Chapter Eight


  What I feel for you seems less of earth and more of a
cloudless heaven -- Victor Hugo

Nee, kurayamiyori mo, fukai kurishimi dakishimeteru ne? - 
Say, does the deep pain embrace you even in the darkness?
-- Yakusoku Wa Iranai - Yoko Kanno



  The _Corellian Sunrise_ came out of hyperspace.
Looking out the viewport Serena softly gasped.  The huge
planet looming before them was cloudless.  Everywhere you
could see dots of bright green, surrounded by blue-green
water.
  "Shal'lyindraa, it's beautiful."
  "I know."  Shal'lyindraa took her nostalgic gaze off of the
planet.  "Here's where you need to land, Serena."
Shal'lyindraa pointed to a marked spot on the panel before
her.
  Serena took control of the helm.  "Sure, no problem."  She
slowly turned to port and descended through the
atmosphere.  Every now and then the sleek ship would be
knocked up and down by the wind currents, which made
Serena concentrate even more on controlling the ships
descent towards the planet with the Force.
  Once they were out of the atmosphere of the twenty-ninth
planet of Hander, Serena moved the _Corellian Sunrise_over the ocean, 
stirring the water into huge twisting pools.
In the distance Serena could see a large cliff jutting straight
out of the ocean.  Just visible on the top was some sort of
huge brown stone castle surrounded by mile after mile of
green grass.
  "Shal, is that where your uncle lives?"  Serena asked,
staring at the beautiful building.
  "Yes."
"It's fantastic."  Serena landed the _Corellian Sunrise_ a
few meters from the huge building.  "I've never seen
anything like it." She stood up with Shal'lyindraa and Kyp.
  "Come on, let's go."  Shal'lyindraa said, walking towards
the back of the ship.
  Once outside, Serena got her first good glimpse of the
building.  The main part of the building was a large
rectangle, jutting out every now and then with what was
probably a small room.  The second story was round, and
was sitting in the very center of the main building.  Every
few feet was a circular, or rectangular window, each one
covered with heavy drapery.
  They stepped out of the ship and onto green grass.
Wherever the building wasn't, there was grass.  Every few
meters there were small gray stones jutting out of the soft
turf.
  "I can't wait to see the inside,"  Serena murmured to Kyp,
who nodded his head.
  They walked up to the door and Shal'lyindraa opened it
without pausing.  The small group stepped inside to find
themselves in a huge chamber.  Serena looked around
herself.  The ceiling was high above their heads and the
room was bare.  The floor, walls, and ceiling were made of
a kind of marble which seemed to be a light pink or peach
color.  Serena could not really tell, because the only light in
the room was from the few candles that dotted the walls.
The windows were covered with thick burgundy drapes, so
that no light reached the huge room.  On each side of the
square room was a door.
  "Well, we're here, but no one else is.  Shal, how many
people live here?"  Kyp asked, his voice echoing through the
chamber.
  "My uncle and cousin, maybe two or three other men."
  Kyp asked, "No women?"
  Shal'lyindraa shook her head, "No, the woman who lived
here died a while back, and left the entire place to my uncle.
I guess he's let all the servants leave; now it's just him and
Jonnic."
  "Jonnic's your cousin, right?" Serena asked, right when the
door in front of them slid open.
  Shal'lyindraa nodded.
  Two men stepped into the room.  One was half a head
taller than the other was and much younger.  The two men
walked up to Serena, Kyp, and Shal'lyindraa.  The older
man stopped a few feet from the group, but the younger
man kept coming towards them.
  "Shal? Is that you?" Jonnic asked, pushing back his brown
hair and smiling.  He stepped up to her and studied her face.
"By the stars, it is you!" Jonnic picked up Shal'lyindraa by
her waist, and swung her around. "My, my, you certainly
aren't the little kid who left a few years back, now are you?"
  Shal'lyindraa hugged Jonnic.  "And you certainly aren't the
little boy I left a few years back."  Shal'lyindraa smiled to
the older man. "Uncle Dain, may I introduce to you my
friends, Serena and Kyp."
  The older man smiled lightly and bowed his head to each
of them. Jonnic walked over to Serena and bowed deeply.
"Welcome, Miss Serena, to my humble abode."  He lifted
her hand up and kissed it.
  Serena smiled. "Nice to meet you, Jonnic."
  Jonnic nodded his head and turned to Kyp. "Kyp." He
shook his hand.
  "Jonnic." Kyp nodded his head.
    Jonnic turned back to Shal'lyindraa.  "Father and I were
just about to sit down and eat, would you care to join us?"
  "We'd love to," Shal'lyindraa answered back.
  Dain and Jonnic turned around, and led the group through
the door and up a flight of stairs, which were barely lit
except for the occasional candle every three steps.  After a
few moments of going up the marbled stairs, they entered
into another large chamber.  Though, this time in the center
was a long table with six chairs.  On the table were many
dishes of different kinds of food.    Jonnic let out a short
whistle and out of the kitchen came a young boy, carrying
three extra plates and utensils.  The little boy quickly set up
places for them to eat and hurriedly walked back through a
sliding door.
  "Shal'lyindraa, I do believe you will enjoy this food much
more than you did the last time we were here."
  "Why, Jonnic? Because I did not have to cook it?"
  Jonnic grinned at her.  "When you cooked we ended up
eating mud and grass."
  "I was just five, how was I supposed to know you couldn't
eat it?"
  Shal'lyindraa and Jonnic laughed as Jonnic pulled out a
chair and let Shal'lyindraa sit down.  He pulled out the chair
beside her and let Serena sit.  Dain sat down at the head of
the table; Jonnic and Kyp sat across from Shal'lyindraa and
Serena.
  "Shal'lyindraa, I know why you are here.  Jonnic and I
share your sorrow.  Your mother was a good woman who
lived a good life.  Your sisters also. None of them deserved
to  "
  The young boy came back out into the room and began to
serve each person.  After he had placed food on each dish,
he ran back into the kitchen.  Minutes later he came out
with glasses and drinks.
  "I'm sorry Uncle, but I have tried and tried.  I just can't
find myself feeling that sorry.  I never knew my family, and
they never really knew me.  As far as I cared, all my life you
were my father, and Jonnic my brother.  And I understand
why you had to send me off, but . . . I just can't feel
sympathy for someone I never knew."
  Dain nodded, said,  "I understand."
  "The reason, Uncle, I came here was because I want you
and Jonnic to leave this place for a while.  I can't help but
notice this feeling inside me that is telling me you both need
to leave."
  Jonnic's eyes widened.  "You're using that power you
have, huh?"
"Yes."
  "My dear, I don't comprehend this 'power' you speak of.
Yes I know of it, but I don't really believe that I understand
it.  Yet, if it is your wish for us to leave, we shall leave.  In
two days time we shall go, somewhere."
  Shal'lyindraa smiled.  "Good."
  "And I hope that you will all stay with us until we do
leave,"  Jonnic said, watching Serena and Shal'lyindraa.
  "Yes, we would love to stay,"  Shal'lyindraa answered for
them.
  After dinner, which consisted mostly of greens and soup,
Dain excused himself, leaving the other four in the room to
watch the young boy come back out and pick up their
plates.
  "Jonnic, is this entire place made of marble?"  Serena
asked momentarily.
  "The main rooms are, but the bedrooms are made of
stone."
  Serena nodded her head to his reply.  "It's a really nice
place."
  "Thank you. But I prefer the outside."
  "The view is magnificent," Shal'lyindraa put in.
  Jonnic stood up.  "Come.  I'll show you."
  The other three stood up and followed Jonnic down the
stairs.  They walked through the large chamber and went
out the door.  Outside, the sun had set, and the sky was a
dark blue.  No stars or moon filled the sky, only darkness.
The entire expanse of ocean looked like a shadow, as did
the sky.  The sky itself seemed to merge with the water.
  The group walked passed the _Corellian Sunrise_ and
kept going until they reached a large cliff. The jagged cliff
stuck out before them, and then dropped straight down into
the swirling ocean.
   Serena looked around them, studying the grass.  It was
short in most places, but in some places it was tall and blew
in the breeze.  "Is this whole place on an island?"
  "Yes." Jonnic answered.  He continued smoothly, "There
is no way to leave this place except through a ship or
speeder bike."
  "Whoa,"  Serena said softly.
  Looking down the wall of the bluff, Serena could see the
waves hitting the rocky cliff. The crashing waves made a
loud, thundering noise, which was in fact, the only noise
Serena heard. She could easily smell the salt water, as
clouds of moisture lifted up from the ocean and onto the top
of the cliff where Serena, Kyp, Jonnic, and Shal'lyindraa
stood, surrounding them in a thin, salty fog.
  Serena's gaze drifted across the ocean one last time.  Kyp
took her hand in his, and she and Kyp followed behind
Jonnic and Shal'lyindraa back towards the stone castle.
They went into the large, cavernous room, and went up the
marble steps.  They left the steps through a small door to
their right.  Walking through a long stone hallway they
stopped at three doors.
  Jonnic pointed to them.  "These are your rooms.  Mine is
right across from yours, as is fathers.  If you need anything,
anything at all, then just come and get me."
  Shal'lyindraa nodded, "Jonnic?"
"Yes?"
  "Do you mind if I talk with you privately?"
  "No, my dear. Come, we can talk in my room."
  Jonnic locked his arm in Shal'lyindraa's and led her into the
room in front of them.  Kyp shrugged once the door closed.
Wondering, but not caring much, what Shal'lyindraa was
going to talk about.  Most likely the death of her parents.
  "Well, then, " He locked his arm in Serena's, "would you
mind if you and I talked privately?"
  "No, my love. Come, we can talk in your room,"  Serena
said teasingly.
  Kyp opened the door.  It was the furthermost one on the
left.  He and Serena quietly entered it and the door slid shut
behind them.  Serena's eyes widened for a moment and her
mouth opened slightly.
   The room was large.  In the far corner was a small sitting
area that consisted of a couch and two chairs covered in
blood red velvet.  There was a door near the sitting area,
which was an entire mirror.  Serena guessed that it led into
the bathroom and judging by the room, a very nice
bathroom.  On the right side of the room was a large canopy
bed covered with red and black velvet.  Velvet pillows
covered the bed.  Past the bed was a large dresser made of a
dark brown wood, atop it were three gold candlesticks with
already burning candles dripping the melted wax down into
the gold bowls underneath them.
  "You know, I haven't seen candles in a long time, and I'm
wondering why they seem to be the only use of light," Kyp
said, walking towards a heavy black velvet curtain hanging
from the cold, brown stone wall.  He took the heavy
curtains and pushed them back.  In front of him was a round
balcony.  Kyp walked out onto it.  Below him was a cliff,
which fell straight down into the swirling sea of water below
them.
  "Kyp?" Serena stepped out beside him.  "Wow."  She
slightly leaned over the stone railing, and looked to her left,
then right.  "If I'm right, every room seems to have one of
these balconies.  This place has beautiful architecture."
  Kyp took his gaze off the ocean and looked across to
Serena.  He smiled at her wide eyes and smiling lips.  "No
trees, only grass, stone, and water.  No stars or moon, or
clouds, only sky," he said still looking at Serena.
  Serena nodded at Kyp's statement.  "I love it."
  "No droids, barely any people . . .no women either."  Kyp
continued to stare at Serena's profile letting his eyes drift
downward and upward, paying close attention to her face,
which was a palish orange from the glow of the candles
from the inside of the room.
  "That is strange . . ." Serena shivered and then looked up
to meet Kyp's stare.  "Come on, we need to sleep."
  Walking off the balcony, Kyp paused.  "Hope you sleep
well alone," he said jokingly.
  Serena walked to the small door in the front of the room
and watched as it opened before her. "I will," she said,
laughing at Kyp's statement.
  Kyp quickly walked forward, grasped Serena's hand in his,
and said gently, "Wait, I'm sick of joking around."
  Serena turned around and stared quizzically up at Kyp.
She looked up at the man whom she loved, the man that had
killed thousands if not millions of people.  "What?"
  Kyp began to feel his cheeks turning red. "Never mind."
  "What?" Serena repeated and took her hand off the door;
it silently slid shut.  She loved Kyp, and the fact that he had
once been one with the dark side and had killed people
meant nothing to her now.  He had made a horrible mistake,
but she was sure that he would more than make up for his
mistake throughout the future years.
  "It's just--," Kyp pulled Serena to him.  He slid one arm
around her thin waist, and with the other, pushed her
ethereal hair away from her face.  Kyp whispered in
Serena's ear and pulled back, watching as surprise, then
uncertainty, and finally fear melted into the beautiful, loving
face of an angel.
  "Kyp, you are the first, and you will be the last.  I promise
you that.  Always and forever we will be together,"
Serena's smooth, alluring voice answered back to his
question.
  Kyp breathed in deeply and at the same moment pulled
Serena to him in a tight embrace, he then kissed her, letting
himself imagine that this were the last time he would ever
hold her in his arms.  That brief thought scared Kyp more
than he thought it could.  He held Serena tighter and kissed
her harder.  Slowly he moved his hands down and up.
Serena shivered even though her insides were on fire as
Kyp's cold hands met the hot skin of her back.

                    *    *    *

  "Jonnic, I just don't understand.  Why? What did my
parents do?"  Shal'lyindraa stood up and began pacing
Jonnic's beautifully designed room.
  Jonnic stood up from one if his velvet chairs and poured
himself some more wine.  "As far as I know, your parents
did nothing.  They were very respected people."
  Shal'lyindraa stopped, and set down her glass filled with a
white wine that she had not touched.  She could not bring
herself to drink it, so many things were going through her
mind.  One big matter was why her parents had been killed.
So far, no one knew why, and she doubted if anyone would
ever know.  "No one would do that unless they knew I
would come here to you, but then why get me off of Yavin
Four?"
  Jonnic shrugged, and leaned against the wall.  "Maybe it
wasn't that they wanted you off Yavin Four for a certain
reason.  Maybe they wanted you here for a certain reason.
Maybe they didn't even kill them because of you."
  "Yes, but then why kill them?  They must have been into
something big, maybe the Empire.  I never knew my parents
very well, but I doubt severely that they would have gotten
in with the Empire or any organization like that."
Shal'lyindraa started pacing the room again. "This is so
incomprehensible!"
  "You're a Jedi, meditate."  Jonnic pushed back his brown
hair, which had fallen into his green eyes.
  "Yes, I could."  Shal'lyindraa let out an exasperated sigh.
"I just don't know.  I'm glad that you and Uncle will be
leaving here."
  Jonnic walked over to her, and she stopped walking back
and forth.  "I'd do anything for you, Shal, and so would
Uncle. You know that."  Jonnic took Shal'lyindraa's hands
in his and clasped them together.
  "I do."
  Jonnic let go of her hands and smiled.  "Now please, let us
talk of other things that may not depress us so.  Please, tell
me, what have you been doing since I last saw you."
"Once I left here I went to Tatooine to find Rubin.  I
learned that he was somewhere on Smugglers' Run, so I
didn't bother to contact him.  I've been trying to reach
Wedge, but now that he's so high and mighty, I can't get
hold of him.  I swear I must have left a hundred messages at
the least.  And I know that if he had gotten even one of
them, he would have contacted me by now.  He probably
just thinks that I've forgotten all about him.  But if I ever do
get hold of him, boy will he be surprised to find out where
I've been."
  "Why not get hold of Rubin?" Jonnic asked, thoughtfully,
rubbing the thin beard that was beginning to form around
his chin.
  "Well, there's no use.  Anyway, he practically raised me, I
think I'll give him a break.  You know, he's retired, or at
least he says he is."
  "But wasn't he expecting you to follow him and become a
smuggler?"
  "Yes, but I decided that I had rather be a Jedi Knight."
Jonnic lifted his eyebrows. "Yes, I forgot about that." he
finished grimly.
Shal'lyindraa folded her arms over her chest and turned
from him to study the stone wall.  "Yes, you seem to have,
but I just can't see why you have a problem with it."
  Jonnic stepped up behind Shal'lyindraa, as he spoke she
felt his breath on her neck.  "I have no problem with it; I'm
just worried about you.  I have heard of this Force, and
what it can do.  What it did to Darth Vader and Palpatine."
  Shal'lyindraa turned to face Jonnic.  "You don't think that
that could happen to me.  Do you?"
  "You never know," Jonnic shrugged, and gulped down the
rest of his drink.
  Shal'lyindraa frowned up at the older man and decided
against arguing.  "Anyway, Jonnic, what have you been
doing?"
  Jonnic walked back to his velvet chair, and sat down in it.
"Nothing.  I've been here, doing nothing."
  "That's not true, in fact you have been doing something
bad, haven't you.  I mean last time I was here, you had
droids everywhere, parties all the time, maids covering
every foot of the house, now all you have is a cook and a
servant boy . . . where is everything, everybody?"
  "Sold."  Jonnic turned from Shal'lyindraa's prying eyes.
  "Why, Jonnic? What did you do?"
  "I hung out with the wrong crowd." Jonnic shrugged, and
narrowed his green eyes.  "I'm in a lot of trouble.  I owe a
lot of money, and I would not be surprised if I woke up
tomorrow dead." Jonnic started laughing.
  Shal'lyindraa sat down in front of him, on his couch. She
leaned forward, resting her hands in her lap. "Jonnic, what
did you do?"
  "Spice.  I got hooked on spice can you believe it? Spice
and sabacc, I practically needed them all the time.  I finally
got caught," Jonnic stopped laughing. "I owe twenty-three-
thousand credits to some smuggler or something, I don't
know.  All I know is I've sold as much stuff as I could, and
all I have is eighteen-thousand. I don't suppose you just
happen to have nine-thousand stored up somewhere?"
  Shal'lyindraa shook her head.  "No, Jonnic. I don't
understand.  How could you get in dept? How?"
  "Who knows," Jonnic shrugged again, "there's nothing I
can do now."
  "Are you sure?"
  "Except go into hiding, which I am not going to do, no
matter what."
  Shal'lyindraa stood up.  "Oh, Jonnic. Sometimes, I just
don't understand you. How could you let this happen?"
  Jonnic stood up and put both his hands against the wall.  "I
don't know.  Father thinks that I've paid it off.   He's not
worried anymore, but I'm still nine thousand short, and
every day it's getting higher.  I'm risking my life and father's.
I can't help.  I can't do anything about it."
  Shal'lyindraa laid both her hands on Jonnic's shoulders.
"It's okay, if only I could help. I just don't know how."
  "Don't bother trying. I think leaving here for a while with
father is a good idea. I'll find us some money, somehow."
He shrugged Shal'lyindraa's hands off his shoulders, and
walked back to the couch. "Your parents were going to help
out. They were going to give me the nine thousand."  He
rubbed his temples.  "You had better go to bed.  It's getting
late."
  "Jonnic, you're in trouble, you just can't push me out like
this."
  "Look, Shal, there's a lot more to this than you think.
You'd never understand if I told you."
  "I would, just try me."
  "No," Jonnic stood up, and pointed to the door.  "Please,
you had better go."
  Shal'lyindraa stood where she was for a moment.
Something was wrong.  She could read his mind, she
needed to because half of what he had told her was a
complete lie; but this was Jonnic, she could not resort to it.
Slowly, Shal'lyindraa turned to the door.
  "Look, Jonnic, if there's anything that you want to tell me,
you can."  She stood there for a moment, and when Jonnic
did not answer, she left the room.
  Leaning against the wall Shal'lyindraa looked to each side
of herself and down the hallway.  She narrowed her eyes,
and peered down to her left.  She watched as her uncle
came down the long hallway towards her.  She saw that he
had not noticed her.  She slipped around the corner, and
watched carefully as her uncle entered Jonnic's room.
Shal'lyindraa slipped back to the door, and put her ear
against it.  She could not hear her uncle speaking, but she
heard her cousin.
  "Uncle, he said if I gave him the  . . ." There was a pause,
then she heard him speak again.
  "Look, he owes me fourteen-thousand credits, I gave him
the information he needed, so all we have to do is wait for
the money."
  There was a pause, and Jonnic's once calm voice was now
tinged with anger.  "If we don't get that money soon, those
friends of yours are going to have our heads.   We would
have done better if you had just taken that money from the
Ta'ao's."  Shal'lyindraa pressed her ear closer to the door.
  "I made a mistake.  Don't worry, we'll get that money,"
Dain said, Shal'lyindraa figured that he was close to the
door, and that was why she could so easily hear him.
  "They've got to give me the money at some time.  I'll
make them pay me if I have to."
  "We're talking about Imperials, I told you not to trust
them,"  Dain said angrily.
  "You told me?  Father, it was your idea! I didn't want to
meet up with the Imperials, but you did!"
  Shal'lyindraa slowly back away from the door, and walked
into her room.  'What was he talking about, Imperials?' she
asked herself. Shal'lyindraa sat down on top of her canopy
bed, throwing some velvet pillows across the room.
  This was impossible. How could Jonnic and Dain be
spying for the Empire?  She must have heard wrong. There
was no possible way that they could do that.  It was almost
impossible to see her cousin betting, cheating, and wasting
money, but spying?  What should she do? Tell Serena, and
Kyp, or keep it to herself?  But what would be the point of
not telling anyone?  She could talk to them tomorrow about
what she had overheard.  She might have just heard wrong,
hopefully.
  Shal'lyindraa stood up and began to survey the room.  It
was large and completely made of stone.  In the corner was
a small door, made of a large mirror.  She realized that the
room looked exactly like Jonnic's.  She stood up, walked to
the glass door, and opened it.  It slid open, and she stepped
into a large bathroom, made of stone and marble.
She needed a good bath to soothe her nerves.
Shal'lyindraa let a small smile cross her lips. Maybe she just
needed a short break, from everything.  Then, maybe, she
could meditate for a while.  Shal'lyindraa bent over the
bathtub and turned on the water.



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