The Mark of the Crown Read online

  Qui-Gon went to the Queen's chambers for his last audience. He found the Queen standing at the window looking out over Galu. She wore a dark blue robe of shimmersilk. She wore no jewels, and her long hair was braided simply. The signs of illness still dimmed her beauty, but Qui-Gon saw new signs of health in the slight color of her cheeks and the clearness of her eyes.

  "I have been granted something unique, Qui-Gon, and something I did not expect," she said. "I will be alive to see my legacy play out. Beju will find a better life." She gave a rueful smile. "He doesn't realize it quite yet, but I have no doubt of it. Gala will be free and at peace."

  "I spoke to Elan," Qui-Gon said. "She is returning to the mountains, but she's forged a bond with Wila. I don't think she'll isolate herself so completely again."

  "I, too, spoke to Elan," the Queen said. "She's a remarkable young woman. She hasn't agreed to take the name Tallah, but she's considering it. She'd add it to her parents' name, of course. Stubborn to the last."

  "And Jono?" Qui-Gon asked. "Obi-Wan is concerned about him."

  "Even though Jono betrayed him," the Queen said. "It is good for all of us to forgive. Jono will be punished - or at least the boy will see it as punishment. He is being sent back to his family and will learn farming. He'll be like everyone else now."

  "And perhaps he will learn something about the uses of freedom," Qui-Gon observed.

  "I hope so," the Queen agreed quietly. "I hope we all do." She studied Qui-Gon for a moment. "Things have ended well. You've accomplished your mission. Yet you seem sad."

  "I do feel sadness," Qui-Gon admitted. "I've tried to understand why. Sometimes our own hearts can be such a mystery."

  The Queen nodded. "Just ask Beju," she said. "My son is just beginning to understand himself."

  "I have been thinking of what I will leave behind when I die," Qui-Gon said. "I travel from world to world. My connection to each is so fleeting. What is my legacy?"

  The Queen smiled. She extended her arms to take in the city of Galu below them. Outside, Qui-Gon saw people heading to work, gathering in the squares, talking on street corners. It was a peaceful, busy scene.

  "This," she said gently.

  She said nothing more. But Qui-Gon understood every nuance of her meaning. For the first time since he'd landed on Gala, resolution beat again inside him, steady and strong. As a Jedi, he left behind justice and honor. It didn't matter if his footsteps would disappear, or if years from now no one on Gala remembered that two Jedi had helped to ensure a peaceful transition for their planet. They would remember peace, and that was enough.

  And he had Obi-Wan. With every mission, he was more convinced that his Padawan would become extraordinary, even among the Jedi. What he taught would live on. That was legacy enough.

  And certainly, there were still more legacies to be found.

  Qui-Gon had been with the Queen for some time now. Obi-Wan sat in the Council Chamber with Elan and Beju. The two did not speak to each other. Viso had asked both of them to meet him in the chamber. Obi-Wan wondered what the Council member was planning.

  Viso entered the room. He threw back his hood and looked at them with his milky blue eyes, eyes that couldn't see but still knew where to look.

  "Thank you for coming," he told them. "I want to show you something. You too, Obi-Wan."

  They followed him into the blue-walled antechamber. Viso directed Elan to stand in the middle of the middle square. As soon as her feet hit the mark, the power source in the walls began to glow. Beams of light shot out. Elan's silver hair picked up the lights, making a silver-blue halo around her intent face. The golden beams suddenly surrounded her, whirling faster and faster. Then they diffracted into an explosion of dancing light.

  Elan appeared to glow. And then, Obi-Wan saw it. The outline of a crown fell on her heart.

  "You see, Elan Tallah?" Viso asked. "You are Princess Elan."

  Elan looked down at the shadow on her chest. She touched it, then held out a hand and observed the golden light dancing on her skin. Then she stepped off the square. The beams retracted. The walls dulled. The room became an empty room again.

  "The last princess," Elan said.

  Viso turned to Beju. "May I escort you back to your chamber, my Prince?"

  Beju swallowed. He shook his head. "My name is Beju," he said.

  Elan smiled as she held out a hand. "Come, brother. Let us walk together."

  Obi-Wan watched as Elan and Beju left the chamber together, followed by Viso. Elan and Beju had both changed their whole notions of what was left to them by their parents. They had both forged a new path, taking up a legacy based on their characters, not their positions.

  That, Obi-Wan decided, was the true mark of greatness.

  He, too, was on a path he had not foreseen. The Jedi Code was as much a part of him as Tallah heritage was to Elan and Beju. His ties were no less important. He had found something unexpected on this mission, Obi-Wan realized. He had a renewed sense of purpose.

  When he turned, he found Qui-Gon standing in the doorway, waiting. He wished he could tell Qui-Gon about his renewed commitment, about the questions he had struggled with while Qui-Gon was away, questions about his legacy and what that meant.

  But his Master seemed so stern. Obi-Wan knew that Qui-Gon was already anxious to depart. Their next mission awaited them. Qui-Gon would tell Obi-Wan that he needed to focus on that. Ahead lay new questions, new struggles.

  Always more questions than answers, there are, Yoda had said.

  Qui-Gon interrupted Obi-Wan's thoughts. "It is time to go," he said. Obi-Wan nodded. "I am ready."