Joma Phrel raised her hand to her friend's
doorchime, but drew it back. Maybe Obi-Wan
didn't wish to be disturbed. On the other hand, she
was the only other person dealing with the same
situation he was dealing with, and while she hadn't
wanted to be disturbed, she would have welcomed
him. She pressed the chime.
After only a moment, Obi-Wan Kenobi appeared.
At the sight of her, his stern expression softened.
"Joma." He looked like he might say something
else, but he didn't -- he just stood aside, mutely
inviting her in.
Joma watched him as he went to the kitchen and put
the kettle on for tea. Of course, Obi-Wan, like
Qui-Gon and Sionnach, was hard hit by the loss of
Anakin -- he wasn't the kid's master, but he'd been
close enough. And he was there when Skywalker
really, literally, turned. It wasn't the same for her.
She had Sionnach to take care of, but she didn't
have to worry about taking care of herself at the
same time. "How is he?"
Obi-Wan was standing in front of the cold box,
looking blankly at its top shelf. Without turning
around, he shrugged one shoulder. "Not any
worse," he said, pulling the cream jug out and
setting it on the counter. "How's she?"
"About the same." Joma looked carefully at
Obi-Wan. He got a tin of tea down from the
cabinet, turned and leaned against the counter to
face her, and began to pry off the lid. "How are
you, Obi-Wan?"
"Hmm?" He struggled with the lid.
"How are you?"
"I'm --" He rapped the tin against the counter once.
"I'm fine."
"Good."
He was really fighting it now. "Yeah, I'm doing
fine, if I could just --" His hand pulled away from
the tin, but the lid stayed where it was. "Just get the
damned --" He hit the tin against the counter twice
more, rotating it. "The damned TEA!" He hurled
the tea tin across the kitchen; it bounced off the
wall, landed right-side up, and sat innocently in the
corner while Obi-Wan dropped to his knees and
sobbed.
Joma let him be for a minute, then came over to him
and sat down at his side. She reached up with the
Force and switched off the heat under the teakettle,
but remained next to Obi-Wan, sitting cross-legged
on his kitchen floor, not speaking. What was there
for her to say? She sat and watched him while he
cried, and when he seemed to be quieting, she
leaned her head on his shoulder. He pulled her into
his arms and hugged her, the way she had seen
scared children hug their parents; she wrapped her
arms around his shoulders and held him until she
felt him start to let go.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be."
He dried his eyes. "Wow. That was unexpected."
"Not really," she said with a slight smile.
"Well, I wasn't expecting it." He managed a smile
also, and helped her stand. "So where were we?"
"I had just asked you how you were, and I got my
answer." Joma tucked her arms back into her
sleeves and swung her hair over her shoulder.
"Right. And I was going to offer you some tea,"
Obi-Wan said. "Would you like some?"
"Only if you're making some for yourself," Joma
said.
"Then I think I won't," Obi-Wan decided, putting
the milk back in the cooler and retrieving the tea tin
from the other side of the room. "I don't think I care
to know how I'd react if the tin went two out of
three." He laughed a little.
Joma didn't. She watched him put the things away,
and followed him back out into the living room to
sit down. "Palpatine's established another layer of
government," she said. "He's putting about a
hundred of his own people in as regional governors.
All across the galaxy."
Obi-Wan looked at her. "But he can't do that," he
said. "All the members have their own
governments."
"The planetary governors still govern their specific
constituencies. But they're to be responsible to
these regional governors, now. Supposed to be a
step in the direction of equality."
"Responsible to the -- but what about the senators?"
"The senators represent their people, he says, but
they live here. The regional governors live there,
among the people." She made a wry face. "The
people are crazy about it. They don't realize that the
governors represent him."
"They also don't realize he's dripping with the Dark
Side of the Force," Obi-Wan said. "Why do they --"
"Kenobi, these people don't know the Force from a
thunderstorm," Joma said. "If you told them 'This
guy is dripping with the Dark Side of the Force,'
they'd think the Dark Side was what made good
government."
"Why are you telling me this, Joma?" Kenobi said,
getting to his feet, suddenly irritated. "This is
supposed to distract me from the fact that --"
"No, not at all," Joma interrupted. "The Council is
meeting the day after tomorrow to try to discuss
what to do about it. Since, with Anakin on his side,
now, I mean --"
"I see." Obi-Wan paced back and forth.
"They'd like you and Qui-Gon to be there."
"I'm sure they would."
"Come on, Kenobi. You're the one who said the
chancellor is dripping with the Dark Side. It's a
good bet that bad things are going to start happening
pretty soon. We're not the only ones who can fight
back, but we can at least fight fire with fire. Isn't it
better to have a plan in place ahead of time, rather
than always be catching up?
General?"
He glared at her. She glared right back. Finally, he
looked away. "Fine. If I can get Qui-Gon to go, I'll
go with him."
"Will you try?"
"I promise."
"All right," she said, rising. "Please tell him I
stopped by." She thought for a moment. "Would he
come, if Sionnach asked for him?"
Kenobi smiled a genuine smile. "He'd rise from the
dead if Sionnach asked for him. Swore himself her
protector."
"That's a good thing to keep in mind," Joma pointed
out, turning to go. "Speaking of which, how's
Amidala doing?"
His face clouded again. "Bail Organa is looking
after her. She does better when she's not near the
temple. I believe she spends her time weeping and
trying to forget." He swallowed once.
"And the child?"
"Healthy. It grows."
Joma nodded. "Stay well, Kenobi," she said. "And
tell Master Jinn I'm thinking of him. Don't -- I can
let myself out," she added, when he would have
gotten up. She palmed open the door, closed it
softly behind her, and turned to go home.
"Master Phrel," an unfamiliar voice called from
behind her.
Joma stopped and turned. The voice belonged to a
tall, fair-haired woman, her face lined with as much
character as age. Joma tucked her hands into her
sleeves and bowed slightly. "It's Knight Phrel," she
said, "Master ... ?"
"Jendea Ral," the other woman said, her bow even
more shallow than Joma's -- scarcely more than a
nod. "apVess-Norill is your first padawan?"
"She is. Is there --"
"How is she doing?"
Joma was puzzled. "You're asking, so you must
know that she's not well. If there's nothing I can do
for you, Master Ral, I should --"
"Yes, the loss of Skywalker is a terrible thing.
Those who were closest to him are feeling it the
hardest, of course," Ral said, gesturing to Jinn and
Kenobi's door, "but it has affected us all."
Realization hit Joma like a blow to the head. "Of
course! Master Ral! Forgive me, I --"
The woman smiled. "I knew you'd place me sooner
or later. Let's walk and talk." They set off down the
corridor. "What surprises me," Master Ral said, "is
how long I've been unaware of you, and of your
padawan. And, it seems, of Knight Skywalker and
seven other Adepts." Joma looked sideways at the
master, whose gaze flickered over to her only
momentarily. "Eleven of us," she said. "That's a
lot." Joma opened her mouth to speak, but Ral
raised a preemptive hand. "Spare me the
dissembling, Knight Phrel," she said. "I spoke to
Mace this morning, and he confirmed it. His
padawan is the eldest of
eight Adepts between the
ages of ten and twenty. If that's not a sign that
something big is coming, I don't know what is."
"Master Yoda says last time it was the Sith Wars."
Jendea Ral snorted. "Does he? Well, there you are,
then. Yoda's not good for much, but he does have a
mind like a durasteel trap." They reached a corner.
Master Ral stopped walking, and fixed Joma in an
icy blue stare. "Skywalker has turned," she said.
"The backlash, as I understand it, was the Force
trying to strengthen us. And now Palpatine has --"
Joma nodded. "I know. The Council is meeting to
discuss that the day after tomorrow."
Ral's eyebrows arched. "
Really. I wonder if they
were intending to mention that to me -- or to any of
the other Adepts' masters." She narrowed her eyes
and thought for a moment, then looked back at
Joma. "Well. I'm glad to have met you, Knight
Phrel, brief though our meeting was," she said. "I
suddenly have urgent business elsewhere, but I have
no doubt we will meet again soon."
"I look forward to it, Master Ral," Joma replied with
a smile as she bowed low. The elder woman bowed
and glided away down the corridor.
Turning back toward her own quarters, Joma felt a
tiny stab of discomfort at having revealed the
Council's schedule to Master Ral. It didn't last long,
though; when she had been sworn to secrecy, none
of the past week's events could even have been
imagined. Now, all bets were off.
Two days later, Joma stood in the Council's
antechamber, gritting her teeth and curling her toes
inside her boots to keep from pacing. It was just
like the Council to keep them waiting, after having
specifically requested that they be there. Hurry up
and stand there doing nothing, she thought.
Serenity ain't all it's cracked up to be. At the same
time, it was fortunate the meeting hadn't begun yet,
because Kenobi and Jinn hadn't arrived. Out of the
corner of her eye, she saw Sionnach raise her head.
The girl had been sitting quietly, looking toward the
floor -- she couldn't really be said to have been
looking
at anything. Joma turned to see what had
attracted her padawan's attention.
Mace Windu strode in, positively radiating tension.
He bowed briefly; Joma was sure he would lock his
knees and fall over. "Padawan. Knight Phrel.
Haven't they started yet?"
"Ah, no, Master Windu, they haven't," Joma said.
"Aren't you ... I thought your leave of absence was
only partial?"
"It was -- well, but until Morgesh is knighted, he's
the top priority. I'm more master than Councilor
these days. So my remaining with the Council is
only partial, in fact." He did pace back and forth.
Joma found that his anxiety leeched hers right out of
her; immediately, she felt as calm as the morning.
"Why isn't he with you now, if you don't mind my
asking?" Joma gestured toward Sionnach. "This is
a meeting that will concern him, after all."
"Well, it's a meeting about the chancellor's
increasing seizure of power ..."
"Master Windu, please. You know as well as I do
that --"
"Yes, I do," he interrupted her, "but given that I do
still have a seat on the Council, I thought it might be
wiser to maintain the fiction that ..." He trailed off,
staring open-mouthed at the large doorway to the
corridor.
Master Jendea Ral had just sailed into the
antechamber, followed by a small crowd of her
fellow-Jedi. Joma didn't need to count to know that
there were fourteen of them: Ral's own padawan and
master, and six master-padawan pairs. The group
spaced out; though there was plenty of room in the
antechamber, it suddenly seemed to be quite full.
"Fiction, Mace? It's time, I think, for facts." Her
smile was sad, weighted with the knowledge that
despite having hoped and wished and even prayed
otherwise, she had been right all along. Qui-Gon
Jinn arrived, head high, shoulders slumped, eyes
sunken. "And foremost among the facts at the
moment," Master Ral went on, "is that this group
now outnumbers the Council."
As if on cue, the double door to the Council
chamber swung open. Sionnach rose and came to
stand by Joma's side. Without realizing she had
done it, Joma found that she and Sion had fallen in
line behind Master Ral; along with her master and
her padawan, they and the other Adepts and their
masters formed a sort of ordered cluster behind the
senior woman as she squared her shoulders and
made to lead them into the Council chamber. Ral
turned to Mace Windu. "Perhaps you'd like to
comm for your padawan," she said. "Wherever you
sit, don't you think he'd like to join us?"
Following Jendea Ral into the Council chamber,
Joma marvelled at how smoothly the woman had
assumed leadership of the situation -- brought
seventeen confused, frightened people together and
effectively made them a lobbying group -- and took
a moment to be glad she wasn't the Council. Oh,
you masters, she thought. There's a new sheriff in
town.
She did wonder where Kenobi was, though. He'd
said he'd be there if Jinn agreed to go, and she
suspected Jinn would have made the same promise.
Well, but they had specifically asked for Kenobi,
she thought, so they'd certainly let him in even after
the doors had closed.
There was no more time to muse. Several of the
Councilors were on their feet; Yoda was angry,
which was something Joma didn't think she'd ever
seen before. Some of the padawans and younger
knights hesitated uncertainly, but Master Ral strode
right to the speaker's spot and took root there. She
threw her cloak back over her shoulders and planted
her fists on her hips.
"Master Jendea," Yoda said firmly, "closed meeting
this is. You should not have come."
"Well, but I did. And I brought some other
wrongfully-excluded --"
"How does this ..." Ki-Adi-Mundi began again.
"Why should we have deliberately included these
particular individuals?" he asked. "This is a
discussion of the Supreme Chancellor's recent
appointment of regional governors, and its --"
"You specifically summoned Jinn and Kenobi, and
Phrel and apVess-Norill." Point to Ral. Joma's old
debating days were never fresher in her memory.
She smiled slightly.
"The Supreme Chancellor is now in control of
Knight Skywalker. Qui-Gon Jinn was Skywalker's
master. Obi-Wan Kenobi is Master Jinn's
bondmate." An incomplete answer, but a faultlessly
true one.
"But Knight Phrel and her padawan are not so
closely tied to Knight Skywalker," Master Ral
returned, picking up the dropped point. "Even
Knight Kenobi is a stretch. If you include him, if
you include Phrel and apVess-Norill, you should
include all of us -- you should include all Jedi."
"You have not yet answered my question, Master
Ral," Ki-Adi-Mundi said. "You speak of including
all Jedi, but you bring a select group unbidden into
our meeting. I see, looking around, that you have
brought everyone who was in the infirmary last
week with backlash. Are your Adepts to be
considered more important than the rest of the
order?"
Nicely argued, Joma thought. That was the sort of
spin that threw a novice debater right out of the
game. Fortunately, Jendea Ral was no novice. "Not
at all," she flung back, "but we are different, and
that difference could have killed us all. There are
eleven of us, and the fact that this Council has kept
that number a secret these ten years could have
killed this child." She turned and pulled Banye
Uinja, at twelve the youngest in the room but one,
forward by the arm. "And not just Adepts are
affected." The nearest non-Adept was her own
padawan, Quellus Zavidni, and Ral grabbed him to
stand on her other side. He was about sixteen,
nearly as tall as his master, with green hair and
broad, bony shoulders. Not releasing the two
padawans, Master Ral suddenly turned and looked
over her shoulder at the chamber door. "And not
just Jedi are affected," she went on, triumphantly,
turning back. "Here is Senator Bail Organa of
Alderaan."
Precisely on the cue, the senator came through the
doors into the Council chamber. Mace Windu and
Morgesh Kwahl slipped in behind him and stood at
the back of the group of Jedi. Organa stopped when
he saw the crowd of Jedi already inside, his eyes
resting on Joma and one or two others she supposed
he recognized; quickly, though, he recovered his
composure, and stepped briskly to the speaker's spot
on the other side of Padawan Uinja from Master
Ral. As one body, the rest of the Jedi took a
half-step back, thinking not to crowd the senator
with their presence, not wishing to impede his
petition to the Council. Joma was pleased to note,
though, that Master Ral and Padawans Uinja and
Zavidni held their ground, subtly but effectively
proving Ral's point.
Organa bowed low. "Master Jedi," he said to the
whole Council, "please forgive the interruption. I've
come to bring you news of Senator Naberrie." The
Council stirred uncomfortably, and Joma could read
Master Ral's smug grin on the back of her head.
"Her condition is deteriorating rapidly. I do not
believe she consistently recognizes anyone but me
any more."
"Another psychic defense, this is," Yoda nodded.
"Friend of the Force, Amidala is, but unable to hear
its call. Shielding her mind from memories, it is, to
spare her the pain -- but control it she cannot.
Losing access to her mind, she is." Every head in
the room bowed just a little. "Mind healers only can
help her. Skilled in the Force."
"Right now, she won't come near the temple,"
Organa sighed. "If a Jedi healer can help her, can it
wait until she's forgotten even more why the Jedi
upset her so?" Yoda nodded solemnly. Organa
thought for a moment. "In that case, she should go
home. She can't maintain her seat in the senate.
Not like this."
"She can't go back to Naboo." It was Sionnach who
had spoken; everyone looked at her, startled. Joma
hadn't heard the girl speak in eight days, but now
her voice was clear and strong. She took a step
forward out of the crowd, and looked unwaveringly
at Master Yoda. "It was the chancellor who did
this. Anakin turned to protect her from Palpatine.
We can't send her to a place where he'll get her back
and have them both -- and the baby."
Some of the Council squirmed again.
Ki-Adi-Mundi spoke. "Is Senator Naberrie really
our responsibi-- "
"I concur," said Qui-Gon Jinn and two others at the
same time. All three stepped out of the crowd as
well, one on the same side as Sionnach, two on the
other. Joma nodded approvingly at the symmetry of
it all, and could see the Council's resolve starting to
weaken. The two knights, whose names Joma did
not know, deferred to Jinn. He nodded his thanks to
them and turned to address the Council. "Senator
Naberrie isn't the issue; Chancellor Palpatine is. He
is well skilled in the Dark Side of the Force. Only
we can meet him on a level pitch; only we can use
the Light Side to protect the people, including
Anakin's wife and child, from the Dark Side. And
because we can, we must." He looked over his
shoulder at Joma, and though the haunted look did
not leave his eyes, he shot her a grateful smile.
I'll
be damned. The old coot was listening.
Master Ral looked around her, plainly pleased with
what she saw and heard. "Now tell me this, the
knowledge that Palpatine is of the Dark, is unrelated
to his institution of regional governorships," she
said to the Council in a low voice. "Tell me his use
of the Dark is unrelated to the numbers of Adepts
we have in the order now. Tell me --"
The door banged open, and Joma felt a surge of
someone else's emotions that hit her in the gut and
made her see stars behind her eyes. Reaching
blindly for support, she stretched out a hand and
found a shoulder; she grabbed it and held on as she
carefully dialed down her reception. She opened
her eyes and saw the rest of the Adepts straightening
up after having done the same. Their masters and
Ral's padawan, the non-Adepts, wore expressions of
helpless but informed concern. Joma nodded her
appreciation to the owner of the shoulder. From the
front of the small crowd, Qui-Gon looked back at
her with worry darkening his eyes. 'It's fine,' she
mouthed, making a don't-worry-about-it gesture
with her hand. He glanced at Sionnach, back at
Joma, and nodded slightly but significantly to the
speaker's spot.
Kenobi had come in, and Joma couldn't remember
when he'd looked more wretched. His robe was
gone, his tunics ripped and singed; his skin was
smudged with soot and burned, his hair wild, his
eyes empty. Had his face carried an expression, he
would have been the picture of abject misery. He
had walked around the crowd of Jedi and stopped in
front of the speaker's spot where Master Ral stood;
now he went down on one knee, and said, his voice
so quiet Joma could barely hear him, "I swore an
oath I have been unable to keep. I beg the Force's
forgiveness, though I know I do not deserve it."
"Told you, I have, that the Force blames you not,"
Yoda said gently.
"For Anakin's turning, you told me," Kenobi said,
eyes shut, fists clenched. "But today I have failed in
my own promise. I swore to protect them both, and
I could not."
"No," Jinn said. All heads turned to look at him.
"You swore to do what was in your power to protect
them. I've taken the same oath before, and felt the
same heartbreak when my power was not enough."
He concluded simply, and did not step forward to
Kenobi's side. Joma was mildly surprised, but
supposed the couple was communicating out of the
hearing of all others present. If Kenobi had wanted
Jinn next to him, that was where he'd be.
"It's the truth, Obi-Wan," Depa Billaba said. "Tell
us what makes you think otherwise, for I can see
that you are not persuaded."
Obi-Wan swallowed. "I went today to bring Anakin
back. I knew that he had not chosen the Darkness
for its own sake, so I meant to convince him to
renounce that Darkness and come back to us. This
was my obligation, under the oath I swore on his
bonding day. But he would not turn. He told me he
had traded himself fairly for his wife and child, and
that if he broke his word, their lives would be
forfeit.
"He doesn't understand that at the root of the Dark
Side is treachery and deceit. He thinks Palpatine
has him instead of Amidala and the child; I tried to
tell him Palpatine will continue to pursue Amidala,
if she is what he wants. He became angry, and
attacked me. I couldn't tell if he was angry at what I
had said, or at me for saying it. We fought for some
time; we were trained by the same master --" he
glanced back at Jinn -- "so we were evenly matched.
Finally he said that coming back to the Jedi would
make him the sort of renegade I was insisting
Palpatine was, and as long as he honored his
promise to his new master he would escape being a
liar and a cheat. That was when Palpatine arrived."
Kenobi took a deep breath that looked like it hurt
him. Joma relaxed her shields just slightly, to see
whether she could tell if and how badly he had been
injured. "Palpatine said it was the Jedi who are
liars, supposed to be guardians of peace and justice
in the galaxy but really only guardians of ourselves,
serving the Force instead of our fellow-men. He
said men," Kenobi added hurriedly, when at least
three Councilors opened their mouths to speak.
"Not creatures."
Joma felt Sionnach's tug of distress a moment
before the girl drifted back to stand at her side. She
gave her padawan her hand; Sion grasped it in both
of hers and stood close behind her. Gradually, as
Kenobi continued to speak, Joma could see the rest
of the crowd of Jedi do the same: one at a time, the
padawans moved to stand nearby their masters, for
strength or for comfort. The youngest ones wrapped
themselves up in their masters' arms, facing front
but now safely anchored in their masters' embraces.
For others, it was enough simply to stand close by.
Mace and Morgesh stood shoulder to shoulder, arms
folded in their sleeves, stern looks on their faces -- a
formidable pair. Even Jendea Ral retreated into the
security of her master's immediate presence,
followed by her own padawan; she wound her arm
through his, and her master laid a hand on each of
their shoulders.
Only Kenobi and Jinn did not go to each other.
Kenobi remained on one knee on the speaker's spot.
Jinn was alone behind him and to his right, a shade
more than two arms' lengths away; for some reason,
they kept far enough apart that they could not
simply reach out and take each other's hands. One
of them would have to choose to move. Further
away to Kenobi's left, slightly in front of the knot of
Jedi, Bail Organa stayed where he stood.
Kenobi was still speaking. "I told him we serve all
creatures, and the Force is our ally, but he laughed -
- he said an ally is one who is too weak to succeed
on his own. He intends to be the Emperor of the
Galaxy, to rule even the Force." He swallowed. "I
said that sounded less like serving his fellow-men
than what he had accused us of, and he shot
lightning at me ... I've never felt such pain." He
paused for a moment, then shook his head. "Anakin
shouted at him to stop, but he would not. 'See, now,
my apprentice,' he said. 'See how we can use the
anger that they have always taught you to suppress.'
Anakin asked him how harming me was a service to
anyone, and Palpatine said 'One less Jedi.'"
Several of the Jedi in the chamber, children and
Council members alike, gasped out loud. Kenobi
raised his head. "He means to destroy us."
"How did you escape?" Adi Gallia asked. "How
have you come back to bring us this news?"
"Anakin. He stepped in front of me, and Palpatine
stopped the lightning." The anguish in Kenobi's
voice was like a living thing. "He said he'd turned
to protect Amidala, and I was sworn to protect her,
so it was consistent with his turn to the Dark to let
me go. Palpatine hit him with the lightning then. It
was awful. Anakin screamed, but he didn't try to
get away. I was weakened from the attack, and
couldn't have fought to free him. So I ran." He
paused and looked around, but when nobody asked
him a question, he continued. "Will Anakin die?"
"Always in motion, the future is," said Master Yoda.
"Die, will he? Yes. At the hands of his new
master? Perhaps. Today? I do not think it."
"But Master Yoda, the lightning," Obi-Wan
groaned. "It seemed to burn my very bones."
"Likely that it did," Yoda said. "To the healers you
will go, when meeting is ended. But kill Anakin
today, Palpatine will not. Too valuable he is."
"Yoda is right," said Ki-Adi-Mundi. "The man now
has an apprentice. If he loses him, he will not
succeed in turning another Jedi -- particularly one as
powerful as Anakin."
"But the baby." Bail Organa had not spoken since
suggesting that Amidala return home. "If I
understand you correctly, you don't believe the
chancellor will relent in his drive for Amidala, even
though such were the terms of Anakin's bargain."
Obi-Wan nodded once. "Why would he not kill
Anakin, then, if he knew he would have the baby
soon? And he wouldn't have all that Jedi
upbringing to train out of an infant."
"I think Palpatine must not know of the baby,"
Kenobi said. "Anakin never mentioned it, so
neither did I -- we spoke of my promise to protect
him and Amidala, but never the child. I don't know
how in the worlds he's keeping it a secret, but he
seems to be. I must have reached him; he must
know it's true that Palpatine won't stop at him."
"But he'll know," Depa Billaba said. "He'll know
once she has the baby."
"No," said Bail Organa. "Let me take care of that."
Everyone looked at him, surprised that he would
make so bold in the Council chamber, where he was
in every way a guest. "You've just said she mustn't
go back to Naboo," Organa went on, determined,
"or even anywhere Palpatine might find her. She
must, in short, go into hiding -- and someplace
where she can be protected."
"I am sworn to protect her," Obi-Wan began,
struggling to his feet.
"With respect, Knight Kenobi, Palpatine knows
that." Organa spoke softly and gently, but Joma
could see Obi-Wan's jaw set. "In addition, she's
very frightened just now of Jedi. It may be that a
better way for you to protect her is, for a time, not to
be where she is." Kenobi could not answer him. "I
propose, therefore," said Organa, speaking as if the
assembled Jedi were a Senate committee, "that I
remove Amidala to Alderaan with me. She will be
safe there, and I will find a way to hide her child. I
owe you my life," he added, when Obi-Wan would
have interrupted him again. "And Skywalker too.
"This is the least I can do to repay you both."
For long minutes nobody moved or spoke. Yoda
broke the silence. "Adjourned, this meeting is," he
said. "Senator Organa, take Amidala to Alderaan
you will. Broken your vow is not, Knight Kenobi.
Responsible for Amidala's safety, and her child's,
you still are."
"In light of today's events," Depa Billaba said, "we
shall refuse, as an Order, to recognize the regional
governors' authority. We shall conduct business
with the planetary governors and the senators, and
whatever agents they may name."
"But the chancellor won't like that," Adi Gallia
continued. "And we now know he has no qualms
about attacking any of us. So be careful and
prepared. Watch your back, and spread the word."
"May the Force be with you," Yoda finished.
The Councilors rose; the assembled Jedi bowed. As
soon as the first pair turned to leave the chamber,
Sionnach dashed from Joma's side to Kenobi's,
threw her arms around his waist, and pressed her
face to his chest. Jinn was there an instant later,
pulling them both into his embrace. Kenobi's head
fell back against Jinn's shoulder. Jendea Ral raised
an eyebrow at Joma as she watched them. "Eight
Adepts between the ages of ten and twenty," she
said simply.
"Yes," Joma nodded. "And it looks like this is the
beginning of what we've been waiting for."
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