Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order_ Dark Tide 01_ Onslaught - Michael A. Stackpole [70]
The young Jedi knew they were vincha roots. He didn’t know what the Dantari used them for, but he’d seen the Dantari get very excited when they found the plant and were able to dig up the roots. Anakin hadn’t seen many of the plants around, so he took the offering to be very valuable as far as the Dantari were concerned.
Anakin smiled and held his hands up, with palms facing the Dantari. “Thank you, but I can’t take these.”
The elder looked at him, puzzled for a moment, then ran off and returned with another handful. He dropped them one by one on the pile, doubling its size. He hung on to each one longer than the last, and Anakin could sense the pain of his giving them up.
“Help here, Mara?”
“You got yourself into this, you figure it out.”
“It was your laugh.”
“It was your joke.”
“Point taken.” Anakin scratched at the back of his head with his left hand. “Okay, the button is more valuable to him than ten of the vincha roots, and I bet he’d go five more.”
“That could be why some of the females are over there hiding the rest of the inventory.”
“Right. He wants a fair exchange. Matter of pride and honor, I’d guess.”
Mara patted him on the back. “Right course plotted, I think.”
“Then I need to barter vincha roots back for something else, right?”
“Could be, that will work.”
Anakin nodded. He waddled forward and gathered up the vincha, then brought them back to where he had been sitting. He got up and jogged off to the side to gather up some deadfall limbs from a blba tree. He returned and made a small pile of them. He pointed at the elder Dantari, the pile of sticks, and then back to the bluff where he and Mara had their camp. Finally he tossed one of the vincha roots back to the elder.
The elder grabbed the root, then pointed at the pile of sticks and up at their camp. Anakin nodded. The Dantari smiled, then turned on his heel and ran back to the small band he traveled with. He jabbered at them quickly and gesticulated wildly, brandishing the vincha root proudly. The Dantari band all started shouting and leaping about, getting carried away in a joyous frenzy.
Anakin scooped up the rest of the roots and put them in his pocket. He stood and helped Mara to her feet. “I don’t think we want to be here if they decide we should join in on the fun, you know?”
“I concur.” Mara draped an arm over his shoulders and leaned on him for support. “You did well there.”
“And didn’t use the Force once.”
“Right, though you did manage to get out of having to gather firewood.”
The two of them chuckled lightly as they walked along. Anakin made certain to keep his pace slow so Mara wouldn’t tire. They lapsed into silence for a bit. Anakin stopped by some rocks that marked the beginning of the steep ascent to their camp and let Mara lean against one of them.
He swiped a hand across his brow. “I don’t know about you, but I’m tired.”
Mara gave him a quick smile. “You’re very kind to say that, but you know I’m—”
“Aunt Mara, it’s okay.”
“I’m the tired one here . . .” The effort of saying those words seemed to take a lot out of her. “Tell me if I get to be a burden for you.”
Anakin adamantly shook his head and swallowed hard against the lump rising in his throat. “Never, Aunt Mara, you’ll never be a burden.”
“If your mother was here, she’d be proud of how polite and mannerly you are.”
“If my mother was here, she’d have negotiated a treaty for this planet to join the New Republic, getting it all for a handful of vincha roots.” Anakin sighed, then looked up into Mara’s green eyes. “I know you’re not feeling well. I know it’s a fight for you, but you keep fighting. I can’t tell you how much