I Want To Be Your Knight: Chapter Four

A few hours later, we stood outside the door to the Council Chambers. It was in essence a pretty door. A mosaic displaying key events from Jedi history were set into the double-wide doors in multiple columns. I paused for a moment, my eyes flicking up and down, left to right, recognizing a few of the scenes.

Kyp pushed open the doors, and walked in confidently. Almost gone was the frustrated old man who had been drinking with me. This was Kyp the Grand Master of the Jedi. I could almost see why he was chosen.

I waited a heartbeat, and then stepped into the room. A wave of mixed emotions washed over me. Anger. Amazement. Hostility. Basically, the usual mix for whenever I walk into a room.

I looked down, and saw the Jedi sigil in yellow and blue marble on the floor. The image had been designed by Miko Reglia back before the Vong War, and contained a stylized lit lightsaber with wings coming out from the base of the hilt. A circle surrounded this whole image, and not only did it appear in the center of the Council chambers, but it was attached to the start and ending of all Jedi communiques.

Being the masochist that I am, my eyes glanced first towards the source of greatest hostility, and found Valin Horn glaring at me. My eyes shifted to the right, and I caught Doran Tainer looking calmly on. Beside him sat Tahiri, her face oddly serious, almost expressionless.

Then Kyp settled into his seat, and spoke up, calling the meeting to order. Then he made a gesture my way where I stood in the center of the sigil. "Young Skywalker here has a request for the Council."

Cilghal spoke up, her voice sounding old and dry. "And why exactly should we listen to his request? He made it clear two years ago, that he had no desire to be a Jedi."

I sighed, as Kyp answered her. "We are all aware of past actions. Regardless, he has come before this Council, not making any demands, not screaming, but he patiently waited outside of the Temple until one of us had the time to see him. As such, I have decided to hear his request before the Council."

His dark eyes flicked from chair to chair, almost as if he was daring someone to speak out against his decision. When it appeared that everyone had settled down, he leaned back and sighed. "One of these days the lot of you are going to let me step down." Then he waved his hand my way again, and said, "Make your request."

I bowed my head, and took a deep breath, calming my nerves and then straightened back up as I exhaled the breath. In a calm voice, I repeated the request I had made to Kyp earlier in the day, "I've come before the Council to request permission to finish my Jedi training."

The Council instantly devolved into a room filled with toddlers. There was yelling and screaming. There was bickering. Force help me, I was amazed they wasn't kicking and biting.

I tuned out the Masters, ignoring the whining and bickering and allowed my eyes to flick from Master to Master. Sighing, I finally glanced at Kyp and saw him sitting in his chair, hunched forward slightly, one elbow on his knee, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.

Sensing my attention, he lifted his head and stared back at me. He slowly shook his head and then stood up and walked closer to me. The doors behind me opened, and a young Rodian padawan came in, and took up a position behind me. Kyp gestured towards the padawan and said, "Geelto will take you somewhere to rest while we hash out this decision."

I bowed to him, and then turned around and followed the Rodian from the room. As soon as we had left, the doors closed behind us, and I ran my hand through my hair again.

Geelto looked at me, interesting shining in his alien eyes. "I've not seen the Council this worked up in a while. Just who are you?"

I laughed, "You're new here aren't you."

He nodded his head. "Yeah, I've only been in training for a little over a year."

I shrugged and shook my head as he opened another door off the main anteroom for the Council chambers. "Don't worry, Geelto. I'm sure someone will tell you soon enough."

Then I stepped into the room, and turned back to grin at him. He looked at me, confused, and I could feel the slight touch of a Force probe. I hardened my defenses and waved at him as the door closed.

I faced the room, and saw the couches, small table and beverage station and frowned. For some reason, every waiting room in the galaxy looked exactly the same as the next. Maybe it's just my optimistic nature, but I kept hoping for something new in one of these waiting rooms. I sighed, and dropped onto the couch, determined to wait out the Council's discussions about my training.

So I settled down to mediate while the Council made its decision about my fate. I had hoped to spend that time recovering after the less than warm reception from them.

Ultimately though, I found myself pacing, not entirely certain when I had started, too worked up to sit still long enough to meditate and all the while hating myself for being so nervous about their decision.

After about two hours of endless waiting, Kyp walked into the room, and dropped into one of the overstuffed couches. He looked haggard and worn, his dark eyes clouded with frustration.

He sighed, and glanced up at me. "Well, we've been talking about you, and a decision was reached. Some of the Masters were happy that you returned to us to finish your training."

"Some?" I asked, not really wanting to know what the others thought. Not quite able to stop myself from finding out.

"Well, one of them said, 'We should not let that kriffing Sithling anywhere near any of the Jedi. He was Jacen's apprentice. He should be thrown out of the Temple and barred entry, and that is only if you deny my request to use my lightsaber on him.'"

I grimaced and rubbed my head. I knew when I went into the Chambers earlier and saw Valin Horn sitting in one of those chairs, that I would have a hard time getting approval. "So, Valin wasn't that happy about my showing up, huh?"

Kyp laughed, a malicious grin appearing on his face. "Oh, that wasn't Valin. That was Tionne. I'm not going to repeat what Valin said, but fear not, his father taught him a lot of fun words. A few I'll have to go look up later tonight just to be certain that they mean what I think they mean from their context."

I sighed, rubbing a hand through my hair. I had let slip my memories of just what happened to Kam. I began my pacing again. "Kriff... so they're not letting me complete my training?"

Kyp shook his head. "I didn't say that. The Council was unable to come to an agreement. Of the twelve, half want you to finish your training for various reasons, the most common being the hope that you'll not fall if you complete it. The other half either want to eviscerate you or drop you off on Dagobah. Or both."

I stopped my pacing, and faced him, my face twisting into a scowl. "So, what's going to happen?"

Kyp stared at me hard, then his eyes seemed to soften, as he leaned back into his chair. He moved his gaze from me to the ceiling. "You know your Dad told me that you'd come back one day. When he asked me to take over this position, he told me that. Told me to bring you back into the fold."

I scrubbed my hands over my face. "So, even though he's not here, and hasn't talked to either of us in the Force knows how long, we're both still jumping through his hoops."

Kyp snorted a laugh and then pinched the bridge of his nose again. I had the feeling that he did that often these days. Then he spoke, "Yeah, it appears we're both just his little monkey-lizards. Of course, he was the wisest man I ever knew, so I guess that it's not that bad of a thing."

"So, I get to finish the training?"

He just left his head tilted back, his hand massaging the bridge of his nose. "Yeah. The Council couldn't come to a consensus. It's the reason we have a Grand Master. I made the decision."

I arched an eyebrow at him. "Just like that?"

He nodded his head. "Just like that."

I was stumped. I had figured that the Council wouldn't approve my decision. I had expected to be able to tell the Force that I was done with this, that it was taken entirely out of my hands. Beautiful luck I have sometimes.

My hand went to the bridge of my nose, and I squeezed it for a moment. Kriff, I'm doing it now, I thought to myself but out loud I said, "So, do I get a Master or what?"

Kyp's head leveled out, so he was watching me again. "Yes, you get a Master. You're the son of the previous Grand Master, one of the strongest of all the students that have walked through these halls, and half the Council wants to hurt you badly."

"Who?"

He grabbed at his nose again, tilting his head back once more as he closed his eyes. "Force help me, me."