The Countess ━ OBI-WAN KENOBI

Chapter Six

The main hall unveiled itself in a grand spectacle of opulence and history. Towering columns adorned with intricate carvings framed the space, leading the eye upward to a vaulted ceiling adorned with faded murals depicting the region's storied past. The air in the hall was thick with the scent of aged wood and polished marble. Elaborate tapestries lined the walls, telling tales of battles and triumphs long past. A massive chandelier hung from the ceiling, casting a warm glow over the room and reflecting off the polished marble floor below.

At the far end of the hall, a grand throne sat atop a raised dais, where Count Dooku held court and where he stood now, looking towards Leilani. "I was not expecting to see you so soon," he commented, as she stopped and stood in front of the platform. "Ah, and I see that you have finally crafted your new lightsaber. Most impressive."

"Indeed—"

"But that is not why you are here," he said slowly, meditatively. "Nor to discuss politics with my own General."

She took another, hesitant step forward, her right hand hovering over the lightsaber secured to her hip. "You're right."

His scrutinising gaze focused on her hand. "You do not intend to end my life, do you?"

"We both understand that I couldn't," she replied, her features subtly twitching in the ambient light. "I couldn't commit such an act... not like you did."

The confession of her acknowledgment of truth emerged with a chilling detachment, each word falling from her lips like shards of ice. Her demeanour remained stoic, betraying little emotion as she confronted the reality before her. Even her voice, usually warm and resonant, darkened for a fleeting moment.

He took a lengthy pause before responding again. "You...know." Recognition struck him with a force that seemed almost greater than witnessing the disgust, the unadulterated repugnance in his sister's eyes for the first time. Leilani had always regarded him with eyes aglow, once idolising the man, his demeanour, his strategies. This new sentiment, this disdain, felt alien to both of them.

"And I have hoped for it to be false, for my visions to deceive me...but you really did it—"

Dooku remained silent, as he stepped down from the dais. She too, took a step back.

"Why? How could you—. You are better than this, Dooku, so much better. You have saved me from our father's influence and abuse. You've got me out of the cell I've been and raised me like your own daughter; even though we are merely half-siblings," she stopped for a moment, looking at him, searching for his eyes. "For what? Only to murder my own Master? Lure me to the dark side?"

Dooku lifted an eyebrow. "That is what you take me for?"

"I don't know you anymore." Horror squeezed her voice down to a whisper.

"I only want to bring peace and justice to the galaxy," he sighed. "The Jedi failed and fails everyday; they serve a corrupt Senate blindly that they are supposed to represent."

"And I have agreed with you on that so many times before—"

"No matter what we do or try to achieve, they will always stop us. I have tried to warn them against it, make them see the truth. But the Council is keeping us back...they do not let you see the picture as a whole."

"Dooku—"

"I desire to serve the Empire of the Man, Leilani. To end corruption, to bring justice to all humans and species, not only the noble and the wealthy, like so many do. And that is what I have been promised."

He turned to see her again. His eyes full of flame.

"And for that, you became weak, you let the dark side lure you in — no control, but blindness. You've let someone manipulate you, make you think that something like that can be achieved," she tried to reason. "You are a puppet in someone's game, Dooku. They are playing with you while you betray everyone and everything that you hold close. How can you not see it?"