Star Wars_ Darth Bane 01_ Path of Destruction - Drew Karpyshyn [84]
“My blade was raised for the killing blow,” Bane reminded her. “Lord Kas’im stepped in before I could finish Sirak off. The Masters don’t want one of their top students to end up dead.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Your blade was raised, but Kas’im didn’t stop you. You hesitated. Something held you back.”
Bane knew she was right. He had hesitated. He just wasn’t sure why. He tried to explain it … to Githany and himself. “I’ve already killed one foe in the ring. Qordis chastised me for Fohargh’s death. He warned me not to let it happen again. I guess … I guess I was worried about what the Masters would do to me if I killed another apprentice.”
Githany’s eyes narrowed in anger. “I thought we’d finally stopped lying to each other, Bane.”
It wasn’t a lie. Not exactly. But it wasn’t entirely accurate, either. He shifted uncomfortably, feeling guilty beneath her furious glare.
“You couldn’t do it,” she said, reaching out and jabbing him hard in the chest with her finger. “You felt the dark side swallowing you up, and you pulled back.”
Now it was Bane’s turn to get angry. “You’re wrong,” he snapped, swiping her accusing hand away. “I retreated from the dark side after I killed Fohargh. I know how that felt. This is different.”
His words carried the righteous weight of truth. Last time he’d felt hollow inside, as if something had been taken from him. This time he could still feel the Force flowing through him in all its savage glory, filling him with its heat and power. This time the dark side remained his to command.
Githany wasn’t convinced. “You still aren’t willing to give yourself fully to the dark side,” she said. “Sirak showed weakness, and you showed him mercy. That’s not the way of the Sith.”
“What do you know of the ways of the Sith?” he shouted. “I’m the one who’s read the ancient texts, not you! You’re stuck learning from Masters who’ve forgotten their past.”
“Where in the ancient texts does it say to show compassion to a fallen enemy?” she asked, her voice dripping with scorn.
Stung by the words, Bane shoved her sharply backward and turned away. She took a quick step to balance herself, but kept her distance.
“You’re just angry because your plan fell apart,” he muttered, suddenly unwilling to face her. He wanted to say more, but he knew the rest of the students would be down soon. He didn’t want anyone to see them talking together, so he simply walked away and left her standing there alone.
Githany followed him with cold, calculating eyes. She’d been impressed watching him toy with Sirak in the ring; he’d seemed invincible. But when he’d failed to kill the helpless Zabrak, she was quick to recognize and identify what had happened. It was a flaw in Bane’s character, a weakness he refused to recognize. Yet it was there nonetheless.
Once the passion of the moment had faded—once he was no longer driven by the dark side—his seething bloodlust had cooled. He hadn’t even been able to kill his most hated enemy without provocation. Which meant he probably wouldn’t be able to kill Githany if it ever came down to it.
Knowing this changed the nature of their relationship once again. Recently she’d begun to fear Bane, afraid that if he ever turned on her, she wouldn’t be strong enough to stand against him. Now she knew that this would never happen. He simply wasn’t capable of killing an ally without justification.
Fortunately, she didn’t have the same limitations.
Bane was still thinking about what Githany had said later that night as he lay in bed, unable to sleep. Why hadn’t he been able to kill Sirak? Was she right? Had he pulled back out of some misguided sense of compassion? He wanted to believe he had embraced the dark side, but if he had, he would have cut Sirak down without a second thought—no matter what the consequences.
However, it was more than this that was bothering him. He was frustrated by