The Once and Future King

[Cassie Veila]

"Yes." She answered him simply and in the dark made her way over to the couch. Gracefully Cassie took a seat on the floor facing her cousin, her knees pressed up into her chest.

"But not the entirety. I did not know that Cadien would be involved." The sinking feeling in her stomach got worse as she mentioned her twin's name. She didn't like not knowing things, especially when they involved the people she loved. Had Cadien thought he couldn't trust her with his feelings for Hadeah? Of course she wouldn't have said anything to anyone unless it was of the utmost importance. Why hadn't be trusted her?

Her eyes caught the bottle of reserve and she contemplated joining Amir in drink but quickly dismissed the thought. After all, she wasn't here to think about her own feelings of neglect. This was about Amir.

"Things are going to change now, very quickly. Try not to hold this against him. He loves you and you'll need him. Plus isn't this what you really wanted. You don't love Hadeah and now you're not bound to her."

To her it was simply the best thing that could have happened. She broke off the wedding. Amir was free for the first time since childhood and couldn't be seen as 't fault'. Being mate to the Queen Mother would only have held him back. Now he'd be able to reach his full potential and seek out his destiny.

[Amir Dagar]

"I'll always be tied to her." Amir said softly, more so to himself than his cousin. But Cassie was one of the few people who knew of Amir's dark deed on Hadeah's behalf, years ago. He'd assumed given her knack for finding out these sorts of things, she would have known before it happened. And even though it had been one of the few things to escape her clairvoyance, he still felt some relieve after having confiding in her that he had killed the Queen Mother. It was the most cold blooded act he'd ever committed, and as his guilt grew so did the strain on his and Hadeah's forced relationship.

"She's threatening to destroy the temple. My temple." His blood began to pump hard in his veins again. This wasn't about his personal feelings, it never had been. It was about something much more important, his religion, his foundation. Everything he stood for. "You can't expect me to just let her get away with that."

[Cassie Veila]

"No. I would never expect that." She said with a small smile. "But she can not destroy the Temple. She might prohibit us from practicing on her planet but we are the Temple. And we can move."

His first statement had cut deep. No, he was right, he would always be bound to her. Although she considered Hadeah to be her closest female friend, Cassie always resented her for asking Amir to do what he did. And she would never forgive herself for not seeing it coming. If only she'd seen it she might have been able to stop it. She could have saved Amir from the heavy burden it had placed on his shoulders. She could have done something so that he never needed to be involved. It's true Hadeah's Grandmother had been out of control and deserved to pay for her crimes but Amir hadn't deserved to play the executioner.

"Leaving Hapes might be a good thing for the Temple. A lot of people still see us as a poor copy of Skywalker's Order hidden in the outskirts. If we left Hapes, perhaps we could finally go to Coruscant and change that perception."

[Amir Dagar]

He knew she hadn't meant it, but Cassie's choice of words set off a charge within Amir. They were Jedi. And that was where Amir felt the comparisons between the two orders deserved to end. He didn't deny Luke Skywalker's involvement in training Jacen Solo in the ways of the Force. But Amir was adamant, preachy even, in his belief that Jacen Solo was twice the man his uncle had been. The Order of the Unifying Force did not live in fear of the Dark Side, as their brethren Jedi did, because they had a greater understanding and connection with the Force. So it pained Amir above all else when they were cast the bastard child of the Force. It was one of the main points of contention between Amir and Quin- the heir apparent to the title of Grandmaster of the Jedi Order; his equal, his rival, his cousin.

Standing back up, Amir walked towards one of the huge windows and peaked behind the curtain. Already workers were busy disassembling the huge tents surrounding the gardens. To him it was symbolic of what was to become of his temple. But Cassie's words echoed in his head. They were the temple. He tried to use that to calm himself.

"You know how much I love being on Coruscant, but I would never put a temple there. Too many times our people have been slaughtered and run off that planet because of some lunatic's agenda. If we leave, we're nothing more than nomads. Hapes is secluded...safe."

[Cassie Veila]

"What of Naboo? It's cosmopolitan without being political, out of the way but it's customs are not considered 'strange' or 'foreign', it's more open to visitors than Hapes, and we already have the land. My mother's estate in the country... we could have miles on which to build our Temple. We could begin now and perhaps Hadeah could be convinced to allow us to remain here until construction is finished. We could even advertise the move, bring attention to ourselves, and maybe spin it to seem intentional."

Cassie didn't get up and follow him but she did spin herself toward the windows. If they couldn't stay on Hapes, she would have perfered they moved to Coruscant but Amir did raise a good point. The Jedi did not seem to have longevity on that planet. And they needed to establish the Unifying Order as solid and strong.

[Amir Dagar]

Naboo had a natural beauty even Amir could not deny. It was quiet, peaceful, tranquil, and far enough away from the core. But the little history Amir did know about the planet was littered with invasions and occupations. The planet was beautiful, but weak. His mother and Jacen had been wise to pick Hapes, with its strong navy. And even without an army to protect it, how would than Naboo react to what could ultimately be seen as a Jedi Occupation. It was fair enough to say that Aniri had ties to Naboo, but Naboo didn't have ties to the Jedi. He saw now, why his mother had used his future as a bargaining chip. She was giving the Hapans a reason to fight to protect the temple. It was never something Amir had put this much thought into, he'd never had to find a home for the Temple. And now that he was, he wasn't sure he wouldn't have made the same choices his mother had.

"You've spent more time there than I have, how do you think the people would react? Would they embrace us or resent us?"

He also didn't know how he felt about advertising the move. Amir liked that Cassie was already thinking of ways to spin their situation to the public, but advertising could bring unwanted attention as well. But at least they had ideas now. The future didn't look quite as bleak. Cassie had a knack for that.

"Maybe..." he said softly, "maybe."

[Cassie Veila]

For a long moment Cassie was silent in thought. "I doubt the general public would care very much, the climate has always been very welcoming toward the Jedi. In their eyes we could paint ourselves as guardians and they wouldn't give us much more of a thought as long as we didn't over intrude upon their daily lives, which centralized out in the countryside we wouldn't. The aristocrats on the other hand could present a problem. I believe we would win the popular vote but as much as Naboo likes to paint itself a democracy it is the same few families that continue to be voted into rule, not the Queen or King, but the Governors... many would see us as a threat. But because of my mother's connections, I am confident that the construction of a Temple would be voted in. It just might take a bit of work."

Karter Borreno would be a very important alie if they wanted to proceed down this road. Aniri Veila had plenty of political connections of her own on Naboo but it would be her 'relationship' to Karter that would win it for them in the end.

[Amir Dagar]

Amir sat a while longer and debated what he felt were his options. But in truth, there were people beyond himself and Cassie that would have a say in what became of the Order. While it had become very clear years ago that one day Amir would inherit leadership of the Unifying Order, that day had not yet come, the Order was still Jacen Solo's legacy. Indeed, his mother would have her say as well. All things considered, he was surprised he hadn't yet endured Joan's wrath. He half smiled to himself, assuming that was only because she'd found Cadien first.

[Cadien Veila]

Despite what he'd told the princess, Cadien did not go after his cousin. He could feel Amir was still fuming and instead it became a complex game of hide and seek. Time for him to hide, while his mother and aunt sought him out. He'd nearly encountered them twice, walking side by side clearly on the hunt for either him or Amir, but he'd narrowly avoided them both times. All the while Cadien's conscious weighed heavily on him. He hadn't anticipated such a reaction from Amir, though after reflecting on how it all unraveled, Cadien was prepared to deal with any retaliation Amir felt appropriate, for his part in all of it. Hadeah had used him as her pawn, that much was clear; but just how much she had anticipated evoking such a response from Amir he was still unsure of. And also the sincerity of her feelings.

Eventually though, he came to the great wooden door of his cousin's quarters. He knocked on the door softly and pushed it open. He saw one of his sister sitting in the common area, her pale blue eyes drawn to him like a magnet the second his boots crossed the threshold. It made his flesh burn under his skin. Amir's back was to him, and remained so even after he'd closed the door behind himself. He was quick to notice the open bottle of liquor on the table, and a great foreboding sensation came over him as he realized Amir might now be drunk as well as enraged. He moved quietly through the room and took a seat on the sofa above his sister, where Amir had been only moments ago. He took note of his sister's apparel and it occurred to him that while in his heart he'd known since late last night that there would be no ceremony today, all those who spent the night outside the Queen Mother's bedroom were only now finding out.

Cassie looked beautiful though, truly like some being more regal than human. She had been so looking forward to this day. More than both bride and groom, and certainly more than himself. He had let her, his twin and better half, down as well. She was looking at him now, with her ever-haunting eyes, and he wasn't sure if she was attempting to communicate with him or extract something from his soul. But eager for his guilt to be lifted-- his burden to be shared, he opened himself to her completely. As though she could somehow grant him absolution, he once more held no secrets from her. She now knew the way her brother had yearned in silence for years, from the day he held Hadeah crying in his arms at her father's sentencing, until one day she looked at him as something more, and how ignorant hope sprang from that. Cassie felt how that hope fed his very soul, and her heart raced as his did whenever he was with Hadeah. She saw the two of them alone together in the dimly lit throne room, and watch as Cadien pressed his lips against the princess's for the first time, and she witnessed the young girl tremble at her brother's touch. She heard Hadeah's voice softly pleading to Cadien that if she had to be trapped with Amir for the rest of her life, that she should at least know real love for one night. And Cassie felt the Chume'da's cold tears hit Cadien's bare chest as he lay sleeping beneath her while she confessed her love for him, and apologized for the pain she would cause him and his family in the morning when she refused to marry Amir.

When all had transpired, when more than three years of well guarded feelings and emotions had been released in the course of a minute, Cadien fell back in his seat, his breathing labored. Sitting back upright, he found Amir staring at him. Though his cousin was not privy to what the two siblings had just shared, he was clearly able to infer what he had just witnessed. Amir saw the anguish in his cousin's eyes and knew there was something deeper to blame for it than a one night tryst. Cadien's words echoed in Amir's turbulent mind, "I think I love her" and for a moment Amir tried to put himself in his cousin's boots. He tried imagining if Cadien were to marry his own unrequited love while he stood idly by. Rachael Qel-Droma was the closest thing Amir had ever had to love, but try as he might the relationships just didn't equate. There was something resting on his and Hadeah's shoulders was more than either of them or their selfish desires. Still, the rage in Amir's eyes slowly turned to pity as he looked at his heartbroken cousin.

"What now?" Cadien asked them both.

[Joan Dagar]

"Now you deal with me."

Cloaked in the Force as she seldom made herself, Joan Dagar had entered the room quiet as a ghost. In her wake her paramour could be seen, shuffling his feet in the hallway beside his rival, Amir's foster father, Iyann Bunyea. Both men seemed to hesitate on whether or not to follow her in; whether or not their paternal reign crossed into this boundary.

"Mother this hardly--"

"Don't you even finish that sentence!" Her rage swelled and she sent the bottle of liquor flying through the air at her son, who in-turn deflected it and sent it shattering against an empty wall. The moment of hesitation passed for both Chane and Iyann as they both came racing into the room at the sound of objects being thrown. "This has everything to do with me! This has everything to do with every single living person in this palace-- everyone whose life you've just turned upside down."

"This hardly is my fault!" Amir corrected her. His eyes avoided Cadien, whose back was to his aunt wasn't moving an inch. Already Cadien's back was burning, both Amir and Cassie could feel his anxiety, but Amir saw no gain in ratting him out. "That girl has driven me mad since the day I met her. But I'm the good son, the obedient soldier who accepted that this was my duty to my Order. She did this. She made her choice. There's not much else I can do now!"

Joan's eyes shifted to her nephew. His absence had not gone unnoticed this morning, and he was radiating an unusual amount of emotions, particularly for someone usually as tranquil as he was.

"Cadien...where have you been?"

This was bound to come around sooner or later. He took a deep breath to compose himself as best he could and stood to face her. She could see now his blue eyes were bloodshot, and his face looked sunken and tired. A fresh gash was beginning to scab on the side of his face. Standing in front of Cassie all done up in her beautiful gown Cadien was quite the polar opposite of his sister.

A conversation about ones romantic activities was never something a child looked forward to sharing with their parent. This feeling was only amplified by the gravity of the situation, and the fact that the weight of literal worlds rested on the shoulders of those involved.

"I wish my mother was here, because I can't...won't explain this twice." He was determined to look Joan in the eyes, "I...I was with the Chume'da. I thought I was doing what was asked of me, and nothing else. And I'm willing to accept whatever consequences the Order feels appropriated for any part I may have played in her decision to break the treaty."

"Break the treaty? Amir what does he mean 'break the treaty'?"

Amir shook his head slowly. "She says I don't care about the people of Hapes...the irony of that assessment coming from her is not lost on me. She wants us gone today, I would take that to mean myself and Cadien, but she also mention a little something about giving us 'a month' to relocate our temple."

The severity of the situation caused both Joan and Chane's eyes to widen in confusion and disbelief. "What prompted all of this?"

Cadien's head fell and he glanced sideways as Amir moved towards Joan.

"This storm has been brewing for years. But no one wanted to pay attention. I'm going up to the embrace. I need to clear my head. Tell Jakeb I'm looking for him."