The Legend of the Jedi Queen

46. Shifting Faces

Tallis and Nellith followed the adults into the lounge of the leaders. As soon as Tallis shut the door behind the last of them, Rose exploded.

"Alright!" she shouted. "Who gave the order? Who used Kaydel's code to tell me to make that?"

"Why didn't you stand up against what you thought might be your Chancellor and not build an invincible Death Star?" Ben shouted.

"I trusted Kaydel!" Rose roared, and even Ben, as much as he towered over her, seemed to waver. She looked to the other leaders of the New Republic delegation, and locked eyes on one delegate in particular. "I know which one of you did it!"

"What?" Nellith cried. "That quickly?"

"Yes," Rose said, her voice softer and childlike. "It can't have been Finn or Rey, neither of you would ever. . . It's not any of the Jedi, they wouldn't have the codes, so Rowley, Jaina, and Kiernan couldn't have done it, Mitaka isn't a good enough encryptor, Ben renounced evil when Nellith was born and wouldn't remake the thing that defined the most evil part of his life, and we now know Kaydel didn't do it."

The impact of that sank in, in particular as Amilyn turned to her parents.

Rose practically charged at Poe. "You sent the signal! You ordered that ship to be built!"

Poe didn't try to deny it, but he did back away, and fell into a table, breaking it, and falling to his feet.

Rose pulled her taser off her belt, and it glowed blue as it charged up. "Why did you do it? You had your own signal, I would've believed you—"

"Would you, Rose?" Poe demanded. "We all know you think I've made a lot of mistakes—"

"Because you have!" Rose interjected. "But I still would've done whatever you asked, Poe, because I trusted you!"

"Why did you even want a Death Star ship?" Finn asked, looking betrayed by his old friend. "Remember how it felt when we thought we were all going to die because of that—"

"I don't need the lecture," Poe said, holding a hand up as he scrambled to his feet. Rose raised her taser over her head, and Poe grabbed her wrist, locking the two in a power struggle.

"I thought it was for something good! I should've listened to my gut!" Rose shouted.

"It is! The plan was to blow up Corellia if the fighting continued," Poe protested.

Tallis's eyebrows knitted together, and his fingers curled into fists. "Corellia is not going to be Alderaan and the Hosnian System!"

"Kid, this war has got to end, and it's where we can destroy the Second Order once and for all!" Poe shouted as he got the upper hand, and the taser went flying into a crystal wall, causing the taser to bounce off harmlessly.

"It's not gonna be Corellia," Tallis repeated, reaching for his lightsaber.

"No!" Nellith protested quickly, placing her hand on the hilt of his lightsaber, over his hand. His eyes met hers. "More violence isn't going to solve violence. The Second Order now knows about the Suncrusher. We have to make a vow at the next meeting to not ever use it, and to figure out how to destroy it."

"It's actually really simple," Rose said, looking eager to be talking mechanics rather than politics. "We have to dismantle it. I'll send the order to my workers as soon as I reach a terminal—"

"Wait on that Rose," Kaydel said, holding up a hand. She was looking straight at her husband. "We see if the Second Order will accept our vow. If they won't, then we keep it, because that means negotiations will never work."

"Speaking of which, what in the nine hells are you doing with Nellith?" Kiernan demanded. The elfin man looked livid. "We are Jedi, not power-hungry monarchs!"

"Same difference," Ben muttered.

"What was that?" Kiernan snapped.

"There's a reason for it," Rey said, holding her hands up to placate both. "Have you been seeing the visions?"

Oh no. Nellith felt the dread in her stomach again as she realized that the visions she and Tallis shared was what Rey was talking about. She wondered how far it went, who else saw it. She let go of Tallis's hand on his lightsaber,

"Of course," said Kiernan, Rowley, and Jaina at the same time.

"Then you know Nellith's place in the universe," Rey said.

"I don't," Nellith interjected, somewhat angrily.

Rey, Ben, and Jaina looked to her guiltily.

"This has been going on since before you were even born," Jaina began. "For years it's been sharpening, these visions, more detail every year. I know you have them too. We finally realized with Abeloth's arrival what it means."

"What does Abeloth have to do with it?" Nellith asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Abeloth was one of the Force Deities, which means her mythos is across the galaxy, and in the very nature of the Force," Rey answered. "In several of her myths, in particular the one about Centerpoint Station, there was a Throne of Balance somewhere in the galaxy. When someone sits on the Throne of Balance, they will decide the fate of the Force, resetting the balance."

"So my destiny is to sit on that throne and decide how the Force is going to work?" Nellith asked.

"We think so," Ben said. "We can't be sure, but that time is coming soon."

"So what happens now?" Nellith asked.

"You're meant to be a leader," Ben said, looking to Kaydel. "When you're eighteen, you will be in charge of helping set up the new government to unite the First Order and the New Republic, at the very least."

"I'm not ready for that," Nellith protested, taking a step back and accidentally banging herself into the door. "I'm okay."

"That's why we're going to train you to be a leader," Rey said. "But being a Jedi is the first step. It teaches many of the greatest lessons on how to be humble, how to be courageous— those are most important in leadership."

Kiernan still looked dismayed. "But you do realize how this looks, right?"

"The thought might've occurred," Ben said dryly.

"You're our last hope," Kaydel said grimly. "For peace."