Chapter Text
VII. Release
Allana visited Festus every day after that, usually for no more than a few minutes at a time, but long enough to satisfy herself that he was regaining the weight he’d lost and that he wouldn’t try to hurt himself again. She didn’t ask him any of the questions she was supposed to ask, and none of their brief conversations made even a passing attempt at untangling the complicated web that seemed to bind them together; but if his presence wasn’t necessarily less evasive than it had been, at least his manner was a bit more palatable.
She was consistent in her visits, always arriving during the early afternoon, when she felt sharp and clear enough to deal with Festus head-on. She still wasn’t sure if that was a mistake, keeping to a dependable schedule with him, but she knew better now than to think she could play the part of manipulative jailer. As much as she warned herself each day not to let her guard down, she could feel it slipping little by little – and she found herself wondering if it was the same with him.
She pushed those thoughts out of her head as she descended to the detention level once more, stepping off the elevator to find Renner Nal standing watch. He gave her a tight, awkward smile in greeting and admitted her into the cell, where Festus was reclined against the back wall, staring blankly into space.
Allana entered the cell, noting the way Festus immediately straightened in response. The shield reactivated behind her, and the inner door closed, granting them the illusion of privacy. “Hello again.”
One corner of his mouth twitched, as if resisting the urge to smirk. “Hello again.”
She crossed the room to sit beside him – another habit she’d established during these visits – but before she could initiate the usual conversation, he leaned forward with an expectant air. “How was the beach?”
Allana startled; she was certain she hadn’t said or done anything to indicate where they were or what kind of geography was nearby, and she was equally certain she’d never mentioned her morning runs or her private refuge beyond the enclave.
“What makes you think there’s a beach here?” she said innocently.
He hesitated, hardly more than half a second, but still enough for her to notice. “I can smell the salt.”
She self-consciously reached up to touch the end of her braid. “It’s just the soap I use.”
“Yeah.” His gaze fell to the narrow gap between them. “That must be it.”
She released her braid and folded her hands in her lap. “Are you still getting enough to eat?”
He snorted. “Too skinny, huh?”
Her face warmed as she reflexively swept her gaze over his body. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just wanted to make sure you have what you need. To recover your strength, I mean.”
“Doesn’t seem like it would be in the Jedi Order’s best interest for me to recover my strength.”
“Maybe not.” She shifted in her seat and took a breath, steadying herself. “I brought you something.”
He watched her carefully as she pulled out a thin flimsi package and unwrapped it to reveal two palm-sized flatcakes. “You brought me dessert?” he said with an air of amused skepticism.
“No,” she replied casually. “I made you dessert.”
Something in his demeanor shifted as his eyes remained fixed on the flatcakes. “Now why would you want to do that?” he asked in a quieter voice.
“Because I had some bilaberries that needed to be used.” She gave a little shrug to distract from the nervous tremor making its way through her body. “And because I figured it’s been a long time since someone made you anything like this.” She selected one of the flatcakes and held it up between them. “I’m not the greatest baker, but I think they turned out pretty good.”
He looked up at her, something indecipherable in his eyes as he held her gaze for far too long. But instead of shying away from that look, she found herself drawn in further, more curious than afraid, wanting more than anything to know what it meant.
He shook his head. “Do you have any idea how badly this could go for you?”
She allowed his words to sink in as she took another breath. “I have some idea, yes.”
He leaned back against the wall, away from her. “It would have been a good ploy. Very effective.”
Her cheeks warmed, but she didn’t withdraw her hand. “It’s not a ploy,” she murmured.
“I believe you.” He glanced down at the flatcake and paused before adding, “I’m sure it’s delicious.”
Allana fought to maintain a composed façade, but there was still a shamefully plaintive note in her voice that she couldn’t quite suppress. “You won’t try it?”
He didn’t look away from her, and appeared to test the words on his lips. “I don’t think I should.”
She took a very long, very deep breath, returned the flatcakes to their wrapper, and set them on her lap. “I do have another question.”
“Ah,” he said with a forced smile. “I guess the ‘small talk and pleasantries’ portion of our visit is over. Let the interrogation commence.”
She shot him her most unimpressed look; he countered with an amused shrug. “The knife,” she said bluntly. “Why didn’t you try to use it when we were in the cave?”
The muscles in his jaw tightened. “Is this because I said no to the food?”
“It’s because I want to know.”
Despite his carefully measured expression, she still sensed a sharp edge underneath. “Wouldn’t you rather ask me where my brother is, or how many Sith Lords are in hiding, or whether I’ve been in contact with them?”
“No. I don’t care about any of that.” She probably should have been more careful about admitting such a thing in front of him – and in front of the cameras, too, where any of the others might hear it – but the question of the hidden knife had nagged at her for weeks, ever since Ben had shown it to her. Whatever other information she might have hoped to glean from Festus, it was secondary to her desire to understand this… this thing that existed between them. “I just want the truth.”
“The truth,” he murmured, a distant look in his eyes. It vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and he huffed softly and shook his head. “Sorry, Princess. If we’re going to have another heart-to-heart, I’d rather not have an audience.” He nodded up at the small depression in the wall where Allana knew the camera to be.
She raised an eyebrow and frowned. “I can’t dismiss your guards, if that’s what you’re asking for. I wouldn’t even if I had the authority.”
“I wasn’t asking for anything,” he replied simply. “I don’t expect I’ll ever have a private moment again, will I?” She didn’t have an answer for him, and he smiled far too brightly in response, as if he’d known all along she wouldn’t. “No privacy except in my own head.”
She sighed and found herself leaning toward him. “You could make things so much easier for yourself if you’d just…”
“What? Cooperate? Spill all my secrets, betray my brother?” That too-bright smile faltered, his usual flippancy cracked through with melancholy bitterness as he relentlessly held her gaze. “And what do I get for my trouble? A more comfortable prison? A few more minutes with you every day? Just long enough for you to look at me with those sad eyes and lie to me about the beach I’ll never see, and then run away as fast as you can?”
She swallowed the indignant denial that nearly slipped off her tongue. Once again he’d left her reeling, off balance, unsure of everything she thought she knew. How did he always manage to get under her skin like that?
“I don’t run away,” she murmured, but even as she said the words, she knew it was a lie.
He studied her for a moment, then his shoulders sagged as he sank back in his seat. “You should probably go, Princess. I’m not very good company today.”
She inhaled slowly. “If that’s what you want, I’ll go.” He didn’t say anything to stop her as she rose, and she might have taken the smallest bit of offense at being so effortlessly dismissed, if a thought hadn’t occurred to her right then. “Would you want to see the beach?” she ventured carefully, looking at him sidelong. He started to frown but quickly schooled his features.
“It wouldn’t make a difference even if I did.”
She nodded and made to turn away when he cleared his throat and tilted his chin up to indicate the package in her hand.
“You can leave the dessert,” he said, so casually she nearly forgot that he was the prisoner here, and she his captor.
“Sure,” she replied, matching his tone. Only a few centimeters separated their faces as she leaned down to place the flatcakes on the ledge next to him, and she felt his proximity like that of an electromagnet, charged and drawing her in. A quick glance confirmed he had gone completely still, his pale blue eyes intent on following the contours of her face, or maybe her neck, she wasn’t sure. This close, it would be such an easy thing to trace her fingers along his cheek, or through his hair, or to tip his head back and gently kiss his lips…
She sucked in a breath and stood up straight, forcing some steadiness into her voice. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He didn’t answer as he stared up at her, and she wondered how deep beneath her skin those eyes saw. How much did she want him to see? It was a dangerous thought, too dangerous to entertain, so she shoved it forcefully aside and headed for the stairs. She was nearly to the door when he spoke.
“Allana.”
Her heart thudded as she braced herself against the cool surface of the inner door. “Yes?”
“Thanks for the flatcakes.”
She looked back at him, her eyes drawn to the slightly wry twist of his mouth and how it further accentuated the roguish quality afforded him by his disheveled appearance. Don’t get your hopes up, she admonished herself, though it failed to distract her from the softness in his gaze. You can’t afford to be distracted.
What are you hoping for anyway?
“You’re welcome,” she said, offering him a smile in return. “You’ll have to let me know how they taste.”
It took Allana a considerable amount of restraint to keep from running the entire way to the detention level the following day. Instead, she walked at a brisk pace through the enclave’s academy wing and back toward the main building, compulsively checking her chrono as she did. She hadn’t planned to get there so late today, but Ben had an important meeting to attend via holo, and she’d promised she would take over his afternoon sparring classes. It didn’t help that she’d run over the scheduled class time because Davin and Dolan convinced her to allow them one last match, and then gotten caught up talking to Dira, who was finally regaining some of her energy as she approached the middle third of her pregnancy and seemed to think she could make up several weeks’ worth of conversation in half an hour.
The hallways were quiet now, and Allana only passed a couple of senior apprentices and one of the maintenance staff on her way to the turbolift. She glanced at her chrono again; was it already time for the guard change? She wasn’t usually down there for it, and she tried to remember who was on duty today. She boarded the lift and settled back against the wall, watching the display panel sift through the levels as she descended. As the turbolift slowed, a foreboding sense of wrongness crept up her spine, and she heard what sounded like a muffled shout.
The door opened in time for her to see Kohr smash hard into the wall opposite their Sith captive’s cell and crumple to the floor, while Festus kneeled over Geridan’s prone form, his forearm pressing into his victim’s throat. The binders that had restrained him were gone, and he was reaching out with his other hand to grab Geridan’s lightsaber.
Allana took a panicked step into the corridor. “Stop!”
Festus looked up at her, and that split-second cost him as Geridan yanked him down by the front of his shirt and punched him in the head. Before Allana could say more, Kohr was at his friend’s side, and the two of them were shoving Festus face first into the floor.
“A little help?” Kohr snapped, jarring her from her stupor. Allana spotted the binders lying on the floor and called them to her hand, and she ran forward and kneeled before Festus as her friends continued to hold him down.
The moment her shadow passed over him, he ceased struggling and tilted his head up to look at her, and she saw a flurry of intense and conflicting emotions flicker in his eyes. Tearing her gaze away from his face, she reached out and closed the binders around his wrists; a faint beep and a gentle hum told her they were once again functioning properly.
She stood back and watched as Kohr and Geridan hauled Festus roughly to his feet and dragged him down into the cell. There would be no more consideration for his comfort, she knew – they forced him onto his knees and attached his restraints to the floor. Throughout it all, his eyes never left hers.
Kohr was the first to exit the cell, and Geridan followed, but before he could clear the doorway, Allana broke forward and pushed past him, descending the steps.
“Allana, no!” Geridan snagged her by the arm and pulled her back. “Are you out of your mind?”
“I just need a minute—”
Geridan waved a hand at their captive. “No, we need to lock him down, and you need to get the hell out—”
“Stop it!” She yanked her arm free and backed away from him. “Just stop, just— just give me a minute.”
“Allana—”
“Geridan, please. I don’t want to fight you on this.”
He glared past her at Festus; she didn’t need the Force to sense the dark blur of resentment and bitter resignation staining his presence. He blew out an angry breath and looked away, and Allana descended the remaining steps and dropped to her knees in front of Festus.
He was hunched forward and breathing harder than normal, but there was no sense of defeat in him. She looked him over, saw the bright crimson stain where Geridan had split his lip, and she inhaled sharply. “What are you doing?”
He cocked his head ever so slightly, as if it were the most obvious thing ever. “I told you I would get out.”
She thought of how he’d acquiesced when she’d asked him to end his hunger strike, the way he’d responded to her touch. She thought of the fleeting softness in his gaze, not just that day, but in the visits since then. Stars, why was he doing this now? “I— I thought you were— I thought you understood.”
He shook his head, the look of a caged creature in his eyes. “I can’t stay here,” he murmured. “I won’t stay here.”
“You don’t have a choice. You—”
“I seem to recall someone telling me there’s always a choice.”
Her breath caught, not just at his use of her own words, but at the grim, knowing smile on his lips. “Don’t do this,” she whispered, too quiet for the others to hear. “Please, I— I can’t…”
The words she couldn’t say hung in the air between them, and for a few strange seconds, it was as if they were the only two people in existence, and she could see every gossamer thread connecting them, twisting and turning and breaking and reforming, always spiraling outward from the same central point. The spell broke as he looked past her, his face taking on an expression that would have been neutral if it hadn’t been for the dangerously arctic glint in his eyes. “You’d better go, Princess. My jailers are getting restless.”
She didn’t need to look back to know that Geridan and Kohr were standing on the steps with lightsabers in hand, poised to spring into action at the slightest provocation. In that moment, she realized something she should have known all along: Festus would never submit to his imprisonment, no matter how well they treated him. He would keep trying to escape, would do it over and over and over again until he either succeeded or was put down permanently. And any successful escape would surely result in at least one death, as Kohr had predicted, because there was no way Festus was going down without a fight, and there was no way the Jedi would just let him go. No matter what happened, someone she cared about would die.
“Allana.” Geridan’s voice was gruff and strained, and she heard the warning implicit in it. She held Festus’s gaze and exhaled.
“Whatever you do,” she whispered, “please don’t hurt them.”
He frowned at her in a rare display of confusion, but then he gave the slightest of nods, and an eerie sense of calm washed over her. She deactivated his leg restraints with a subtle flick of her fingers, then stood and turned away from him, sweeping past her friends as she exited the cell. Kohr and Geridan followed after her, and she paused on the top step, just shy of the threshold.
“Thank you,” she said with a faint smile, looking at them over her shoulder.
“Don’t mention it,” Kohr said with a tense shrug.
“Yeah,” Geridan added, irritated. “Now come on, let’s get out of— shavit!”
Both men twisted around to see Festus freeing himself from his shackles, and before either of them could ignite their lightsabers, Allana reached out with the Force to tear her friends’ weapons from their hands. In the confused instant that followed, she hit them both with a powerful wave of energy that sent them flying toward the back wall of the cell. Festus ducked under them and rolled to his feet, vaulting up the steps. By the time Kohr and Geridan recovered from the attack, their prisoner was crouched at Allana’s side just outside the cell, separated from them by the red energy shield.
“What are you doing?” Geridan shouted over the ominous buzz of the shield. “You’re helping him?”
Allana rested a finger on the control panel. “I’m sorry,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt.” And with that, she closed the inner door and drove the hilt of Kohr’s lightsaber into the panel in a shower of sparks, locking her friends inside.
For several long seconds, the only sound in the corridor was the repeated, muffled thumping coming from the other side of the door. Allana let out a heavy breath and staggered back a step, watching in a daze as Festus slowly stood.
“Not bad, Princess.” He arched his back and stretched his neck from side to side. “Your boyfriend has one hell of a punch.”
That brought her snapping back to reality. She glared up at him and bit the inside of her lip. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
“I know. I just wanted to hear you say it.” He turned his back to her and shrugged his shoulders, calling her attention to the binders still on his wrists.
“No,” she said bluntly. “Those stay on.”
He chuckled and turned around to face her. “You know, technically I can get them off myself.”
She fixed him with an uncompromising stare. “Those stay on, or I put you back in there myself. Got it?” His only answer was a faint smirk and another shrug, and she felt her ire rising as she stepped directly in his path. “Hey. I’m serious. I need to know that you understand what I’m saying.”
He dipped his head toward hers. “Perfectly.”
She knew her frustration was obvious; she could tell by the devious glint in his eyes. If it was true that he could slip his bonds any time he wanted, then he might have timed his failed escape to occur when she was near – he might even have botched it on purpose to arouse her sympathy. None of it changed the necessity of her actions, but the possibility that he’d manipulated her into doing this wormed its way into her thoughts, steadily eroding the goodwill she’d indulged these last several days.
She turned away from Festus without another word, and he followed her to the end of the corridor where they boarded the waiting turbolift. As the door closed, Allana stared down at the control panel, fingers hovering over the keys. “I’m not doing this for you,” she said abruptly.
He didn’t answer at first, and she snuck a glance sideways; he was leaning back against the wall of the lift, watching her.
“I didn’t think you were,” he said, completely unaffected.
They rode the lift to the ground floor, Allana trying to make herself as quiet and unobtrusive in the Force as possible. With his constantly murky presence, it was hard to say whether Festus was intentionally doing the same. They passed through a deserted atrium with a domed skylight on their way to the academy wing, this one home to several tall plants and small trees which made it look more like a greenhouse than the transient space it was, and she heard him let out a sardonic laugh.
“So who pays for all of this?” he said, a little too loudly for someone who’d just broken out of a detention cell. “Does the Republic have a charity fund to make up for leaving you out to dry the last time around? Or do you get paid for services rendered?”
“Quiet,” she whispered over her shoulder, probing the Force for any sign of movement near them as they entered the academy wing. Most classes would still be in session, but that didn’t guarantee that they wouldn’t run into anyone on their way to the hangar. She still hadn’t quite figured out what she would do if the hangar door was shut, or what would happen when Kohr and Geridan inevitably managed to alert Ben and the others about the escape, but she would have to cross that asteroid field when she came to it.
Allana glanced at her chrono and stifled a nervous groan. It was even later than she’d realized, and the current class session was nearly over. She led Festus to the end of the corridor, where a vestibule lay between two transparisteel doors, separating them from the enclave’s outdoor courtyard. The first door opened automatically to admit them, but the second one required deliberate activation. Allana stopped inside the vestibule and let the first door close behind them, sealing them into the narrow space. She sensed Festus was close to her, and she resisted the impulse to look back at him.
From here she could see most of the courtyard. A number of freestanding, semi-private alcoves had been erected throughout the sprawling outdoor space, each able to accommodate one or two people comfortably for the purpose of studying or meditating – though she had it on good authority that some of the enclave’s adolescent residents took advantage of the seclusion for more amorous encounters. They were as good a place as any to lie low for a moment while the classes changed.
“This way,” she said, beckoning Festus with one hand as she opened the door and stepped out into the courtyard. She nodded toward the closest alcove, a simple prism-like structure built from dark Fijisi wood, with an elegant lattice-work partition in place of a traditional door that allowed sunlight in and prevented its occupants from being completely isolated. “We’ll hide in one of these until the students pass.”
She crossed a stretch of green grass and reached the shadow of the alcove, only to realize Festus hadn’t followed her. She turned back to see him still standing in the middle of the doorway, staring out at the courtyard. The late afternoon sun shone in his eyes, and he tipped his head back and squinted up at the sky. She watched him stand there, unmoving, and felt a strange ache in her chest.
A pleasant chime sounded, jarring her into action. Come on, she mouthed, waving for him to join her. He didn’t, though, and he had the nerve to actually grin at her as he stretched his bound hands lazily behind his back. She sensed the excited murmur of activity around them as students emerged from their classrooms, heading to their last lessons of the day. In a matter of seconds, the courtyard would be full of people, and this demented idiot was just standing there, like it didn’t matter who saw him. Heart in her throat, she watched him linger for several seconds before he finally crossed the lawn to join her.
He ducked into the alcove just as the first group of students entered the courtyard, and she glared up at him. “Why are you being so reckless?” she said in a low hiss. “It only takes one person to sound the alarm.”
He didn’t seem at all fazed by her concerns, and tossed her a flippant smile. “You say reckless, I say enthusiastically unhindered by fear or doubt.”
Allana rolled her eyes and let out a long breath. “No fear or doubt?” she muttered as she peered through the gaps in the partition. “Sounds like the Jedi dream.” When she looked back at Festus, she found him staring at her, eyes narrowed.
“I didn’t say I don’t feel those things. You Jedi are the ones who like to pretend you’re above your fears, like they don’t exist. Like you can just empty yourself and be some mindless, feelingless vessel for the Force.”
A sliver of outrage snaked up her spine and coiled behind her chest. “That’s not what we do.”
“Isn’t it?” he said, a hint of that smug smirk creeping around the corners of his mouth. “What are you afraid of right now?”
“Nothing,” she said automatically. “I’m not afraid.”
“Liar. See, you’re proving my point. Denying the fear that’s a part of you.”
“I’m not denying anything.”
“Another lie.”
“How would you even know?”
He came at her suddenly, moving so far into her personal space that she had to throw up her hands to stop him from running into her. She pressed against his ribs, holding him at bay, but she could feel the weight of him leaning into her.
“Now you’re just trying to insult me,” he said in a low voice. The sun streaming through the lattice left a honeycomb pattern of light and shadows across his body, blurring the places her hands touched, and she silently cursed whoever had decided to make this alcove so small.
“Me reacting to the threat of bodily harm doesn’t prove anything. Anyone else would do the same.” She let out a frustrated breath and glared up at him. “So what are you afraid of then?”
He was still very close to her, pushing lightly against her hands. “I asked you first.”
“Fine,” she said, her breath sticking a little in her throat as she thought of all the ways this could go so very wrong. “I’m afraid we’ll get caught, and you’ll kill one of my friends.”
He shrugged one shoulder. “Makes sense. But you’re also afraid of what Skywalker will think of you when he realizes you helped me escape.”
Now she really couldn’t breathe, thinking of Ben, of what he would say, of the fury and heartbreak that would consume him when he learned what she’d done. She stared up at Festus, stricken, wondering how he always seemed to see right through her, right to the core of her fears. She could barely find her voice. “I want you out of my head.”
He let out a short, disbelieving laugh as he exhaled. “You think I’m in your head?” He looked away from her to glance out from their hiding place, and when he stared down at her again, his pupils were dilated, nearly swallowing the pale blue of his eyes. “You want to know my biggest fear right now? I’m afraid if I don’t get out of here soon, I’ll let you keep me here forever.”
Allana shook her head. “You’re not making any sense.”
A slow, knowing smile. “When have I ever made any sense, Princess?”
He looked down, and she followed his gaze to see her hands still pressed against him, fingers curling slightly in the dark fabric of his shirt. Stars, why did his breathing suddenly seem so loud? She couldn’t concentrate on anything but the sound of it, and she knew that she shouldn’t look up at him again, not while she was still touching him. After a few perilous seconds, she pushed him away from her and didn’t miss the disappointment that flickered briefly through the Force as he staggered back a step. That disappointment was replaced quickly by curiosity; she looked up to see his eyes focused on something in the distance behind her.
“Who is that?” he murmured, leaning out once more from their hiding place.
Allana frowned and turned to peek out through the lattice. Her heart sank as she spotted Roan entering the courtyard with a couple of his friends. He looked so carefree, so honestly and unreservedly happy – and she thought of the nightmares he’d had for years, that he still had sometimes. She thought of all the times she’d held his head in her lap and stroked his hair just as her grandma had done for her long ago, trying to help him sleep. He’d come so far in the last ten years, but how quickly could that all be undone if he caught sight of the man she was helping to escape?
“I know that face—”
Festus didn’t have time to finish his sentence before Allana whirled on him, covering his mouth with one hand while she pushed him backward with the other. The momentum drove him up against the wall, and she held him there.
“Don’t,” she whispered sharply. “Whatever you’re about to say or do, just don’t.”
He managed to look startled.
“That’s my little brother,” she said. “He’s not part of this, and he cannot see you. Ever. Do you understand?”
He nodded, and she removed her hand from his mouth slowly. A strange look passed over his face as he regarded her. He let out a heavy breath and tilted his head to one side, his expression slipping into neutrality. “Then I guess you’d better get me out of here, Princess.”
The courtyard cleared as another chime sounded, and Allana waited to make sure there were no more stragglers before leading Festus across the lawn to a waist-high hedgerow that separated this part of the courtyard from a wide walking path. On the other side of that path was the exit that led toward the hangar bay. “It’s through there,” she said under her breath as she headed for a gap in the hedge – only to be met with the sound of riotous, high-pitched laughter.
Allana ducked behind the hedge and grabbed Festus by the arm, yanking him down beside her. A group of younger children appeared, chanting a nursery song as they skipped and ran across the path. Close on their heels was one of the newer Knights, Pyra, smiling at her students’ antics. Allana experienced a swell of guilt as she imagined how afraid they would be if they knew a violent Sith Lord was in their midst. She glanced over at Festus; he was staring off into space, head slightly cocked.
“I once had seven banthas,” he murmured after the children and their teacher had moved out of earshot. She was still deciding how to respond when he peeked his head over the hedge and exhaled. “Looks clear.” He turned to her and nodded toward their exit. “Shall we?”
“Right,” she said, looking away. “Let’s go.”
The hangar was open when they arrived there, and Allana silently thanked the Force for that. Now they just had to find a ship. She hadn’t had time to think that part of the plan through – she hadn’t really thought any of it through beyond the initial escape – but maybe a small shuttle, something that wasn’t used much and wouldn’t be missed…
There. Parked just inside the doorway was a narrow shuttle with a pair of short wings folded up on either side, the faded remnants of a SoroSuub insignia gracing the cockpit dome. Allana had seen this one in use recently, and though it was usually attached to a larger vessel, she knew it to be equipped with a hyperdrive of its own.
“This way,” she whispered, scanning the hangar to see if anyone was around. Nothing but maintenance droids as far as she could tell, and she weaved her way through the maze of ships until they reached the shuttle. Festus cast an appraising eye over the exterior.
“This yours?” he asked.
“It’s the Order’s,” she said as she keyed open the ramp. He stood there looking at her, one eyebrow slightly raised. “What?”
He twisted his torso and shrugged to emphasize his bound wrists. “I can’t fly the ship with my hands tied behind my back.”
“I thought you could get them off yourself?”
“Oh come on.” He waggled his fingers. “Please?”
She bit the inside of her lip, scowling at his backside. Then she waved her hand over the binders, using the Force to deactivate them. They clattered to the ground, and Festus groaned as he rubbed his wrists and swung his arms in front of him.
“Finally,” he muttered.
Allana waved toward the open hatch. “Now get out of here.” She turned to run down the ramp when he grabbed her by the arm. Startled, she looked up at him, heart beating wildly in her throat.
“Come with me,” he said.
Allana stared at the hand around her wrist, then up at its owner. He’d said it so simply, neither a command nor a plea, as if he wasn’t a liar and a killer and a brutal, heartless monster, as if she wasn’t the knight who was supposed to stop him. As if they could be anyone else but who they were.
“I can’t do that,” she said, pulling away. Festus loosened his grip, and his fingers caught against hers for an instant before breaking contact. He looked like he might say something more, but then he stepped backward into the ship and closed the hatch.
Allana jumped off the ramp as it began to retract, and she watched the shuttle lift off and head toward the horizon, where it gradually gained altitude before disappearing into the glare of the late afternoon sunlight. When the alarm finally sounded from inside the enclave, she realized she was rubbing her wrist where Festus had held onto her, and it struck her then that she would probably never see him again.