Star Wars_ Darth Bane 02_ Rule of Two - Drew Karpyshyn [109]
“Don’t lecture me on the ways of my order,” Zannah warned, getting to her feet and snatching up the towel off the cushion beside him. “What could you possibly know that I have not already learned?”
“I may not know the dark side,” Darovit admitted, looking up at her. “But I know you. I know what you’re capable of.”
Zannah angrily threw the towel across the room, flinging it through the open door into the stateroom. She stepped forward and grabbed Darovit’s right forearm, spilling his drink. Then she twisted his arm up so his stump was right before his face.
“Maybe you forgot who gave you this,” she reminded him.
Darovit made no move to break free of her grasp, though she clutched his arm so hard that her nails were digging into his flesh.
“I’m not a fool, Zannah,” he said calmly. “Your Master would have killed me in that cave. I know you did this to save my life.”
She released her grip, tossing Darovit’s arm back down into his lap in disgust. She turned her back on him and marched up the corridor toward the cockpit. The young man tossed the empty glass onto the couch and scrambled to his feet to follow.
“You risked yourself to save me, Zannah,” he called out after her as she neared the cockpit. “You did it because you cared about me.”
Wheeling around, Zannah reached out with the Force and yanked Darovit to the floor. He landed with a grunt, facedown at her feet.
“Things have changed since then,” she said, then spun away from him again and threw herself angrily into the pilot’s seat.
Darovit got up slowly and moved to stand behind her chair, hovering over her right shoulder.
“If you don’t care about me anymore, then why did you bring me with you?” he asked quietly.
“I already told you,” she said stiffly, staring straight ahead. “You would have exposed us. I couldn’t leave you behind.”
“You could have killed me.”
“Ha!” Zannah barked out a laugh, turning her head and craning her neck to glare at him contemptuously. “Just strike you down with the power of the dark side in the middle of the Jedi Temple? Do you think the Sith are fools?”
“We’re not in the Jedi Temple anymore,” Darovit said softly. “Why don’t you kill me now?”
Zannah snapped her head forward again so she wouldn’t have to look at him. “You’re a healer. We can use you.”
“There are plenty of healers in the galaxy,” her cousin pressed. “Ones who can’t expose you to the Jedi.”
“I don’t have time to find anyone else. You were in the right place at the right time,” she insisted. “You got lucky.”
“That’s not true, Zannah. How do you think I recognized you after all these years? There’s a bond between us. There always has been. Ever since we were little.”
Zannah didn’t say anything, but merely shifted in her seat.
“Do you remember when we were kids? Everyone thought I was so strong in the Force, and nobody believed you had any power at all.”
She didn’t answer, but she did remember. As children Darovit was the one who could levitate objects, and bat away fruit tossed into the air with a stick while blindfolded. Her own powers hadn’t manifested until she found herself alone on Ruusan.
“I didn’t realize it then, Zannah, but the power I showed, all those tricks I did—that wasn’t me, it was you! Even as kids you knew how badly I wanted to be a Jedi, and you wanted to help me. So you channeled your own power through me, allowing me to do all those things.”
“That’s not how I remember it,” she said coldly.
“You didn’t do it on purpose,” Darovit explained. “The bond we shared was so strong, and you cared about me so much, that your subconscious took over.”
“That’s the stupidest theory I’ve ever heard.” Zannah snorted, still staring straight ahead.
“Is it? Think about it, Zannah. After we lost you on Ruusan, it was like my powers disappeared. That’s why I failed as a Jedi and as a Sith.
“My power is weak. That’s why I survived the thought bomb when all the Sith and