CHAPTER ELEVEN
KASHYYYK
Revan stood on the small platform off the back door of the quarters he and Anja had. He was shirtless in the rising sun; a loose fitting pair of black pants his only garments. His hands were clasped behind his back, his eyes closed in a deep meditative pose. He allowed the Force to flow openly through every pore within his body, feeling it pass through every gene, every DNA strand. It was moments such as this that made Revan realize just how blessed he was to have the connection to the Force that he did. He flowed with the Force, to every plant on Kashyyyk, every animal, every being on the planet itself. The Force touched them all, and Revan in turn touched them as well. The sensations coursing through him made him feel alive and pure, and he basked in the radiance he felt.
Revan smiled as he felt the warm embrace of Anja’s mind as she woke from her slumber and reached for him within their bond. It was times like this when he could almost perceive the awakening thoughts of so many individuals as deeply immersed in the Force as he was. These were the moments when he felt the most peace, the utmost radiance of being carried to every corner of the universe, wherever the Force touched life, and experiencing the essence of being.
Anja stepped out onto the platform a few moments later holding a steaming mug of caffa, clad only in Revan’s oversized shirt. She stared at the tanned muscled back and shoulders of her husband, her long black hair tussled and unkempt. She could feel his peace and calm within the Force and began to turn to go back into their quarters.
No. Revan said softly through their bond. Stay with me.
I don’t want to disturb you my love. Anja replied.
How could your presence disturb me? It is the one thing that I relish more than anything. He answered her.
Anja padded slowly around in front of him, turning her back to his chest as his arms pulled her into his embrace. She closed her eyes as his lips nuzzled her neck and he breathed deeply of her scent.
You have an important mission my love. He told her. Never doubt that.
I know. That does not mean I can not worry about the man I love. Anja answered. I have heard things of Honoghr, dark things. It is not a nice world.
No. Revan agreed. I am not going alone however, and the Noghri could make powerful allies.
It’s also further behind enemy lines then any other mission has gone. Anja told him. I know that, as a Jedi, I should trust in the Force. But as a woman and a wife, I worry for my husband.
No more than I worry for you every day. Revan spoke. It has become obvious that the Jedi are being targeted; and you and my mother traveling with Nomi and Vima? You are four of the Order’s strongest Jedi, and two of you possess the gift of Battle Meditation. In my eyes that is a very tempting target.
Anja nodded reluctantly. I see your point.
My father is by default the leader of our forces, and Uncle Dacen his right hand. If they led this mission, it would immediately send up flags to every low life in the universe. I can still sneak about somewhat and slip in and out of sight and no one will miss me.
I will miss you. Anja told him. Terribly.
And I will miss you. Revan told her, his arms pulling her even closer to him. We have a few hours until you depart. Perhaps I should show you again how much I will miss you.
Anja dropped the mug from her hand, using the Force to settle it gently to the ground as she turned in Revan’s arms, slipping her arms around his waist. Do you still have the strength after last night? She asked innocently, but with a seductive gleam in her eyes.
Revan kissed her softly. I will make the strength. After all, I must keep up with my brother.
Anja looked at him. Zhar? What do you mean—he—Lanni? You are joking?
A bond with my brother was not necessary. Their screams were quite sufficient to explain what was happening. Revan replied with a grin.
Then I suggest you get to work my love. Anja told him.
Twenty-four year old Lanni Overlet had had three lovers in her young life, one while she was in school, the other two after she had taken her job with the Republic’s leading HoloNet News agency. None of those relationships had been very serious, and the physical portions of them completely forgettable. Now, Lanni lay face down on the bed, her long blond hair tossed across her shoulders and upper back wildly. Her arms were folded along her sides, the soft sheets pressing against her naked flesh. Her breath was coming in long, deep gasps, her eyes fluttering dreamily as the fingers traced up the outside of her naked thigh, and the lips teasingly caressed the sweat slick skin at the small of her back.Lanni could barely remember the events from the previous day and night, as her mind was still awash in the most exquisite memories of the last few hours with Zhar Panlie.
Zhar had escorted her back to her quarters after they returned from the secret briefing. She had been intent on going right to work and making several reports, but Zhar pointed out that she had not eaten much at dinner, and he insisted she eat before continuing to work. He had fixed her a delicious smelling Onderonian meal, and waited while she had attacked the food ravenously. She had consumed two helpings, and couldn’t help but blush when she finally stopped to look at him sheepishly. He cleared the dishes as she watched, and when everything was clean and put away he made his way to the door. Lanni couldn’t remember what possessed her to invite him to stay; he was six years younger than she was, the Jedi son of the Master Jedi her father hated with a passion. He was the young man her father wanted her to seduce, to get to know, so that she could provide him with information to hurt the Jedi, yet none of this had entered her mind when she asked him to stay.
The only thing that had entered her mind was the way his dark eyes shyly regarded her with passion and desire. Lanni had been ogled by hundreds of men and knew what their lustful stares looked like, but that is not what she saw in Zhar’s eyes. It was Lanni who had to make the first overtures, to move Zhar in the direction he obviously wanted to go but was unable to make clear. Once her lips had come in contact with his, his hands gently holding her face, Lanni had surrendered herself to him completely.
What Zhar Panlie lacked in experience, he made up for ten fold in enthusiasm and creativity and his attention to her desires.
The early morning hours with Zhar blurred together for Lanni in one long intense experience of pleasures she had no idea could even exist. It was unlike anything she had ever thought to imagine, and even now, both of them utterly exhausted and spent, the echoes of what she had experienced caused her to shudder in delight as she felt his now familiar hands caress her skin, and his soft lips and warm tongue trace the contours of her lower back. Lanni knew right then and there that she would desire no other hands on her body ever again. No other man’s touch could cause her to sing as Zhar’s had, and no other man’s passion could fill her so completely.
Zhar traced the lines of the small intricate tattoo just above Lanni’s hip with his tongue, lavishing attention on her silky smooth skin as a child would lavish attention on a new toy. Zhar was no longer the highly trained and logical Jedi; at this moment he was a young man who had experienced the pleasures of a woman for the first time, and he was continuing to enjoy every soft smooth inch he could touch. Her scent filled his nostrils, and he could feel her shiver under his touch, hoping that it was for a good reason. Zhar had no experience with women before these past few hours with Lanni, but he learned fast, and hoped that the cries she released were ones of pleasure. Revan had once told him that the taste, smell, and contours of a beautiful woman would occupy him for hours, and his brother had been right.
Zhar pulled the long blond hair from the back of her shoulders and softly kissed the smooth skin there. He needn’t have worried about the thoughts that were racing through his mind as Lanni rolled over slowly to look at him with those lustrous china blue eyes, her body exposed to his hungry eyes. Her arms snaked around his waist and pulled him to her, his lean muscular chest pressed to her naked form, one of her long legs moving up along his hip to curl around his thigh. His weight on top of her made Lanni feel safer and wanted more than any time in her life up until this point.
“It’s getting late.” She spoke softly, her finger running along the line of his jaw. She saw a flicker of sadness in his eyes.
“Do you want me to leave?” He asked.
“Not really.” Lanni replied honestly, relishing the feelings coursing through her from the contact of his skin on hers. “I just don’t want you to get into trouble.”
Zhar smiled. “I will not get into trouble.”
“You… you are a Jedi. Won’t you… won’t you get into trouble for being here with me? For… for doing the things we have done?”
“Why would I get into trouble for that?” Zhar asked with a smile on his face.
“I… I thought Jedi were not allowed to have attachments.” Lanni said.
“Is that what we have? An attachment?” Zhar asked.
“Well… after last night I kind of hoped we could have an attachment.” Lanni told him with her own beaming smile.
“Is that all you want Lanni, just an attachment, nothing else?”
“No. That’s not all I want.” She answered immediately.“But I thought it might be appropriate for starters. We hardly know each other.”
“I thought we got to know each other quite well the last few hours.” Zhar said with a grin.
Lanni pinched the skin on his neck, but did so with a smile. “You know what I mean Zhar Panlie.” She told him.
Zhar smiled and traced her lips with a finger. “You are so incredibly beautiful you know that.” He told her. He brushed some of her blond hair from her face. “You should wear your hair down more often. It makes you more relaxed.”
“You are unlike any man I have ever known.” She said reaching up to touch his face. His skin was deeply tanned and even somewhat weathered from a life led outside, but looking at him, Lanni had to admit he was exceptionally handsome. “You are definitely not like any Jedi I have known. I am six years older than you, yet you speak and act so much older, like you have decades of wisdom. Why is that?”
“I would hazard a guess and say that my parents played a huge factor in it.” He replied with a grin. “Growing up on Dxun with Revan Panlie and Bastila Shan as your parents’ kind of puts you ahead of the game somewhat. It is one of the reasons the Jedi discourage marriage among their Order. They have a fear that if two Jedi were to have children, their offspring would be much more powerful.”
“Is it a just fear?” Lanni asked curiously.
Zhar looked at her. “In Revan and Arren’s case I would have to say they are considerably more powerful than anyone expected, but my parents and Arren’s parents have an unnaturally powerful connection to the Force. In me, Dorak, Hanna and our younger brothers and sisters, it is not as profound. We are stronger than others our age would be, but I attribute much of that to the training we received while growing up. We have a much clearer connection to the Force because we did not try to suppress our natural human emotions as the Jedi Order has done for thousands of years. We allowed our emotions to make our connection stronger. That is what our parents taught us.”
Lanni scrunched up her face. “You didn’t answer my question Zhar. Is it a just fear the Jedi Order has?”
Zhar lowered his head into his hand, his elbow on the bed. He let Lanni hold his other hand tightly to her chest as she looked at him, her fingers absently caressing his forearm. “Have you seen anything that would make you fear Revan?”
Lanni was silent for a long moment before answering. “If he was my enemy, I would be terrified of him.” She replied. “But no, other than that, nothing I have seen or heard from others would make me fear him. He’s a bit severe at times though.”
Zhar laughed. “You should have known him before he met Anja.” He told her.
“So you think the Jedi Order’s fear is groundless?”
Zhar looked at her, searching her china blue eyes. “That is why we don’t follow that particular rule of the Jedi Order.” Zhar said. “It only hinders our abilities and makes us weak. And it distances us from those we are sworn to protect.”
“Isn’t that something someone associated with the Sith would say?” Lanni asked.
“And what would you know of the Sith Lanni Overlet?” Zhar asked with a smile.
Lanni smiled at the look on his face and rolled over to the edge of the bed and took a data pad from the floor. She rolled back and held it out to him. “I downloaded this from the Jedi archives with Master Bindo’s permission.”
“The History of the Jedi?” Zhar said, looking at the title.
“I felt since I was going to be spending so much time around Jedi, I should try to better understand them.” Lanni said. “There’s a section in their regarding the Sith and what they believe. It says that the Sith believe embracing their emotions makes them stronger as well.”
“The difference between us is paramount to looking across the oceans on Mannan Lanni. The Sith embrace emotion because it makes them stronger, yes, but with that power they conquer and enslave.” Zhar said. “My parents, Revan, the Jedi who follow us, we believe embracing emotion makes us stronger, but we don’t allow the emotions to control us. The Jedi Order believes attachments weaken a Jedi, making them susceptible to the dark side. We believe that repressing emotions is the path to the dark side, that is why we embrace our emotions, but we also control them and don’t let them rule our actions.”
Lanni stared at Zhar for a long moment. He spoke with the eloquence and commitment of someone twice his age. Lanni took his free hand from where it rested on her chest and brought it to her lips where she kissed his fingertips gently. “Do you realize how easily I could fall in love with you Zhar Panlie?”
“Is that a bad thing?” Zhar asked with a smile.
“After some of the things I have done I don’t think your mother would approve of you having a relationship with me.” Lanni said.
Zhar’s eyes shot open. “My mother!” He snapped, rising up. “She leaves today!” He scrambled from the bed looking for his clothes and grabbing his timepiece. Lanni watched him, a smile of humor on her face and desire in her eyes. “Her transport leaves in thirty-three minutes!” He snapped.
Lanni held out her hand pointing. “Refresher! You can’t say goodbye to her smelling of sweat and my perfume!”
Zhar scooped up his clothes and leaned over to kiss her deeply before he bolted for the refresher. Lanni rolled over onto her back, a smile of contentment on her face. She got up slowly, wrapping the sheet around her body and sat on the edge of the bed. She looked down and saw Zhar’s robes still on the floor and reached for them. She spread them out neatly on the bed and turned again, the hilt of his lightsaber catching her eye. She lifted it slowly in her small hand, turning it this way and that to gaze at the intricate design of the hilt. Her thumb depressed the power button and with a snap hiss the burning emerald green blade sprang forth. Lanni stared at the blade, holding the lightsaber with more confidence than she should have had. The ringing of her com unit broke the near trance like state she experienced holding the lightsaber and she deactivated the blade, but held on to it as she moved to the small desk in her bedroom. She touched the panel as she settled into the chair and watched as the blue image of her father shimmered to life.