THE SHATTERED PEACE(12)

Leed gazed out over the lagoon. “Because Rutan does not feel like my world. Its people don’t feel like my people. It is hard to explain. But I found myself here. Underneath this sun I feel at home. And if Rutan is no longer my home I do not have the right to rule it. Senali is in my blood and bones. It is something I cannot help. Even as a small boy, I did not feel part of Rutan. I was afraid to leave my family and come here. But as soon as I stepped off the transport, I felt at home.” He glanced at Drenna. “I have found myself here,” he said.

Obi-Wan saw hurt on Taroon’s face as Leed spoke. As his brother shared a private smile with Drenna, Taroon’s face tightened with anger.

Jedi were supposed to remain impartial. But Obi-Wan felt Leed’s words strike his heart. Now instead of connecting them to what he’d felt on Melida/Daan, he connected them to the Temple. It was not where he was born. The Jedi Masters were not his parents. Yet it was home. He knew that in his heart and bones. He believed that Leed felt the same.

“I understand all that you say,” Qui-Gon said. “And I ask you this: Is your decision to act according to your heart worth plunging two worlds into war? Are your individual desires so important?”

Leed angrily tossed aside the line. “I do not start a war. My father does.”

“He does it for you,” Qui-Gon told him.

“He does it for himself!” Leed protested.

Taroon had been restraining himself, but now he stepped forward. “I don’t understand you, brother,” he said. “What is it that is worth so much to you? A world of strangers? How can you risk the peace of your home planet just for your own desires?”

“You don’t understand,” Leed said, shaking his head.

“No, I do not!” Taroon shouted angrily. “I do not understand this deep wish of your heart. Is it more important for you to live with primitives than to take up your birthright?”

“Primitives?” Drenna exclaimed. “How dare you call us that!”

Taroon turned on her. “Where are your great cities?” he demanded. “A cluster of shacks bobbing on the sea. Where is your culture, your art, your trade, your wealth? On Rutan, we have centers of learning. We develop new medicines and technologies. We explore the galaxy - “

“Our wealth is in our land and our seas and our people,” Drenna said, facing him down. “Our culture and our art is part of our daily lives. You have been on Senali for half a day. How dare you judge us?”

“I know your world,” Taroon said. “Any culture you have the Rutanians brought to you.”

“I know you brought your taste for blood sports and your arrogance,” Drenna shot back. “We got rid of all that when we got rid of you. If we kill a creature, we kill it for food. We do not kill it for sport, or to sell its skin. And you call us primitives!”

“I do not think it helpful to debate the differences between Rutan and Senali when - ” Qui-Gon began, but Drenna interrupted him furiously.

“Only a fool debates with ignorance,” she said fiercely. “I do not debate! I speak truth.”

“You speak with your own arrogance,” Taroon exclaimed. “You don’t know Rutan any better than I know Senali! All you know is prejudice and disdain.”

“You came here to look down on us,” Drenna said with contempt. “I saw that at once. Why do you think your brother should listen to your opinion when it is full of your own bias?”

“Because I am his family!” Taroon roared.

“As am I!” Drenna countered.

“You are not his family,” Taroon shouted. “You were just his caretakers. We are his blood!”

“No, Taroon.” Leed stepped between them. “Drenna is my sister as you are my brother. And she is right. This is what I leave behind on Rutan,” he continued, his voice rising to match Drenna’s and Taroon’s. “This attitude that you are superior to the Senalis. You do not know Senali, nor do you wish to. Do you really want to live the life of our father, living only to chase animals and feast until you cannot move? Do you want your life goal to be the gathering of more and more wealth, just for the purpose of possessing it?”

“Is that what you think of us?” Taroon demanded. “Now I know you’ve been brainwashed! There is more to Rutan than that, and more to our father as well.”

“I spoke hastily,” Leed said, gathering control of his voice. “I apologize. Yes, there are good things on Rutan. But they are not things that interest me.”

Taroon grasped his brother’s arms. “Leed, how could you want to live like this?”