power of the Dark Side."

888

I paid little attention to Dantooine but worried about Bobris Sedler, the apostate. Would he share Ed's stern but shrewd attitude, or was he a stereotypical heartless? What had caused him to turn? Ed hadn't offered explanations, and perhaps that was part of the trial. My perception, judgment and persuasion skills would be tested, for mine was the task of convincing Bobris to return to the Council for judgment! His presence on Dantooine was disruptive and besmirched Jedi reputation. A Guardian could easily arrest the man, but that would not change Sedler's ways. It was preferable that he submitted willingly; the means must justify the ends, and this was the essence of my trial.

Given an address, I sought him out among the dregs of Dantooine society, from tavern to whorehouse to garbage recycling facility.

"Joe-Bero Stargazer," Sedler greeted me coolly across the yard that stank of discarded kolto tanks, "My replacement. Here to erase the evidence, I assume?"

"Bobris Sedler," I replied evenly, keeping my nerves under control, "why did you leave?"

He passed through a flickering lamppost beam, the pallor of his skin and jaundiced eyes creeping with Dark Side affliction. He had deserted five years ago.

"The Jedi lie, they tell lies, all lies. Peace… hah! Look around you, Joe-Bero, where is peace when power, prestige and position are stripped away? Savagery remains. Basic instinct overwhelms. I tell you, there are more animals than civilized beings living in these crumbling buildings."

"The Jedi seek to uphold the best of galactic civilization."

"And let the diseased ones rot!" he ranted, grubby clothes marking him as one, "Let the worst of civilization bend and scrape in their shadow! Let us be forgotten forever!"

"Hope is not lost for you. The Council requires your presence to conduct your trial."

His gibbering laugh echoed off the mountains of waste.

"Return to high society, yes! Walk their hallways paved with durasteel and dress in their expensive robes. What is it like, Joe-Bero, to be one of them? Do you feel better than everyone else, hmm? Is it nice to have a lightsaber and kill people who are beneath you?"

"I have never taken life. The Jedi are regulators, not rulers. We serve the Republic and its citizens."

"Oh, yes, until they oppose your ways of thinking. Then you manipulate the weak minds of your so-called Republic into doing what you want."

"At times, it is necessary for peace."

"Peace?" he hissed, advancing on me, "What good is peace without freedom? I have freedom, from all things!" he laughed, twirling arms outstretched to encompass the ruin and decay.

"What good is freedom without responsibility? You are not happy here, Sedler. Surrender to the Council and you will be given a new life, most likely as a spy as you have formed connections here."

Bobris leaned against the lamppost, picking at his fingernails.

"To become their dog again? I think not. I'd rather live as one than serve their hubris."

"As you wish. I shall report your decision to the Council."

As I turned, an invisible hand encircled my throat.

"I lost my lightsaber to the Sentinel that found me. Give me yours."

That annoying spectre at the back of my mind stepped forward and broke his hold. I cast a glare at Bobris Sedler.

"You oppose a Consular with Force?"

The Dark Side shimmered in his eyes.

"Why not? I was one myself."

Thrusting his hand outward a Force Wave blasted rubbish in my face. Head over heels in the muck, scrubbing filth from my eyes, I shouted inwardly, "I need you!"

"I am here."

The spectre became my ally. Those sinister hands snaked around my neck and squeezed my lungs – I cleared my mind with Battle Meditation and struck back, slamming Sedler into the post so hard that its lamp shattered. I reached for my lightsaber when Ed's words echoed, "A lightsaber is nothing more than an implement of destruction" – that was not the purpose of my trial.

"A lightsaber not ignited," I muttered, keeping a sharp eye on Sedler as he stood.

"You astonish me, Joe-Bero! Did Edith teach you that?"

"His name is Edethrian, and you are a fool."

"On what grounds do you fling your accusation?"

"For insulting the Jedi Order, for worshiping the Dark Side, but most of all, for wallowing in your own self-indulgence. Look at you! A kath hound would turn up its nose at your presence!"

"Brave words for one about to die," he flung slag and broken kolto tanks at me. Sweeping them aside, I bent the metal post around him, pinning his arms.

"Release me! I am no-one's prisoner!"

I dusted off my robes.

"Hope is wasted on the hopeless. Enjoy your freedom, Sedler!"

"I will not be caged, cribbed and confined by a youngling!"

The hills of refuse on either side of us began to shake. I saw the concentration bulging from his eyes and throbbing in his veins.

"Stop!"

"Never! I am my own man!"

As the walls of garbage thundered to meet us, I learnt to fly. Shot high into the air, I heard his fanatic screams as the junk crushed him. Landing on a crane, I checked my ally.

"What was that? I can't jump that high!"

"You think gravity limits me?"

"Oh. How do I get down from here?"

"That's your problem."

I crawled down the hundred-foot extension to the ground. My mission was a failure.

888

Head bent by disappointment, I gave my report to the council.

"He attempted to destroy us both, but I escaped. I could not save him, much less redeem him."

They conferred quietly among themselves before addressing me.

"The death of Bobris Sedler, a padawan with much potential, is a loss to the Jedi Order. You are dismissed."

Crestfallen, I bowed out. Had they dismissed me from the Temple, as well? Where was my Knight? The hallways seemed hostile and empty as my footsteps echoed off their ancient walls. Not knowing where else to go, I went to the library, my most frequent haunt. Perhaps I would find some comfort in my studies until the Council deemed me worthy of another Trial. Passing through the ornate double doors, I called, "Librarian?"

Why was the place so dark? As I walked forward, reaching for my belt light, lightsabers seared to life, hemming me in on both sides, their glow showing the dark robes of their hooded wielders. Startled, I fell back, reaching for my own, when I recognized the smiling face of my Knight among them.

"Ed?"

"Come forward and kneel, padawan," said a Council elder at the head of them all, her own lightsaber bared. Obeying, my eyes asked the question.

"You were observed during your trial, of course: a Jedi is never alone. By upholding the Jedi Code despite Sedler's ravings, by withholding your blade even when attacked, and by displaying a thorough knowledge of the Force, I dub thee Jedi Knight of the Republic."

She sliced off my padawan braid, passing the saber over my shoulders in benediction.

888

"A fine way of scaring me to death twice. Were you also inducted in that manner?"

"No, they sent me a memo."

Ed and I laughed as we watched the sun set over Coruscant, on the edge of the Temple's summit.

"Ever been to the entertainment district, Joe?"

"Several times, Ed, but I had a falling out with a Twi'lek and her bodyguards."

"We're a monastic Order, don't forget that. Although passion ravages us, we are to remain at peace."

"Have you ever loved, Ed?"

Now that we were Knights, I felt more at ease asking personal questions.

"I did, but he has more faith in the Order than in me."

I began to sputter and turn red, but his knowing gaze scrutinized me.

"Don't be naïve, Jedi Knight. There is more to life than what the Order and the Republic deem normal."

"I never expected… I mean, I don't think less of you, Ed…"

His eyes were lost in mists of memory.

"He was the only one I allowed to call me Edith. His way with words, the way his voice lowered ever so subtly whenever he talked to me made me feel special, made me feel good about myself for the first time in my life. It was so easy to lose ourselves in Coruscant – Jedi rarely walk the streets, so we were a couple of nobodies once we dressed like everyone else. Ah, to be young again…"

"What happened?"

Those mists clouded his eyes.

"He said that I inspired more passion than he could control. It affected his duties as Knight. He said that there could be no peace if I remained with him. So he left, to serve the Republic in another quadrant."

Were those tears welling in my Knight's eyes?

"I have not seen or heard from him since. It is even easier to lose yourself in the galaxy…"

I touched his arm, not knowing how to comfort my superior. His inner tension eased, but he had to go on, a man in his confessional.

"I became ruthless in my pursuit of perfection after that. Where else could I turn, except to the Jedi Order? I became the epitome of a Jedi Knight… the Council delighted to honour me… and Bobris hated me for it. I was more of a slave driver than instructor to him. I was so blind to his youth and only saw a padawan that needed to be hammered into a proper Jedi."

He finally looked at me. His history of desperation and sadness lay bare therein.

"That is why I said those blasphemous things to you, Joe – there are other ways to live. Just because you are a Jedi does not mean you are under a lifelong contract. The Jedi Order is a way of life, not the way. You are free to leave, once your surrender your lightsaber, of course."

We were silent for several minutes, thoughts running through our heads of past, present and future. I was the first to break our contemplation.

"Will you seek your own path, now that I am a Knight?"

"Though I argued to the contrary, I am bound to the Jedi Order. I know of no other way to live. I am… frightened of what might happen to me should I live outside its ethics."

"You would search for him."

"Forever. Until the stars no longer shine, until the Force takes me."

He rubbed his eyes as if to dismiss the powerful emotions resurfacing within.

"But my future is with the Council. Now that I have finally succeeded in training a padawan to Knight status, I will be conferred the title of Master."

"Jedi Master Edith."

We halted at my quip, and then overflowed with laughter.

"Your freedom from convention is charming. It will carry you far, whatever you choose to do."

I stood, teetering over the kilometers-deep drop to Coruscant's surface. The wind was sighing past us, carrying undulations of life from the planet-city.

"I am good at what I do. The Force speaks to me nearly as plainly as you do now. I was meant for this life, Ed. When I stray to the Dark Side, it rebukes me. When I accept its presence and do what is right, I am rewarded with an even closer connection."

"I do not dispute your claims, but you sound like a puppet."

"I felt that way, but when I began to work… especially during my Trial… we achieved much."

"It has supported you, though I am curious, what does it say of me?"

I listened, and frowned.

"Curious."

"Hmm?"

"It said, the man with viridian eyes sighs at the moons."

Silence. When I turned to look, Ed had sunk to his knees. There was wildness in his eyes, as though recovering from a blow.

"He… he has those eyes… and a poem he wrote me said… he mourns under the light of lonely moons."

I paused, and fully appreciated the cosmic scale of my intangible ally.