“Where’s Ben?” Jacen asked.
Nelani shook her head. “We were separated.”
“You were never together,” Lumiya said. “When you were talking to Ben and he to you, you were actually hundreds of meters apart, talking to Force phantoms of each other. A trivial thing to arrange in this place, where there’s so much energy to manipulate.” She returned her attention to Jacen. “Energy you could use, in the name of improving people’s lives, if you chose to.”
“Quiet,” Nelani said.
Jacen turned to Lumiya. “Where’s Ben?” he repeated.
“Unconscious. Not hurt. He’ll wake up a little sore.” Lumiya shrugged. “If I were the monster you thought I was, he’d be dead, Jacen. The son of the man who shot me down and destroyed my body? Think about it.”
“Think about this,” Jacen said. “Brisha-Shira-Lumiya whatever you choose to call yourself, there are still outstanding charges against you for crimes committed back when you were an Imperial. Whatever you are now, you have to face those.”
“Perhaps.” Lumiya suddenly looked tired, dispirited. “I just wish you weren’t taking me into custody from your own fear. That’s sad.”
“Fear?” Jacen frowned at her. “I have nothing to fear.”
“You’re afraid that my words might be true,” Lumiya said. “That the dark side doesn’t corrupt in and of itself. That you’re destined to become the next Sith Lord-the first Sith Lord to be active in decades, the first one in centuries with the strength to use the Sith techniques to help others. Because if it is true, you have to make a decision, choosing between your life as it is-comfortable, but almost purposeless-and life as you know it should be.”
Nelani’s lightsaber snap-hissed into life. “I think you need to shut up,” she said.
“There’s no need for that,” Jacen said. There was a sting to Lumiya’s words-the jibe about his life being purposeless was too close to the mark to be entirely ignored. Luke would have said that obedience to the guidance of the Force would give him direction and purpose, but since the end of the Yuuzhan Vong war, except for those times when he faced foes whose behavior lit up the Force like a KILL ME SOON sign, the life of the Jedi hadn’t given him the sense of purpose it seemed to have provided his uncle. “No need unless she resists.”
Lumiya smiled. “There’s no worry. Nelani would never attack me unless I resisted. She’s a very good girl. A sweet, doctrinal Jedi.”
“This sweet, doctrinal Jedi is about to kick your teeth in,” Nelani said. “Jacen, I can feel you wavering.”
“I’m not wavering. I’m just curious about her arguments. There is merit to some of them.”
“Like any dark-sider, she mixes truth with lies until you can’t separate them.”
Jacen ignored her. He waved at the busts and walls around him. “Lumiya, you present me this house as though it constitutes proof that Darth Vectivus was a nice man despite his dark side training. Well, that doesn’t wash. Anyone can commission the building of a pretty house. Palpatine was a patron of the arts. As for Vectivus himself, you not only can’t prove that he was uncorrupted-you haven’t offered any proof that he actually existed.” He fixed her with a look he intended as amused condescension. “The dark side corrupts. The Sith are inevitably drawn to evil.”
“I can give you proof of one who wasn’t,” Lumiya said.
Nelani glared at Jacen. “Don’t listen.”
Jacen shrugged. “Go ahead.”
Lumiya looked dispirited. “Should I? Why bother? With sweet Nelani whispering in your ear, you’re certain to automatically disbelieve every word I say.” Then the forlorn look left her face, replaced by a slight smile. “After all, everything I tell you is a lie.”
Jacen stared at Lumiya, but she did not continue. Nelani looked between them, confused, sensing that something had changed in the conversation, something she had missed.
Jacen cleared his throat. “An interesting turn of phrase,” he said.
“Not an accidental one.” Lumiya turned to look at Nelani. “Turn that thing off, dear. You’ll run the battery down.”
Nelani didn’t budge. Her blade remained lit and glowing. “Jacen, something’s wrong. What is she saying?”
“She’s saying nothing.”
“Then I’ll give you a name,” Lumiya said. “Vergere. She said that, didn’t she? When she was training you to be a Sith?”
“She was training me to survive,” Jacen said. He thought of his onetime mentor, the diminutive bird-like alien who’d been born in this galaxy but had lived for years among the Yuuzhan Vong, accompanying them back when they swept into the galaxy on their mission of conquest and destruction.