"It's a decent kid you're raising there," Lok Takar told Eeth as he turned the speeder to drive them back to Iroqa-Tira. "He should really go through the rite of passage soon and take his tattoos. He's Zabrak, after all."
"Is he?" Eeth asked slowly. "Is it genetic ancestry that makes a Zabrak?"
"Well, yes," said Lok Takar. "We have a lot of genetic traits that define us. We are independent. Resilient. Somewhat solitary and secretive, but ready to defend what's ours. Proud."
"The Jedi do not encourage pridefulness in their young ones," said Eeth quietly. "And Lok has been raised as a Jedi from a young age."
Lok Takar frowned. "So you say, but does it work?" he asked. "Can you take the Zabrak traits out of a Zabrak? Won't it just make them weaker than they have to be?"
"On the contrary," said Eeth. "I think it makes us stronger. Arrogance is not helpful in a Jedi, Zabrak or not. It makes us overconfident and blind to the needs of the moment. And I am speaking from experience here."
"But we are stronger and more resilient to pain than most others," said Lok Takar. "Surely these are features that we should take pride in?"
"We have done nothing to deserve them," said Eeth. "That would be akin to an Ishi Tib being proud of being a better swimmer than me. We should work with these abilities, yes, but they do not make us inherently superior to anyone else. Nor do they define what culture we belong to. There are plenty of Zabrak without tattoos. Even on Iroqa, as I have seen."
"But you yourself went through the rites," said Lok Takar, gesturing at Eeth's face with one hand. "Or are those fake tattoos?"
Eeth raised his eyebrows. "They are not," he said. "I did go through the rites. And in hindsight, I have to say that this had more to do with indulging my pride than I care to admit now. My overt reasoning, in any case, was that it would make me better suited for undercover missions. Which it did."
Lok Takar grinned. "You remind me of my father," he said. "Very dry. Very to the point. And just on the right side of diplomatic even when you know he considers you a dumbass."
Eeth decided not to comment on the latter part. "Your father does not play a role in the politics of Iroqa any longer, though, does he?" he asked.
"No," said Lok Takar. "Like most members of the ruling clans, he retired when he felt that he was starting to age. I guess he was forty-five or so at the time. And, again, like most members of the ruling clans, he then spent a lot of time coaching his favourite kid into a position of power. That was Triz, in case this wasn't obvious. That aside, he runs the clan home and has the last say in all family affairs."
"What about the clan vote?" Takhya piped up. Eeth thought that this was a very perceptive question.
"The clan vote is democratic," said Lok Takar, "but of course his opinion holds a lot of weight. Some people will be bound to follow the most influential elder person from their clan. Still, their vote is not always weighty enough to determine the outcome. And, no, I won't tell you what he voted for. Look, here we are."
He took the speeder down toward a sprawling complex of buildings centred around a courtyard that was full of people.
"This is the clan home," he said, "but me and my family live in one of the outlying houses in the gardens surrounding it. It gives us more peace and quiet. A lot of people are watching the games in the courtyard but I don't think it would be a good idea to take you there. If the Kaaths got wind of your presence, they would be outraged. It would look like an official visit to the clan house, rather than a private visit to my home."
"Yes, I assume it would," said Eeth. "We had better keep away from the central courtyard. That goes for you as well, Takhya."
Takhya scowled a little at receiving this order from Eeth but wisely said nothing.
As Lok Takar touched down next to a small cottage, a boy of about seven came running outside.
"Hurry, Dad!" he yelled. "They're about to start! I can see Marak and there's this HUUUUUGE lionoid, it's new, they've never had one like it before!"
"Where's Duraz?" asked Lok Takar as they all rushed inside.
"I'm here," said a girl with curly braids that were a shade darker than the average Takar's, without taking her eyes off a large holo projection. "Look at that gigantic lionoid! The game maker just said it's been programmed to attack groups, to prevent people from teaming up like they usually do. I bet Zork won't like that at all. There they go!"
Eeth only just had time to identify Lok in the circle of youngsters surrounding the gigantic lionoid when the gong ran and his padawan, like everyone else, ran off to seek cover. He did not use Force-enhanced speed, Eeth noticed, which was commendable. He was still faster than most others, except for a few who were several years older than him. A few moments later, the lionoid took off, and for a fraction of a second, Eeth thought it was after Lok. Instead, it chased the Kaath girl who had stood next to Lok in the circle. The girl dodged and weaved, but it was clear that this was futile against a pursuer this big, nor was she remotely fast enough to outrun it. This was good news for Lok, who had nearly reached the nearest cliff face that had several cracks which would give him cover.
"What's he doing?" asked Takhya suddenly. Eeth was wondering the same thing. In stunned disbelief, he watched as Lok stopped abruptly and shot at the lionoid, directing its attention away from the girl and towards himself.
"That was gallant but stupid," said Lok Takar, who was still clutching the speeder's ignition control and staring at the projection, just as transfixed as the others.
Eeth nearly flinched as Lok's next shot missed its target to the collective gasps of the audience, and he could not quite keep himself from sending the boy a rebuke through their bond for being so slow and sloppy. However, there was nothing he could do for Lok as the lionoid pounced at him. For a second, he and everyone else was certain that Lok was going to be the first loser of this year's game. As his padawan took a rolling fall under his attacker's belly, Eeth let out a breath he had not known he had been holding. A second later, Lok had 'killed' his attacker. There was a moment's silence in front of the screen, and then the young boy whooted, and Lok Takar and Duraz followed suit. Takhya and Eeth did not, but Takhya grinned and Eeth's posture and facial features relaxed ever so slightly.
"He took a huge risk, but it paid off," said Lok Takar. "Incredible."
Eeth just nodded, thinking privately that he was certainly going to give Lok a piece of his mind, or maybe more than that, for endangering himself so needlessly. It had worked out, but it might well not have, and while this might not have resulted in serious injury, it would have been quite embarrassing, to say the least. Besides, he had the distinct impression that Lok had acted on an impulse, rather than thinking this through, and that would just not do.
Things became less exciting soon after Lok had disappeared off the plateau. Everybody watched out for Marak but he was nowhere to be seen. Lok Takar made use of this lull to introduce the young boy as his son, Shak. Duraz and Shak had a baby sister, he told Eeth, but his wife had taken her to visit her parents.
"I'm bored," said Duraz. "Can I go to the courtyard? I can take her if she wants." She jerked her head at Takhya.
"I have already told you that taking the Jedi to the courtyard is out of the question," said Lok Takar. "Find something else to do. You don't have to watch the game if you don't want to. And can you find a more polite way to talk about our guest? Her name is Takhya."
"Sorry," said Duraz, not sounding particularly sorry. "What do you feel like doing, Takhya?" She did not come across as hostile, per se; Eeth had the impression that this was simply her way of interacting with people. This was not at all unusual for traditional Zabrak either. Unless they were making an active effort to be diplomatic, they could be quite rude.
Takhya shrugged. "What would you do if I weren't here, other than going to the courtyard?" she asked back. Eeth thought that this counterquestion revealed quite a bit of social intelligence; it was certainly not something he would have thought to ask at age eleven.
"Well," Duraz said, "I'd probably work out. I'd practice shooting my bow, or my hand-to-hand combat routines."
"Can I join?" asked Takhya. "I'm quite good at hand-to-hand. I haven't had much practice at shooting a bow but I'd like to try."
"Okay, can we?" Duraz asked, turning to her dad. Lok Takar motioned towards the door. "Sure," he said. "Off you go. But stay away from the courtyard. And be back in time for lunch."
Duraz jumped up and ran. Takhya made to follow, but at the last second, she thought to give Eeth a questioning look. He nodded for her to go ahead.
"But do as our host told you, stay on the premises, and keep away from the courtyard," he warned her for good measure. For a moment, he felt like a father socialising with another father… which was rather absurd, of course.
Shak left them to find some friends, and from then on, it was just Lok Takar and Eeth watching the game. Which was rather anticlimactic. For the next two hours or so, few things happened. Eeth used the opportunity to ask questions about the local culture but their talk was neither particularly entertaining nor overly informative. Eeth was starting to regret having agreed to this visit and was quite glad when Lok Takar finally said, "Well, I have to admit these are the most boring games I have watched in a while. The participants are probably trying to sort out how to deal with the rule changes and are doing their damnedest to stay hidden. Pity. Would you like to take a walk around the premises before lunch is served? Not the central courtyard, just the orchards, the archery range, the sports grounds and so on."
"Yes, that seems like a good idea," said Eeth.
"Alright," said Lok Takar. "I can check the progress of the game on my commlink anyway. If Marak happens to make a decisive move, we can still watch the replay later."
But there turned out to be no opportunity for that because from the moment they left the house, things started to happen.
Lok Takar and Eeth had just turned right and were heading towards the orchard when behind them a man's voice yelled: "Oi! Lok!"
Lok Takar spun around faster than Eeth had ever seen him move. A Zabrak around Eeth's age was coming down the path towards them. He was slightly shorter than Eeth and Lok Takar but had a very commanding presence.
"Father," said Lok Takar, and Eeth could tell he was trying hard, and rather unsuccessfully, not to appear nervous. "May I introduce…"
"… Jedi master Eeth Koth, yes," said the man, looking at Eeth out of startlingly light eyes, even for a Takar. "I have seen the recordings of your arrival on the planet. I am Kanz Takar. Greetings." He inclined his head, and Eeth politely bowed in return.
"I invited Master Eeth to watch the game with me," said Lok Takar quickly. "Just a private meeting. Because his padawan learner is participating, you see."
"And how did he get the idea to participate in the game in the first place?" inquired Kanz.
"Uh, well, Triz suggested it and I asked him and he was quite keen on it," said Lok Takar. "To keep Marak company."
This was an interesting piece of information to Eeth, not that it showed in his impassive face. Why, he wondered, had Triz instigated this whole thing? Did she want to put Lok in danger or intimidate him once again? But had that not been Zur's doing previously? He did not have time to dwell on these thoughts, however, because the family dynamics playing out here were not something that Eeth wanted to miss.
"And it did not occur to you, or your sister," said Kanz, his voice heavy with disapproval, "to consult me before inviting Lok the Jedi to take part in the game, or inviting Eeth Koth into your home? You did not think that I would want a say in this, or at the very least need to know?"
"Uh, well…" Lok Takar said helplessly, and Eeth had more than enough experience with evasive padawans to know that the honest answer to Kanz's question would have been, "We did not ask because we suspected you might say no." From the look on Kanz's face, the man knew it as well.
"Kahall Takar," said Eeth, using the title reserved for the male elder head of a household, "I was not aware that my presence here might not be opportune. I apologise if I have caused any trouble. Would you prefer for me to leave and pick up my padawan learner from the game site?"
Kanz gave him a scrutinising look. "No," he said after a moment's thought. "I would not violate the laws of hospitality thus, and your padawan deserves to stay until the end and attend the award ceremony. But it would be best if you stayed out of sight."
"Well, I was going to keep him out of sight, of course," said Lok Takar, his tone of voice bordering on indignant. "I'm not stupid!"
"We will talk about this later," said Kanz coolly. "And I will want to talk to your sister, too. For now, what I actually came to ask you is where that daughter of yours is."
"Duraz?" asked Lok Takar. "You see, Eeth Koth brought his fellow Jedi's padawan, who is Duraz's age, and Duraz took her to show her the archery range and the training grounds."
"You're sure that this is where they are?" Kanz asked, raising his eyebrows. "Because someone has been shooting paint bullets at people for the past half hour and nobody seems to be able to find the culprits."
"And why would you assume it was Duraz?" asked Lok Takar, who by now sounded definitely indignant.
"Because she is the only youngster not accounted for, and more importantly, this is precisely her style," said Kanz sternly. "And you know it. Besides, I am starting to wonder whether the presence of the Jedi padawan would explain the fact that we have been unable to catch her. Would it?" This question was directed at Eeth.
"Possibly," said Eeth. "Takhya is not a fully trained Jedi by a long shot but she is comparatively good at concealing her presence, especially around people who have no experience with Force-aided concealment. There is an easy way to find out."
He pulled out his commlink and punched in Takhya's code. It took quite a while for Takhya to answer.
"Yes?" she asked, sounding so innocent that Eeth immediately became suspicious. He did not let it on, though.
"You and Duraz should come back to the house now," he merely said. "Lunch will be served in a few minutes."
"Oh, alright," said Takhya. The relief in her voice was unmistakable, which confirmed Eeth's suspicions. "We'll be back in five minutes. We're not far."
"Alright," said Eeth and ended the call.
"Well, lunch will be ready soon, I suppose," said Lok Takar. "Thank you. Father, I will talk to Duraz once she arrives, and if she was indeed behind this, I will make sure it does not happen again."
"No, I will talk to her myself," said Kanz grimly. Without further ado, he marched towards Lok Takar's house. Lok Takar threw Eeth a helpless look and followed. Eeth did as well, but since he had no intention of being pulled into whatever issue Kanz had with his son, he deliberately walked more slowly, and he stayed at the door to wait for Duraz and Takhya, wondering as he leaned against the doorframe for what reason in the universe the elder Takar had made him privy to the grievances he had with his son and granddaughter. Not the diplomatic thing to do, for sure, whatever Lok Takar's assessment of his father's diplomatic skills were. But then, Triz Takar was not a particularly good diplomat either. Maybe it ran in the family. After all, Eeth had not learned half as much about the Kaaths as he had about the Takars while he was here; they were decidedly better at keeping a low profile and hiding their affairs from others.
It took the two girls longer to arrive than it should have, and when they finally approached from the direction of the archery range, it was clear that they had been running; they were both out of breath and sweating.
"Sorry," panted Takhya. "We went to the orchards to race each other and that took us further from the house than I thought."
Eeth saw no need to beat around the bush. "You were not, by any chance," he asked brusquely, "shooting paintballs at people in the central courtyard? Because Kanz Takar showed up here looking for the culprits."
Both girls stared at him.
"My grandfather?" asked Duraz, and the look on her face made abundantly clear that this was not welcome information.
"Indeed," said Eeth coolly. "He is waiting for you inside. You should go and talk to him. Takhya, you stay with me."
Takhya raised her chin defiantly. "I am not answering to you," she said bravely and stupidly.
"If you really think that, you are misinformed," Eeth told her. He motioned for Duraz to go inside, and she complied reluctantly. Once the door had closed behind her, he fixed a penetrating look on Takhya.
"As a Jedi padawan," he said, "you are answering to your master, to the Jedi High Council, to your mission leader and to every superior Jedi. Which means you are answering to me, here and now. That said, I have no desire to act as the entire mission team's disciplinarian. If this was merely about a silly prank, I would have no problem letting your master deal with it. But this is not about your prank, it is about the fact that said prank involved disobeying my explicit instructions. What it more, it has the potential of seriously disrupting our mission. It should have been abundantly clear to you that our presence on these premises should not become public knowledge."
"Yeah, that's why I used the force to conceal our presence," said Takhya loftily.
"And yet, Kanz Takar found us here because you and Duraz annoyed a sufficient number of people for no good reason," said Eeth pointedly.
Takhya scowled and folded her arms across her chest. "Nothing bad happened," she said. "So Duraz's granddad is mad at her, and I'm sorry for her about it, but this is hardly going to bring the Jedi Order down."
Eeth's mouth tightened into a firm line. He grabbed her ear and dragged her towards the garden that lay at the left side of the house, ignoring her loud protests. The hedge that surrounded the garden would give them some privacy, he thought, and provide an excellent switch or two as well. Before he had made three steps, however, his Force awareness suddenly alerted him to the fact that they were being watched; watched by someone who had some skill at using the Force to conceal their presence, enough to deceive Eeth over the fact that they were hidden in the bushes until Eeth was nearly upon them.
He pulled Takhya close to himself, bent down to make eye contact, giving the impression of continuing to scold her, and hissed, "I will give you a single swat now. As soon as I let you go, you run for the house and get inside. And you don't come out until I tell you to. There's no time to explain but you will obey me in this."
With this, he straightened up, tucked Takhya under his left arm and swatted her bottom with his right, hard. She yelped.
"Let that be a lesson to you," he said, sternly and loudly. "Now we will go inside and rejoin our hosts."
He released his hold on Takhya and she scampered off. Eeth ostensibly made to follow her, but then he turned, lightning-fast, and lunged at Force-enhanced speed towards the bushes that hid their watcher. Halfway there, he sensed danger. Acting on pure instinct, he pulled his saber and the blade flashed upwards to hit a projectile that … would have missed him by nearly two metres, Eeth realised after the fact. Which was because it had been aimed not at him but at Takhya, who had never actually rounded the corner of the house despite clear orders to the contrary.
"Get inside! NOW!" barked Eeth. Their attacker made use of his momentary distraction by sprinting away, but it took Eeth less than a second to bring them down, taking out another projectile while he did so. Flattening the attacker to the ground, he grabbed their hands and pulled them together behind their back, realising as he did so that they were covered in scales. Falleen scales.
"What," he asked Zyle Xatrax quietly, his voice cold as ice, "do you think you are doing? And more importantly, what did you attack my fellow Jedi's padawan for?"
Zyle snorted. "The padawan wouldn't have died," she said. "She'd just have been out cold for a while. Long enough for me to make my getaway while you were looking after her. That was the plan, at least. But you're faster than you look."
Eeth was inclined to believe her but that did little to mollify him. After all, she had outright attacked Takhya. He could discuss the hows and whys of this, but all things considered, he decided that he had had enough of Zyle Xatrax and her Falleen scheming. In one fluid motion, he rose, pulling Zyle upwards with himself none too gently. He turned her around and started marching her to the house, noticing, much to his displeasure, that Takhya was still standing on the garden path, watching the scene with wide eyes.
"Come inside now," Eeth told her in a low voice. "As you were ordered to do before. Twice. Rest assured that we will talk more about this, once we have an opportunity."
For now, though, he had more pressing concerns. Pushing Zyle into the house, with Takhya trudging behind them, he found what looked like Kanz Takar dishing out a massive scolding to Duraz. The girl had her arms wrapped around her torso and was staring at the floor while Lok Takar looked as if he'd rather be anywhere else.
All three heads whipped around as Eeth made his entry.
"Kanz Takar," said Eeth coldly, pushing Zyle towards him. "I have no idea what business your Falleen ally has eavesdropping on our conversations and attacking us, but you will make it stop. Have her removed from our quarters. If I see her one more time or get wind of any attempt on her part to bother us, we will leave immediately, but not before having made sure the local trade unions know of your alliance with Falleen. As for you, Zyle Xatrax: Falleen's scheme to form an alliance with independent planets outside the Republic has not gone unnoticed. It might just call your membership in the Republic in question. If you want me to start that conversation in the Senate, just say the word."
Zyle turned around, rubbing her wrists.
"You're bluffing," she said contemptuously. "Either that, or you're seriously overestimating your influence."
"You are welcome to try and find out," said Eeth, stony-faced. "I would not recommend it, though." His impassive voice did not betray any of his thoughts, which were mostly self-deprecating. He had chalked off Zyle Xatrax as a minor nuisance but that had clearly been a mistake. The fact that Zyle had been able to disguise her presence to a certain extent showed that she was older and more experienced than Eeth had given her credit for. And if she carried a weapon, even if it only shot anaesthetic darts, she was more dangerous than he had thought. They needed to move this mission along and get out of here, preferably after having found out the whole truth about Lok's origins and not before.
Kanz was giving him an appraising look. Apparently, he came to the conclusion that Eeth was serious.
"Zyle acted of her own accord," he said. "It is true that she came to visit the premises today but nobody authorised her to stalk you, let alone attack either of you. I hope that there was no harm done?"
"No, because I took out her projectiles with my saber," said Eeth coolly. "I am less than pleased that this was even necessary."
"You're right," said Lok Takar, who looked pale and uneasy. "You're our guest and you should have been safe. I swear I didn't intend for this to happen."
I wonder, thought Eeth, if the same is true for your sister, who allegedly gave you the idea of inviting us here. He judged it better not to voice this thought, though. Instead, he let his silent gaze linger on Kanz and Zyle, challenging Kanz to make a decision.
"Alright," said Kanz finally and a little wearily. "Zyle, return to the guest house and fetch your things. We will host you in the clan home. Master Koth, I apologise for the attack on the padawan learner. Lok, maybe it would be better if you took the Jedi back to their quarters after lunch."
"Yes, maybe it would be better," said Eeth, giving Takhya a piercing look. She made a valiant attempt at pretending it didn't faze her but of course it did. Eeth's glares never failed to have an effect.
Lok Takar sighed. "Alright, I'll have someone take you back and pick up your padawan in the process," he said. "But at least do me the courtesy of having lunch here with us. The cooks prepared an authentic Iridonian venison stew to celebrate the games."
"Enjoy the stew," said Zyle maliciously. "I don't think there's much else to find here that you will enjoy."
With this, she left. The glare that Kanz sent after her suggested he did not appreciate her remark. He did not comment, though.
"Duraz, report to my study at six tonight," he merely said. "Good day, everyone." He gave a perfunctory nod and left. Duraz looked less than thrilled at the prospect. She threw her father a furtive look, but Lok Takar shook his head.
"Nothing I can do," he said. "Besides, you asked for that. Come on into the dining room. Let's have lunch and see if anything interesting happened during the game."
As a matter of fact, as they found when they had sat down and could focus on the projection, a lot of things were happening in the game because many of the players were pushing for a win now and the lionoids seemed to be upping the ante, too. Marak employed a risky move where he sought out another player and stayed so close to her that it drew the attention of the lionoid that was supposed to break up groups. The other player, a Kaath girl, tried to shake him off to no avail. When the lionoid predictably came after them, Marak tried to take cover and get a shot at it while it pursued the girl. It was not a bad plan, but unfortunately, the lionoid came for him, not the girl, which made it hard for Marak to strike his target. He missed the mark narrowly and would have been "killed" if it had not been for the Kaath girl who managed to shoot the lionoid from behind, whooping in delight at her victory. Marak went back into hiding after that.
Eeth tasted the Iridonian stew and found it quite good even though, having been to Iridonia, he judged it to be not as authentic as Lok Takar seemed to believe. It was still spicy and nourishing. Takhya and Duraz were quite subdued and did not talk much. It was not hard to see why; Duraz seemed to have a conversation with her grandfather coming up that night, and Takhya – well, Eeth was less than happy with her earlier disobedience. This was not the main reason for which he was eager to get going, though. He felt a certain restlessness that he had learned to heed. Therefore, he was quite glad when Lok Takar, after lunch, found a second cousin who was heading for the city centre with her husband and was willing to take Eeth and Takhya, and also to pick up Lok on the way.
A little while later, they arrived at the tent where, according to their driver, the winners and losers were waiting for the game to end.
"Get out," Eeth told Takhya. "We need to pick up Lok."
"Can't I wait in the speeder?" Takhya asked petulantly.
"If you think I am going to let you out of my sight again after all that happened today, think again," Eeth said grimly. "Get out."
Takhya looked as if she wanted to object, but she wisely reconsidered.
They found Lok deep in a discussion with the dark-skinned Zabrak girl he had saved. Apparently, it was such a riveting talk that he did not even notice Eeth until his master was standing before him.
"Master!" Lok said in surprise. "What are you doing here already?"
"I am afraid some urgent business arose that we have to take care of," said Eeth solemnly. "You will have to come and join me now."
Takhya snorted. "Urgent business my ass," she mumbled. And had to work hard to suppress a yelp as Eeth grabbed her ear and swatted her solidly across her bottom.
"You are in enough trouble as it is," he said in a low voice. "I advise you against making it worse on yourself."
"So do I, for all that I don't know what's going on," said Lok. "But, master. Can't I come when the game is over? I'm sure someone could give me a lift."
"My family sure could," said the girl. "He really should stay for the award ceremony."
"I think we should leave the awards to the locals, padawan," said Eeth gently. "We really need to go. I am sorry but our mission takes precedence over the award ceremony."
Lok frowned, but reluctantly got up.
"Well… goodbye, then," he said to the girl, rather awkwardly. She looked just as disappointed as him.
"Umm, if you're ever bored and would like to meet," she said hesitantly, "should I give you my comm code?"
Lok's eyes lit up. "Yes, absolutely!" he said.
Takhya successfully ruined the moment by making loud retching noises, which fetched her another couple of swats that had her yowl and some of the youths in the tent snicker in amusement.
"That is really quite enough out of you," Eeth snapped.
Lok and Takhya exchanged comm codes, and then Eeth took the two padawans back to the speeder.
"That was quite a risk you took, padawan," Eeth told Lok as the speeder took off.
"Well, I wanted to win," said Lok loftily.
Eeth did not buy this for a second. "Really?" he asked pointedly, raising his eyebrows. "You enacted a well-thought-out strategy that you thought would earn you victory within the first ten seconds of the game?"
"Well, okay, I acted on an impulse," said Lok begrudgingly. "And it worked. You could, I dunno, congratulate me, I suppose?"
"Congratulations," said Eeth. "It was still quite a risk you took."
"If I remember correctly," Lok said, making this sound quite uncannily like Eeth himself, "you told me that if I had the choice between taking an unacceptable risk and losing, I should lose. Well, it wasn't an unacceptable risk. The lionoid was not going to kill me. The most that could have happened was for me to lose."
"Or to be hurt trying to pull off that manoeuvre," said Eeth.
"Aww, come on," said Lok. "Now you're being overprotective. If you didn't want me to take any risk at all, you should not have allowed me to participate."
"That would be sound logic if it had been a calculated risk," said Eeth. "But it was not, was it?"
Lok was silent for a moment. Then he said, "No. Like I said, it was impulsive. Meaning I couldn't help it."
"Then this is something we will have to address," said Eeth, thinking privately that another thing they might have to address would be Lok's feelings for the pretty Kaath girl. But they would not do that on the backseat of a Takar speeder with a sulking Takhya in tow.
"Don't tell me that this is the reason you picked me up early," said Lok. "I mean, seriously?"
"No, it is not," said Eeth, glancing briefly towards their drivers to indicate that he would rather not discuss the issue when they would be able to overhear it. Lok got the hint and started telling Eeth and Takhya about all the things he had learned from the local teenagers today.
"Oh, and did you know that the winners get branded?" he asked. "Kartha was just trying to talk me into it when you arrived."
"Wait, what? They get branded?" asked Takhya, so amazed over this piece of news that she was forgetting to sulk. "Like, with a hot iron?"
"Yes, with an actual hot iron," said Lok. "Lion-shaped, and applied to the right upper arm if you're right-handed."
"Wearing that sign would make you a very desirable partner," their driver informed them with a grin, which had her husband boxing her arm playfully.
"Yes, on Iroqa and nowhere else," said Lok. "I told Kartha there's no way I could go along with this. Honestly, I'm not even decided about the tattoos, and those are way less specific than being branded with a lion's silhouette on my right upper arm. It would be a pain in the ass on undercover missions. I'd have to come up with a specifically Iroqan backstory every single time, which would be easily falsifiable. And besides, anyone would be able to identify me just by the lion brand. Out of the question."
"That is very sensible thinking," said Eeth.
"I suppose," said the driver with a shrug, clearly not understanding Lok's reasoning at all.
While they talked, Eeth sent a message to Kat, informing her that they would be returning early. Kat replied, saying that she was on her way to a meeting with Rassma and would join them afterwards.
The three Jedi were dropped off in front of the guest house and made their way through the garden and upstairs to their flight of rooms, Eeth weighing his options as they walked. Takhya needed to be dealt with, and soon, not because of the paint bullets but because of her repeated disobedience, which could have had serious consequences. Under different circumstances, behaviour like Takhya's could have been fatal. He was still not sure what to do with Lok; getting to the bottom of his impulsive behaviour, which might have been adolescence-induced at the sight of a pretty girl, might be a better idea than dealing out punishment. This was one of the situations in which Eeth wished he could talk to Lakhri but he knew quite well that there was not going to be an opportunity for that. He would just have to resolve the matter as best he could. But before that, Lok needed to learn what had happened at the Takar clan home, of course.
Coming to a decision, Eeth pointed Lok and Takhya into his quarters and closed the door behind himself.
"Lok, sit down," he said. "Takhya, you go to my bedroom and meditate. I want you to think about your behaviour and why it might warrant repercussions. I will be with you soon and I will want to hear some insights then."
Takhya fortunately dispensed with arguing and, although she looked mutinous, complied with Eeth's order for a change.
Lok looked after her with a from. "What in the Sith Lords' names happened?" he asked.
"Nothing much for the better part of our visit," said Eeth, "until Takhya and Lok Takar's daughter Duraz decided to shoot paint balls at other people."
"That sounds rather silly," said Lok. "And mostly harmless. Can't you give her a break? She hasn't been around other children ever since we left Coruscant."
"I did not send her to meditate because of the paintballs," said Eeth severely, "although I have to point out that her prank was not as harmless as all that either. It turned out that we were not even supposed to be at the Takar clan house, for which reason the girls were told in no unclear terms to keep well away from the central courtyard where the bulk of the clan was assembled. Takhya felt that they could disregard this instruction because she can use the Force to conceal her presence. But unfortunately, when the family patriarch, Kanz Takar, could not find the culprits, he became suspicious of Duraz and came to investigate. He wasn't pleased to find Takhya and me there. Lok had apparently not cleared any of this with him – neither your participation in the game nor inviting Takhya and me to his house. What is particularly interesting about the whole thing, though, is that Lok Takar claims that it was your mother's idea."
That got Lok's full attention. "But why?" he asked, sitting up a little straighter than before. "Do you think she meant to set a trap? But there wasn't any real danger at the game, and I could sense no danger either. Do you think there was? Is that why you picked me up early?"
"Only a small part of the reason," said Eeth. "If at all, because I could sense no danger in your participation either. Frankly, I do not have the slightest idea why she might have initiated this. And this is not all that happened. When I told Takhya off, she gave me cheek. I took her to the garden to punish her but before I could get around to doing so, I sensed that we were being watched. To cut a long story short, Zyle Xatrax was hiding in the bushes eavesdropping on our conversation, and to prevent me from catching her at it, she tried to shoot Takhya with an anaesthetic dart."
"She WHAT?" asked Lok, dumbfounded.
"Obviously, I took out the dart before it could do any damage," said Eeth. "But there would have been no risk of that happening in the first place if Takhya had heeded my orders to get herself inside the house. In any case, I caught Zyle in the act and that enabled me to more or less force Kanz Takar to rid us of her, at least for the time being."
"Well, good," said Lok, looking slightly shaken. "But what was she even doing there? Do you think she was spying for my mother?"
"I am not sure, but my feeling is that she was acting of her own accord," said Eeth. "From my experience with the Falleen, it is never a good idea to make them your allies. They will always end up double-crossing you. Maybe Zyle was searching for leverage against us, but it is just as likely that she was looking for something she could use against the Takars. Either way, she is definitely more experienced and skilled than we gave her credit for."
Lok hid his face in his hands. "This planet is driving me crazy," he said. "None of these people make any sense. Couldn't I have come from a boring family on a boring planet? Alderaan or so?"
"As far as the Iroqan elite families are concerned, your sentiment seems justified," said Eeth drily. He rose from his chair and said, "As soon as Kat returns, we will discuss recent events and come up with a plan of action that will enable us to finally get to the bottom of things. For now, take a shower and get changed. I will talk to Takhya in the meanwhile."
Lok nodded mutely, looking stricken. Eeth's heart went out to him. He stopped behind the boy's chair and rested a hand on his shoulder.
"Padawan, I promise you that we will not leave until we have found out the truth," he said quietly.
Lok looked up at him and grabbed his hand with both of his. "Thank you," he whispered. They gave each other a brief, weak smile and then Eeth went to his bedroom to deal out an earbashing and a punishment that Takhya would not soon forget.