Redemption's Price: A Star Wars Story

Chapter 17

"Order!" Lady Maera shouted as she stood and rang the gong. "There shall be some decorum in this court!"

The room full of that had been in uproar quieted down. On on a holograph stood an image of Kaider as she had looked when she was an Inquisator. As I sat in my appointed place, I knew that they prepared to bring some the witnesses to speak of some of Kaider's more personal crimes, if one could even truly say they were personal. However, as I watched an equerry arrived out our booth and handed me a dater pad.

Reading that it was addressed to Senator Organa, I lent forward and relayed the pad to her.

~~~

There was a calmness in the Miziri Royal Consulate, although a cool day, Ambassador Hirsi requested that her audience room be left to air, allowing a gentle breeze waft the large lase curtains. She waited for the Alderaanian Princess to arrive and by her side would stand someone Leia would know all too well.

"Sister Reva," Hirsi remarked as she watched the Princess' speeder arrive from the window. "Are you ready?"

Stepping to her place by her side, Reva wasnt sure. "I thought I would be. I should be, but sometimes at night I still see that scared little girl."

Hirsi understood. It didnt matter how much Reva had done to make penance for her time as an inquisiter, it was never enough. She wasnt that person anymore, she had chosen, with the help of an old master, to take the path to light.

It seemed that the two had been thinking together when their was a knock on the door. "Your Excellency, Her Royal Highness, Princess Leia of Alderaan is here upon your request."

"Thank you Raf, just give us a minute."

"Of course, ma'am."

~~~

"Why has this honour fallen to me?" Leia asked as we followed the Ambassador's Adjutant to what seemed to be the Ambassador's audience room.

"There is someone she wishes you to meet." He replied with a kind but professional smile.

As we entered the room, I watched as Ambassador Hirsi gave a respectful quirtsey and gave the young senator the greeting she deserved as a Princess. It was clear that she also knew Leia very well; greeting each other with a kiss on each cheak. "Thank you for agreeing to see me." The Ambassador remarked as she stepped back. "And I'm glad you brought Master Skou." She added giving me a respectful nod.

"Of course," Leia replied with a familiar warmth. "Your Adjutant suggested you wanted me to meet someone."

Looking to the closed door, Hirsis smiled. "I do, but first," She said as she stood. "I wanted to give you this." Turning she held an elegant yet simple locket. "Your father commissioned my sister to make it for you."

Taking the locket from Hirsi, Leia held back her emotion. "When, did he do this?"

"I was on Naboo visiting family when Alderaan was destroyed. I had planned on giving it to him..." Stopping mid sentence, Hirsi looked to see Leia open the Orichalc locket. Inside was an enamel portrait of the Alderaan Queen and Prince Consort, Leia's adoptive parents.

"You have no idea what this means to me." Leia replied with a grateful smile. Then turning to me she asked for help to put on the pendent.

Standing, Ambassador Hirsi summoned her Adjutant. "I have an idea." She said. "That is why I needed to give you advanced warning."

We looked to each other, confusion and worry in Leia's eyes. With a nod from the Ambassador, her Adjutant turned and opened the door, saying something in hushed tones. As Leia turned to see who would enter she covertly held my hand giving it a tight squeeze as a women entered the room.

~~~

Leia couldnt forget this face. She didnt realise she was holding her breath until the women knelt in front of her, lowering her head. "Your Highness," She said, her voice ragged. Her robes, resemble Maja's although blue and definitely Miziri inspired. Her hair in neat locs. It was clear things had changed but... Leia couldnt, no, didn't think about that.

"This is Reva, and I believe you two have met." Ambassador Hirsi remarked.

"Indeed." Leia replied as she looked into Reva's eyes. Allowing herself to reach out with the Force, she felt the sorrow and regret from Reva. Clutching the pendent she knew what her mother would say. The past does not dictate one's future. So extending her hand, Leia forced a smile. "It is good to see you Reva."

As she stood, Reva gave a pained look and hand on her stomach. "I'm sorry for what I did, or would have done to you."

Senator Organa couldn't forgive, not just yet, but perhaps, no, would forgive in the future. Turning to Ambassador Hirsi, she gave a demure smile. She understood, that the pendent was to be a gift and warning.

"I had hoped to give it to you in a better way," Hirsi remarked as she looked at Leia's new necklace. "But, Reva insisted, you know."

Leia's expression said everything. Where she had arrived relatively relaxed, there was a formality in her every movement. "I will need to meditate on this." She said as she looked to Reva and then Ambassador Hirsi.

~~~

Sitting in the speeder, I stayed silent as I watched Leia. Closing her eyes, she reached for the locket. "I never thought I would have to see her again."

"She did the right thing in warning you." I replied as the senator looked out the window at the zooming landscape.

"Perhaps," Leia replied with a smile. "I should be happy. That Reva returned to the light. That's what Luke would say." Then looking at me, she shook her head. "I used to think he was the last Jedi. I've been wrong about many things."

Arriving home, she made her way to her office so she could call her husband. Looking at my watch, I decided to walk to the Legislative Assembly. By the time I got there, Reva was on the stand. She was, Ambassador Hirsi had promised, an expert witness. She told of how as a child, she had witnessed the Jedi purge in the temple, how she had 'survived', of her mission to take revenge on Darth Vader and how as a fifteen-year-old, she was required to break the children of the Inquisitors captured and tortured. "Each child reminded me of my fallen brothers and sisters; I had failed them in my own fall."

"And what can you tell us of Kaider?" One of the judges asked as everyone listened intently.

"She was a child, and there was so much spirit in her." Reva replied clearly.

"Did you aid in her torture?"

"No, I did not. That is the job of the Inquisitor who had reaped the hunt." Pausing, it was clear she remembered everything. "Yet frequently, the younglings were required to watch."

Listening, I remembered Kaider telling me of this. She described a moment when she was taken by another child and shown the Jedi and younglings encased in amber. You cannot help them. She was told firmly. Reva had told the truth, even when it incriminated her. She was ready to sacrifice herself for the truth of the horrors of the Inquisitors to be told openly. It was an institution at the heart of the Empire so when she was arrested he didn't run or try to fight her way out. She simply let it happen.

Looking at the Miziri delegate pod, I saw it empty.