Chương 32: PURGATORY - Chapter 32
All eyes turned to Campion Dey, whose uvak reared back suddenly on its clawed feet. It charged ahead, razor-tipped wings outstretched. But instead of goring the opponent stumbling haplessly before it, the creature leapt …
… and flew. Wings that shouldn't work pumped mightily, allowing uvak and rider to bound from the melee toward the grandstands.
Dey, standing in his saddle, raised his red lightsaber and screamed something Ori couldn't hear. He was in control, all right. Lighting her own weapon, Ori leapt atop the railing, ready to pounce if he came near. But the lumbering behemoth passed to the left, awkwardly clawing its way upward through the panicked crowd toward the Grand Lord's luxury compartment, above.
Ori saw Lillia Venn stand, unflinching, as the attacker scaled the stone bleachers toward her. Raising her shaking hands, the Grand Lord unleashed a torrent of dark side energy. Blue fire crackling all along its wingspan, the surprised animal fell backward onto the lower seating, throwing its rider free.
The Luzos leapt from the royal box, their own weapons red blurs as they plunged toward the would-be assassin.
"Mother, get back!" Ori yelled.
Across the way, a Keshiri aide closed the shutters to the Grand Lord's compartment. Ori now did the same, knocking over large vases of Jelph's flowers in the process. She turned back to see her mother, staggering, paralyzed before the spectacle.
"What happened, Mother?" They'd known Campion Dey for years, supporting his training. What could have caused his mad act?
Candra simply shook her head, blood draining from a face that had looked youthful only moments before.
"You … you'd better go, Ori."
"The other Sabers are dealing with Dey," Ori said, guarding the entrance to the compartment.
"That's not what I mean."
Ori looked at her mother, stunned. "We didn't do this. We don't have anything to worry about. Do we?" She took the older woman's arm. "Mother, do we?"
Summoning some unseen reserve of calm, Candra straightened.
"I don't know what just happened. But I will know, one way or another." She stepped past her daughter and opened the door. Outside, Sith and Keshiri dashed madly down the Korsinata's exterior ramps.
"Mother!"
Candra looked back with sad eyes. "I can't talk now, Ori. Just get to the estate and make sure the slaves know I won't be coming home tonight." She disappeared into the crowd.
A star fell harmlessly from the sky. Landing on a hill, it provided light through the night, causing the gardens of Kesh to flourish as never before.
Until it rose again, setting everything afire. The stones of Ori's home fell to dust before the hot wind, exposing her to the inferno. Charred and dying, she'd chased the star into the jungle to ask why it had destroyed her world. It answered: "Because you thought me a friend."
Ori had experienced the Force vision during her second day as a Tyro, the lowest level in the Tribe's hierarchy. It had never meant anything to her. But arriving at Starfall, her mother's country estate south of Tahv, she'd had occasion to remember it. A procession of Keshiri laborers was exiting the marbled mansion, carrying belongings to a pyre on the lawn.
Her laborers. Her belongings.
Leaving Shyn by the columns lining the front walk, Ori ran toward the bonfire. Drawing her lightsaber, she charged the frail purple figure directing the work: her mother's caretaker.
"What's going on?" Ori grabbed the man. "Who told you to do this?"
Recognizing his mistress's daughter, the Keshiri looked furtively to either side before touching Ori's wrist. He spoke in a low whisper.
"This was ordered by the Grand Lord herself, milady. Just a couple of hours ago."
A couple of hours ago? Ori shook her head. The assassination attempt had only been two hours earlier. How was any of this possible?
The caretaker gestured to the main entrance. There, two apprentices of the Luzo brothers stood in the grand doorway, watching the furniture-laden workers pass. They hadn't noticed her yet, Ori saw—but she'd change that. Ori took a step toward the house.
Clutching at her arm, the old man yanked Ori back. "There are more of them inside," he said, pulling her behind the fire and out of their view. "They're taking your mother's things, too."
"Is she still a High Lord?" Ori asked.
The caretaker looked down.
Another thought struck her. "Am I still a Saber?"
Suddenly sickened, Ori staggered closer to the flames and tried to remember what she'd heard and seen on the way out of the Korsinata. There had been so much chaos. With Campion Dey killed seconds after his failed attack, rumors were attributing his act everywhere.
The Red faction claimed her mother had made a dire pact with the Golds, and vice versa. Some claimed Venn had died in her box, succumbing to her exertions and the excitement; others reported seeing the executions of High Lords Dernas and Pallima, right in their boxes at the arena. None of it made sense.
The only thing all agreed on was who brought the assassin into the stadium to begin with: the Kitai family.
She had to get back to Tahv and speak to her loyal apprentices with access to the High Seat. Defenders of her family's interests, they would know what was going on now. It was important not to succumb to anger over the bonfire, an obvious attempt by the Grand Lord's camp to provoke a reaction and reveal disloyalty.
Looking toward the mansion, she smirked. Candra Kitai's political skills were unparalleled. By now, she'd have successfully deflected blame and figured out who the victors were. By the time Ori reached Tahv, Candra would likely be sitting at the right hand of whoever had won out. Now was no time to fall into a clumsy trap set by the Luzos.
"This will be straightened out," she told the caretaker, turning toward her uvak.
"Good-bye, Ori."
Climbing atop Shyn, Ori took the reins in hand. Suddenly she stopped, calling after the retreating Keshiri elder. "Wait. You called me Ori."
The Keshiri looked down and wandered away.
By the dark side, she thought. Anything but that.
Jelph tipped the wobbly cart backward, allowing another pile of soil to spill into the trough. As summer went on, the mounds would dry out, becoming more acidic; an alkaline wash tended to refortify the stockpiles. His Keshiri customers didn't know about hydrogen ions, but they were particular nonetheless.
Hearing a sound, Jelph dropped his trowel and stepped around the hut. There, in the waning rays of evening, stood his visitor from the day before, facing her uvak and gripping the bridle.
"I'm surprised to see you," Jelph said, approaching her from behind. "Nothing wrong with the dalsas, I hope?"
Turning, she released the harness. The brilliant brown eyes were full of hurt and anger.
"I've been condemned," Ori of Tahv said. "I'm a slave."
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