Star Wars Republic Commando: Knight of Honor ✓

Chapter 41

Author's Note: If you have any tips writing tips, please feel free to comment.

As always, I continue to hope that I am doing justice to the spirit of Star Wars as well the respective authors and characters from which I borrow. Again, I gratefully accept constructive criticism as a means to help me develop my skills further as a writer.

There are no Mandalorian (Mando'a) words in this chapter. 

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Chapter 41

I could not manage to break through Commando Jas' barriers of silence, but his sentiments for Arlesse are noble. There is something very real and honest in his eyes, and I believe the observations from Jedi Paxa do not require further challenging. However, due to orders that come from an authority higher than our monarchy, he cannot stay long enough to have his intentions proven. Their distance would either make them stronger or tear them apart forever, and I think we should find a way – utilizing our laws – to let them attempt the bond that they wish to know. I believe such an experience will authenticate their intentions and show us just how serious they truly are.

Duchess Janelle Napith's report to King Vollan Psach after her interrogation of Jas

Tochin Moon II, 787 Days ABG

Arlesse took residence in her favorite hiding place. There was a small bench that leaned against the trunk of a large weeping orchid tree. When the tree was in bloom, she could hide beneath the long, thin branches as they scraped along the ground, reminding her of a yellow curtain. The orchids that were still closed in their early spring buds were braided throughout the yellow leaves but would emit a sweet aroma once they opened. Studying the unopened lavender blooms for a moment, Arlesse decided that they looked more like small speckles hastily dripped over a yellow canvas than actual flowers.

Leaning against the back of the bench now, Arlesse felt her eyes drift from the impending blossoms and looked to her empty hands, not concerned with the lack of a flimsi-plast novel in them this time. This time, she just wanted to be alone to deal with her emotional wounds. It wasn't the first time she felt them, but this time they hurt the most, and she knew that if she stayed in the palace, she would be too tempted to find Jas and try to convince him to make those aches stop.

Arlesse closed her eyes, taking in the faint scent of the early spring blossoms on the shrubs around her and mentally listened to Jas' voice still talking in her mind. Even as an imagined sound, his accent still shot through her chest and found her heart. Letting her imagination wander in the memories of the past couple days, she continued to feel the residual touch of his strong hands as they held her, and despite her tiny size she seemed to fit with him. She could still feel the touch of his lips as they lingered on hers, the prickly warmth of his unshaven skin and the gentleness of his strength never overpowering but tender and careful.

She fought against the sting her in eyes and the pain in her chest that threatened to drag her once again into the abyss of loneliness that she had known for her entire life. The more she thought about any of the men in court that she had once wanted to pursue, the more she found her thoughts returning to Jas.

Keeping her eyes closed for just a little longer, Arlesse could still picture his dark irises and how they gently looked upon her. Those brown orbs could see right into her emotional essence, and she had gladly laid her inner-self bare for him to know. He was the only man who ever learned the truth about her mother, and as Arlesse opened her eyes she realized that her fingers were upon the locket that forever hung around her neck.

Familiar sounding footsteps caught Arlesse's attention, and for the briefest of moments, she had thought that Jas had come to find her. Bringing her eyes up and trying to peer between the thin branches, Arlesse tried to find that recognizable silhouette of gray armor amidst the flowery shrubs. However, the man that emerged through the tree's curtain wasn't the Republic soldier she had foolishly hoped had returned to her. Her eyes skimmed over the identifiable form of the average-sized man who wore a dark blue outfit and the sash that identified him as the king of Tochin.