Star Wars_ The Approaching Storm - Alan Dean Foster [39]
“Flashpoints,” she shot back. “Surely he has also spoken to you about flashpoints, and the need to stamp them out before they can grow into uncontainable conflagrations.”
“Interminably.” He sighed resignedly as he resumed surveying the crowd with her.
“It is a fair price.” The mane of the Ansionian trader had been painted with alternating silver and black chevrons that ran down his spine to disappear beneath his low-cut collar. Convex lavender-hued eyes studied his clients blankly, giving away nothing. “Nowhere else in Cuipernam, or on the Sorr-ul-Paan Plateau, will you find six such splendid steeds of such grace and quality! Not for thrice the price!”
“Be not overinsistent,” Kyakhta told him, “lest your incessant haranguing curdle the stomachs of my masters.” Turning away from the broker, he lowered his voice as he and Bulgan conferenced with their new employers.
“He is right, Master Luminara. The price he asks is a fair one. Slightly high, perhaps, but the animals are in excellent condition.”
“To ride such mounts!” Bulgan could hardly contain his anticipation.
“Give us a moment.” Turning away, Luminara left the two Alwari to continue with the negotiations, although by now these were no more than a matter of trying to shave minuscule amounts off the broker’s final offer. “What do you think, Obi-Wan?”
He surveyed the surrounding market, ever alert for signs of impending aggression. “I think we should rely on the native expertise of our new guides. After what your Padawan did for them, I believe they would cheat themselves before they would take advantage of her.” A glance back showed the two Alwari still arguing agreeably with the seller. “Besides, I’m rather looking forward to riding one of the beasts. One of these days, I have a feeling I’ll have no choice but to ride around in old skimmers and beat-up landspeeders.” Looking up, he studied the clear blue sky.
Luminara eyed the Padawans. “There is still tension between Barriss and Anakin.”
“Yes.” Obi-Wan sighed. “I’ve noticed it, too. But they appear to be getting on better since her ordeal. A fine student, Barriss. The Force flows strongly within her.”
“So it does, but not like it does in young Anakin. He is a wild river, your Padawan, full of repressed energy that needs channeling.”
“He came unreasonably late to training, and was raised by his mother to a greater age than the usual apprentice.”
Luminara looked again in the Padawans’ direction. “He knew his mother? That is a bond Jedi apprentices do not normally bring with them. It presents all manner of potential complications and difficulties.”
“I know. For that reason alone I would have not accepted him, but he was taken up by my own Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, whose dying wishes I vowed to respect. Among other matters that had to be dealt with subsequent to his passing, that meant dealing with and bringing along this unusually volatile youth.”
“How has it gone?” she asked earnestly.
Obi-Wan stroked his beard absently. “He’s often impetuous, which is worrying. Sometimes it carries over into impatience, which is dangerous. But he has gone through and survived a great deal, and he is an avid student of Jedi lore. There are subjects in which he excels, such as lightsaber combat. And he’s a natural pilot. But he has little time for the intricacies of history or diplomacy, and politics positively make him ill. Yet he perseveres. A trait he gets, I believe, from his mother, whom Qui-Gon knew but briefly as a quiet yet strong-willed woman.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “If anyone can turn such unwieldy raw material into a polished Jedi Knight, I suspect it is you, Obi-Wan. Many have the knowledge, but few the patience.”
“You could do it, I think.”
She regarded him straight on. Face to face, the two Jedi gazed into each other’s eyes. Each saw something different but worthy there. Each saw something distinctive, even exceptional. When they finally looked away, it was simultaneously.
Turning, Obi-Wan moved to consult with the gently bickering Alwari. She watched him for a long,