Star Wars_ The Dark Lord Trilogy - James Luceno [283]
He stood in the hall outside, looking down at what she had pressed into his hand. It was a pendant of some kind, an amulet, unfamiliar sigils carved into some sort of organic material, strung on a loop of leather. In the Force, he could feel traces of the touch of her skin.
When Yoda and Bail came for him, he was still standing there, staring at it.
“She put this in my hand—” For what seemed the dozenth time this day, he found himself blinking back tears. “—and I don’t even know what it is.”
“Precious to her, it must have been,” Yoda said slowly. “Buried with her, perhaps it should be.”
Obi-Wan looked down at the simple, child-like symbols carved into it, and felt from it in the Force soaring echoes of transcendent love, and the bleak, black despair of unendurable heartbreak.
“Yes,” he said. “Yes. Perhaps that would be best.”
Around a conference table on Tantive IV, Bail Organa, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Yoda met to decide the fate of the galaxy.
“To Naboo, send her body …” Yoda stretched his head high, as though tasting a current in the Force. “Pregnant, she must still appear. Hidden, safe, the children must be kept. Foundation of the new Jedi Order, they will be.”
“We should split them up,” Obi-Wan said. “Even if the Sith find one, the other may survive. I can take the boy, Master Yoda, and you take the girl. We can hide them away, keep them safe—train them as Anakin should have been trained—”
“No.” The ancient Master lowered his head again, closing his eyes, resting his chin on his hands that were folded over the head of his stick.
Obi-Wan looked uncertain. “But how are they to learn the self-discipline a Jedi needs? How are they to master skills of the Force?”
“Jedi training, the sole source of self-discipline is not. When right is the time for skills to be taught, to us the living Force will bring them. Until then, wait we will, and watch, and learn.”
“I can …” Bail Organa stopped, flushing slightly. “I’m sorry to interrupt, Masters; I know little about the Force, but I do know something of love. The Queen and I—well, we’ve always talked of adopting a girl. If you have no objection, I would like to take Leia to Alderaan, and raise her as our daughter. She would be loved with us.”
Yoda and Obi-Wan exchanged a look. Yoda tilted his head. “No happier fate could any child ask for. With our blessing, and that of the Force, let Leia be your child.”
Bail stood, a little jerkily, as though he simply could no longer keep his seat. His flush had turned from embarrassment to pure uncomplicated joy. “Thank you, Masters—I don’t know what else to say. Thank you, that’s all. What of the boy?”
“Cliegg Lars still lives on Tatooine, I think—and Anakin’s stepbrother … Owen, that’s it, and his wife, Beru, still work the moisture farm outside Mos Eisley …”
“As close to kinfolk as the boy can come,” Yoda said approvingly. “But Tatooine, not like Alderaan it is—deep in the Outer Rim, a wild and dangerous planet.”
“Anakin survived it,” Obi-Wan said. “Luke can, too. And I can—well, I could take him there, and watch over him. Protect him from the worst of the planet’s dangers, until he can learn to protect himself.”
“Like a father you wish to be, young Obi-Wan?”
“More an … eccentric old uncle, I think. It is a part I can play very well. To keep watch over Anakin’s son—” Obi-Wan sighed, finally allowing his face to register a suggestion of his old gentle smile. “I can’t imagine a better way to spend the rest of my life.”
“Settled it is, then. To Tatooine, you will take him.”
Bail moved toward the door. “If you’ll excuse me, Masters, I have to call the Queen …” He stopped in the doorway, looking back. “Master Yoda, do you think Padmé’s twins will be able to defeat Palpatine?”
“Strong the Force runs, in the Skywalker line. Only hope, we can. Until the time is right, disappear we will.”
Bail nodded. “And I must do the same—metaphorically, at least. You may hear … disturbing