The Legend of the Jedi Queen

36. Stardust

The sun had not even risen above the forest the next morning when Nellith awoke to the transmission.

The Supreme Leader and his Empress request your presence at the breakfast nook.

Nellith checked the time stamp and realized she had ten minutes to get down there. She scrambled out of bed, and got dressed as quickly as she dared. She decided to just braid her hair back, rather than trying any elaborate hairstyles.

Besides, I bet Mum'll do my hair again during the trip, Nellith thought. She missed doing that with her mother. She grabbed her lightsaber and her pistol, and started walking down to the breakfast nook.

Vaguely she wondered if the other members of the envoy would be there, or if there would be just the Imperial Royal Family.

I guess I'll find out.

Nellith nearly strolled past it— she'd forgotten how it was nestled into the castle walls.

Once she had found it, she saw that it was just Ben and Rey there. No one else, not even Jaina was in the room.

"Am I in trouble?" Nellith asked as she sat down.

"No," Ben said quickly, exchanging a glance with Rey.

"Not at all," Rey assure her.

Nellith still felt uneasy, and looked down at her breakfast.

"It's time we talked about Tallis," Rey said.

"What about him?" The question came out more defensively than Nellith intended.

Ben and Rey exchanged another, more uneasy look.

"We don't want you to be worried just yet," Rey said. "But we've been having some visions for a very long time."

It was then that Nellith knew.

"It's a vision where he's standing beside me, and I'm on a throne, and he's wearing a spiked crown dripping with blood," Nellith said. "I have sketches of that vision."

"That's part of what we've seen," Ben said. "We've seen these visions since before you were born."

"So did Tallis's mother," Nellith said aloud, mostly to herself.

"What?"

Nellith snapped out of her own world, realizing her parents had heard that.

"How do you know this?" Ben asked.

"I mentioned the visions a few weeks ago," Nellith confessed. "I think he knows more than he lets on, and I told him that. He said once he sorted out his thoughts, he'd tell me the truth."

"Interesting," was all that Ben said.

"We're going to try and save him from that fate, we're trying as hard as we can," Rey said. "He hasn't made his choice yet. But be careful. If he goes down the dark path, it will involve you."

"I know," Nellith said. "I've known that ever since I started having the dreams."

Ben and Rey exchanged a look for the third time.

"Good, good," Ben said.

"We should probably eat quick," Rey said. "We've got to get on the Stardustrelatively fast."

"I feel like I've seen that name in Imperial Archives," Nellith said.

"It was the codename for the Death Star," Ben said.

"And for a Rebellion hero named Jyn Erso," Rey added.

"Wizard," Nellith said.

In the hangar, the other members of the envoy were waiting in front of the Stardust. A sleek command shuttle with multiple areas within, it looked comfortable and like something Nellith could spend months in.

"Let's board as quickly as possible," Ben ordered.

The envoy pulled their luggage and other items onboard the Stardust, and Jaina, Rey, and Ben took to the control panel in the front cockpit. Nellith chose a seat next to Tallis, and she noticed that Kieranan and Rowley had picked seats as far away from each other as they could possibly manage.

"Excited?" Nellith asked.

"Yeah," Tallis said.

She couldn't help but notice that no new streaks of silver and white had appeared in his dark hair since the events of Yavin IV.

"I've only been to Artorias once, but it was beautiful," Nellith said.

"I've heard that about Artorias," Tallis said.

"Hopefully we'll be able to come to some resolutions," Nellith said.

"But why would the Second Order agree to anything like this?" Tallis asked.

"Maybe they think they'll get what they want with the conference," Nellith said. "Or some semblance of it, anyway."

Tallis ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not the most optimistic about Andromeda Hux right now."

"You have every reason to be," Nellith said. "But it's a chance, so we need to spend it."

"Until every chance is spent," Tallis agreed.

Somehow, Nellith's hand initially found Tallis's.

"We're not handing you over to the Second Order," Nellith said. "Not unless that's what you want."

"Thanks," he said. Still, Nellith saw the worry there.

The Stardust then made its leap into hyperspace, on track to the peace conference.