I stared around myself, momentarily taken by the grandeur of the room we were in, and the richness of attire of its inhabitants. Then I shook my head, bringing myself back down to earth once again.

Keep your wits about you, Yaoksi ol' pirate! I berated myself. For while it seemed more and more that this imposing Sith was being completely truthful to us, there was still no way of knowing for certain.

And with Thoran out of the picture, we're kinda stuck, totally reliant upon their hospitality... which could change in an instant.

So I just stayed quiet awhile, watching while Aaron settled himself as best he could, and when someone came up to ask what we wanted I ordered meat and fruit, bread and wine. The waiter, or whatever he was called, bowed and disappeared into the gloom of this room's shadowed corners; at that I turned to Phalomir.

"Well... that's just great, you know!" I opened with, shaking my head.

"Here we come through some dire and devilish place, where all these little... things rip the hell out of Aaron and hull my poor ship; and now you're saying that something similar is possessing those two ladies...

"...and that the one, though human, is some kind of leader of yours?"

I paused in growing increduality.

"How in all the Fates did that come about? I mean, no one knows of these planets--!"

I cut myself off then, as a faint memory of something Galen had mentioned back when I was transporting her and Captain Danner to where they'd needed to go.

"This lady doesn't go by some kind of hi-falutin title of Graysith, does she?"

--------------------

...only to pause mid-motion as Yaoksi's final question caught his attention.

"Graysith," he repeated then, leaning forward a bit. "That was her, I've seen her before, a very long time ago..."

He trailed, remembering that day, remembering that Terrin had indicated that he'd contracted to work for the Sith in order to protect Galen and her child. Recalled how he'd been told of how the two sisters had been at more than just minor odds with each other for quite some time.

Aaron frowned thoughtfully, looking over to Phalomir. "You mentioned that everyone is on Degobah...

...although I don't know why. I sent a buddy of mine, a Shawn Petrolu, here before me to help me find my friends. Thoran mentioned him back on the Hornett, but you haven't. Is he with the others as well?" Aaron asked, falling silent then as drinks and some food arrived promptly. Placing a hand on the goblet of something green he'd been given, he began to pull it to his lips to take a drink...

...and paused with a frown as something Yaoksi had mentioned registered. "Hey, buddy," he said, turning to look at Yaoksi. "There were six of us when we got here. What happened to the Cricket?"

--------------------

"But you can't be a Sith! I'm standing right next to you and I barely sense any Force-sensitivity in you. I'm not well trained or probably too good but I could always tell if I was with another Force-sensitive being. And the Jedi would NOT do that! We would never... never. To destroy and hunt down a culture requires use of the Dark Side and that is forbidden to all Jedi. In signing on at the Praxeum we were told that any infraction of that type would be cause for immediate dismissal. WE were nearly wiped out by the Sith! Darth Vader helped his master take over the galaxy and be proclaimed Emperor. They KILLED ALL the Jedi except two."

Thea was practically yelling at this point. The suggestion that the Jedi could ever do anything so vicious.

"The worse part was that Vader had been a Jedi and turned traitor just like Shayla. He killed his master, just like Shayla caused the death of hers. If Master Skywalker hadn't managed to show him the error of his ways there would be NO Jedi left. And the galaxy would still be in the hands of a madman who used threats and death to control by fear!"

Thea paused a moment willing herself to soften her voice and calm down. "You can't be a Sith. If you were you'd have recognized me as a Jedi and I'd have a lightsaber through me now, unless Link was faster that is."

She stepped back really looking and taking in the face before her. She hadn't paid much attention to the features of those around her of yet and was struck with the strangeness of the servant's appearance, it was like nothing she had ever seen before.

--------------------

"Not Sith?" she asked Thea, utterly confused for a moment. "Force sensitive?"

She paused, a frown creasing her face as she struggled to make some kind of sense out of what the human girl was saying to her.

"Don't be silly; of course we're Sith; we've been Sith for, goodness, thousands and thousands of years. I mean, we've been us, living on our four planets: this one, K'eel Doba which is where the clan of the Warriors stays; Khar Delba, which is the home of the Sorcerer clan, Koris'ian, the place of the Armorer clan, and Korriban... the place of our dead."

She stopped, seeing her own confusion mirrored in Thea's eyes. Nonplused, she pressed on.

"I don't know much of what you speak, but this thing, this lightsaber..."

Seeing Thea tighten up in anticipation only made the young Sith more determined than ever to set her guest aright. Now clasping her hands and setting her head to one side, she struck a stance such as a schoolgirl might take when instructed by the teacher to recite back a lesson.

"The lightsaber was that terrible weapon used by the Ravagers, those who went by the name of Jedi," she said solemnly. "By swooping down upon Koris'ian, which is part of the Diamond of the Sith, and in far away space, and with the use of this awful weapon, these Jedi were able to force the Armorers to flee to Khar Delba, there to be taken under the wing of the Sorcerer's clan and protected from their awful foe.

"The Jedi never came to K'eel Doba or Khar Delba, but at this time seem to have vanished into space. The Sith can only hope that they do not ever choose to return."

Blinking her eyes then, she softened a little, transforming from the student back into the serving girl once again.

"How can we be evil?" she aske Thea then, her eyes so very bright.

"We love all life, and do whatever is necessary to bring peace and prosperity to all peoples. That is our task, what we must do, as the Rulers of the Galaxy."

I deactivated the self destruct sequence on the data pad realizing that if the sith heard our conversation that my plan went out the window.

"Look I don't like the jedi either, but one thing I can tell you is that the jedi I've heard about today are not the jedi your talking about, sure they go overboard and ignore how much smugglers and slicers have been useful in the history of the galaxy especially the galatic cival war. But they do not throw guests against walls or blow up furniture in their faces."

I got up and headed towards the door stopping at the enterance then turned around to address Thea.

"I'm leaving to find Yaoksi, I will not wait here while these people who are so ignorant of the galaxy around them that they are content with hiding their heads in the sand then go out and see for themselves. these people can threaten me all they want about hiding in this room, but I would rather face them then have them shove this trash down my throat. Thea lets find Yaoksi and get out of here"

--------------------

The young Sith servant made a hesitant step toward those placed under her care.

"If you do I will be in trouble. I was told that this one--"

Here she pointed at Thea.

"--wished a place to hide, a place that was safe from this evil you keep telling us about. But... I cannot believe any of our people would be so callous, so harmful to anybody.

"Can you tell me exactly who it was who did such an awful thing? Which one of our people tried to kill you, or whoever it was?"

"I'll be right there, Link. I can't let this poor girl go on thinking... this. And it was someone here who has tried to kill me. As I said there is a Sith Lord here - Shayla Petrolu. She betrayed the Jedi and has already caused at least one Jedi death. She would just as soon kill any other Jedi she meets and she knows me from before she turned, she knows what I am."

Sighing Thea pulled out her recorder from under her shirt.

"Listen, I can't explain this history as well as Logan could. He was my friend at the Praxeum before it was destroyed. I couldn't read when I got there but I wanted to be able to keep up in my lessons so he recorded the history for me on here so I could memorize it and learn from it."

She searched quickly through the files on the device and Logan's voice came on:
"The history of the Sith. In the days at the beginning of the Old Republic, before the Jedi had fully organized, a group of Force Users banded together following the ways of the Dark Side. They took control of many worlds ruling through fear and subjecting the peoples of these worlds. They called themselves the great Lords of the Sith and sought to dominate all peoples of the galaxy. The Jedi at the request of the free peoples of the galaxy banded together to meet the threat. They managed to contain the threat and free some of the subjectgated planets. However the greed of the Sith proved to be thier undoing. The Sith fought amoungst themselves for ultimate control and used the Dark Side to decimate each other. In the end only one Sith Lord remained and the Jedi had been able to use thier in fighting to carefully free the rest of the captive planets. The remaining Sith Lord decided the only way to prevent the complete destruction of the order was to limit the number of Sith to two, a Master and an apprentice. They went underground and for many years were thought to have disappeared all together. However near the end of Republic this was proved false as Darth Sidious in the disguise of a politician called Palpatine slowly took over the Senate and through creating conflict was able to get himself proclaimed Emperor. He ruled the galaxy through fear and death for many years oppressing freedoms and creating terror amoung all peoples. He was assisted in his rise to power by a succession of three apprentices, the last of which was Darth Vader. Vader had been a Jedi before being seduced by Sidious and the Dark Side and turning on the Order. He lead the extermination of the Jedi, personally slautering Younglings and many other Jedis. Only two Jedi survived the Purge and they were able to train Master Skywalker. He then was able to redeem the fallen Jedi who destroyed Sidious before dying himself. Through this the Jedi Order was able to be reformed and the path to galactic freedom and safety was secured..."

Thea stopped the recording and clenched her hand on it for a moment, listening to the lessons always made her homesick for the Praxeum. Looking up again she stared right into the rose colored eyes of the other girl.

"That is the truth of history for the past couple of hundreds of years the Jedi have kept the peace in the galaxy, insuring the freedom of all peoples. We do not harm others, its against the Code. No one can rule a galaxy in peace only by terrorizing the people. Democracy is the only way, all the peoples represented and having a say. The Jedi have always protected democracy in the galaxy, protecting the people from dictators who would take away their freedoms. How can anyone who would take those freedoms away NOT be evil? And how can you call yourself a Sith with no knowledge of what the Force can do, or the weapons a Force-user uses? Why would you want to call yourself a Sith? Why would you want to turn yourself over to darkness? I am a Jedi, in training. I won't claim to be more, though I want to be. I'm a Padawan, no more, without a Master to teach me at the moment, but I hope to be a Jedi someday if the Force will allow it and I prove to be up to the task. How can you think the Jedi would ever try to control another?"

Thea looked at the other girl expecting a response. She glanced towards the door where Link was heading and froze. Part of her wanted to follow her friend out and get back to Yaoksi, but part of her was afraid to go out that door and run into Shayla or worse.

[ 01-19-2007 11:06 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Thea Morgan ]

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"But-- but--" she stammered, opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water before finally finding words to express herself with.

"We have no Dark Lord named Shayla. We had our Dark Lord of the Warriors, Lord Ankrist Roan, but he has gone away Beyond The Sun. He was consort to she who is our current Dark Lady, the Lady Jharmeen Qu'taro. We are not evil, we have NEVER been evil; we have always led those within our realms in peace and love and kindness."

She chewed her cheek, frowning.

"This Force of which you speak; you said I am not sensitive in it, whatever that means. I do not know; I am unfamiliar with this thing, is it a kind of magick, such as our sorcerers use to heal us and help the armorers create useful objects?

"Please--" She stretched out a hand toward the young girl, beseeching her to believe her.

"Do not go, do not fear me or my people. I am very confused about much of what you say; perhaps you would like to be presented to some of our Teachers? You could be taken to our Great Library and learn all of our history and know that what I say is the truth, for you have been kind and have shown me your history.

"Even though I do not understand much of it--?"

Entirely puzzled but by now frightened that her charges would bolt and lose themselves in the immense, winding labyrinthine corridors of the Temple, the young Sith now took another step toward Thea, tears beginning to form in her rose-colored eyes.

“Yes, Graysith is the more formal name for Jharmeen,” he said. “I know she has had an interesting past, and I will not go into detail about it. But she has had much shoved upon her, and I have helped her as much as I can. And I help her through this as well, one way or another. It is not your concern, as long as you stay out of her way, and avoid Shayla as well.”

He took a bite of a piece of meat that had appeared before him, a servant backing away.

“I also know Shawn, forgive me for not mentioning him. He too is on Dagobah, helping find Erik.”

Phalomir took another bite and eyed Yaoksi. He noticed the body language of the human and was troubled by it.

“I understand there is much here that is new to you,” he said. “I wish I could alleviate your concerns, but only time will allow that to happen. I have my problems here, I will not bring you into them.”

He finished the meat in one more bite, then took a drink.

“Thoran told me of the problems you encountered,” he continued. “He has a special ability to open portals in space and time that lead to that horrid realm. It is useful for traveling, but as you have already seen, it can also be very dangerous. Bringing in a large ship is a great strain on him, it could have possibly killed him. You should be aware of the risk he took to help you. As for your ship, it is possible that the demons left it alone after you departed, and the damage could be minimal. It is also possible, and perhaps more likely, that it is ripped to shreds by now. Either way, I will see to it you are compensated.

By the way, you said there is another member of your party? Missing?”

--------------------

Oh ye ghods! I thought to myself, my eyes darting back and forth between Aaron and this powerful being.

It's Her. The one who was hot after that spunky lil gal, Galen; her damned SISTER and she's HERE and this guy is somehow involved with her...

Staggered, I blinked, reached out in a daze, took up my drink and chugged it down whole. A waiter promptly materialized from nowhere.

"S-something stronger!" I somehow managed to choke out before cutting my eyes back to Aaron again. I waggled my brows at him.

For a long moment no one said a word, and I did my best to remain silent and still, just staring at Aaron, careful not only to keep from looking at Lord Phalomir but also to keep my own face hidden from him as well.

I've got a ba-aa-ad feeling... I mouthed in Aaron's direction, before reaching a finger into my collar to loosen it. The fact that the attached shirt was already halfway unbuttoned didn't deter me in the slightest. What did at last was the lengthening silence.

"Umm... yeah, another," I garbled like a fool, my mind racing as what on earth we should do now.

"Yeah, there's another; that is I think he's somewhere out there, or maybe back in the hospital where--"

That cheerful little slip of the tongue only brought forth a rampage of mental imagery of what we had just witnessed.

"Ahh... ship. Compensation; er, yeah, heh. If you could get me a ship, well... I'm sure we'd be happy to leave you guys in peace.

"We in turn would be more than happy to trot off to Dagobah and find our friend there."

--------------------

I took hold of the door and opened it then replied back to Thea.

"Comming?"

--------------------

Phalomir noticed again how Yaoksi fidgeted at the mention of Jharmeen’s name.

“What do you know of Jharmeen? Er, Graysith? The mention of her name seems to bother you greatly. I have known her for--”

Phalomir struggled to find the words to use, for he had known her, at least he thought he knew her, at least in his memories, for years. But he did not know her in this past for nearly so long.

“—a great deal of time, but she was a key figure with the Sith long before we met. What is done is done, she is not an evil person. And I assure you, neither am I. We Sith are like you humans, we have our good and bad, but our society functions on basic decency to others.

“Perhaps it is the fact that she is human that bothers you? Our species are physically compatible, and I indeed love her very much. How she came to be with the Sith is a very long story, and one she is not happy to speak of.

“But I digress. If I were able to arrange immediate passage to Dagobah for us, would you accept it? Of course, we would need to locate the rest of your crew...”

[ 01-20-2007 12:27 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Phalomir ]

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The boy rounded a corner and was faced with a gigantic black and oily serpent, baring down on him with crimson red eyes. The boy turned to run, and the serpent followed. Its fangs dripping black oily venom... And in an instant its jaw extended and...

And in an instant emerald shot violate filled the room once more as the boy's eyes shot open, his hand instinctivly clutching the sheathed blade which had been at his bedside. Sweat dripped from his brow and his heart raced... Air...he needed air...

He stood from his bed, and entered the hallway, wandering off into the temple with no direction in mind, clutching the elresar's sheath, not bothering to secure it to his belt.

"Calm child..." the blade offered his mind...but the boy heard it not, the horrific images of his nightmare still fresh in his mind.

--------------------

"I... well I think Shayla would want to take care of me herself so I don't think... you seem young to me, like we are. But I know Shayla is here I can feel her. She was the apprentice of a Graysith last I saw her. As for the Force... It is an energy field that binds all things and pentrates all things tying the galaxy together. Its not magick but life itself that feeds it. Force-senstive beings can use it to sort of bend things to adjust what is around us. I have had little training but I can lift things and throw them by thinking about it and concentrating on the flow of the Force around the object. I could also communicate even at distances with other Jedi that I knew well and was connected to, but they are all gone now. Anyway basically I've learned to feel what is around me and how the life Force of the universe works in and around it. You couldn't miss the sensation if you were Force-sensitive, its unbelievable being connected to everything. It makes me feel alive more than anything else. I can't explain it, what I've said hasn't done it justice at all."

Thea turned to Link, "Yeah we should... but what if we run into her. I don't think I could handle her. She frightens me."

She turned back to the girl, "If you are afraid of being punished for losing us, help us find him. Maybe you would know where to avoid to stay away from Shayla? Or where the rest of our group could be?"

--------------------

Then she brightened. There were, after all, only two places in the entire Temple where the Lady Jharmeen would take non-appointed audience: the Great Receiving Room and the Grand Dining Hall.

At first she thought she would seek her in the former chambers; however, as her route from the servants' section of the Temple brought her closer to the latter place, she thought it best to try there first.

The Lady will be more amenable to distressing news if her stomach is full, after all, she thought to herself wisely as, coming upon the doors into the place, she drew in a fortifying breath before pushing them open with both aged hands. They oiled smoothly away, giving her entrance into the enormous room, one filled with the quiet clink of utensils and the even quieter murmur of voices.

For a moment she stood in the doorway, casting a look about the room. The Dark Lady was nowhere to be seen, at least not immediately; taking another breath she entered the Dining Hall and began to walk through it, looking into its various nooks and niches to see if the one she sought had sequestered herself away from the madding crowd.

After a five minute hunt she had yet to find her... but found another she thought she could speak to instead. A visiting Dark Lord; it would be prudent on her part to speak with him, too.

So she hobbled up to the table, only discovering as she came directly upon the booth in which they sat that he too had a pair of humans for dining companions. Coming to a halt beside their table, she lowered her eyes and bowed her head.

"Pardon, m'Lord, but there is a matter of importance I feel it necessary to speak of. It appears that there are some... strangers here--"

She eyed Yaoksi and Aaron carefully, unsure as to whether they were Lord Phalomir's dinner guests or prisoners.

"--young strangers... who speak of... of...

"The Jedi."

She pursed her lips at that, great shivering tremors racking her body as memories rose up from...

The Time.

For she was not of the warriors bred, but of the armorers; and one of few who chose not to relocate on Khar Delba but had come here to K'eel Doba instead.

Better to be close to the Warrior Clan, she had reasoned on that fateful day, should those terrible, terrible Jed-aye return to our worlds...

With a little grunt she shook her head, flinging the memory back into the corners of her mind. Then, sniffing a bit, she grew still, respectfully waiting should the Dark Lord deign to reply to her humble words.

"It really sounds to me as if it is this Shayla who is the evil one, not my people," she observed, looking Thea now directly in the eye, all tears evaporating.

"She is the one you fear, the one you sought shelter from; is she the one who caused the Great Shock that caused us all to fall down? At any rate, this is probably the reason the Elder brought you here to the servant's quarters; no one would dream of looking for a guest here; why, it's unthinkable!"

She stopped a moment, thinking.

"We were both given instruction to remain here: you for your own personal safety, and I to assist you in anything that you need. I am not certain if taking you away from this room would be thought of as what you need, even though it is what you ask of me.

"Perhaps, if you tell me where this friend of yours last was, I can send a runner to find him and bring him here? Being considered likewise a guest, he should be easy to make contact with."

She stopped again and looked at Link, who seemed ready to disregard her altogether and bolt.

In all the confusion no one noticed one lone Verpine wandering aimlessly off. Suffering now from impact induced short-term amnesia, he then meandered about the Temple, studying all he saw with wonder in eyes that would be very, very wide were he able to alter their size in any respectable manner.

Soon he was far, far away from the others, ambling though corridors growing narrower and dimmer, corridors that led to steps going down, and even more steps going down, corridors whose walls were now beginning to grow moist and covered with black mosses and lichen patches.

He stared nervously about himself, keeping those alert eyes everywhere, but being the Verpine that he was kept going.

For the Verpine are an extremely sensitive race, curious as to the wonders of the universe around them...

[ 01-20-2007 01:00 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by K'kihl ]

--------------------

Phalomir turned his head to Yaoksi, his voice pleasant.

“If they are human, I would hazard a guess that we have located your missing children, Mr. Yaoksi. I would suggest they be brought here, so we may extend the same hospitalities to them and make sure they are fed. Then as you all rest in quarters that will be prepared, I will make arrangements for travel to Dagobah. Is this acceptable to you both?”

--------------------

"Ahh... that works for me, as long as we're all together safe and sound again... and we can then proceed on to a more populated area, say CORUSCANT, to drop off the kids and so on."

I paused a moment, studying him carefully.

"But... what about this blockade you were just talking about?"

--------------------

"The Sith have these special ships that can get through the blockade, or so I've been told by a very reliable pilot of my aquaintance nce as well as yours," he replied then, looking over to Yaoksi, recalling how Galen had gone off to the Sith worlds to ahhh...

...appropriate one of these said ships so that she could go to Coruscant and get her daughter. "As for heading off to Degobah to get our friends and then heading to Coruscant, that sounds like a good plan as well. I think Terrin might have some connections there we could rely on; in fact, I'm certain of it. Not only have we done business there, but he was born and raised there. As for our missing children, though," Aaron continued, now shifting to look at Phalomir, "One would be human, the other one Ryn."

[ 01-20-2007 01:20 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aaron Barnes ]

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“Fetch the children and bring them here,” he said in a low voice. “Fear not, for even though they speak of Jedi I will discover the truth behind their meaning. Remember, they are children and have active imaginations, but be wary nonetheless. Tell them they shall be reunited with the one named Yaoksi. Oh, and please make arrangements for adjoining sleeping rooms for them all.”

He let go of the woman and opened the door for her.

“You are a very brave and loyal Sith,” he said. “I thank you.”

He turned and headed back for the table.

“The children shall be here shortly,” he said. “I will send word to look for your friend. I trust he is also human?” Phalomir paused, then added, “One more thing. In our history, the word ‘Jedi’ meant only one thing: death. It was the Dark Jedi, as they are now called by you, but to the Sith the Jedi are nothing but a murderous hoard of savages. Please refrain from ever mentioning that word here, and inform your children to do the same, for your own safety.”

Phalomir smiled and sat down.

"Where were we?"

[ 01-20-2007 01:31 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Phalomir ]

--------------------

"Yes, Shayla is evil. We tried to save her once and were rewarded with attacks and death. She is the Sith I've always been taught to fear. And the worst kind because she had been a Jedi and so knows our secrets - strengths and weaknesses. That's what makes her so dangerous she looks like any other person, but she's not. She could have caused that, I'm pretty sure she destroyed the Healing Chambers where one of our friends was. I could feel that shift in the Force. Anyway Yaoksi is more like my father than friend, he's cared for me since my last Master had to leave me behind because of my age. He was going to get Aaron away from Shayla in the Healing Chambers but I'm guessing he wouldn't stick around there long. More likely he'll be trying to find us."

Thea looked over at Link, "Do you have his com frequency? Where would we even begin to look to find him?"

Thea glanced back at the serving girl, curiousity beginning to come through. She had never seen anyone of her race she thought and wanted to question her about it, but Thea knew some beings would take such questions as an insult and she didn't want to take that chance.

--------------------

It was such that when he had begun to feel a might peckish on his walk, he had subconciously begun to drift down the hallways towards the dinning hall.

However along the way he became distracted from his persuit of nurishment... As he rounded a corner to notice an elderly sith woman who seemed to walk with a hobble.

The boy frowned... It was not right for a woman in her condition to be wandering the temple alone, any number of things might happen to her.

he approached her quickly, unsure of which direction she was heading or for what purpose, but deciding that it was a more noble task to offer her assistence and company then it was to put to rest the minor peckishness that was within him.

When he had neared he called to her softly.

"excuse me, ma'am. but it is not right for a lady to travel alone, even within the reletive safety of these halls, My honor would be dirtied were you to deny me the oportunity to accompany you and assist with whatever task it is you are undergowing, Might you allow me to help you? I would be honored to be allowed your company"

he smiled thoughtfully and waited, also now finaly taking the time to place the sheath of his sword within the belt of his snowy robes, with that done he gave a small respectfull bow.

--------------------

"Does Yaoksi even carry a comm, If he does I can scan for it."

I hooked up my comm to my data pad and began to scan for comm frequencies, from this I can sort them using many different parameters such as disreguard comms with military cyphers and ranges restriced by most goverments. From there I can narrow it down even farther. But some information would help.

"We'll do it your way, but if we stay here that sith has to stop shoving her idealogy down my throat."

The next question I addressed towards the sith.

"To do this Thea's way and not get you in trouble I need some information like comm frequencies. From what I can tell everything you relay to each other is through convesation, do you use comm links and on what frquences, and are they encrypted?"

--------------------

"Well I've never seen him use one. But he must have one - it wouldn't be very responsible if he didn't. We know Aaron has one and they should be together by now, I hope."

Thea let Link get on with her work and turned shyly back to the serving girl curiosity finally winning out.

"I don't mean to be rude, but I've never seen anyone of your race before. Ummm what race do you belong to?"

Thea hoped she wouldn't anger the girl with the comment, yet she had offered to take them where they could learn about her culture.

--------------------