The Legend of the Jedi Queen

12. Sins of the Father

When Nellith came to, she was dangling from the safety restraints. The ship had planted its nose in the snowy ground, and she could smell smoke. She used the Force to push the release button, instead of fumbling with it, and dropped into the snow.

She now saw her mother, barely caught by the restraints but somewhat slumped over the control panel. There were cuts all over her face, and she didn't seem to be conscious.

"Mum!" Nellith pressed the release buttons on her restraints and caught Rey before setting her down gently on the ground. She felt like a small child, shaking her mother's shoulder.

"Mum, wake up! Wake up! Please, wake up!" Nellith's pleading rose to a shout.

"Shh!"

Nellith turned to see Chewbacca, Tallis, Sam, and Amilyn standing over her.

"Come on, help me, someone's gotta have a medpack," Nellith said.m

"I already checked,"'Tallis said. "The medbay pretty much folded on itself. I couldn't look around."

"Gods, the ship!" Nellith turned and stood. Parts of the Falcon had fallen off, like the gunner's turrets and parts had folded in because they hit the glacier formations. The Falcon was wrecked.

"My home," Nellith murmured, stumbling backwards. Tallis caught her by the arm.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"We need to get moving," Amilyn said, fumbling with the clasp of her cape. "Someone probably heard your yelling and saw us crash. The First Order will want to know what they caught."

"I'm not sure if I can lift her—" Nellith stopped. She felt a presence that was familiar, yet something about it was so different, so cold, that she couldn't place where she had felt it before.

"Someone's coming," Nellith murmured.

"I feel it too," Tallis said. He frowned. "It cuts like a knife."

Nellith turned to see a dark figure leading a group of others dressed like him towards the ship. Ignited were fiery red blades of varying hilts in the hands of the dark group.

"Oh, Gods," Nellith whispered, and she pulled her lightsaber off her belt and pressed the button. Her violet blade ignited as the leader approached.

"Kylo Ren," Sam said, his voice barely louder than a breath.

Nellith had heard that name before, but had never seen a face attached to it. He was the Supreme Leader that had succeeded Snoke when her parents killed him. Rey had barely mentioned Kylo Ren, as if he were a footnote in history. Now she was face to face with him.

He had a scar under his eye in the same place as her father, and had dark hair styled in curls that framed his face. There was something about him that was familiar to Nellith, yet so cold. . .

Kylo Ren only surveyed the group for a second before his eyes fell on Nellith and Rey. He rushed over to Rey, or would have before Nellith used her blade to guard her unconscious mother.

"Stay back!" Nellith ordered. "I won't let you hurt her."

The Supreme Leader looked confused. "Nellith. . . I would never hurt your mother."

"How do you know my name, and that she's my mum?" Nellith's voice rose in panic, as a calm logic of sorts seemed to rise into the back of her mind. But no, it couldn't be true, it wasn't true—

"Nellith, I would have thought you would have recognized me," Kylo Ren said. In his hazel eyes, there was a flicker of Ben Solo. "I'm your father."

Nellith nearly stumbled and fell, but managed to keep her balance just in time. She dropped her lightsaber in shock as it clicked off. The world around her was a blur of colors, and nothing seemed to matter except for who was in front of her.

She shook her head. "That's not true. My father was Ben Solo. He was a good man, Mum said you were a good man!"

"She was an optimist," Kylo said. "And she once did not think that. I can explain everything Nellith— but you need to let me—"

"I-I can't believe this," Nellith said, looking to Rey, to the Falcon, and to her father, who was more terrible than she was ever told. She took a few shaky steps back, and then, suddenly, she bolted off into the ice caves.

She didn't care about anything, just that she had to get away from there, get away from everyone and everything. It wasn't until she tripped and fell sprawling into the snow that she realized how far she had gone.

There was silence except for the howling wind. Then Nellith heard footsteps. Bracing herself, Nellith lay there, not sure if she wanted to try and run or if she wanted to hide from whatever First Order patrol was waiting for her.

Before she could make a decision, Tallis appeared into the clearing. He was red in the face and out-of-breath, but Nellith was happier than she ever had been to see him.

"Tallis," she breathed as he stepped over to her. Despite being tired and out-of-breath, he smiled at her like she was the moon rising over the horizon like the pale pink one was right over the clearing.

"You're okay," he said, as she took it. He helped her up to her feet. "We need to get back to your father, he—"

"Is a liar!" Nellith snapped. "He lied to me my entire life, he told me—"

"A truth from a certain point of view," Tallis said calmly.

"You're defending him?" Nellith didn't know what to say or do, but she felt as if all the ground was falling around her, like the air had been knocked out of her. Before she could back away, Tallis placed his hands on her upper arms, his grip firm yet gentle.

"No, but I think you should give him a chance," Tallis said. "I never knew my father. You've got a chance to know yours. And I think that Kylo Ren, Ben Solo, whatever you want to call him, does, for all his faults, care about you."

"I just don't see why Mum couldn't have told me the truth," Nellith said. "Or Dad. I would've known why it was such a big deal, why I couldn't tell anyone the truth. If I'd known—"

"But your parents couldn't have known that," Tallis said. "They shouldn't have lied. But they were trying to protect you, and they didn't know who you might tell, and who might hurt you because of that."

"Like me."

Nellith and Tallis turned their heads to see a red-haired woman in a teal uniform entering the clearing with a stun gun and stormtroopers.

"This is perfect," she murmured. "This'll hurt a little."

Before either of them could react, all went black.