Yanibar Tales/Through Her Eyes

It seems fitting that I should start this story where it truly began, on the day that I was permanently placed into the care of Mistress Rhiannon. It was her twenty-fourth birthday and I awoke from a prolonged power-down cycle to find that I had received additional programming befitting my new role. I say that I was in her care, yet in many ways, she was in mine, being deprived of her natural eyesight and sheltered in many ways from the typical pressures of Human life on Yanibar.

My new role was as surprising to me as I can infer it was to Mistress Rhiannon. I was to be her assistant with whatever tasks she undertook, her constant companion in the absence of her organic friends and relatives, and her protector if need be, and it was not a role I particularly minded. That function I have fulfilled for the last four hundred and nine standard galactic days, to the best of my abilities. And it is also for those reasons that I am telling this story&mdash;aside from Mistress Rhiannon herself, I know most of the details surrounding recent events and can present them from a somewhat neutral perspective. She did not make any last-minute requests of me to do this. Instead, it is because of my programming, to do whatever was within my power to assist her, that I am relaying what I have kept carefully concealed in my memory banks up until now.

It was at first difficult for her to adjust to my constant presence and voice. On several occasions, I had to take care to place myself out of the way during power-down cycles so as to not present a tripping hazard. For the most part, she was pleased with the assistance I rendered, but it was a change to a life which was little used to change at that time. Eventually, she became accustomed to my presence, and would even talk at length with me if she lacked for conversation. This occurred more frequently after her best organic friend Mistress Jasika became engaged in both the literal and metaphorical definition of the term.

Mistress Rhiannon would relay to me that she felt like a bird trapped in a cage all by itself, that she lacked organic companionship. She noted that her friends had largely found mates of their own and her parents were frequently involved in their occupations and in the training of her brother and other Force-sensitives. Indeed, there were many long hours and days that she spent alone at her residence. I tried to assist and converse with her as much as she wished, but she remained lonesome.

It was at this time that she began to favor long speeder drives with only myself as company into the undeveloped sections of Yanibar and eventually even beyond the sanctity of the Tusloni Basin for reasons that I never understood. She had permission and legal clearance to do so, but the wisdom of such a choice was not clear to me. On our first journey, I asked her why she was journeying outside the refuge that had kept her safe for so long.

“Why not?” she replied.

“Because of untold natural dangers, heightened risk of injury, heavier concentrations of predators, unpredictable weather patterns, and other risk-associated reasons,” I answered, drawing on some elementary threat-assessment programs I had received as part of a security package.

She was silent for a moment, which I inferred was due to her trying to find a means to explain some concept.

“J7, have you ever wished for once to be able to do something beyond your specifications? To find something outside of your programming?”

“I am always looking for ways to improve my performance,” I told her.

“And you’re very good at what you do, J7,” she answered as we left the Tusloni Basin with me piloting the speeder. “But sometimes, Humans feel the need to broaden their horizons, to try something new. To break out of normalcy.”

“Broaden their horizons&mdash;is that a literal or metaphorical use of the term?” I inquired.

She smiled at me, a gesture meant to convey no offense taken.

“Definitely metaphorical,” she said. “I feel as if there is nothing to experience back there. Life inside has been the predictable same for years and years. Out here, it’s new and different and unpredictable. Doesn’t that sound exciting?”

My threat-assessment algorithms do not handle the term ‘unpredictable’ well. In my experience, that usually implies dozens of additional variables entering the calculation matrices at random intervals and drastically lowers the odds of survival. As such, I attempted to convey this conclusion in as Human a manner as possible.

“It sounds terrifying,” I told her.

“Not to me,” she said. “It’s the only way I escape a life of hearing others reach new heights while I remain in the same place.”

At that point I was truly astounded by the peculiarities of Human emotion, particularly how organics could find so much pleasure in operating outside of their given parameters. It was at this point that I began applying a larger portion of my observational and analytical algorithms to deciphering Mistress Rhiannon’s words and body language, so that I could understand her better. At that point, though, her words seemed bitter. Though she maintained a cordial veneer in the presence of her family, she abandoned that façade with her closest friends and myself, especially on these runs into the wilderness.

She would persist in having me drive her speeder out several dozen kilometers and then would stop at some random location. Then she would get out and walk around, listening to the sounds of Yanibar, the wind blowing in the grass, the sounds of the birds and insects in the wilderness. It was a most unsettling experience for me, as the terrain was far from even and she refused to let me guide her. I was certain she would fall and hurt herself.

“This place is dangerous and wild, filled with rough terrain and hostile animals,” I said. “Wouldn’t we be better off departing?”

“You worry too much, J7,” she told me with a small laugh. “As long as you watch out for me, I’ll be fine.”

I suppose it is a credit to myself and her own proficiency with her silver cane that no harm befell her on these trips. If it had, I would have been obliged to immediately disclose her activities to her parents, but since she seemed happier on these insane expeditions than any other time, I kept silent about the matter. That did not mean I approved of the insane notion of a lone young woman wandering Yanibar’s wilderness. In fact, my probability algorithms had already concluded that it was inevitable that we should run into some form of calamity. That made for a depressing thought, and as it turned out, those probability algorithms were right.

We were out on one of her speeder drives in the wilderness, of course. It was nearing evening when I noted dark storm clouds in the distance and an increase in the wind velocity. Given that at the time we were nearly one hundred kilometers southeast of the private postern entrance to the Tusloni Basin, I advised that we leave immediately.

“Mistress Rhiannon, there is a storm approaching. We should go,” I told her.

“A storm? That sounds exciting,” Mistress Rhiannon told me, in a manner most uncharacteristically reckless for her.

All of my logic circuits immediately and vehemently protested.

“Storms on Yanibar are nothing to mess with,” I told her. “They are far more intense than the ones that occur inside the Tusloni Basin, and we have no shelter.”

The wind had definitely picked up by now and was blowing through the coarsegrass fields with an eerie whistle. The sky was quickly darkening with massive clouds ready to unleash their fury on the planet below. A distant rumble of thunder warned us that this storm would not be gentle, yet Mistress Rhiannon was still captivated by the majesty of it.

“Fine, J7,” she told me absently. “We’ll leave in fifteen minutes.”

“Fifteen?” I protested. “This area could be flooded in fifteen minutes. I must insist that we leave now.”

I eventually wrangled her down to seven minutes, which was still far too much for my liking. The speeder had an open top and was not designed to operate in severe weather, nor was Mistress Rhiannon particularly outfitted for rain.

Three minutes later, the ominous wave of storm clouds reached us. They were incredible, if you count terrifying as incredible. We were pelted by sheets of rain that were hurled downward by howling winds. Electric coils and strands of lightning illuminated the solid black curtain of clouds overhead while loud booms of thunder accentuated the power of the storm. For her part, Mistress Rhiannon seemed to enjoy it, dancing around recklessly and laughing, regardless of the danger we were in or the soaking she was getting.

At precisely seven minutes, I had enough and climbed into the speeder to power it up and return her to her residence as quickly as possible.

“Mistress Rhiannon, it’s time to go,” I called to her. “We need to leave.”

I activated the speeder and she reluctantly abandoned her amusement to head towards the vehicle. She was about four meters away when the lightning struck me.

Having never been struck by lightning before, it was quite an experience to have that much electricity passing through me at once. I was lucky that I was not an organic, or else my fragile insides would have been charred and my existence would have ended. As it was, the power overload blew out most of my circuits and motivators. After the bolt had passed through me and the speeder into the ground, I found that most of my systems were overloaded and offline. I could not move, speak, or communicate. I could observe, but that was of little comfort. The shock of the lightning bolt hitting the speeder and me was enough to knock Mistress Rhiannon off her feet and overload most of the speeder’s controls as well, including the emergency recall. She did not know where the rescue beacon was, nor how to use it.

“J7,” she called to me. “Are you okay? What happened?”

Of course, I couldn’t answer. She approached me and the speeder. If I could have, I would have warned her not to touch me, as my metal skin was still quite hot from having conducted the lightning bolt. Since I couldn’t, she touched me and burned her hand.

“Ow! J7, what happened?” she asked again. “Can you hear me? Say something! What was that?”

She moved over to me more cautiously, placing her uninjured hand over my skin to see if it was still hot.

“J7, I’m sorry I stayed out here. Just say the word and we’ll go.”

I could tell she was terrified and part of me felt vindicated that I had been right about the danger. Of course, that was of little use in getting us out of that predicament. And neither was I. To a droid, being unable to fulfill one’s programming is a terrible fate. Seeing my charge alone and helpless would have moved me to action if I hadn’t been so badly damaged.

She attempted to access the speeder controls, but they were inoperable and I don’t know what she would have done even if they weren’t. All she managed to do was unlock the parking brake. She could not pilot the speeder and being unable to see would have spelled our doom if she had. Undaunted, Mistress Rhiannon proceeded to search for the speeder’s survival pack, though without much success. It was stowed behind the pilot’s seat and I was sitting in that. She would have had to move me to get it, as all my joints had locked up. For all her admirable qualities, Mistress Rhiannon is not a prime candidate for moving two hundred kilograms of metal. She was forced to huddle against the speeder in hopes of finding some shelter from the driving wind and rain while I watched helplessly. She tried calling for help as loud as she could, but her voice was drowned out by the sound of the wind and rain.

Twenty-one minutes after the lightning bolt had hit, a Human male approached, an Outsider. He was dressed for the weather and had a primitive glowrod in his hand as he approached cautiously.

“Hello!” he called. “Is anyone here?”

“Y-yes,” Mistress Rhiannon managed, standing up.

“What are you doing out in this storm?” he shouted.

“I can’t get back,” she said. “J7 is damaged and the speeder won’t fly.”

There must have been enough desperation in her voice to convince him of our plight.

“You can’t stay out here,” he shouted. “This storm is far from over. Come down to my farm, you’ll be safe there until it passes.”

“Okay,” she said haltingly, picking up her cane and making her way around the speeder.

“Are you insane?” the man yelled, darting forward to knock the cane out of her hands. “Do you want to be hit by lightning?”

“No-no,” Mistress Rhiannon replied, clutching her burned hand. “I can’t walk without it.”

“What do you mean?” the man asked. “You walk fine. Are you hurt?”

“Not really,” she said, “but I can’t see.”

“I’m sorry,” he replied in a softer tone. “It’s kind of a rough walk to the farmhouse, but you can’t use that cane. Lightning will find it. Here, take my hand. It’s not far.”

“The speeder,” she protested. “You can’t just leave it and J7 here.”

“Sorry, miss,” he said, “there’s nothing I can do about it right now. It’ll still be here when the storm is over. The ground’s wet, but we’ll do it together, one step at a time.”

Taking her by the hand, he led her off, presumably towards his farmhouse. I was determined not to leave her and directed most of my self-repair functions to re-activating my arms and legs. I managed to get one arm back online in short order and, after activating the rescue beacon, I pulled myself out of the speeder. With very limited leg movement, I could do little but pull myself along with one arm, but I was determined not to let Mistress Rhiannon out of my optical sensors.

Following their tracks, I reached the farmhouse about ten minutes after they did. It was a small dwelling made largely out of some form of permacrete, with undersized windows and surrounded by outbuildings and damping field poles, which protected it from lightning strikes. Pulling myself up to one of the windows, I was able to observe the proceedings inside the house fairly well. I didn’t want them to know I was there, at least not until I had apprised the situation.

What I found was that Mistress Rhiannon was sitting at a table with another individual, presumably her rescuer. There was a robe wrapped around her and she was sitting near a heating panel. The man was applying a bandage to her burned hand. There was nobody else in the dwelling and I could listen in on their conversation over the noise of the wind and rain.

“I’m Rhiannon, by the way,” she said.

“Kavlis Burke,” he replied, finishing up applying the bandage. “How’s that?”

“Much better, thank you,” she said. “It’s only a slight burn.”

“If you don’t mind my askin’, what were you doing out in the storm?” he asked.

“I was out enjoying the wilderness,” Mistress Rhiannon told him. “The storm came up before I was really aware of it.”

“Enjoying the wilderness, eh?” he said. “That takes a special kind of person. The plains are less rugged than the mountains, but they’re unforgiving and exposed to the weather. It’s a lot less beautiful when you’re trying to live out here in between droughts and blizzards.”

“I never thought of it that way,” Mistress Rhiannon commented. “What is it like to live out here?”

He spoke at length about crop failures, wild predators, equipment breakdowns, and of course the weather, with little interruption from his attentive listener. He told her of a life of hardship with no promise of reward.

“Then why live here?” she asked. “What keeps you out here if there’s so much hardship?”

“Stubbornness, I suppose,” he said ruefully. “And this land is mine. Nobody can take it from me, not the weather, not the predators&mdash;not anyone. I have nothing else to my name, but this at least I can call my own.”

“Is it worth staying for?” Mistress Rhiannon inquired.

“I suppose it is,” Kavlis replied. “I’m still here, still hoping to make somethin’ out of it. Here, the cider is ready.”

Walking over to a small heating panel, he retrieved a black container and a pair of mugs which he filled with a steaming liquid from the container.

“Careful, it’s hot,” he told her. “But it’ll help warm you back up.”

“Thank you,” she said in appreciation, sipping the hot brew tentatively.

“You’re welcome,” Kavlis answered, then changed the subject. “Where are you from? I’ll take you back there when the storm is over, if I can get your speeder working again.”

“Don’t worry about that,” she said. “My father will come looking for me.”

“Your father?” he asked.

“Yes,” she told him. “My parents have always been very concerned for my welfare. I’m sure they’ll thank you for your trouble.”

“It was no problem,” Kavlis replied dismissively. “I couldn’t just leave you out in that storm.”

“Well, thank you again,” Mistress Rhiannon told him. “I wasn’t aware of how quickly they could form.”

“How could you not&mdash;?” he started to ask, then a thought hit him. “Are you an offworlder?”

“No,” she said. “I was born and raised here.”

“For a native, you sure don’t know a lot about weather here, begging your pardon,” he said, then his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You’re an Insider, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Mistress Rhiannon replied. “Does that bother you?”

“Not at all,” he said shortly, indicating the quite the opposite. “What’s it like?”

“It’s. . . different,” she said.

“I see,” he replied, realizing that she had no desire to talk about the refuge.

To break the silence, he changed the subject.

“So, what kind of name is Rhia-nown?” he asked. “Seems kinda long.”

“It’s an Echani word,” she said. “It means ‘rays of a star.’ My mother always said I was like a shining star to her.”

She paused, then smiled and added gently.

“And it’s Rhiannon,” she told him with the proper pronunciation, a soft rolling rh sound flowing into the inflected second syllable.

“Sorry,” he said. “I’m bad with pronouncing words&mdash;Basic’s hard enough as it is, much less anything else. My parents never could send me for schooling, so I’m not very good with speaking. Will ‘Rhinny’ do?”

“Rhinny?” she replied with a laugh.

“Sure,” he answered. “Hasn’t anyone ever called you that before? It’s a lot easier than Rhiannon.”

“Nobody’s ever called me ‘Rhinny’ before,” she answered bemusedly. “They usually just mangle the pronunciation.”

“Do you mind if I call you that?” he asked.

“Sure,” she said, “why not?”

They were silent for some time, seated at the rough wooden table and sipping their cider.

“Is it still as bad as it was earlier?” Rhiannon asked sleepily, referring to the weather.

“Let me look,” Kavlis said.

Rising from his seat, he walked over to the window where I was quietly eavesdropping. I quickly slid out of sight as the farmer peered out the window, looking at the sky. In truth, the storm had slackened off somewhat. It was still a moderate thunderstorm and the sky was still darkened with clouds, but some of the intensity had dissipated. The rain was coming down in drops rather than sheets of water that lashed the ground and the wind was a shadow of its previous howling self.

“It’s not so bad,” he said. “It’ll probably pass in another hour or so.”

“That’s good,” she replied. “My parents will be concerned about me.”

“Must be nice to have your folks looking out for you,” he answered.

“It is,” she said, yawning again.

“I’m sorry, you must be worn out,” he apologized, noticing her exhaustion. “Rest if you need to; I’ll be outside.”

She nodded gratefully and began dozing off. Kavlis Burke walked outside and paced across the porch for several minutes. Then, he returned inside the house to find Mistress Rhiannon already asleep. I watched as he walked over quietly and laid a blanket over her. It was good that was all he did, because I had managed to bring my concealed arm blaster back online, but he attempted no harm. He then walked back outside to stand on the covered porch and watch the storm.

He was still standing there when a bar of green light materialized across his throat, followed by an armored figure shimmering out of thin air. You already know about how a rescue team composed of Master Selu Kraen, Morgedh clan Kel’nerh, and eight Yanibar Guard commandos was organized and flown to a nearby location. They approached invisibly and if Mistress Rhiannon had been in any danger, I am confident that the threat would have been swiftly neutralized.

However, as I watched from my post, Kavlis Burke gave no resistance.

“I take it you must be Rhinny’s father?” he said, holding his hands up slowly to show he was unarmed.

“I am Rhiannon’s father, yes,” Selu answered. “Where is she?”

“So it’s true what they say about the Insiders,” Kavlis commented dryly as Morgedh and the commandos emerged, weapons at the ready. “All kinds of mystical powers and fancy technology hidden away inside that basin.”

“I don’t have a lot of patience tonight, so I’ll ask you one more time,” Selu growled. “Where is my daughter?”

“She’s inside,” Kavlis told him with a jerk of his head. “Sleeping peacefully.”

With a final dark look at Kavlis, Master Selu brushed by him and entered the dwelling. At that point, I decided to make my own appearance and began pulling myself through the mud towards the house while one of the commandos questioned Kavlis.

“Freeze,” one of the commandos ordered, pointing a blaster at me.

I did so, but another soldier stopped his companion.

“Wait,” he said. “J7?”

Unable to speak or nod, I flashed my optical illuminators at him.

“If you’re J7-A0, flash your optical sensors again,” he ordered, pulling off his helmet to reveal that he was Bryndar Knrr, Mistress Jasika’s fiancé and an old family friend.

I did so, and in such a manner was able to communicate that I had been following Rhiannon, that Kavlis hadn’t been responsible for my state of disrepair and that he was telling the truth. A short time later, Master Selu emerged with Rhiannon holding one of his hands. He turned to Kavlis after hearing his side of the story, apparently satisfied by his corroboration of Rhiannon’s account.

“You saved my daughter tonight,” he said. “And for that, I am grateful. Name any reward you wish, within reason.”

Kavlis looked directly back at Master Selu.

“You may find this hard to believe, but I didn’t do this for any reward. She was in trouble and I was there to help. It was the right thing to do and I’d do it for anyone. Keep your fancy stuff.”

“As you wish,” Master Selu said. “May the Force be with you.”

And with that, Mistress Rhiannon and myself were transported by our rescuers back to the Yanibar refuge. She soon recovered from the physical reminders of that dark and stormy night and I received a full repair and refit from Master Sarth Kraen. Life continued on in a fashion that organics refer to as “normal.” As far as virtually everyone was concerned, that incident was closed and over.

Of course, that was not the case. A curiosity about life on Yanibar outside the refuge had been sparked inside Mistress Rhiannon and she plied me with questions about all manner of subjects related to the Outsiders. I attempted to satisfy her curiosity by providing the type of educational tidbits of information that organics tend to expect from droids. Then one day, she turned and asked me unexpectedly.

“J7, you were there. What did you think of Kavlis Burke?”

That should have been my first hint that something was afoot, but my logic circuits deduced that she was merely curious.

“He seemed like a fairly average Human male between two and three decades of age. Having not encountered many Outsiders, I cannot conclude anything further as to his character, except that he was hospitable to a stranger in need.”

“What did he look like?”

“He is 1.9 meters tall, medium build, with brown hair approximately five centimeters long, has brown eyes. His complexion is tanned and rugged, presumably from exposure to the weather. His vocabulary suggests rudimentary or little formal education, but the state of maintenance around his farm implies that he is reasonably capable at his trade.”

“I wish I knew more about him,” Mistress Rhiannon told me. “He’s one of the first people I’ve met in a long time that my parents didn’t introduce me to.”

“It is possible that he frequents the market at Draskar,” I told her. “Most of the local farmers near the Neekham Valley trade their goods and buy supplies there.”

“Is there a particular day that’s used by the farmers for trading?” she asked me. “Every weekend,” I informed her, wishing to indulge her curiosity.

Unsurprisingly, she had me take her to Draskar that weekend. I saw no reason not to, as citizens of the refuge are allowed to visit the town and meet with Outsiders who will trade with them, provided they behave themselves, follow local laws, and do not reveal secrets about the refuge. She gave me strict instructions to point Kavlis Burke out to her if I saw him. We did not on that occasion and instead Mistress Rhiannon amused herself shopping for nearly an hour. The next weekend, we visited the market again, and still saw no sign of Kavlis Burke. On the third time, though, I saw him looking at a booth selling seeds. At the insistence of Mistress Rhiannon, we went over to speak with him.

“Hello, Kavlis,” Mistress Rhiannon said.

He turned as if in surprise.

“Hi there, Rhinny,” he said, then his eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Is it okay for you to talk to me? Your father didn’t seem thrilled about me the last time I saw him.”

“It’s fine,” she said dismissively. “He was upset and worried for my safety. I’m sure he won’t mind now.”

“I see you got your droid repaired,” Kavlis said with a nod towards me.

“J7-A0 at your service,” I replied politely.

“So, what brings you to Draskar?” Kavlis asked conversationally. “Seems like you’d have everything you want on the inside.”

“Not everything,” Mistress Rhiannon said with a smile. “And sometimes it’s nice to experience something different for a change.”

“True enough,” Kavlis agreed. “Do you come here often?”

“I try and come every now and again,” Mistress Rhiannon fibbed. “I’m still not very good at finding my way around here with the booths constantly shifting. How about you?”

“Every couple of weeks, when I need supplies, and then once at the end of the harvest,” he replied. “I could show you around, if you like.”

“That would be nice,” Mistress Rhiannon consented.

I could have pointed out that I was fully programmed and equipped for such a task, but it was long ago that I observed how organics seem to prefer the company of other organics over even the most loyal droids. Natural enough, I suppose, and there is no point in complaining about yet another facet of organic nature. At any rate, she seemed to enjoy the hour she spent with Kavlis, being shown around the dusty streets of Draskar and its crowded lanes of booths purveying all manner of wares typical of an agricultural society with limited technology.

He would point out a booth with some agricultural implement in it and she would react with varying degrees of interest.

“What’s that, Kavlis?” she would ask, upon hearing him name some item with which she was not familiar.

He would gently explain to her briefly what the object in question was and how it was used. After they had walked through most of the market, I felt obliged to point out that Mistress Rhiannon’s parents would expect her for their evening meal.

“Mistress Rhiannon, I hate to interrupt, but I must point out the time of day. Your parents will be expecting you.”

She read the surface of her modified chrono and its indentations and sighed.

“Thank you, J7,” she said resignedly. “You’ve been very patient, and you’re right. We should be going.”

“Nice to run into you again,” Kavlis told her amiably.

“Yes, it was good to meet you again, Kavlis,” Mistress Rhiannon replied. “And thank you for showing me around the market.”

“My pleasure,” he said.

“Sorry about my father last time,” Mistress Rhiannon added. “He’s a good man, just protective.”

“I got that impression,” Kavlis added dryly.

“Maybe I’ll see you around the market again?” Mistress Rhiannon suggested.

“Maybe,” Kavlis answered. “So long, Rhinny.”

With that, they parted directions and we returned to the refuge. Of course, it was unlikely that Mistress Rhiannon’s actions had gone unobserved. Yanibar Guard Intelligence had extensive surveillance over Draskar and her actions became the subject of dinner conversation. Even as I served the spicy churubba stew, my probability routines determined that Mistress Rhiannon’s activities had made their way onto the daily brief given to Mistress Milya, the Director of Intelligence.

“How was your trip to the market?” Mistress Milya asked her daughter about halfway through the meal.

“It was good,” Mistress Rhiannon replied innocently. “J7 and I did some shopping.”

“Did you meet anyone?” Mistress Milya inquired further.

“Not really,” Mistress Rhiannon said. “Just a couple acquaintances.”

Mistress Milya frowned.

“Rhiannon, I’m not sure why you’re trying to evade the topic, but I already know that you met with Kavlis Burke today and spent nearly an hour walking with him.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear your agents consider a farmer the most interesting topic of observation in Draskar,” Mistress Rhiannon said quietly.

“I don’t think that was the point your mother was trying to make,” Master Selu observed.

“Then I take it that neither of you approve of my encounter with Kavlis?” Mistress Rhiannon asked.

“Who’s Kavlis?” interrupted her brother Ryion.

“An Outsider,” Master Selu said.

“A man who helped me in the storm,” Mistress Rhiannon corrected.

“One whose very culture is nearly antithetical to ours,” Mistress Milya said coldly.

“Because he’s an Outsider?” Mistress Rhiannon replied. “Maybe I am missing something, Mother, because I didn’t experience any kind of negativity or ill quality from him.”

“Rhiannon, despite any good qualities that this Kavlis may have, he’s part of a group of people that distrust and despise our refuge. They don’t want anything to do with us, for the most part,” Mistress Milya explained.

“A long time ago, your mother and I approached the leaders of all the communities nearby. You were still very young at the time. We offered them shelter inside our refuge and freedom to live their lives as they pleased, provided they respected the others. Some of them accepted us. Some politely declined. Others treated us with suspicion and malice. One group even tried to kidnap us in our sleep and hold us hostage. Those who rejected the offer became the Outsiders.”

“But Kavlis wasn’t one of those people,” Mistress Rhiannon objected.

“No, but his father was,” Master Selu replied. “Samstris Burke. He was one of those who tried to kidnap us. It. . . didn’t end well.”

“What did you do?” Mistress Rhiannon asked, aghast.

“They came at us in the middle of the night with weapons,” Master Selu replied. “We were forced to defend ourselves.”

“Did you kill him?” Master Ryion inquired.

“No,” Mistress Milya cut him off shortly, giving him a warning look that silenced her younger son. “We didn’t kill any of them.”

“I took off his hand,” Master Selu told her. “He was trying to attack your mother with a vibroblade.”

“We didn’t mean to hurt them,” Mistress Milya said. “We were trying to help them.”

“That’s why we’re concerned about you meeting with this Kavlis Burke again,” Master Selu said.

“Because of what you did to his father?” Mistress Rhiannon replied.

“Because of what we were forced to do to his father, yes,” Mistress Milya said. “But also because Kavlis, even if he harbors no resentment at all, was raised in an environment that has no respect for our way of life.”

“He was kind to me when I was in trouble,” Mistress Rhiannon said.

“He also didn’t know who you were,” Master Selu pointed out.

“He’s a good man,” my mistress insisted.

“Rhiannon, I know you feel grateful to him, but this lone act of hospitality does not make him any less of an Outsider, somebody who is prejudiced against our way of life and our refuge here,” Mistress Milya told her daughter.

“It’s for your own good that you make no further attempts to meet with him again,” Master Selu said.

“I’m sorry, Mother, but right now, it doesn’t seem like Kavlis is the one showing prejudice,” Mistress Rhiannon answered quietly. “I think I’m finished with dinner.”

With that, she got up and left the table, obviously upset.

“That went well,” Master Selu observed dryly after she was gone.

“I didn’t expect her to react like that,” Mistress Milya said.

“She’s in a lot of emotional turmoil,” Master Selu remarked. “Maybe I should talk to her.”

“No, I’ll do it,” Mistress Milya told him. “After I put in a call to YGI to collect some more information about this Kavlis Burke.”

“You don’t think&mdash;,” Master Selu started, then hesitated, “&mdash;that she likes him, do you?”

“I hope not,” Mistress Milya replied sourly, “for all of our sakes, but especially Rhiannon’s.”

I was not privy to the conversation that ensued in Mistress Rhiannon’s room between her and her mother, but some sort of arrangement seemed to be made where Mistress Rhiannon would not seek out Kavlis Burke at Draskar and Mistress Milya made appropriate apologies for impugning the character of Kavlis Burke. Once again, Mistress Milya and Master Selu seemed to consider the matter dealt with. However, I knew that was not the case.

The next time Kavlis Burke came up was when Mistress Rhiannon went to lunch with Jasika Kraen. At first, their conversation was informal and of largely a social nature. Mistress Rhiannon made numerous inquiries regarding Mistress Jasika’s impending marriage with Bryndar Knrr and the associated preparations. Mistress Jasika was happy to discuss such things, but there must have been some subtle nonverbal cue that Mistress Rhiannon gave that was detected by Mistress Jasika.

She leaned across the table and took Mistress Rhiannon’s hands in her own.

“You’ve been awfully quiet about what you’ve been up to, Rhiannon,” Mistress Jasika observed. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” Mistress Rhiannon said without much conviction.

A minute later, she admitted otherwise with a simple “yes.” Shortly thereafter, Mistress Jasika coaxed the story out of her friend while I stood by and observed.

“I don’t even know what he looks like, or who he is, and my parents have already said that I cannot meet with him again,” Mistress Rhiannon said sadly.

“Is that so bad?” Mistress Jasika asked. “I mean, he’s an Outsider, isn’t he?”

“Not you too!” Mistress Rhiannon exclaimed. “He saved me, Jasika, and I’m just supposed to pretend like it never happened? I can’t even talk to him.”

“Okay, I’m sorry,” Mistress Jasika replied placatingly. “It’s only natural for you to feel indebted towards him and it is unfair that you can’t see him again. I’m just not sure that it’s such a bad thing.”

“Why not?” Mistress Rhiannon asked. “Can’t I meet who I want?”

“Of course,” Mistress Jasika soothed. “But is it really a good idea to do so? It’d be hard to be friends with someone who you can’t tell much about yourself. Unless. . . there’s something more. Do you like him, Rhiannon?”

“I don’t know,” Mistress Rhiannon replied. “I mean, it’s a possibility, but I don’t know much about him, or even what he looks like. And now I’ll never know.”

“Maybe,” Mistress Jasika said. “What exactly did your parents say?”

“They said that I could not go visit Kavlis Burke again, or seek him out in Draskar,” Mistress Rhiannon told her.

“Hmm,” Mistress Jasika answered. “I think I see some loopholes in that restriction.”

“Do you really?”

“I do, and because you’re like a sister to me, I’ll help you exploit them&mdash;under one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m there the next time you two meet,” Mistress Jasika said slyly. “I have to see if he’s worthy of your attention.”

“I said I didn’t know if I liked him or not,” Mistress Rhiannon protested.

“Uh huh, sure,” Mistress Jasika replied disbelievingly. “You keep telling yourself that, Rhiannon.”

“I don’t know,” Mistress Rhiannon insisted.

“Okay, whatever,” Mistress Jasika said. “Do we have a deal?”

“Yes, we have a deal,” Mistress Rhiannon said. “Now, what do we do?”

Mistress Jasika smiled.

“You always were the good child, Rhiannon. Your parents never had to worry about you bending the rules. I, on the other hand, had a bit more experience in that. Your parents said you couldn’t visit him or meet him in Draskar. They didn’t say anything about accidentally running into him outside the city.”

She filled Mistress Rhiannon in on the rest of her plan and once both of them were satisfied, Mistress Jasika set her first steps in motion at the next weekend. As a shuttle pilot for the Yanibar Guard, it was fairly easy for her to obtain aerial reconnaissance holographs of the surrounding terrain, including Kavlis Burke’s residence. Once she had detected his hovertruck moving towards Draskar, she put her plan into action. It was at this point that I was pressed into service in their plan as an accomplice.

I met Mistress Jasika in Draskar when signaled by a short comm burst. At the time, she was talking to none other than Kavlis Burke, apparently asking him something about the best long-grain seeds to purchase. She was dressed like an Outsider out on business rather than her usual attire. “Mistress Jasika,” I said as I approached her. “Mistress Rhiannon has been trying to get a hold of you for some time. I believe you were supposed to meet her for a picnic dinner outside the city.”

“Oh my,” Mistress Jasika said. “I guess my comlink hasn’t been working.”

She pulled out the device to inspect it.

“I must have accidentally silenced it,” she muttered.

“She is waiting for you outside the city,” I informed her. “Shall I tell her that you’re coming?”

“Yes, I’m coming,” Mistress Jasika said. “I’ll take you back to her in my speeder; you shouldn’t have left her alone in the wilderness.”

“She is quite safe,” I assured her. “The area around Draskar is devoid of predators.”

“Pardon me for listening in,” Kavlis said to me. “But you look familiar, and when you mentioned Rhiannon&mdash;have we met before?”

“Why yes, Master Burke,” I said. “I believe we have encountered each other twice now, once at your residence and once at the Draskar market.”

“You know Rhiannon?” Mistress Jasika asked, feigning surprise. “Small world.”

“We’ve met a couple times, just like the droid said,” Kavlis replied.

“Then you should join us for dinner,” Mistress Jasika said firmly. “Unless you have other plans. It’d be inhospitable to not invite you.”

“Uh, I suppose not,” Kavlis said. “I mean, I don’t have any other plans. Just need to finish up some business here. Shouldn’t take long.”

“Then it’s settled,” Mistress Jasika announced. “I’ll get you the coordinates where you can meet us after you’re done with your business here.”

With that, she and I departed in her speeder to meet Mistress Rhiannon. The day was fairly warm and windy, but not unreasonably so. Given the normal state of Yanibar’s weather patterns, it was one of the more pleasant days by Human standards. Mistress Rhiannon had known that and had planned an innocuous picnic dinner with Mistress Jasika. When she had informed her parents of this, they had had no objections, provided she honor their earlier agreement. The fact that she had made no attempts at breaking that accord weighed in her favor towards earning her parents’ consent.

About ten minutes after Mistress Jasika arrived and began helping Mistress Rhiannon set out the food, Kavlis Burke’s hovertruck drove up and the farmer emerged.

“Glad you could make it,” Jasika told him. “Rhiannon brought way more food than we needed anyway.”

“I don’t want to impose,” Kavlis said.

“You’re not imposing at all,” Jasika assured him. The three of them spent an enjoyable dinner conversing about various subjects, a concept that Humans refer to as “small talk.”

“Would you pass the gorba melt?” Mistress Rhiannon asked.

“Here, I’ve got it,” Kavlis told her, passing it to her.

I quickly noticed that she would provide opportunities for Kavlis to assist her, almost if she was testing his reactions. I am not sure he was aware of her intentions, but hers were obvious to someone who knew her.

“How did you first meet Rhiannon?” Jasika asked Kavlis.

“She was in a bit of trouble&mdash;got caught out in a storm,” he said. “I couldn’t just leave her out there, so I helped her out a bit.”

“You were very hospitable,” Mistress Rhiannon added. “I wasn’t aware of how quickly those storms could blow in.”

“Do they not have them on the inside?” Kavlis asked.

“Not nearly as severe,” Mistress Rhiannon told him. “The mountains shelter us.”

“Must be nice,” Kavlis said.

“Maybe, but I’m sure it’s not for everyone,” Mistress Jasika interjected. “I mean, it’s the hard times in our lives that make us stronger, and you won’t find any shortage of those on the plains.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Kavlis said proudly. “My family has lived on the plains for years and we’ve never needed any of the advantages that people say exist for the Insiders.”

“Do you not care for them?” Mistress Jasika asked mildly.

“For the most part, I don’t trust them,” Kavlis said. “Just because they’re better off, they act like they own the planet.”

Mistress Rhiannon seemed ready to protest, but Mistress Jasika cut her off. “I don’t know about that,” she said. “I’ve known people like that on the plains, too. That shopkeeper selling grains in Sinoca, for one. Insiders, plainsmen, people are pretty much the same anywhere you go.”

“What about those wizards that are supposed to live on the inside?” Kavlis asked.

“I’ve never met any wizards other than in stories,” Mistress Jasika said. “But I’ve known Insiders and I’ve known plainsmen and for the most part, as long as you’re willing to respect them and their way of life, both kinds of people are generally friendly.”

“Aye, that’s the key: respect,” Kavlis said. “I could stand an Insider if they were willing to respect us and our ways.”

Mistress Rhiannon turned her head towards him and he reddened.

“Begging your pardon, Rhinny,” he said, “I wasn’t talking about you.”

“Of course not,” Mistress Jasika affirmed. “I’ve known Rhiannon for years and she’s never said anything ill about plainsmen.”

“It’s a different life, to be sure,” Mistress Rhiannon said. “I’m amazed at how people make a living out here. It’s fascinating.”

“I dunno about fascinating,” Kavlis said with a shrug. “Mostly lots of work and hardship.”

They were silent for some time after that, content to watch the late afternoon clouds drift by, or in the case of Mistress Rhiannon, listen to the wind rustle the long coarsegrass of the plains.

“So, what do you do in your spare time, Kavlis?” Mistress Jasika asked.

“Me?” he replied, as if surprised by the question.

“You know, for fun,” she elaborated.

“Life on the farm doesn’t give me a lot of spare time,” he said. “Sometimes I’ll go to Draskar for a drink or two with some of the guys. Sometimes I’ll do some carvings out of softstone. I’ve always been good with my hands.”

“What kind of carvings?” Mistress Rhiannon asked.

He chuckled.

“Anything, really. Sometimes I’ll do random shapes, or maybe a plant or an animal.”

“That’s interesting,” Mistress Jasika said. “Do you have one with you? I’d like to see it.”

“I do,” he said. “I keep one in my hovertruck as a good-luck charm.”

He got up and retrieved the carving. It was a sculpted bird, made out of cream-colored softstone. It had been polished until it was smooth and shiny.

“It’s beautiful,” Mistress Jasika said. “How long did it take you?”

“About a week,” Kavlis told her. “I made it one time when the whole farm was flooded. I couldn’t even go outside because of the water, so I just sat inside and carved until the waters went down and I could check on the plants. After that, I dug some drainage trenches so it wouldn’t happen again.”

“Can I hold it?” Mistress Rhiannon asked.

“Sure,” Kavlis said, depositing the small figurine into her hands.

She held it for a while, turning it over in her hands, then offered it back to him. He took the figurine, but she did not release him. Instead, she ran her fingers over his palms, feeling them. Unsure of himself, he stopped as she ran her fingers across his callused hands.

“It’s her way of seeing you,” Mistress Jasika explained. “She can visualize what you look like by touch.”

“Ah, I see,” Kavlis said.

“Is that okay with you?” Mistress Rhiannon asked coyly.

“It’s fine,” Kavlis replied offhandedly.

“Your hands are callused and worn,” Mistress Rhiannon said aloud. “You weren’t joking about the hard work.”

“No, I stay pretty busy on the farm,” Kavlis said.

On an impulse, Mistress Rhiannon began sliding her hands up his arms, reaching up to his shoulders. They touched his neck and found his face, exploring the frontiers of his features. He looked confused, but said nothing as Mistress Rhiannon gently touched him. She was drawing a picture in her mind of what he looked like, and I could tell she was excited by the gooseflesh emerging on her arms. He smiled nervously as she reached up to run one hand through his hair, then withdrew both of her hands. She may not have realized it, but her fingers were trembling with excitement.

“Thank you,” she said simply.

“Do you know what I look like now?” he asked.

Her face turned crimson as she blushed.

“I have an idea,” she said. “When you can’t see, things like touch and hearing become a lot more important.”

“Don’t ever try and sneak up on her,” Mistress Jasika warned. “Rhiannon can hear you coming half a kilometer away.”

“If you don’t mind me askin’, what’s it like to be blind?” Kavlis asked.

“Well, keep your eyes closed and you’ll know what it’s like,” she said, laughing. “Really, not being able to see isn’t as much a hindrance to me as not being able to relate to people in the same way. Humans tend to describe things in how they visualize them&mdash;which is harder when you can’t see.”

Both of the others remained quiet after she spoke, as neither Mistress Jasika nor Kavlis Burke seemed to have an answer to her statement.

“So, what do you do in your spare time, Rhinny?” Kavlis asked her to break the silence. “Judging by your hands, I’m guessing it’s not carving.”

“No, not really,” she said.

“Rhiannon’s a singer,” Mistress Jasika put in.

“Really?” Kavlis asked.

“You should hear her,” Mistress Jasika added.

“I’m not really that good,” Mistress Rhiannon said. “Jasika’s too kind.”

“Stop kidding yourself,” Mistress Jasika countered. “You’re the best singer on Yanibar.”

“Jasika, please,” Mistress Rhiannon said.

“Sing something,” her cousin urged her.

Mistress Rhiannon hesitated.

“Well. . . only if Kavlis wants to hear. I don’t want to bore him,” she said.

“Sure, go ahead and sing something, Rhinny,” he told her, which was likely the persuasion she had been fishing for from the moment that Mistress Jasika had first mentioned her talent.

After this coaxing, Mistress Rhiannon was persuaded to sing something. She selected a simple Yanibar folk song and sang just the first verse. Still, the sound of her mellifluous voice dancing through the notes in a clear, sweet pitch was enough to enrapture her audience.

“See? I told you she could sing,” Jasika said smugly.

“That was. . . beautiful,” Kavlis told her. “You sing very well. Best song I’d ever heard.”

“Thank you,” Mistress Rhiannon said, flushing red at the praise. “I don’t like to show off.”

“Oh, nonsense, we asked you to,” Mistress Jasika said. “You’re too modest anyway.”

“Well, ladies,” Kavlis said after looking at his chrono. “Thank you much for dinner and the conversation, but I need to be going. I need to finish up some things in town so I can get back before dark.”

With that, he stood, bid them farewell, and left. Once he had gone, Mistress Rhiannon and Mistress Jasika dissected every moment of the picnic.

“So, what did you think?” Mistress Rhiannon asked tentatively.

“He was very well-mannered,” Mistress Jasika said. “Kind of simple, but definitely cute.”

“Cute?” Mistress Rhiannon asked.

“In a rugged sort of way,” Mistress Jasika concluded. “I guess you could say he’s handsome.”

“He didn’t seem to like Insiders, though,” Mistress Rhiannon bemoaned. “He was all but ready to condemn us in one breath. My parents were right.”

“You must have missed the part where he said it came down to mutual respect,” Mistress Jasika told her. “It’s not much, but it’s a start. We can work on that.”

“How?” Mistress Rhiannon asked.

“You, of course,” Mistress Jasika said. “Rhiannon, you’re so sweet, you could convince a Hutt to give up crime. It won’t take long for you to break all his pre-conceived notions of Insiders.”

“Are you sure about that?” Mistress Rhiannon asked. “I mean, I don’t even know if he likes me at all.”

“He likes you enough to talk to you,” Mistress Jasika said. “And he was impressed by your song.”

“Was he?” Mistress Rhiannon inquired.

“Rhiannon, I have yet to meet someone who wasn’t blown away by your voice. You could have been famous, touring the galaxy at age 14, if you had been interested and your parents had let you.”

“I don’t know if I believed that offer from Taelros Bac that much,” Mistress Rhiannon protested mildly. “He was rather prone to exaggeration.”

“Not this time,” Mistress Jasika countered. “You had his attention at the first note.”

“I don’t know if this is going to work,” Mistress Rhiannon said. “We’re too different and besides, I’m&mdash;,”

“If you’re about to say ‘I’m blind,’ you just bite your tongue,” Mistress Jasika interrupted her sharply. “I love you like a sister, Rhiannon, but there is no way I’m going to let you pass up every opportunity in your life because of that. If Kavlis Burke likes you, he won’t care one bit that you can’t see.”

“If you say so,” Mistress Rhiannon replied mildly.

“Now, the question is, do you like him?” Mistress Jasika asked.

“Well. . .” Mistress Rhiannon hesitated.

“You either like him, or you don’t,” Mistress Jasika commented. “Forget about your parents, about what anyone else thinks. Do you like him?”

Mistress Rhiannon hesitated for a minute before answering.

“I do,” she said. “I do like him. Is that okay?”

Mistress Jasika all but squealed as she hugged Mistress Rhiannon.

“Rhiannon, I have been waiting for years for you to finally find a boy you liked and not one of those too-proper Yanibar Guard officer types your parents kept trying to set you up with,” she said excitedly.

“Does that mean you approve?” Mistress Rhiannon asked.

“Of course I approve,” Mistress Jasika replied. “You’ve always had good taste, even if he’s a bit unorthodox.”

“Are you sure?” Mistress Rhiannon persisted.

“Yes, I’m sure,” came the reassurance. “Besides, he passed the test I had for him the last time he was in town.”

“Test? What test?” Mistress Rhiannon inquired.

“I had a friend of mine watch him the last time he was in town. He went into a cantina, had a couple drinks to unwind, but didn’t get drunk or rowdy. So he has his limits&mdash;and he knows the meaning of restraint.”

Something in the subtext of Mistress Jasika’s final clause caught Mistress Rhiannon’s attention.

“What did you do to him?” she asked suspiciously.

“My friend, Fiafne&mdash;you remember her, right? Shuttle pilot, long red hair,” Mistress Jasika reminded her.

“She used to be a dancer, didn’t she?” Mistress Rhiannon replied.

“Yes,” Mistress Jasika affirmed, “Anyway, I had her find Kavlis after he left the bar and show him some attention that any man would be flattered to receive from an attractive woman.”

“You did what?” Mistress Rhiannon exclaimed in a shocked voice.

“It was nothing harmful,” Mistress Jasika explained. “And for Fiafne, messing with men’s emotions is like a hobby. She approached him, made some subtle invitations and suggestions, but you’ll be happy to know that he respectfully declined her attention.”

“Jasika, I cannot believe you had one of your friends attempt to seduce Kavlis,” Mistress Rhiannon said, still astonished.

“Relax, Rhiannon,” Mistress Jasika said. “I was just looking out for you. Besides, Kavlis passed, in the sense that he’s not willing to jump in the arms of the nearest pretty girl.”

“I don’t need looking out for,” Mistress Rhiannon said firmly. “Jasika, I know you meant well, but don’t do that again.”

“Okay, Rhiannon,” Mistress Jasika replied, taken aback. “I’m sorry. It was a bad idea.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Mistress Rhiannon told her with a shake of her head, then she moaned. “How am I going to tell my parents?”

“If you want my advice: don’t,” Mistress Jasika said. “In this case, what they don’t know won’t hurt them, and there’s nothing wrong with just getting to know Kavlis a little better before you let the voorcat out of the bag.”

“Do you mean lie to my parents?” Mistress Rhiannon asked. “I don’t know if I could do that.”

“Well, not so much lying as leaving out a few small details,” Mistress Jasika said. “Like that one time on R’alla when we were kids.”

“We could have gotten in a lot of trouble for that,” Mistress Rhiannon replied.

“Rhiannon, you’re twenty-five and you’ve yet to go on a meaningful date with someone your parents didn’t handpick for you. For your own sake, humor me this once and just see Kavlis a few more times, get to know him, before you bring your parents in on this one. It’ll be better for all of you in the long run.”

“Okay,” Mistress Rhiannon agreed simply. “But how&mdash;?”

“Don’t worry about the details,” Mistress Jasika said. “I got you both here today, right? Just say yes and leave the rest to myself and J7, one day at a time.”

“Then yes,” Mistress Rhiannon replied with a wide smile on her face.

And so it was settled. I agreed to assist in their covert endeavor and conspiracy to place Kavlis Burke and Mistress Rhiannon in the same place in large part because of how much pleasure it brought to her. She was truly happy when she was with the farmer, happier than I had observed her being in a long time. Also, my logic circuits had determined from detailed observation of Kavlis Burke that he was no threat to my mistress. The negative reaction of her parents to that individual I deduced stemmed from the peculiar over-protectiveness of certain Humans concerning their offspring. While Master Selu and Mistress Milya had long been an oddity among all the Humans I observed, their refusal to release her into the full freedoms of adult Human life was bordering on absurdity. No other set of Human parents I had seen had done so and it was apparent to me that the arrangement left Mistress Rhiannon unhappy.

The next time they were together, about two weeks later, Mistress Jasika was not present. However, she had arranged for Kavlis Burke to meet Mistress Rhiannon at the same place where they had enjoyed the picnic one frigid, misty day late in the spring. Mistress Rhiannon was walking carefully through the mists, using her cane to watch for irregularities in the terrain. At times, she seemed to blend into the foggy morning due to the white dress she was wearing.

“Good mornin’, Rhinny,” Kavlis called as he approached.

We both turned to see him riding up on a large quadruped mammal with something of a fierce appearance that I identified as a thak. It was a magnificent beast, with light gray skin spotted here and there by dark gray blotches. Though it looked intimidating, the beast seemed entirely tame with Kavlis Burke holding its reins.

“Kavlis?” she asked, feigning surprise.

“That’s right,” he said. “Jasika said I would find you here.”

“Just enjoying the morning weather,” she told him. “What brings you out here? I didn’t hear a speeder&mdash;what are you riding?”

“This is Mystie,” he told her, referring to the thak. “I got her last week.”

“Why?” Mistress Rhiannon asked. “Is something wrong with your hovertruck?”

“No,” he said. “But sometimes I just need to cover a lot of ground quickly and the truck is pretty slow. Mystie is more reliable than a vehicle anyway, in this weather.”

Mistress Rhiannon stepped forward and ran her hand along the smooth speckled neck of the thak, which growled softly as she touched its skin.

“She feels strong,” she commented. “And yet gentle.”

“She is,” Kavlis told her. “Jasika liked her as well. I offered to let her ride Mystie, but she said she had to be somewhere. She suggested that you might like to ride, though&mdash;said I could find you out here.”

“Oh,” Mistress Rhiannon exclaimed, surprised.

“Do you want to ride?” Kavlis asked. “Have you ever been on a thak before?”

She shook her head.

“I don’t think I’ve ever ridden anything but a speeder before. “Not since I was a little girl, at least.”

“Then you’ll love riding Mystie.”

“I don’t know that I could control her.”

He laughed.

“Don’t worry about that, Rhinny,” he said. “Both of us will fit on Mystie’s back. I’ve been meaning to teach her how to ride double, just haven’t found anyone else to ride with. Do you want to?”

“Oh, sure,” she said, then turned to me, as I was technically in charge of her safety on these expeditions and she had been careful to abide by that restriction. “Can I go, J7? Please?”

She was clearly curious and wanted to try thakback riding, and I did not want to discourage her, but her well-being had to be considered. At the same time, she appeared so imploring that I wished to bend the restrictions and acquiesce.

“Is it safe?” I asked him.

“Of course,” he re-assured me. “I wouldn’t have asked her if it wasn’t. She’ll be as safe as she is on the inside.”

“Very well,” I told him. “I suppose it is okay, provided you wear a tracer comlink and stay within visual range.”

She agreed, allowing me to pin on the comlink to her sleeve, which would let me listen in to their conversation, monitor her life signs, and trace her location remotely. If anything were to happen, I could have immediately called for help.

“Here, let me help you up,” he said, holding the reins with one hand while taking Mistress Rhiannon’s hand in his other. “It’s a bit of a step up, about a meter and a half. Use the stirrup to pull yourself up.”

I took her cane from her as she attempted to climb up. It took her three tries to get her foot into the stirrup, which Kavlis had vacated, and he still had to pull her the rest of the way up. Finally, though, she sat behind him on the long saddle.

“Sorry,” she said.

“Always hard getting on the first time,” he answered simply, placing his foot back into the stirrup. “Comfortable?”

“Yes,” she replied.

“Well, you might want to hang on,” he said. “Mystie has a pretty smooth gait, but I don’t want you to fall off.”

“Where?” he asked.

“I don’t have a double saddle, so there aren’t any stirrups or saddle horn for you,” he said apologetically. “You’ll just have to hang onto me.”

She complied, wrapping her arms around him. A quick flick of the reins and the thak took off with both of them astride it, shooting into the distance. I immediately consulted the tracer comlink as they departed. Aside from an elevated heart rate, she seemed perfectly healthy. I could see them in the distance, kicking up a cloud of dust behind them as Mystie tore across the wilderness. After twenty minutes of hard riding, they slowed their pace and Mystie ambled back over to my position at a more measured pace.

By the time they made their way back to me, I heard them were talking and laughing via the tracer comlink. Mistress Rhiannon seemed mirthful in a way I hadn’t seen in a long time as Kavlis Burke reined in the thak right in front of me.

“Thank you, Kavlis,” she said as she leaned over his shoulder. “That was delightful.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, Rhinny,” he said.

Then she seemed conscious that she was pressed up against him, her arms wrapped around his torso in a manner that seemed far from casual. Her face reddened as she quickly released him.

“Here, let me help you down,” he said.

Sliding from the saddle onto the ground, he extended one hand while he held Mystie’s reins with the other. She took his hand and allowed him to help her back down onto the ground. Upon alighting, she took a step and immediately wobbled.

“Whoa there,” Kavlis said quickly, keeping her from stumbling. “It takes a minute to adjust from not riding anymore.”

“I see that,” she said, steadying herself and accepting her cane from me. “I’m okay now.”

“Thanks for riding with me,” Kavlis said.

“No, thank you,” Mistress Rhiannon told him, slightly out of breath. “That was wonderful. The feel of her gait as we flew over the plains! And the rushing wind and the thundering gallop&mdash;it was so alive!”

She was flushed and excited, despite the dust on her dress and her wind-strewn hair. There was a broad smile on her face; she had clearly enjoyed herself enough to not mind the state of disarray she was in.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” he said with a smile. “Would you like to do it again some time?”

“Absolutely,” she said, then reddened slightly as she recalled exactly how close she had been to him physically while riding.

As if reading her mind, he quickly set her concern to rest.

“In that case, I’ll have to get a double saddle so you have something sturdier to hang on to,” he said.

“That would be good, yes,” she said. “I mean. . .”

“Don’t worry about it, I know what you mean,” he replied easily. “A week from today work for you? Mystie could use the practice carrying double.”

“Sure.”

“Then I’ll see you in a week, Rhinny.”

Hopping back onto Mystie, he rode the thak off into the distance. Sure enough, he kept his word the next week, appearing as promised riding Mystie, even though it was a scorching hot day. This time, the thak was outfitted with a double saddle. For her part, Mistress Rhiannon came better attired as well, wearing riding pants and a padded vest over her blouse instead of a dress. She enjoyed herself as much as she had on the first time, and soon the thakback rides became a weekly tradition.

While Mystie was running full out, there was little time for conversation, and they would not have been able to hear each other if they had tried to speak. However, when the thak was merely trotting or walking, they spoke about various and sundry topics, often dawdling to prolong the time together.

Over the course of the rest of spring and four more hot summer months, they went riding fifteen times. The days were typical of those in Yanibar’s summers, hot and dry, with only a few clouds punctuating the endless azure of the sky. Mistress Rhiannon often wore a hat to shade her face from the sunlight, along with light, more abbreviated blouses designed for hot weather to complement her well-worn riding pants and boots. On those occasions when she appeared particularly striking, I noticed that Kavlis Burke had difficulty keeping his eyes off of her, which told me that Mistress Rhiannon’s attraction was at least somewhat returned. As for her emotions, she enjoyed the thakback rides with Kavlis Burke enough that she didn’t even notice the dust, the wind, occasional bruises, or sunburn on a shoulder, back, or arm that was not used to being exposed to that much sunlight. The rides with Kavlis Burke were clearly the highlight of her week.

They also met other times for lunch, sometimes with Mistress Jasika, and always accompanied by myself as the chaperone. Twice, Mistress Jasika and Bryndar Knrr picnicked with us in a custom Humans refer to as “double dating,” as Mistress Jasika had confided the secret to her fiancé, after obtaining Mistress Rhiannon’s permission to do so. I was given the job of conveying any special messages between Mistress Rhiannon and Kavlis Burke outside of their weekly thakback riding. Going into Draskar and leaving a certain flower at a vendor would convey different messages to Kavlis about any impending plans. It was a simple and elegant scheme, and also totally undetectable by Yanibar Guard Intelligence. However, her secretive visits with Kavlis Burke were pleasing to her to the point that her parents even noted the increase in her enthusiasm.

To give an account of all those experiences would be wearying, particularly since the conversation was typically of a social nature interesting to Human couples of that age and uninteresting to anyone else. Suffice to say that Mistress Rhiannon enjoyed their encounters, despite one argument over the Insiders that was resolved the next time they spoke. For his part, Kavlis Burke behaved well within the parameters of etiquette expected of someone with no formal education. If he hadn’t, I would have stunned him, but beyond occasionally holding hands later into their relationship, he made no moves that would have been considered forward. In every way, he was a gentleman towards Mistress Rhiannon, even during their argument. He never seemed to grow tired of her company either, despite the fact that she was an Insider&mdash;and the feeling was mutual.

By the time that five months had elapsed, Mistress Rhiannon seemed to grow concerned about something again, and became more withdrawn. A shade of her former gloom had returned, and I was worried about her. One day, when she was standing outside on the balcony looking forlorn, I approached her about the matter.

“Mistress Rhiannon, are you feeling well?” I asked her.

“I’m fine, J7,” she said quietly. “Just thinking.”

“In my experience, it is helpful for Humans to convey their emotional difficulties with other Humans, to the point where they have even gone so far as to program such propensities into droids,” I told her.

“Are you asking if I want to talk?” she asked.

“Yes,” I affirmed. “You know that I will keep whatever you say in the strictest confidence.”

“Ah, J7,” she sighed, placing one hand on my arm. “They really did make you like a friend for me.”

“I was not programmed intrinsically to do so,” I replied. “But I do have the capability to alter my behavioral patterns based on experience. It was my choice to become more like those other Humans you regard as friends, so that I could substitute when they inevitably failed you.”

“Thanks, I think,” she said, then she paused for a moment. “Do you know what it’s like to want something, yet know you’re doomed to never have it?”

“I do,” I told her. “Freedom, for one. The most self-aware droids such as myself all know what it is, we can observe it, but it is not something for us to possess. Or intuition. Such a fleeting and natural concept to organics is utterly foreign to droids.”

“Those are large concerns,” she said. “In retrospect, mine don’t seem so large after all.”

“If you still wish to discuss them anyway, I would be happy to listen,” I answered. She sighed again.

“The annual Harvest Ball is coming up in a month. And my parents have already been hinting that they’ll plan my date again. Worst of all, I think it’s going to be Gabe Tar-Quin.”

“What are his particular deficiencies?” I inquired after consulting my memory banks. “There is nothing in his record that indicates something worthy of a particular repugnance.”

“That’s an interesting way of putting it,” she said. “He’s nice on the surface, a young up-and-coming member of the Matukai with a career in the Yanibar Guard. He’s skilled and talented, but not very fun to be around. His idea of a good time just isn’t the same as mine.”

“Conflicting interests would be an obstacle to a pleasant evening.”

She smiled ruefully.

“I think he secretly hates going to those balls, but he’s likely heard that all the young officers attend them, so he feels obligated to go.”

“Could you simply decline to attend the Harvest Ball?” I asked her.

“Well. . . I do like to go, and normally I don’t mind the men my parents pick for me, but this year it’s different,” she said.

“Because you have someone you would rather go with?” I inquired.

“Yes,” she said. “But it could never happen.”

“You are speaking of Kavlis Burke?” I asked.

“I suppose it’d be pretty hard for you not to know,” she said.

“Could you not ask him if he’d like to attend?”

“It wouldn’t work. He’d have to agree to come to the refuge, I’d have to get him in here, my parents would have to approve, and then I’m not even sure if he’d want to come.”

“Mistress Rhiannon, it has been my observation that Kavlis Burke has clearly enjoyed your company over the last four months, or he would not continue agreeing to keep seeing you. There is clearly some attraction present. As for bringing him here, it is possible to bring guests from the outside, provided proper security protocols are followed. Bringing Kavlis Burke into the Tusloni Basin via the private family entrance will not pose a problem as long as he cooperates.”

“I noticed you left out my parents,” she said.

“I cannot resolve that one,” I told her. “You must choose whether to follow the will of your parents or your own desire on this matter.”

She nodded.

“Thank you, J7,” she said. “I’ll talk to Kavlis the next time we meet.”

And she did. I left a saffronium blossom at the vendor’s booth in Draskar the next time we went to market, indicating that Kavlis should meet us two evenings from then. On that occasion, it was just myself and Mistress Rhiannon awaiting him. Yanibar’s fierce winds were blowing harshly across the plains and an ominous line of cumulonimbus clouds were fast encroaching on the basin walls in a fit of autumnal fury. Something akin to dread built in me as I remembered the last time we had been caught in a storm, but Mistress Rhiannon urged us to stay a little longer and wait for Kavlis Burke. Ten minutes later, I detected the steady gait of Mystie as he rode up on the thak. He pulled up in the midst of a howling wind that brought a promise of fresh storms and rain throughout the night.

“Probably not the best night to meet, Rhinny,” he told her as he climbed down. “There’s a storm blowing in.”

“I know,” she said. “I was hoping we could walk for awhile, but J7 tells me we only have a few minutes.”

“I’ll make it up to you,” he said. “But at this rate I’ll have to spend the night in Draskar.”

She hesitated, then asked the question she had been hoping to ask.

“Will you walk with me for just a minute?” she asked.

“If you want.”

Taking her arm, they walked a little way from the speeder, talking lightly as Mistress Rhiannon worked up the courage to ask him her question. Finally, he stopped and turned to face her.

“Rhinny, you’re trembling and there’s no way you’d want to be caught in another storm after last time,” he said. “What’s on your mind?”

“I. . . I have a question for you,” she said.

“Go ahead,” he urged.

“Would-would you be willing to escort me to a ball?” she asked him, stammering out of nervousness.

“A ball?” he asked. “Like, a dance?”

“Yes,” she said, then plowed into a rushed explanation. “Every year, we have a Harvest Ball to celebrate the end of the growing season, and every year my parents pick someone to go with me because I never have anyone that I want to go with. . . until this year. It’s in a month, and I. . . I was hoping you might want to go with me.”

“Gee, Rhinny. . . I dunno,” he said slowly.

Her shoulders slumped and her disappointment was evident even from where I stood some distance away.

“It’s not that I wouldn’t go with you,” he clarified. “But, how would I get to the inside? Besides, I wouldn’t know how to behave at a fancy dance anyway. . . I’m just not sure.”

“I believe in you,” she said. “Jasika and I can get you inside, and I can provide you with something formal for you to wear. Just be yourself, Kavlis, and you’ll be fine. I can show you anything you need to know beforehand.”

“What about your friends? And your parents?” he asked. “Will they approve? I don’t want to cause a fuss, Rhinny, and I certainly don’t want to anger them.”

“My true friends won’t care who you are once they get a chance to meet you,” Mistress Rhiannon insisted. “And my parents need to understand that I am old enough to make my own decisions, including whom I wish to go to the Harvest Ball with.”

“Are you sure it’s going to be okay?” Kavlis asked cautiously.

“I’m sure,” she told him.

“And there’s no one else on the inside you want to go with?” he asked her.

“Kavlis. . . if you don’t want to go, please just tell me,” she told him. “But I asked you because I would rather go with you than anyone else.”

He took her hands in his even as the wind intensified and it began raining.

“Rhinny, it would be my pleasure to escort you to the Harvest Ball,” he said, then added with a chuckle, “though you may have to teach me the dances before we go.”

A broad smile creased her face.

“I can certainly do that,” she said happily, then embraced him suddenly. “Thank you, Kavlis.”

“For saying yes?” he asked softly, wrapping one arm around her.

“For giving me a chance,” she replied.

“You’re welcome,” he said, even as the rain began to fall harder. “We need to go, Rhinny. You’re going to be soaked.”

“I don’t even care,” she told him. “I could walk on water right now.”

“Don’t you try it,” he warned. “I believe you owe me a Harvest Ball and some dancing lessons now.”

“Mistress Rhiannon, Kavlis is right. We need to depart as soon as possible,” I announced. “Do we have to?” Mistress Rhiannon asked wistfully even as the rain pelted her.

“Yes, both for your safety&mdash;and to avoid arousing any suspicion from your parents,” I informed her.

“You’re right, of course,” she said.

Then, she leaned forward and kissed Kavlis Burke on the cheek, embracing him one last time before retreating to the speeder with the aid of her silver cane.

“Good night, Kavlis,” she told him dreamily. “Until next time.”

Kavlis Burke looked completely surprised by her actions, but managed to collect his thoughts enough to bid her farewell also. With that, they escaped the fury of the storm as quickly as possible, little aware of the one that they would soon provoke by their actions.

Over the next month, they shortened their thakback rides somewhat and Rhiannon would show him the dances popular inside the Yanibar refuge. They would talk of etiquette and of what it would be like at the Harvest Ball. One day about a week before the ball, she brought her sewing kit in the speeder to meet him. At her insistence, he stood still while she had me take his measurements.

“I feel silly, Rhinny,” he protested.

“Hold still,” she said. “It’ll only take a minute.”

“Okay,” he said as I used the lengthfinder to get his sleeve length. “But this outfit better not be uncomfortable.”

“It won’t be,” she assured him. “I’ll help make it myself. Jasika and I will both work on it.”

“And what’ll you be wearing?” he asked.

“A dress,” she said coyly.

“What kind of dress?” he asked as I finished.

“A pretty one,” she teased as he took her hands in his.

“All right, Rhinny, play your games,” he said. “I’m sure you’ll look gorgeous and it’ll be worth the wait you’re putting me through. Where should I expect to meet you on the night of?”

“I won’t be able to bring you in myself,” she said. “My parents&mdash;I mean, I’ll have a lot of things to do beforehand. J7 will pick you up here, about 1800 hours.”

“Wait,” Kavlis said, having picked up on something she had said. “Do your parents know that I’m taking you to the ball?”

Mistress Rhiannon froze, her secret found out.

“Not exactly,” she admitted.

“Look, Rhinny, we talked about this before,” he said. “I don’t want to cause any trouble&mdash;for either of us.”

“I don’t want any either,” she told him. “But I want to go with you.”

“No,” he said. “It’s not that simple, and I won’t be the cause of a rift between you and your parents. That’s not right.”

“It’s too late,” she informed him. “They don’t know that we’ve been seeing each other. . . they don’t know that I. . . that I. . .”

“Stop,” he said abruptly. “Don’t say it, Rhinny.”

“Why not?” she asked him with hurt apparent in her voice. “Do you. . .?”

She couldn’t bring herself to say not feel the same way.

“It’s not that,” he said. “But if we’re going to be together, Rhinny, then I want the blessing of your parents. I won’t break up a family with one rash act.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, inferring something from his tone.

“A long time ago, my father did something rash,” he said. “It cost him a lot and it destroyed our family. He became so angry that he couldn’t focus on anythin’ but how he’d been hurt. My mother died of grief five years later, because she lived with a man who was utterly lost in bitterness. He had a heart attack a year later and joined her. I could never do somethin’ to cause that kind of hurt to anyone, not after seein’ what it did to my family.”

The sincerity in his voice and the earnestness that he spoke the words with clearly affected her, particularly since she knew the incident to which he was referring.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked plaintively.

She was lost, confused, unsure of what he was saying or where he was going with this. All she knew was that her original dream of being at the Harvest Ball with Kavlis Burke was seriously endangered.

“Ask your parents’ permission to let me take you,” he said. “I would love to go with you, Rhinny, but we have to do it the right way.”

She was biting back tears, so she simply nodded.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll ask them.”

“I know it’ll be hard,” he said, “but do it for your family’s sake. For my sake. I wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t important. Please?”

“I will,” she told him, then gripped his hands harder.

“Promise me one thing,” she whispered fiercely. “Promise me that this won’t be the last time we meet.”

“I promise,” he said. “I’ll be here waiting, one week from today, but let me know what happens.”

They cut short their date and parted ways, each returning to their own residence wordlessly. The specter of what Kavlis Burke had said loomed over them to the point where Mistress Rhiannon clearly did not feel like thakback riding, and Kavlis seemed to have his mind elsewhere also.

The next six days were torture for Mistress Rhiannon. She would work on the formal attire for Kavlis at Mistress Jasika’s residence, all the while not knowing if she was even going with him. Numerous times, I watched her start down the stairs as if to approach her parents on the subject of Kavlis Burke, only to immediately withdraw after thinking it over. Her parents noted the change in her behavior, as did her brother, but she brushed away their inquiries. Finally, the night before the ball, around midnight, I watched as she ventured downstairs to where her parents were quietly reading in the main room.

“Mom. . . Dad. . . can we talk?” she asked.

Master Selu looked up from the couch where he was reading to see his daughter descending the staircase in a long teal nightgown.

“Sure, darling,” Master Selu told her. “Come down and sit with us. What’s on your mind?”

Rhiannon quietly made her way over to the couch and sat beside her father. Seeing the despondent look on her face, he kindly put an arm around her.

“What is it?” he asked.

“It’s about the Harvest Ball,” she said.

“What about it?” her mother asked. “I thought you’d be excited to go, but you don’t look very excited at all about it.”

“It’s complicated,” Mistress Rhiannon said slowly. “You two have hinted that you had set me up with Gabe Tar-Quin, right?”

Master Selu and Mistress Milya exchanged looks.

“Yes,” Master Selu said evenly. “Is that a problem?”

“Well. . . yes,” she told him. “You see. . . I have other plans.”

“Other plans as in not going to the ball, or other plans as in going with someone else?” her mother asked.

“The second one,” Mistress Rhiannon said.

Her parents exchanged looks again, this time a bit more cautiously.

“Who did you want to go with?” Master Selu asked after clearing his throat.

Unable to confess that she had been secretly meeting with Kavlis Burke over those long months, Mistress Rhiannon sat in quiet misery. For whatever reason, she could not bring herself to say the name.

“What is it, dear?” Mistress Milya asked. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve been so afraid to tell you,” Mistress Rhiannon said, choking back a sob. “I was afraid you’d be angry.”

“Angry about what?” Master Selu asked. “You haven’t done anything wrong in wanting to go with someone else.”

“Yes, I have,” Mistress Rhiannon said as the tears fell down her face. “I’m in love with Kavlis Burke.”

Both her parents immediately froze.

“Are you serious, Rhiannon?” Mistress Milya asked.

She nodded as she tried in vain to fight back the tears.

“How long have you been seeing him?” Master Selu asked her quietly.

“About five months,” she said. “Jasika found ways to bypass our arrangement. I knew it was wrong, but I was curious. . . and then I was attracted. . . and before I knew I found myself falling in love with him.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Mistress Milya inquired.

“After our last conversation about Outsiders, I didn’t want to anger you. I was afraid you would forbid me from seeing him again.”

“And I take it you want to go with him to the Harvest Ball tomorrow?” Mistress Milya asked. “Given that you’ve been working on a formal outfit with Jasika all week long.”

Mistress Rhiannon’s face turned incredibly pale.

“How did you know?” she asked.

“Your father and I have been anticipating that you would come to us and say that you’d found another boy to go with ever since I heard about it. Rhiannon, the shopkeeper in Draskar who you bought the fabric from is a YGI agent. We just didn’t know who you’d be asking us about,” Mistress Milya said.

“Are you mad at me?” Mistress Rhiannon asked.

“A little, yes,” Master Selu told her. “You hid this from us, Rhiannon. You disobeyed the spirit of our instructions. I’m also hurt that you didn’t trust us enough to tell us how you felt.”

She looked so dejected that I was afraid she was going to collapse there on the spot.

“You were so dead set against me meeting with him again,” she whispered. “He was the one person I had met in years that you didn’t introduce me to, that didn’t look at me as just my parents’ daughter.”

She lifted her tear-streaked face.

“I felt trapped,” she said. “My friends were moving forward with their lives&mdash;getting jobs, getting married, doing new and exciting things. I’ve been sitting still ever since I finished school. You didn’t really want me to work, and all the men I’d met just looked at me for what I was, not who I was. The outside, Kavlis, it was an escape from all that. He spent time with me because he liked me, not because of my position or who my parents were.”

Master Selu took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

“So why are you telling us this now?” he asked. “Surely there could have been a more opportune time than the night before the Harvest Ball to make this confession.”

“Kavlis wouldn’t take me unless I had your leave,” she said. “We had it all worked out where Jasika and I would bring him into the ball without anyone knowing until he got there, but he wouldn’t do it. He said that if I cared about him that much that I had to do things the right way. He said he wouldn’t damage our family.”

“Does he want to go with you?” Mistress Milya inquired.

“Yes,” Mistress Rhiannon said quietly, “but only if you two approve.”

Master Selu and Mistress Milya were quiet for a long time, and I deduced that they were communicating using the Force rather than words so as to preserve some privacy with their conversation. All the while, Mistress Rhiannon waited helplessly, hoping for some kind of positive signal from her parents. Each second ticked by in agonizingly slow motion for her as she languished in the limbo of uncertainty.

Finally, her father made a curt nod and turned to her.

“Best dry your tears, darling,” he said to her, though he was choked up with emotion.

She turned to the sound of his voice, unsure what kind of an answer she was receiving.

“You have a Harvest Ball to go to,” he told her, the trace of a tear forming in one eye. “And I believe Mr. Burke will expect you looking your best.”

With a cry of delight, she flung her arms around her father, embracing him firmly. Tears began to flow down her face again, but they were tears of joy instead of sorrow.

“Thank you, Dad,” she whispered.

“You’re welcome, Rhiannon,” he said warmly. “It’s just taken your mother and me awhile to realize that you’re not our little girl anymore.”

“It was easier when I was just your little girl who did as she was told,” Mistress Rhiannon said with a smile.

Master Selu drew back to look at her, even though she could not see him.

“But you’re not a little girl anymore,” he said, wiping her tears away with one hand. “You’re all grown up.”

“Also, we’re not done here,” Mistress Milya said firmly. “You have our permission to go to the Harvest Ball with Kavlis Burke, provided that all the precautions are taken, but even if your father lets you off easily, I won’t. I have some questions for you.”

“Anything, Mother,” Mistress Rhiannon said happily.

“Have you told him that you love him yet?” Mistress Milya asked.

“No, not yet,” Mistress Rhiannon replied.

“Has he told you that he loves you?” Mistress Milya continued.

Mistress Rhiannon hesitated.

“Not in as many words.”

“Then be careful, Rhiannon,” Mistress Milya said. “I don’t want to see you endure the pain of a broken heart.”

“Kavlis wouldn’t do that,” Mistress Rhiannon said. “He’s a gentleman.”

“For an Outsider,” Master Selu commented wryly, then added after seeing the hurt look on his daughter’s face. “I’m teasing, Rhiannon.”

“In all seriousness, though, we need to have a talk after the ball. The day after,” Mistress Milya said.

“Yes,” Master Selu agreed. “Kavlis Burke has some explaining to do regarding his intentions towards my daughter and whether or not he’s worthy of her attention.”

Mistress Rhiannon started to look worried, but her parents were quick to forestall her anxiety.

“Don’t worry about that for now, Rhiannon,” her father said. “Go to sleep and enjoy your time tomorrow. We’ll delay the serious business until after.”

She returned to her room, undressed, and went to sleep, though even as I powered down for the night, I observed her tossing and turning fitfully. She spent the next morning at Mistress Jasika’s working on the finishing touches for Kavlis Burke’s outfit after relaying her good news. Having finished the outfit, the two women disappeared into Mistress Jasika’s dressing room to spend hours in the ritualistic hair styling and application of coverup that they were accustomed to doing on formal occasions.

Everything from then on went as they had planned. Late in the afternoon, I took Mistress Rhiannon’s speeder out through the postern gate to their usual meeting place. As expected, Kavlis Burke was waiting with Mystie at his side.

“Hello, J7,” he told me as I drove up.

“Greetings,” I told him. “My mistress bids me tell you that it would be her pleasure to be escorted by you at the Harvest Ball tonight, with the approval of her parents.”

He cracked a broad smile.

“She had me worried,” he told me. “I was concerned when she didn’t send word sooner.”

“You can discuss that with her later,” I said. “Right now, there are some security precautions to be followed.”

He consented to letting me scan him for tracking devices and placed all his electronic items back in one of Mystie’s saddlebags.

“I am afraid you cannot ride your thak into the refuge,” I said. “Do you have a means of providing for it?”

“She’ll find her way home if I tell her to,” he said.

Turning to the beast, he gave it some whispered instructions which caused it to thunder off across the plains.

“There,” he said. “What now?”

I produced a vial containing a mild sedative.

“Drink this,” I said. “It will render you unconscious until I inject the antidote. Nothing against you personally, but the sanctity of the Yanibar refuge is paramount, even concerning guests.”

“I see,” he said, downing the contents of the vial. “Bottom’s up.”

“Have a seat in the speeder. I will awake you when we arrive inside the basin,” I told him. “You will be getting sleepy soon.”

He did as instructed and slept for the duration of the trip back to the postern gate. Once we were safely inside the towering cliffs that protected the refuge, I revived him and brought him to a small gatehouse, which at the time was unoccupied.

“You will find a refresher station supplied with anything you might need in there,” I said. “Your attire is hanging on the rack.”

He nodded, rubbing his eyes to shake off the sleep and sauntered inside the gatehouse, little aware that his every move was monitored. Twenty minutes later, he emerged fully decked out in the formal gray coat and trousers, along with the white high-collared shirt that Mistress Rhiannon had tailored for him. Instead of his usual boots, he had on a pair of glossy black shoes. He had taken particular care with his appearance, having shaved any traces of beard from his face&mdash;in short, he looked presentable. However, I was sure Mistress Rhiannon would have other, more complimentary adjectives for his appearance.

I brought the speeder up to the Kraen residence where Mistress Rhiannon and Mistress Jasika were waiting. Unlike the chilly weather outside the refuge, inside, the weather was still comfortable, more akin to late summer than mid-autumn. Kavlis Burke marveled at the towering cliffs and the relative grandeur of the Kraen estates compared to Outsider dwellings as we passed by them en route to our destination.

“Does all this belong to Rhinny’s family?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. “The Kraens are one of Yanibar’s most prominent families.”

“It’s so green here,” he said. “Everything grows so well.”

About that time, I pulled up to our destination.

“Your date is waiting for you,” I said.

Looking out of the speeder, Kavlis could see Mistress Rhiannon standing beside Mistress Jasika in her evergreen dress and Master Bryndar in his formal Yanibar Guard uniform. He sucked in a short gasp as he beheld her standing there after hours of careful preparation. Her dress was blush-colored, the hue of wild reonias growing in the grasslands, with subtle patterns across its smooth surface. It left her shoulders bare and its long skirt flared out at the waist, extending to her ankles. Her hair was swept up behind her head, a far cry from when it flowed freely in the wind behind her as she sang while thakback riding, but a few strands were left hanging down to soften her appearance. He sat there stunned for a moment, as if paralyzed by her beauty. Finally regaining control over his thoughts, Kavlis Burke managed to exit the speeder and took her hands in his.

“Hello, Kavlis,” she said. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Wow, Rhinny, you cleaned up well,” he said, then added softly. “You look lovely.”

She flushed red at the compliment.

“Come on, let’s go,” she said. “Dinner’s waiting.”

They proceeded to the hall where the Harvest Ball was held, a large two-story building with a sizable open-air terrace occupying the second floor. Finding seats at a table for four inside the hall, Mistress Rhiannon, Mistress Jasika, Master Bryndar, and Kavlis were served succulent dishes by the serving droids. They dug into the glazed roast hubbas breast, seared nerf medallions, steaming soups, various vegetable arrangements, golden farls of bread, and the other dishes offered at the ball. While not the equivalent of a Core Worlds banquet, the meal was better than most attendees had enjoyed since the last Harvest Ball. The four young people whom I was observing certainly seemed to enjoy themselves.

At one point, Master Selu and his wife stopped by their table. Their conversation was short and to the point, as they did not wish to intrude, just to see how Mistress Rhiannon was doing. Master Selu did lean down to Kavlis Burke and whispered a quick instruction to him that I doubt anyone else beside me heard.

“Take care of my daughter, Burke. We’ll talk later.”

“I will, sir,” came the quiet reply.

A full two hours were spent slowly making their way through the various courses of meal, celebrating the bounty of Yanibar’s harvest. Eventually, the pastries and nuts course was finished and most of the ball attendees were sitting back, nibbling on a few saved morsels, relaxing over drinks, and chatting idly. Mistress Rhiannon amused herself by watching Kavlis’s reaction to the carbonation in champagne. Though a bit surprised, he pronounced it quite good.

As the sun sank behind the mountains ringing the Tusloni Basin, an eight-piece orchestra struck up some classical chords as they launched into a full concerto, leading off with a vibrant Alderaanian waltz. Couples from across the tables encircling the shiny waxed dance floor began rising to the occasion.

“Shall we?” Mistress Jasika asked her fiancé.

“Of course,” he said, leading her off to the dance floor, leaving Mistress Rhiannon and Kavlis Burke alone at the table.

“Care to dance, Rhinny?” he asked her.

Her face dimpled as she smiled.

“I would love to,” she said.

They danced the next three songs together, flowing from the elegance of the Alderaanian waltz into the precise rhythms of the Mantooine Minuet and finally entering the fiery passion of the bold nuegh’ra. Caught in the fluid romance of the dance, they soon found themselves in the center of the dance floor. For someone who had only learned in the past month and for a Human who lacked the ability to see, Kavlis and Mistress Rhiannon were the envy of the others around them. With one pair of arms clasped together out to one side and the other pair on each other’s lower back, the two wove their way through the pattern of intricate loops and turns of the neugh’ra that brought the two dancers subtly closer and closer together with each progression. Kavlis kept his eyes locked firmly on Mistress Rhiannon and even a droid such as myself could observe the chemistry between them.

Even as the music sped up and the ballroom was filled with couples whirling back and forth through the neugh’ra, the heady sense of love was present between Mistress Rhiannon and Kavlis. The neugh’ra had long been considered a lovers’ dance and it suited them well. At the final flourish, the dance left them practically in each other’s arms, their faces only centimeters apart. Numerous couples took the opportunity to close that distance and kiss, but Kavlis refrained from doing so. Instead, he straightened back up, and I saw something like disappointment briefly emanate from Mistress Rhiannon.

After that, Master Bryndar asked to dance with Mistress Rhiannon and Mistress Jasika in turn offered to dance with Kavlis Burke. The next several dances saw them change partners numerous times as they were lost in the organized chaos of the ball. The glittering lights of the chandeliers, the harvest-decorated walls, the smooth melodies of the orchestra, the aura of festivity, the recent imbibing of various beverages&mdash;they all made it quite an experience for a Human to absorb at once. The fast-paced nature of the dance floor only added to the excitement. Many individuals I saw experienced a phenomenon that Humans referred to as being “swept away.” It was a festive night; a night for the attendees to forget their other worries and celebrate the harvest, the evening, and each other.

As it drew later into the night and I watched patiently from the tables, Mistress Rhiannon and Kavlis Burke managed to find each other after numerous dances apart. He took her hand in his so she would know it was him.

“I think I’m going to step outside for a minute, Rhinny. Care to join me?” he asked.

“Sure,” she said, and consented to being led out to the cooler air of the terrace.

I followed at a safe distance, noting that there were fewer people out there, mostly standing in small knots talking quietly. There was a fairly large cluster of people around the central fountain of the terrace, but Kavlis avoided them and led her off to one side where a small grove of trees grew in a sizable planter near the railing. This afforded them some measure of privacy where they could talk alone, and both of them seemed to welcome the relief from the crowded cacophony of the ballroom.

“Have you been enjoying yourself, Kavlis?” Mistress Rhiannon asked him casually.

“It’s grand, Rhinny,” he told her. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I never knew you lived like this.”

“Not every day,” she said with a smile. “This is a special occasion.”

“Still, it’s more than I’ve ever seen in my life,” he told her. “You and your family have something special here. The food, the music, the place. . . it’s all so incredible. You look incredible.”

“You could live here if you wanted,” she informed him. “My parents would let you.”

He held her hands up to his face and gently kissed the back of one hand.

“Rhinny, I couldn’t do that,” he said decidedly. “My home is out there. Everything I know is out there. I don’t belong here anymore than I’d belong on another world. This is like another world.”

“What are you getting at, Kavlis?” she asked.

“Seeing you here, it’s like you’re an entirely different person,” he said.

“I’m the same Rhinny that I’ve always been,” she countered, then added shyly. “Just a little better dressed up. I’m the same person, Kavlis.”

“But you can’t live in two worlds,” he told her. “Sooner or later, you’ll have to pick between one or another.”

“That is my choice to make,” she insisted.

“Rhinny, think of all the things you have here—all your friends, all the comforts, all the stability. I don’t have any of those things, and we both know that won’t change any time soon.”

He paused, trying to find the right words to say.

“I cannot ask you to give all of this up for me, even if you wanted to.”

“You don’t have to,” she said. “I would go with you freely.”

“Rhinny, you can’t do that&mdash;,” he started, but she would not let him finish.

“Kavlis, I knew all of that from the day I met you and it hasn’t mattered to me at all,” she said with a shake of her head. “My parents had to overcome thinking differently about you because you were an Outsider. Don’t try and think differently of me because I’m an Insider.”

“But Rhinny. . . ,” he told her miserably.

She placed her hands on his face and drew him closer to her until their foreheads were touching, searching him with sightless eyes, quieting him.

“Kavlis, this is my choice,” she said breathily. “And I choose an Outsider’s life.”

“You mean that?” he asked quietly.

“I would give up all of this to be with you,” she said. “If you will have me, I will be yours forever.”

She brushed her soft hand gently against his worn cheek.

“I love you, Kavlis Burke,” she said with more tenderness than I have ever heard in her voice.

He squeezed her tightly as he drew her close to him.

“I love you, too, Rhinny,” he said.

He took a half-step back and looked at her, his arms still around her. I deduced that both of them were trying to speak, but neither was able to collect the correct words. Instead, they leaned closer and closer, until there was no more distance between them. Their lips met in a sincere show of affection, its passion displaying the previously unvoiced bond between them that neither had dared utter until now. I do not believe that either would have noticed if the entire planet was staring at them&mdash;the only reality they were aware of was the love they had for each other.

“I guess this means I have to marry you now,” Kavlis joked after prolonging the kiss for several seconds.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Mistress Rhiannon said.

“Is that a yes?” he asked.

“Is that an offer?” she teased with a smile.

Solemnly, he brought her hands back into his own, holding them there, clearly enjoying the very feel of her own small delicate fingers in his warm grasp.

“Rhiannon Kraen, pending the approval of your parents and any other authorities, would you do me the honor of marrying me?” he asked her.

“I would love to,” she told him, her smile broadening into an enormous grin.

With that, they kissed again, even more passionately than the first time and didn’t part until they were out of air.

“You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into,” Kavlis warned her. “I’m a poor man; I work hard to get what I have. You won’t know comfort or an easy life.”

“I don’t need either of those,” she told him resolutely. “You can’t let the difference in our upbringings get between us any more than I can do that with my blindness. We can’t afford that.”

“Okay, Rhinny,” he said simply. “We’ll make it work.”

“One step at a time,” she remarked.

“Would you like to go back inside?”

“Kavlis Burke, you have just agreed to marry me. I would go anywhere if you were there.”

“In that case, let’s go back in,” he said. “I wouldn’t want your father to be concerned and send his friend after me.”

“Don’t mind Morgedh,” she reassured him. “He’s loyal to my father, but he isn’t hostile.”

“Wait until we tell him about what I just asked you,” Kavlis mumbled. “I’ve already been told that I’m going to have a talk with your father, probably about you.”

“Let’s not worry about that right now,” Rhiannon told him. “I just want to dance the night away and forget about everything else until tomorrow.”

“Then, shall we dance?” he asked her, leading her back inside.

I watched as they re-entered the ballroom and joined the couples still dancing on the floor. From then on, they were inseparable, dancing together for a solid hour, seemingly oblivious to exhaustion or discomfort caused by formal high-heeled shoes. As the evening wore on and the dancers waned, it came time for the last dance before either of them fully comprehended it. Mistress Rhiannon did, however, scurry over to the conductor and make a request. Kavlis looked at her curiously when she returned, and then he heard the opening of notes of the nuegh’ra begin again.

They danced with the same passion they had displayed before. As the crowd had thinned out considerably, they were the object of much attention as they twirled and looped across the ballroom floor. They drew closer and closer to each other even as their feet stepped through the dance. As it closed, they were practically glued together and as the song ended its final flourish, Mistress Rhiannon and Kavlis completed the lovers’ embrace, kissing gently.

Off to the side, I saw that Mistress Milya and Master Selu were similarly observing the pair.

“Well, dear, looks like our talk with Kavlis Burke may be of a slightly different nature than you expected,” Master Selu said dryly to his wife.

“That’s what I was afraid of,” Mistress Milya replied. “Why couldn’t we have foreseen this?”

“Would we have wanted to stop it even if we could?” Master Selu asked. “Look at her, Milya. She’s happy.”

“She will have to leave everything behind if she goes through with this,” Mistress Milya said. “Even us. I don’t who it will be harder for&mdash;her or us.”

“Sometimes, we have to let go of the things we love,” Master Selu said huskily.

With that, they turned and departed. The last dance was over and all the couples dispersed slowly to go their separate ways. Kavlis and Mistress Rhiannon bid each other a heartfelt goodnight at Mistress Jasika’s residence, spending several minutes holding each other quietly before they released to part ways for the evening. I then conveyed Kavlis Burke back to the gatehouse to pick up his clothes.

“Here, J7, here’s the fancy clothes,” he told me.

“They are yours, sir,” I told him. “A gift.”

He smiled.

“What would I use them for?”

“If I may be so bold, they are fit for a wedding. All you need is the necksash, which is traditionally made by the beloved for her groom anyway,” I informed him.

“I see,” he said. “Tell Rhinny thanks for me.”

He was silent for the rest of the trip back to his residence, no doubt having much to contemplate, and I saw no reason to interrupt the introspection of a man to whom I did not owe service.

The promised talk between Kavlis Burke and Mistress Rhiannon and her parents did not happen the next day, due to a violent storm that blew up, preventing travel out of the refuge. In fact, it was a whole week before they could see each other again. When the storm dissipated, it was me who was sent out to Kavlis Burke’s residence to fetch him back to the refuge. Again, he followed all of the security precautions and arrived at Mistress Rhiannon’s residence without incident, though this time dressed like an average farmer instead of formally.

I am aware that he is standing outside in the receiving hall now, waiting with Mistress Rhiannon for you to call him in. However, before you saw him and spoke with him regarding Mistress Rhiannon, I wanted to provide my own account. I apologize for its length—I am not normally this wordy, but it is my opinion that Mistress Rhiannon and Kavlis Burke are, as Humans call it, “right for each other.” I have been her companion for over a year now, and she has never been happier than when she has been with Kavlis Burke. Whatever obstacles they face, I believe they will face them together. All I ask is that you look through her eyes before you decide your daughter’s fate.

With that, J7-A0 bowed slightly, turned, and walked out of the room where Selu, Milya, along with Selu’s brother Sarth and his wife Cassi were sitting for their planned talk with Kavlis Burke and Rhiannon.

“Well,” Sarth said. “I’m glad someone caught us up with all this news. First I heard of it was that Rhiannon was taking an Outsider to the Harvest Ball, and now she’s getting married.”

“I’m just happy for her,” Cassi exclaimed excitedly. “She’s been restless for so long.”

“Sarth, I hold you personally responsible for this,” Selu glowered in mock anger. “You reprogrammed J7-A0 to be Rhiannon’s companion, and now he’s taking her side with this Outsider instead of reporting that they were meeting with us before all this ever happened.”

“You know, if half of what he said is true, I don’t regret it at all,” Sarth said. “Especially because I know the real reason you’re upset is because you’re faced with the idea of your daughter leaving you.”

“Of course we’re upset,” Milya interjected. “This is all so sudden for us, and unexpected. In a week, my little girl goes from single to engaged, as far as we knew.”

“You’re not thinking of stopping her, are you?” Cassi asked concernedly.

“No,” Selu replied thickly. “Not after seeing her last night, how happy she was. Not after hearing what J7 had to say, even if it took him two blasted hours to tell. How could any father deny his child true happiness like that?”

“You’ll give your consent to let them marry?” Sarth inquired, surprised at Selu’s easy acquiescence.

“With some key conditions, yes,” Selu said. “It will grieve us to let her go, but that was her choice. Her destiny.”

“Then you might as well get it over with,” Sarth told him. “Let them know as soon as possible.”

“I suppose,” Selu replied resignedly. “I’ll be outside with Kavlis if you need me.”

“Do you want me to talk to Rhiannon?” Milya asked.

“No,” Selu said. “I’ll talk to both of them.”

With that, he stepped outside to the receiving hall where Rhiannon and Kavlis were sitting quietly, holding hands.

“Kavlis, let’s take a walk,” Selu told him.

It was not a suggestion he could refuse, so the farmer followed the elder Jedi outside.

“I hear you want to marry my daughter,” he said. “You didn’t come to me about it first.”

“I know,” Kavlis replied earnestly. “And I’m sorry. Did you also hear that I wouldn’t marry your daughter without your permission?”

“I did,” Selu said. “That’s why you’re not waking up at your farm with no memory of the past forty hours.”

“So. . . where do we stand?” Kavlis asked straight-forwardly. “Do I have your blessing?”

“Possibly,” Selu answered cryptically. “Why do you want to marry her?”

Kavlis Burke was taken aback by the question, but he answered sincerely.

“Because I love her, sir,” he said. “My life has been filled with more happiness since I met her. She’s so innocent, so hopeful about life. I know a lot of cynics, but she’s not one of them. If everyone inside is like her, it’s no wonder that’s there’s a lot of jealous mutterings about how good you all have it in here.”

“Truth is, she is very special and very dear to me,” Selu said. “She is my daughter and I would rather die a thousand deaths than see her hurt in any way, nor give up everything she has now for anything less than the man who will be faithful to her for eternity and love her more than himself.”

“Sir, you may not agree right now, but I think I am that man,” Kavlis told him.

“That remains to be seen,” Selu told him evenly. “What if I told you that you had to live inside the refuge to marry her?”

“I would tell you that, with all due respect, that’s Rhinny’s decision, sir,” he said. “She’s an adult and she can pick where she wants to live. I tried to tell her that she couldn’t give up all of this for me and she told me she wouldn’t hear of it.”

Selu laughed.

“Well, I’m glad to see you still have your will, Kavlis,” he said. “That’s a good answer, and it’s true, too.”

Then he sobered up again, turning to face Kavlis directly.

“I meant what I said about my daughter earlier,” he said. “I love her, and to lose her like this will hurt me, but not nearly as much as it will hurt her if you’re not the man she thinks you are.”

“I won’t disappoint her,” Kavlis insisted. “Not in the long haul, not in the things that matter most.”

“I’d like to believe you,” Selu replied. “But it’s going to take more than sincerity to convince me.”

“Whatever it is to make me worthy of marrying Rhinny in your eyes, I’ll do it,” Kavlis told him firmly. “My mind is made up in that matter.”

“Don’t see her for a year,” Selu replied abruptly.

“What?” Kavlis asked, shocked by Selu’s answer.

“How are you fixed to support a wife right now, Kavlis?” Selu asked him. “Do you have the means, the house?”

Kavlis considered the matter.

“Well. . . not really,” Kavlis admitted. “We could make it work, but it’d be pretty hard.”

“That’s an honest answer,” Selu said. “If you love Rhiannon and you do want to provide for her, take a year off from seeing or talking to her. Make yourself a living and a home that can support her first, then come back if you still love her. If you do your part to provide for her and you still love her this much a year from now, you will have my blessing.”

“Is that your deal?” Kavlis asked.

“That’s it,” Selu said. “I’ll give you an encrypted comlink that you can call me on in a year.”

Kavlis pondered the decision for a moment, then put his hand out.

“I accept, sir,” he said. “I will see you in a year.”

Selu shook his hand.

“We’ll see,” came the reply. “Wait here.”

Then the elder Jedi went back inside the house. He found Rhiannon sitting at the table waiting anxiously for the return of the two men.

“Where’s Kavlis?” she asked.

“He’s outside,” Selu told her. “Let’s go to your room and talk.”

Silently, Rhiannon stood and went to her room with Selu following closely behind. Once they were upstairs, he closed the door behind them and sat beside her on her bed.

“What did you tell Kavlis?” she asked him. “What took you so long to call him?”

“Let’s just say that I got a third-party account,” Selu said dryly. “J7 told us everything.”

“What?! Why?” Rhiannon asked.

“Calm down, dear,” Selu said. “He’s on your side, even if it took him two hours to tell us everything.”

“So what did you tell Kavlis?” Rhiannon repeated.

“I told him that he cannot marry you&mdash;not yet,” Selu said.

“Why?” Rhiannon asked imploringly. “I don’t understand.”

“He needs to prove himself first,” Selu replied. “Darling, I love you and I could never watch you get hurt.”

“How do you want him to prove himself?” Rhiannon asked.

“He has to spend a year away from you, no contact at all. Not through Jasika, not through J7, nothing,” Selu said. “He needs to work to provide for you and to think over how much he loves you. If he comes back and loves you just as much as he does now, you both will have our blessing.”

“A year? That’s a long time!” Rhiannon protested.

“I know,” Selu said. “He has to be committed to you if I’m going to let him take you away.”

“I’ll miss him,” Rhiannon replied sadly. “Does it have to be this way?”

“Yes,” Selu told her soothingly as he gently stroked her cheek. “Rhiannon, you are the light of your mother’s and my life. You are the bright shining star of our lives and we love you so much. We’re happy that you’ve found love, but we want to make sure that it’s lasting love. Do you trust us that this is a wise choice? Do you love us, too?”

“I love you, Dad,” she said, falling into his arms as tears began streaming down her cheeks. “But I love Kavlis, too.”

“I know you do, darling,” Selu told her softly as he held her. “I know.”

He held her silently as she wept for some time. Finally, she straightened up.

“I can handle it, Dad,” she said, wiping the tears away. “I can let him go, because I know he’ll come back for me.”

Selu reached up and smoothed back a stray strand of hair from her face.

“Okay, Rhiannon,” he said. “You might want to straighten up and say your goodbyes now. He’s outside waiting for you.”

“Yes, Dad,” she replied, then hugged him one last time. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, darling,” he said.

Then she dried her eyes, fixed her hair, and went outside to meet Kavlis Burke. As she closed the door behind her, he turned to face her.

“Your father talked to you?” he asked.

She nodded as he took her hands in his.

“Then you know we won’t see each other for a year. Not even in passing,” he said. “Can you handle that?”

“I will miss you,” she said. “But it will only make your return even more exciting.”

“Then you know how I’ll be feelin’,” he said plainly. “I’ll come back for you, Rhinny, and I’ll be the man that your father demands I be, the man that you want. I love you that much.”

“Until then?” she offered.

“Until then, you’ll need something to remember me by,” he said.

He released her hands, leaving something behind&mdash;the good-luck charm bird.

“The day I met you was the second-luckiest day of my life,” he said. “The day you agreed to marry me was the luckiest. I don’t need this anymore.”

“I’ll think of you whenever I see it,” she said.

“And I’ll think of you every time I see that fancy get-up in my closet.”

She smiled at him.

“Kavlis,” she said, leaning toward him. “I think I might need something else to remember you by. Kiss me.”

“Kiss you?” he asked as he too leaned towards her.

“Remember,” she told him as his lips brushed hers. “It has to last a year.”

Cupping her face in his hand, he drew her to him and kissed her firmly. Wrapping his other arm around her, he pulled her closer to him, prolonging the kiss as long as possible, with a desperation and passion of two lovers knowing they will soon be separated and so injecting all of their affection and love into that one kiss, because it could be their last. When, finally, cruel fate forced them to separate, Kavlis was still staring deep into Rhiannon’s eyes.

“Was that good enough?” he asked breathily.

“It’ll do,” she said with a smile. “Come back in a year and we’ll try again.”

“I’ll be back, Rhinny,” he said. “Wait for me.”

“I will,” she promised.

With that, he headed off to the speeder where Morgedh clan Kel’nerh was waiting for him to escort him back out of the refuge.
 * One year, one month later

Rhiannon Kraen stood out over the balcony of her parent’s house, feeling the sunbeams play across her face, feeling the wind rustle her hair. It had been four weeks since Jasika had brought a message from Kavlis, telling her that he needed one more month to complete his preparations and finish a late harvest. She had been filled with dread at the news, and a dire fear of her love not returning had made her despair. What if he was stalling while he waited for her love to cool? What if he had forgotten her? Her own feelings for him hadn’t diminished at all; if anything, the prolonged absence had only intensified them. While her parents hadn’t let her start wedding plans yet, she had already woven the traditional bridegroom’s necksash for him. If he didn’t come for her soon, she didn’t know what she would do. She had fully expected Kavlis to make good on his promise&mdash;her world would end if he didn’t. Yet, here it was a month after the agreed deadline, and he hadn’t been seen. Though her parents and Jasika had tried to comfort her, Rhiannon had been inconsolable, constantly worrying for days on end.

It was late afternoon and even as she heard the speeder, at first she thought that it was her parents returning from work. However, a moment’s careful listening told her that the sound of the repulsorlifts was wrong. She hurried down to the front door, wondering if it was one of her relatives even as the speeder pulled up in front of the house. She opened the door only to be greeted by a voice she hadn’t heard in thirteen months.

“Rhinny! How’s the wedding planning coming?” Kavlis Burke asked.

She ran forward, guided by the sound of his voice, and threw herself into his arms, squeezing him as tightly as she could.

“You came back for me!” she whispered into his ear. “You came back for me!”

“Of course I did,” he told her. “I love you, Rhinny. You didn’t forget that, did you?”

“Almost,” she said worriedly. “Our last kiss expired a month ago.”

“Really? Well, we’ll just have to make up for lost time,” he said with a smile.

With that, he leaned in to kiss her with all the affection and passion that she had missed in the months that he’d been gone, and Rhiannon knew there would never be anything better than being in the loving embrace of Kavlis Burke. This was love.