Promises Page 3

death. Second, if you do survive, Sliven will remain the leader of our

  tribe.

  "There are many of us who do not wish to follow Sliven. Years ago he

  showed his weakness. He brought an outsider into our tribe, one who was a

  child and could not add to our strength. If you survive, you will prove

  that Sliven was right, that you did grow into an adult member of our tribe.

  If that is the case, Sliven will continue to lead us. If not, he will die,

  for that is the promise he made."

  Tionne paused.

  "You knew this," Tahiri said in a flat voice as she turned toward

  Sliven. "You made this promise and never told me about it. All my life you

  taught me how to survive in the desert, and I thought you taught me as your

  own, as one you cared for, maybe even loved. But you taught me so that one

  day I could fulfill a promise you made without my permission-a promise that

  might end my life or save your own."

  Sliven was silent.

  "What did he promise?" Tahiri quietly asked Vexa.

  As Vexa spoke, Tionne translated for Anakin.

  "You will be taken deep into the Dune Sea, which borders the Jundland

  Wastes. It is the place you were found, a desolate place not often visited

  by Sand People. You will be left there without food or water, alone-or if

  you prefer, with the boy. I suggest you go alone-there is some chance that

  your skills may enable you to survive, but the boy is not from Tatooine,

  and he will be a burden to you. You willl be left to find your way back to

  this tribe. To do so will mean using your strength and wits to find your

  way safely through the Dune Sea, across the mountains and the canyons of

  the Jundland Wastes, and then through the harsh, hot desert. "You have one

  week. During that time we will remain in this exact spot. If you do not

  return to the tribe in that time, we will know that you have either been

  captured by enemies or have not survived. Whatever, if you return to the

  tribe later than seven days from your departure, you will also have failed

  to fulfill the terms of the promise. But Tahiri-you do not have to do this.

  "

  Tahiri thought for a moment, then spoke.

  "What happens if I don't?" she asked.

  Tionne gave Tahiri an incredulous look. How could the child even

  consider agreeing to such a thing? If Luke Skywalker had known that this

  was why Sliven had asked that she be returned, he would never have allowed

  Tahiri to go back to Tatooine, Tionne thought. And there was no way she

  would allow the child to fulfill Sliven's promise. Tahiri's safety was

  Tionne's responsibility.

  "What happens?" Tahiri asked again. This time Sliven slowly answered

  in Basic.

  "You will be returned to your ship," Sliven said. "And then shuttled

  back to the Jedi academy."

  "And you'll be put to death," Tahiri said more to the tribe than to

  Sliven.

  Sliven nodded.

  "Why should I attempt to fulfill the promise?" Tahiri asked Sliven as

  she turned to face him. Her green eyes glowered from beneath ash blonde

  brows.

  Sliven replied slowly. There was sadness in his voice.

  "Years ago I did what I did to save your life. You may not believe

  that right now, but there was no other way for me to persuade the tribe to

  accept you."

  "Even given that," Tahiri said quietly to Sliven, "why should I risk

  my life now so that you can live?"

  "Because even if you do die," Sliven replied, "you will do so with the

  knowledge you've sought all your life: the history of your family, of who

  you really are."

  Sliven moved forward, placed both hands on Tahiri's shoulders, and

  looked into her eyes with his own darkly goggled ones.

  "That, too, was part of the deal, little one. You could only be told

  your history if you accepted the promise."

  "Why?" Anakin interrupted. "That's cruel!"

  "I agree, Anakin, the bargain was cruel," Sliven said. "But telling

  Tahiri her history was to be a reward of sorts from the tribe if she ever

  chose to fulfill the promise. And not telling Tahiri until that point was a

  punishment to me from the tribe. They knew she would ask, and that I would

  want to tell her the truth. They knew it would be difficult for me to keep

  Tahiri's history from her-that it would take the strength they had begun to

  believe I lacked."

  "Tell me my history," Tahiri said with glowing eyes. "I accept the

  promise."

  "No!" Anakin cried out. But he couldn't stop the words from leaving

  Tahiri's mouth, any more than he could take them back once they had settled

  heavily on the sand.

  Anakin glowered at Tahiri. How could she agree to the deal Sliven had

  struck? How could she put her life in danger, and the lives of thousands

  inside the globe? Then he remembered what he'd told her on the shuttle only

  hours before. He'd said that no matter what happened on Tatooine, he would

  support her. Tahiri might beat the odds Vexa had spoken of and survive. If

  that happened, she'd finally know her history. And, perhaps that would give

  her the peace of mind she needed to forever leave the Raiders and return to

  the academy. Anakin stared off across the endless sea of sand.

  "I'm going with you," he finally said to Tahiri.

  "She might be right," Tahiri replied with a nod at Vexa. "I do know

  about survival in the desert - although I've never had to live without the

  tribe. You don't know anything. It's goring to be hard enough for me

  without you tagging along."

  "Stop, Tahiri," Anakin interrupted. "It doesn't matter what I know

  about the desert. I'm good with the Force and a great problem solver. We're

  a team, and that's the end of the discussion."

  Tahiri nodded, then turned to Sliven.

  "Wait," Tionne said in disbelief. "If you think I'm going to allow

  either of you to accept this deal, you're very wrong. Neither of you. are

  going into the desert, and that's final," she said sternly.

  "Tahiri's made her decision," Sliven interrupted. "Tionne, the tribe

  will not allow you to interfere. You will remain with us for one week. If

  the children don't return, we will take you back to the spot you've agreed

  to meet your shuttle pilot."

  Tionne's silver eyes clouded with worry. There were too many Raiders

  to fight.

  "Tahiri, please rethink your decision," she said with forced calm.

  "Tell me my history," Tahiri said to Sliven. Her voice was a command.

  Sliven nodded, then led Anakin and Tahiri away from the tribe. Tionne

  watched the three walk away. There was absolutely nothing she could do to

  stop them. Vexa called out from behind them.

  "She says we leave at dawn," Tahiri murmured.

  Anakin turned toward the female Raider. Although he couldn't see her

  face, he was sure that she was smirking. And he could sense that she was

  pleased by Tahiri's choice. There was an old hatred inside of her that

  Anakin could almost taste. When they had moved from the tribe, Sliven

  gestured for Tahiri and Anakin to sit. They settled across from the Raider

  in the cooling sands of the desert.

  Sliven pushed several tattered blankets to
ward the Jedi candidates.

  Now that the sun had set, a chilly breeze blew across the desert. Soon the

  frigid night that Tatooine was known for would wrap them in its cold hands.

  Anakin and Tahiri covered themselves with the blankets. Then, in a voice

  full of years, sand, and sorrow, the Raider began Tahiri's story.

  "Your father's name was Tryst Veila, your mother's was Cassa. They

  were moisture farmers on Tatooine," Sliven began. "As you know, we have

  always lived in uneasy peace with the farmers on this planet. Your parents

  were no different. No different, except that for a small moment in time I

  knew them-and cared for them. "Almost six years ago to this day, there was

  a battle between my tribe and a group of smugglers who were hiding from

  their enemies in the desert. These smugglers tried to steal our food and

  water, and I was hurt in the battle. When the fight ended, I had been

  separated from my tribe and wounded to the point of near death. I had lost

  my bantha and was traveling by foot in the desert when I saw your parents'

  farm. I had lost blood, and hadn't had water in several days. I crawled to

  their doorway. Your mother, Cassa, found me passed out several meters from

  her front door. She dragged me inside her home, peeled away my robes, and

  treated my wounds.

  "It took almost two months for me to heal. Several times in the first

  weeks I almost died, and I would have if not for Cassa and Tryst. They

  showed me kindness I never knew existed. "Tahiri, you were not quite three

  years old when your parents cared for me. I remember your mother running

  her fingers through your blonde hair, the same color as hers. And I can see

  your father, his laughing green eyes the shape of your own. And you-you

  were fascinated by my eye protectors and the cloth of my robes. You would

  crawl onto my sleeping pad and giggle as you traced my goggles or wound my

  tattered robe around your fingers. And it was from both you and your

  parents that I learned to understand and speak Basic. That is what later

  helped me to teach you the language of the Raiders.

  "It took two months for me to heal. During that time Tryst and Cassa

  cared for me. They fed me and tended my wounds, and allowed me to play with

  their daughter-a being full of light and happiness. When I was strong

  enough, I helped your mother with light chores. One day, I even fashioned

  Tryst his own gaderffii and taught him how to fight with it. He learned

  quickly-it was strange how he fought, sensing my movements almost before I

  made them, just as Cassa could feel my emotions without hearing me speak."

  "They were both sensitive to the Force," Anakin said quietly.

  Sliven nodded.

  "Since that time with Tryst and Cassa, I have often thought the same

  thing," he said. "For I saw the identical abilities in Tahiri that I

  noticed in her parents. That is why I wasn't surprised when the Jedi

  Master, Luke Skywalker, and the Jedi Knight, Tionne, asked to take Tahiri

  to their academy. I knew that the Force was in her blood-and I let her go

  with the Jedi because I couldn't deny her that tie with her parents."

  Sliven turned back to Tahiri and paused before he began again. Anakin

  could sense that the Raider was in pain. Tahiri leaned forward, caught by

  his words.

  "As I said, I taught your father how to fight with the gaderffii. Soon

  he could beat me without even trying. And it wasn't because I was still

  wounded-in those months with your parents I had regained most of my

  strength. My hesitation to leave is one of the reasons that Cassa and Tryst

  were killed. You see, I didn't know that my tribe was still searching for

  me. But one of the wounded had seen me trudge away from the battle. And it

  is my people's way to search for a wounded leader before they name another.

  "The morning my tribe found me, Tryst and I were sparring with our

  gaderffii. He was winning, of course-I can still hear your mother's

  laughter as she watched us. It was a moment of happiness, being there with

  them. And then the air was filled with battle cries. Moments later your

  parents were dead. My tribe had thought that I was being attacked, and they

  had struck to save my life.

  "I remember standing there and hearing your shrill cry from inside the

  farmhouse. It was almost as if you knew, as if you felt. your parents'

  death. I raced inside and picked you up. Vexa followed me. `Leave her to

  die,' she instructed. `You are back with your tribe now.' And that is why I

  made the bargain. I didn't make it, out of selfishness. It was the only way

  I knew to save you. And the years I spent training you to live with the

  tribe were not spent so that you could one day keep the promise and save my

  life. I taught you as a father...." Sliven's voice finally broke.

  "Finish," Anakin said softly to Sliven.

  The Raider began to speak again.

  "I made the bargain with my tribe that afternoon as we sat outside

  your farmhouse. We argued fiercely. `Leave her,' they said. `She is not one

  of us.' Vexa was driven half crazy by my idea of bringing you into the

  tribe. She said that I was weak, not fit to be a leader. But l couldn't

  leave you, not after your parents' kindness and my fondness for you. So I

  agreed to the terms of a promise Vexa thought up. You would live with us,

  during which time I would be responsible for you. When you were nine years

  old, the age when Raider children are considered full working members of

  the tribe, you would have to leave us or fulfill the promise to show you

  belonged.

  "If you refused, we planned to take you to Mos Eisley and leave you in

  the city. There, you'd have to find work, a family, or a friend to care for

  you. The chances of that would have been slim. I was secretly relieved when

  you were invited to the Jedi academy. That meant that you would have

  another choice if you decided that the deal I struck was too difficult to

  accept. If you chose to honor the promise, I would be allowed to tell you

  your history. If you did not survive, or refused the bargain, I would give

  up my life.

  "Before we left the farmhouse, I made a thick paste and pressed

  Cassa's and Tryst's thumbs into it to make a print. When the paste set, I

  carved it into a pendant and placed it on a strip of leather. It was the

  only way I could give you something of your parents.

  "I knew that this moment would come. That you would learn that I was

  the cause of your parents ' death, and that I made a promise to save your

  life, which bought you six more years, but years of not knowing your own

  history. Still, I don't think I could ever have prepared myself for the

  hatred you must feel for me. Perhaps I am as weak as Vexa believes me to

  be, after all."

  Tahiri studied the Raider who had been a father to her, the only

  father she remembered. She thought of her parents, whom she'd just learned

  had been very much in love, and who had died because of a misunderstanding.

  Her fingers caressed the thumbprints of her pendant, and then she spoke.

  "I don't hate you, Sliven," Tahiri began. "You didn't strike my

  parents down. And those who did thought they were p
rotecting you. My

  parents cared for you because they chose to, just as you chose to care for

  me. And I know now that you cared," Tahiri added. "One other thing: Caring

  doesn't make you weak-it's what made my parents ' love strong, and what

  makes my friendship with Anakin strong." Tahiri paused to understand the

  jumble of her thoughts before she continued. "What I choose to do now isn't

  on your shoulders, Sliven," Tahiri stated. "You bought me my life, and now

  what I do with that life is my decision. I've accepted, not because I had

  to, but because I know it's the right thing for me to do. I owe you thanks

  for my life, and for being the man I know as my father. And if I survive, I

  want your thumbprint in a pendant next to those of my parents."

  Anakin met his friend's gaze. He was surprised by her ability to

  understand Sliven's motives. There was no anger in her voice, only

  acceptance and peace. Sliven rose and nodded at Tahiri before he left the

  two Jedi candidates alone. It was clear that Tahiri had deeply moved him.

  Anakin reached over and touched Tahiri's shoulder as he watched crystal

  tears run slowly down her face. They were sad tears, but at the same time

  they were good. Tahiri now knew who she was, and in the knowing she was

  free to become a Jedi Knight, if she chose.

  Massive hands gripped the front of Anakin's Jedi academy jumpsuit and

  hauled him to his feet. He shook his grogginess off like a bad dream and

  prepared to fight. Tahiri, too, was ripped to a standing position. Anakin's

  ice blue eyes swept over the situation. They were surrounded by Raiders,