Paneau: capital city of Dalon
Royal Forces Security Center
5.5 APC

It had been a number of weeks since a morning had been so unkind to him, but Koril's insomnia was mostly self-induced. How could he have slept, knowing what he had done to his closest friends? Friends who had saved his life, friends who had refused to give up the search for him for months after the Huxnel had disappeared with him, friends who had introduced him to the Jedi Knight who ultimately became his wife and mother of his children. Unable to any other way, his grief and guilt manifested as constant nausea, and his hands shook incessantly despite his best efforts to steady them. He could hardly maintain a grip on the datapad he held, having finished drafting his resignation on it hours earlier. He stared hard at its screen, lost in the surrealism of the words it displayed; he had composed them himself, yet he still wasn't sure he could fully grasp what they meant. There was no other option, he had convinced himself, especially since he had absolutely no explanation for his actions. He had done more than enough damage. Why his own guards hadn't already removed him from duty, he didn't know.

Alone in his office, he sat in the same chair behind his desk he had been at since returning to the Security Center late the previous night, finding the Manor empty after Elena left with the children. She had even taken Cordira Natiyr and Kaydee with her, leaving just waitstaff and night guards, none of which he knew very well. Close company wouldn't have helped, though; he needed solitude, and he knew his staff at his office would obey his order to leave him undisturbed unless necessary. He had hundreds of guards and investigators on the hunt for the Kel Door who had attempted to take his children, and only if they had news of his whereabouts or capture were they to enter Koril's office...

Though he hardly noticed the sound of the door at the other end of the room opening, he didn't hear any accompanying footsteps approaching, keeping him in his place. Still, something in the back of his mind told him he was no longer alone, but he didn't believe it until he was addressed.

"...High Commander?"

The voice belonged to Major Jax, whom he had sent home after leaving the Manor the night before. The passage of time was only just beginning to register, aided by the bright, mid-morning light filtering into the office from the tall window behind him. Jax wouldn't have known of the mandate Koril had given to his officers, but hopefully the major had news to bring.

As Koril looked up from his desk, though, he wasn't expecting to see someone else standing beside Jax. Master Kanomin, nearly a head shorter than the major, folded her hands calmly in front of her, seeming to await some kind of reaction from Koril as she studied him closely. Koril stared blankly between the two, unsure of the reason for their visit until Jax's expression became reticent. He had brought Master Kanomin with him for a reason, and knowing that the last Koril had seen of her had been at Mand's side in the Dalon Med Center, Koril could infer that Jax had asked the Jedi Master to become a mediator of sorts.

Feeling slightly betrayed, he placed the datapad on his empty desk as nonchalantly as he could and stood from his chair, stepping over to the window to look out onto the Security Center campus. He crossed his arms over his chest in an attempt to hide his trembling as he stood with his back to them, but he knew that wouldn't fool Master Kanomin for long. A long, heavy silence continued for a moment before he heard only one pair of footsteps behind him, and the longer he listened, the more he realized that they were leaving, not closing in on him. Major Jax was the one who had left, he knew, but how was he to even begin explaining himself to Master Kanomin when he still didn't believe or understand his own actions?

"What's on the datapad, Koril?"

Master Kanomin had read him as plainly as a holobook the first time they had met, almost to the point where he believed she was reading his mind. Even as emotionally distressed as he was, she could still see through his facade.

"My resignation," he answered with a rough voice. Though he had tried to hide it with terse body language, his voice unwittingly expressed his severe fatigue. "I'm unfit for duty...so I'm removing myself from it."

Another long moment passed before he heard Master Kanomin slowly step towards him, her footsteps light as though she walked on her toes. He didn't turn to her until she stood just beside him, looking up at him with nothing but compassion.

"You are not unfit, Koril," she began softly, "but rather...you are untrained."

Taken aback by her statement, he stared at her blankly, which she again read so easily.

"Let's sit down and talk."

She gestured so gracefully toward a nearby couch, and compelled to comply, he numbly walked over and sat down as she followed not far behind. As he sat, he felt his entire body sag forward under the weight of his grief, forcing him to hold his head in his hands with his elbows propped up on his knees. Master Kanomin remained reserved beside him, but when he didn't take the opportunity to speak first, she spoke up again gently.

"Tell me what happened yesterday, Koril."

Every time he decided on a way to begin, his breath caught in his chest, preventing him from answering. Still trembling, he struggled to even swallow, making his words that much harder to force out.

"I don't know," he finally managed, sounding as scared as he felt. "I've been trying to understand it, but...I can't explain it."

Sympathetic as ever, Master Kanomin's voice was so gentle. "Then tell me what you can explain."

He took in and released a number of shaky breaths, summoning the courage he needed to confess his transgression to her. All he could think to do was start from the last thing he remembered clearly from that night...

"I had gone to visit Tavyna Jax... She had been injured in the shuttle crash at the Academy, and...I wanted to see how she was doing, and ask her father if he recalled anything else about the event. He was there, when it happened, and he did remember seeing smoke trailing behind the shuttle before it crashed, meaning it all might've just been an accident... And all I could think about was that Mand had warned her daughter, saved her from harm...but no one else got a warning.

"Dirani," his voice broke as he said her name, overcome with emotion, "...Dirani nearly died. Tavy lost her foot. Swip lost a sister. So much loss...and I kept coming back to Mand, wondering how she knew about it, why she hadn't warned others... With every step I took out of that room, I became angrier and angrier, and it was all I could focus on.

"Everything was suddenly...blurry," he struggled to explain his memories, "and it was like I was watching it all unfold...from across the room, while someone else stood there...in my body." Looking up to Master Kanomin for the first time since they had sat down, his voice nearly disappeared in his sorrow and disbelief. "I couldn't stop... I just watched as...as I demanded answers out of Mand. I shook her, I woke her out of her trance, I...I even ordered my guards to not allow Rech into the room."

Completely overwhelmed, his chest tightened moment by moment with anxiety, threatening to suffocate him. With his head in his hands again, he fought for his breath, but it wasn't until Master Kanomin lightly touched his shoulder that he was finally able to take in a long, deep breath. He could only release it as short, muffled sobs, and once he had calmed enough, though not completely, he continued.

"I knew...I knew I was hurting her, in the back of my mind, but...I had to find out. I forced it out of her, stressed her system so much...she was suffocating...and I've been nothing but sick since."

Master Kanomin's silence was both comforting and defeating at the same time. She sat so serenely beside him, seemingly processing everything he had just told her carefully, but what surprised him the most was that her expression remained unchanged. She wasn't passing judgment on him or disappointed by his actions; at least, if she was, she wasn't showing any signs of it. In a way, the Jedi Master reminded him of his own mother, always searching for a lesson out of every situation...

"The first thing you need to know about all this, Koril," she began quietly, "...is that Mand bears no ill will against you."

Stunned, he gave a short, disgusted laugh, unimpressed with such a cruel joke. "She should."

Master Kanomin only shook her head delicately. "She doesn't. I heard her say so myself this morning."

He still refused to believe it. "Then she is not in the right mind."

"Oh, she is. I know she is."

How could Master Kanomin possibly be so adamant about it? She hadn't been there when he had attacked Mand, or she wouldn't have been able to even make eye contact with him, much less sit in the same room with him. What did she know?

"Koril," she continued carefully, "Mand is the last person who would ever fault you for what you went through."

He blinked. "...I almost killed her."

"But you said you were watching yourself from elsewhere, and you weren't in control." He nodded, allowing her to continue. "You were opened to the Force recently, more than what you had been used to before. In someone who hadn't been trained to...harness that change, it very easily could have translated into an episode like this, where your intense emotions took over before you could recover. Mand recognized that about you. Someone with her...background would've seen it very easily."

A little unsure what exactly she was telling him, he tried to think through it. "My...emotions took over?"

"Yes. It was a...glimpse into the Dark Side, unfortunately. It appears as though you were lost to it without even realizing it. Your friends have been through it before, too; I know that for a fact. But they at least had some prior knowledge, and probably some training on how to counteract it, as well. They would've learned years ago as students; you, however, haven't had the luxury of experiencing it before this in a relatively safe environment like they did.

"You have been under such monumental stress, Koril," she finished smoothly. "Frankly, I'm not surprised that this happened, given your raw strength in the Force and your inexperience with it."

Strangely, it was all beginning to make sense. It explained how little he felt in control of himself while so fueled with anger, but he couldn't ignore the fact that it wasn't entirely an isolated incident...

"It's happened before."

Now that did surprise her.

"A few months ago, before Elena came back from Montar...I attacked my uncle for not telling me where my sister was. But just like this, I didn't know what I was doing...until the Natiyrs stopped me."

Slightly more wary of him, she nodded after a moment. "This definitely does need to be addressed, then." After drawing a slow breath, she looked at him more confidently. "You are not a poor leader or an unfit officer because of this, Koril. I can help you. It doesn't have to control you any longer."

Though her promise was intended to ease his anxiety, it didn't. "Elena's tried to help me before. It works for a while, but...it keeps coming back, and this time, without any warning."

Master Kanomin still seemed sympathetic. "Perhaps she didn't entirely understand what it all meant. Or...perhaps she did, and she didn't want to accept the truth about it. Like I said, your friends have experienced it, as well. They may not be ready to believe that you are susceptible to...the Dark Side. I, however, would rather see it for what it is, and do whatever is necessary to prevent it from happening again."

Releasing another shaky breath after a long moment, he nodded, finally deciding to trust in the Jedi Master's assistance for the sake of his conscience and his sanity.

As the Scepter Guard swiftly ushered her down a narrow hallway she had never seen before, Elena couldn't help but feel slightly strange about the whole thing. She was about to be witness to a private royal wedding, yet the reason for its secrecy kept her from being overtly excited. So many worries were on her mind already, but at least she was granted this opportunity to steal away an hour or two of respite. Wherever she had been taken, she was free to lose herself in such pure innocence and joy for just a little while...

They seemed to travel through a maze of dark, unadorned corridors for what she was sure was a half kilometer before finally reaching their destination, and even though the young king had his back to her as they approached a closed door, her voice had already caught in her throat.

"Elena," Jec greeted her happily as he turned to face her, nodding his thanks to his Scepter Guards. "Seyiri's just inside. I'm glad my guards were able to bring you here so quickly. That was fast."

Elena could only smile in ironic agreement, briefly lost in memories of the seven-year-old boy she had accidentally met so many years ago. Once a rambunctious, occasionally mischievous prince, now a competent, mature king stood before her, dressed in one of his many fine suits for his wedding. It reminded her of what his father Veon used to wear; simple but stately, unmistakably royal in its deep indigo and gold colors and its high quality fabric. Jec wore it so effortlessly, just as he wore his humble crown, the first she had seen of it since his coronation almost five years ago. Though she had tried to prepare herself against it, she stared hard at his jacket to prevent tears she could feel forming, reaching up to his shoulder to gently smooth away a nonexistent wrinkle.

"Look at you," she whispered with a growing smile, pride no doubt beaming through her expression. When she met his gaze, though, she couldn't withhold her tears any longer. She laughed in spite of herself, shaking her head as she quickly brushed away stray teardrops from her cheeks. "Look at me. You'd think I was giving away my own brother."

Jec laughed lightly, too. "It certainly feels that way, doesn't it?"

She nodded with another broad smile, studying his face for a moment when she realized... "You don't look nervous at all."

Still confident and happy as ever, Jec simply shook his head. "I'm not."

It wasn't fair how calm and collected he seemed to be in the face of such an important, life-changing event. But perhaps it wasn't as much of a change as she thought; he had been through more trying transitions before, most especially when he had become king of an entire planet at twelve...

"I know I don't tell you often enough, but I am so proud of you, Jec," she breathed, emotional once more. "And I know that...if your father were here...he would be, too."

His expression fell the slightest bit as he no doubt felt the pain of his father's absence, as well. She hadn't intended to dampen the mood, though, so thinking quickly, she pulled a small wrapped gift from her pocket and handed it to him. "Here. I have something for you, for both of you."

"Elena, you didn't have to," he said with a humble smile, reluctantly taking it from her. She shook her head casually as he carefully unwrapped it.

"It's just a few words of wisdom, from one royal couple to another."

She nearly choked on her words, knowing how incomparable they were to each other. Jec and Seyiri had been Paneau Royals all their lives; even after four years of marriage to Koril, Elena still wasn't comfortable referring to herself as a Royal, as though she didn't deserve it.

Jec didn't seem to notice her struggle, inspecting the small, carved stone he held in his hand. Though it was inscribed with Paneau's ancient language, Jec read it without any pause or hindrance.

"'Trust, forgive, love,'" he quietly translated aloud, gently running his fingers over the smooth, delicate etchings and designs. "It's beautiful, Elena, thank you. Seyiri will love it."

Glad to hear his appreciation for such a small token, she smiled and took hold of one of his arms. "We shouldn't keep her waiting much longer. She might think we've abandoned her."

Jec laughed in agreement, and with his Scepter Guard ahead and behind, they all stepped into the room wordlessly. Still unsure if she was entirely prepared, she allowed herself to be led forward by Jec, keeping her eyes lowered to the floor just in front of her. Only when he stopped and the guards took up their posts nearby did she look up, and even more than she expected, Seyiri was a sight to behold. Jec couldn't have looked more enamored.

A pure white, silken dress so delicately tailored to her small frame seemed to glow in the room's soft lighting, but her face, illuminated by the genuine joy in her smile, still far outshone it. She was purely radiant, her long blond hair swept up into loosely pinned curls and adorned with tiny pale green flower blooms. They were distinctly fragrant, pleasant but markedly different from the purple panna flowers Elena had become so accustomed to over the years. Seyiri's vibrant emerald eyes sparkled with eagerness and excitement, the only thing betraying her otherwise reserved exterior. Elena remembered so little of her own wedding, too lost in the euphoria of the moment, and she wondered if Seyiri would experience the same.

"Your Highness", the minister addressed Jec formally, bowing to him as he took his place in front of the couple. Elena had only just stepped back, admiring them both for a moment, but before she had even realized it...the ceremony was nearly over.

"I, Verojec Banarecc, take you, Seyiri Ordeel, to be my wife. From this day forward, I will cherish you. I will look with joy down the path of our tomorrows, knowing that we will walk it together, side by side, hand in hand...and heart to heart."

With graceful ease, he slipped a ring over her slender finger, a ring that surprised Elena with its simplicity. A single, round diamond was bordered on either side of the band by both a rich green and a deep amber gem, yet none of the three were particularly large. It was the symbolism of the colors that meant the most, Elena gathered; the Banarecc Royal Family was represented by golden yellow, the Ordeels by emerald. Seyiri was only enchanted by it a few moments before she repeated the same vow, placing a similarly jeweled yet more masculine band on Jec's hand.

"I, Seyiri Ordeel, take you, Verojec Banarecc..."

Seyiri's words suddenly seemed to echo so strangely in the small room, perhaps because Elena was simultaneously hearing her own vows, said to Koril more than four years ago...

"...and heart to heart."

Jec could hardly contain the largest smile Elena had ever seen from him as he gently held both of Seyiri's hands in his. "I've loved you as long as I can remember, Seyiri," he continued softly, "even when we were kids. Nothing could make me happier than I am tonight...as I marry my best friend."

Taking in a quiet breath to settle her voice, Seyiri shed a single tear, her glistening eyes locked with Jec's. "These past few years, I've been asking myself...who am I to steal the heart of the king? Our journey together hasn't always been a happy one...but we've made it through these hardships, with each other's support, and it can only get better from here. I love you so much, Jec. I've always been yours."

The minister, satisfied with their exchange of vows, bowed again to them both, bringing attention back to himself. "You are now, in the eyes of official Paneau law and records, husband and wife." Addressing Seyiri specifically, he smiled kindly again. "You may continue operating as Seyiri Ordeel, but whenever you are ready, you may assume your proper title: Her Royal Highness, Seyiri Banarecc...Queen of Paneau." Bowing once more, but more deeply, he looked to Jec with a cordial gesture. "You may kiss your queen."

Wasting little time, Jec swept Seyiri up into a sweet, gentle kiss, bringing the secret ceremony to a blissful close. As quickly as it had begun, though, it was dissolved, and as Elena was being taken back home separately from the others, her spirits quickly fell. Witnessing such a seemingly perfect union only forced her to realize how imperfect hers was, and how much of a broken, strained relationship she was returning to that night.