Lost Tribe of the Sith.
PURGATORY.
By John Jackson Miller.
Chapter One.
3960 BBY.
Their afternoon began as it always had. The rake fell, gouging orderly grooves into the black mud. Lifting it for another pa.s.s, the wielder brought it down again, neatly bisecting the furrows.
Ori Kitai watched from across the hedge. The young farmer went so slowly. The rake, an insubstantial marriage of hejarbo shoots and flinty rocks, nonetheless parted the rich soil with ease. But Jelph of Marisota seemed to be in no hurry-at this, or anything else.
How monotonous it must be, Ori thought. All day, every day, the man in the straw-brimmed hat tended his duties, with no place to go or friends to see. His home-stead sat alone at a bend of the Marisota River, far from most centers of Sith culture on Kesh. Nothing existed upstream but volcanoes and jungle; nothing downriver but the ghost towns of the Ragnos Lakes. It was no life for a human. Ori thought. All day, every day, the man in the straw-brimmed hat tended his duties, with no place to go or friends to see. His home-stead sat alone at a bend of the Marisota River, far from most centers of Sith culture on Kesh. Nothing existed upstream but volcanoes and jungle; nothing downriver but the ghost towns of the Ragnos Lakes. It was no life for a human.
"Lady Orielle," Jelph said, doffing the hat. Sandy hair hung in a long braid outside the collar of his soaked blouse.
"Just Ori," she said. "I"ve told you a dozen times."
"And that means a dozen visits," he said in that strange accent of his. "I"m honored."
The slender, auburn-haired woman strolled along the hedge, casting sidelong glances at the workman. She didn"t have any reason to hide why she still came here-not with her family"s future about to be a.s.sured.
Ori could do what she wanted. And yet, as she stepped through the opening onto the gravel path, she felt meek and fifteen again. Not a Sith Saber of the Tribe, a decade older.
Her brown eyes trained on the ground, she chuckled to herself. There was no reason for modesty. Ori wore the black uniform of her office. Jelph wore rags. She"d pa.s.sed the tests of apprenticeship on the grounds of the palace, along the glorious promenade walked by Grand Lord Korsin more than a millennium earlier. Jelph"s home was a hovel, his holding less a farm than a depot for the fertilized soils he provided the gardeners of the cities.
And yet the man had something she"d never encoun-tered in another human: He had nothing to prove. No one ever looked directly at her in Tahv. Not really.
People always had one eye on what the conversation could mean for them, on how her mother could help them. Jelph had no thoughts of advancement.
What good would such thoughts be to a slave?
Setting down the rake, Jelph stepped from the mud and pulled a towel from his belt. "I know why you"re here," he said, wiping his hands, "but not why you"re here today. today. What"s the big occasion this time?" What"s the big occasion this time?"
"Donellan"s Day."
Jelph looked blankly at her. "That one of your Sith holidays?"
Ori tilted her head as she followed him around the hut. "You were Sith once, too, you know."
"That"s what they tell me," he said, pitching the towel away. It landed in a bucket on the ground, out of his sight. "I"m afraid we don"t cultivate much ancestral memory out in the hinterlands."
Ori smiled. He was so learned, for a lesser. Jelph cultivated plenty, out of sight of the trail where she"d left her uvak to graze until she was ready to fly again.
Behind the house, past the small mountains of river clay he traded with the Keshiri, he kept six trellises of the most beautiful dalsa flowers she"d ever seen. Like the hut and rake, the trellises were made from lashed-together hejarbo shoots-and yet they made for a display that rivaled the horticultural wonders of the High Seat. Here, behind a slave"s quarters in the middle of nowhere.
Taking the crystal blade she offered, the hazel-eyed farmer started cutting the specimens she selected. As usual, they"d decorate the urns on her mother"s balcony at the revels.
"So your event. What is it?" Pausing, he looked down at her. "If you want to tell me, that is."
"Nida Korsin"s firstborn was born a thousand years ago tomorrow."
"Oh," Jelph said, tr.i.m.m.i.n.g. "Did he become Grand Lord or something?"
She smirked. "Oh, no." The reign of Nida Korsin had initiated a robust, glorious age for the Sith, she explained. Donellan knew that his father, the Lord Consort, would be put to death on Nida"s pa.s.sing. That was in Yaru Korsin"s will. But he"d waited too long to make his move. Nida"s only son had died an old man, waiting for his chance to rise to power. It was the end of a dynastic system; following his pa.s.sing, heirless Nida had inst.i.tuted succession based on merit.
"So this guy failed, and he has his own day?"
The Sith liked the message of Donellan"s story, she told him. Many Sith were patient about engineering their ascensions, but it was possible to be too patient.
"Donellan"s Day is also called the Day of the Dispossessed. And think about it," she said, admiring his muscled arms through the slit sleeves. "Has the Tribe ever really needed needed a cause for a celebration?" a cause for a celebration?"
He laughed once, a throaty chuckle that made Ori smile. "No, I guess not," he said. "At least it keeps people in my line of work busy."
The seven High Lords were always trying to outdo one another in decorating their boxes at the games.
Taking the design of her mother"s booth into her own hands eight months earlier, Ori had learned about Jelph and his secret garden from one of the Keshiri florists of Tahv-if indirectly. Sensing a lie when the Keshiri claimed that the flowers were his own, Ori followed him on her uvak one day. The flying beasts still forbidden to the Keshiri, the florist had traveled on foot to meet a caravan of carts bringing fertilizer from the Marisota. She found Jelph-and had found him again many times since, except when he was away on his raft, up in the jungle.
The jungle. Ori looked over the trellis to the green hills, climbing away to the smoldering peaks of the east. Ori looked over the trellis to the green hills, climbing away to the smoldering peaks of the east.
Even the Tribe didn"t go up into that tangle of under-brush and overhanging foliage. "No sane person should should go there," Jelph had said. But what he brought back on his little barge was the secret to his horticultural success-and the successes of all his customers along the line. "By the time the runoff comes down-stream," he"d explained once, digging his hands into a mound of soil, "a lot of the nutrients are gone." Ori had lain awake nights imagining the man waist-deep in a dark mountain stream, shoveling muck into his flatboat. go there," Jelph had said. But what he brought back on his little barge was the secret to his horticultural success-and the successes of all his customers along the line. "By the time the runoff comes down-stream," he"d explained once, digging his hands into a mound of soil, "a lot of the nutrients are gone." Ori had lain awake nights imagining the man waist-deep in a dark mountain stream, shoveling muck into his flatboat.
Silliness. A hedonistic excess. But she was Sith, wasn"t she? Who else should she please?
Kneeling, he arranged the cuttings neatly upon a cloth draped across the ground. Large, dirt-stained hands worked with surprising gentleness, prying away the buds that had come to nothing. Jelph looked at her keenly. "You know, I can give you the names of my customers closer to Tahv. They"re growing their plants in the same dirt."
"Yours are better," she said. That much was true.
Perhaps the flowers simply grew better in air closer to their native soil. Maybe it was the workmanship of a human, rather than a Keshiri.
Or maybe it was this this human. When she"d met him, she"d imagined Jelph had only recently become a slave. human. When she"d met him, she"d imagined Jelph had only recently become a slave.
No laborer she"d met, human or Keshiri, had his vocab-ulary. He must have been been someone before, back in the Sith cities. But he"d answered without hesitation: "I"m n.o.body. I never someone before, back in the Sith cities. But he"d answered without hesitation: "I"m n.o.body. I never knew knew anybody, before you." He"d been born into slavery, and there he"d stay. He, and whatever children he might ever have. anybody, before you." He"d been born into slavery, and there he"d stay. He, and whatever children he might ever have.
The human slave cla.s.s had developed soon after the Korsin line ended. While many of Omen Omen"s descendants were Force-sensitive, those who weren"t had formed their own layer of society beneath those who served the Grand Lord. Free members of the Tribe, this yeomanry helped to keep the Keshiri, who stood at the very bottom, productive. But when any Sith citizen stood condemned by a Lord, birthright could be lost forever.
Jelph of Marisota had no surname because his father had none to give. He was better than a Keshiri-she"d never never let one of the purple-skinned serfs call her by her first name-but only because he was human, not because he was Sith. Jelph owed fealty and service to the Sith, should they want it, but only Ori had ever pre-vailed upon him directly for anything. let one of the purple-skinned serfs call her by her first name-but only because he was human, not because he was Sith. Jelph owed fealty and service to the Sith, should they want it, but only Ori had ever pre-vailed upon him directly for anything.
Such a waste, she thought, admiring both worker and workmanship. "You know, my mother"s a High Lord." she thought, admiring both worker and workmanship. "You know, my mother"s a High Lord."
"You"ve mentioned it."
"She"s powerful, but the traditions are so strong," she said. "It"s a shame there isn"t some kind of path for you to get back in."
"I never was was in," he said. "And what would I do in Tahv? I"d hardly fit with your beautiful people." in," he said. "And what would I do in Tahv? I"d hardly fit with your beautiful people."
Looking up at her, he winked. In the sunlight, she could see the long, ruddy scar running from his right cheek down his neck. She"d sometimes imagined it as being from some great battle, rather than some farm accident, years ago. But he was right. Even if he had his name, his disfigurement would make him an ill fit for the Tribe.
Jelph stood abruptly.
"You are are going to roll those up," she said, eyes darting between him and the flowers. going to roll those up," she said, eyes darting between him and the flowers.
"Actually, I have something for you," he said, pointing a thumb behind him. "In honor of your Day of Dispossession."
"That"s "Dispossessed.""
"Begging your pardon." He led her farther into the farm than she"d been before, past the mounds to a structure she"d seen only from the sky. Situated near the riverbank, the hut was larger than his dwelling and twice the height.
Ori blanched. "What"s back there? It stinks!"
"Manure usually does. Uvak are pretty rank," he said, approaching the barred door. Once a stable for a previous occupant who could own uvak, now it provided him a wind-free place to store the loads of dung he needed for mixing his soil. "You don"t want to be around when I have that stuff carted in." He opened the door.
"Surely this this isn"t your gift to me," she said, squinting and covering her nose. isn"t your gift to me," she said, squinting and covering her nose.
"Surely not." He reached inside the doorway to retrieve a strange-looking yoke. "It"s something I was working on. I lengthened some waterskins and attached them to part of an uvak harness." Balancing the center straps on his hands, he showed her how the long pouches hung to either side. "You"ve always had to fly the dalsas back in a moist cloth. With these, you can carry them straight-and you won"t be soaked when you get home."
Ori opened her eyes wide, even as he shut the door to the rancid place. "You made that for me?"
Jelph looked around. "Hmm. I don"t see the Grand Lord here today, so . . . sure. I guess it"s for you."
They walked back along the riverside, past the little flatboat tied at the bank. Returning from its grazing, Shyn, Ori"s uvak, flew in from above and settled in a clearing. Jelph strode a.s.suredly toward the animal and lifted the yoke over its leathery frame. A perfect fit.
Shyn, who took to no one, nodded pa.s.sively.
This is why I come here, Ori thought. Life at court was cutthroat-this month, more than most times. But so many were motivated not by l.u.s.t for power, but by fear of losing what power they had. This man had nothing and feared nothing. Ori thought. Life at court was cutthroat-this month, more than most times. But so many were motivated not by l.u.s.t for power, but by fear of losing what power they had. This man had nothing and feared nothing.
Her mother had given it a name: the Confidence of the Dead End.
Jelph partially filled the skins with water and then deposited the clippings inside. Shyn looked like a parade animal now, festooned with flowers. That might be an idea for sometime, Ori thought-but not for tomorrow. She watched as he fastened the tops to protect the blossoms.
"There. Fit for the Grand Lord." He helped her aboard the uvak.
"Jelph," she said, looking down. "With what you can do, you really ought to be teaching the Keshiri how to grow things. Not selling them dirt."
"Careful," he said, gesturing toward the composting barn. "My life"s in that dirt." He patted Shyn"s long face and turned toward his flatboat, bobbing in the water. "And I may not be of the Tribe, but at least I"ve I"ve got a ship." He laughed. "Such as it is!" got a ship." He laughed. "Such as it is!"
Chapter Two.
The Sith did did have a ship, Ori knew, but she"d never seen it. No one alive had. One of Yaru Korsin"s last acts was to remove everyone from the lofty retreat to Tahv, where the newcomers could expand their numbers and reach. Aerial sentries perpetually protected the holy and forbidden Temple from violators, Sith and otherwise. But the mountain was always visible over Tahv"s now-useless protective walls, a reminder of their stellar origins. have a ship, Ori knew, but she"d never seen it. No one alive had. One of Yaru Korsin"s last acts was to remove everyone from the lofty retreat to Tahv, where the newcomers could expand their numbers and reach. Aerial sentries perpetually protected the holy and forbidden Temple from violators, Sith and otherwise. But the mountain was always visible over Tahv"s now-useless protective walls, a reminder of their stellar origins.
Ori could see the peak clearly from her mother"s new luxury compartment in the Korsinata. Multiple stadium decks rose over a pentagonal playing field, with the Grand Lord"s section highest of all. Just that morning, Ori"s mother had been awarded a coveted section in the stadium near the Grand Lord, whose balcony always faced the Temple.
"Closer to the stars," Ori said under her breath. We"removing up. We"removing up.
She studied the horizon. There, kilometers away, Omen Omen sat in its protective building, waiting for the day when the Sith came for their lost tribe. But no one had come, and few explanations for why were attractive. The legendary Sith Lord Naga Sadow would have found them by now, had he won his war. If the Sith and Jedi had wiped each other out, no one might ever come. sat in its protective building, waiting for the day when the Sith came for their lost tribe. But no one had come, and few explanations for why were attractive. The legendary Sith Lord Naga Sadow would have found them by now, had he won his war. If the Sith and Jedi had wiped each other out, no one might ever come.
And what if the Jedi had won? As she had on the farm, Ori blanched just to think of it. She knew what Jedi were only from her teachers, who"d kept the story alive. Ori knew enough to hate the Jedi and everything they stood for. Weakness. Pity. Self-denial. Discovery by Jedi would be a cruel fate, indeed.
But the worst thing about the pa.s.sage of time had been the realization that, in their attempts to get off-world, those same pioneers of legend from a millennium earlier had squandered most of the resources that could have helped the Tribe now. Plenty of Lignan crystals from Omen Omen"s hold circulated, but they were good for lightsabers and little else. And any understanding of how Omen Omen worked had faded; it was now the province of scholars who no longer had access to the vessel. worked had faded; it was now the province of scholars who no longer had access to the vessel.
Only the Grand Lord could reverse Korsin"s ban and return the Tribe"s eyes to s.p.a.ce.
It wouldn"t be this this Grand Lord, the biggest nothing ever to hold the position. Ori seethed as she looked across to the withered crone in her ornately decorated stall. Lillia Venn rocked in her throne, her palsied hand moving completely out of time with the tempo of the musicians playing below. Grand Lord Venn had been a compromise candidate a year earlier, when the other six High Lords had been unable to agree on a new leader. The oldest High Lord by twenty years, Venn was past fearing; no one had imagined she would last. The rival political parties, distinguished by the red and gold sashes they wore, swore fealty to the woman while continuing to plot their next steps. This Grand Lord was a corpse-in-waiting. Grand Lord, the biggest nothing ever to hold the position. Ori seethed as she looked across to the withered crone in her ornately decorated stall. Lillia Venn rocked in her throne, her palsied hand moving completely out of time with the tempo of the musicians playing below. Grand Lord Venn had been a compromise candidate a year earlier, when the other six High Lords had been unable to agree on a new leader. The oldest High Lord by twenty years, Venn was past fearing; no one had imagined she would last. The rival political parties, distinguished by the red and gold sashes they wore, swore fealty to the woman while continuing to plot their next steps. This Grand Lord was a corpse-in-waiting.
"Don"t forget to salute, darling."
Ori looked back into the dark eyes of Candra Kitai.
Vibrant for her fifty years, the newest High Lord approached the railing, turned primly toward the royal booth, and bowed. When the Grand Lord did not respond, Candra"s face drew so tight Ori feared it might crack wide open.
"Easy, Mom," Ori said. "Like you told me, it"s our big day." Months earlier, Ori"s mother had taken Venn"s place among the seven High Lords, instantly becoming the second most important person in the Tribe. By keeping her preferences regarding the rival factions private, Candra had become the tiebreaker: the one ultimately to select the aged leader"s successor.
Recognizing Candra"s new importance, Venn had given her the section nearby, in range of even her feeble eyes. If treated well, Candra could keep the other High Lords stalemated indefinitely, fending off all challenges.
And then? Who knows, Who knows, Ori thought. Ori thought. By next Donellan"s Day, we might be in the royal box. By next Donellan"s Day, we might be in the royal box.
Her own rivals among the Saber leadership, the Luzo brothers, flanked the Grand Lord. The barrel-chested pair glared back at Ori, barely concealing their disdain.
Probably annoyed, she thought, because this was the one moment when they wouldn"t be able to sabotage her. They"d been watching her for months, eager to profit from any slip. With any luck, the end of Venn would be the end of the Luzos, too.
"Easy, dear," Candra prompted, catching her thought.
"We"re all friends today." The newest High Lord turned and nodded to the leaders of the two rival factions, seated in their customary red and gold boxes.
High Lords Dernas and Pallima were as important to her as the Grand Lord was-and she, to them.
"Friends. Right." Ori rolled her eyes.
"But our booth looks lovely. A fine job, again."
Reminded, Ori turned her gaze to something more pleasing-the dalsa flowers, fresh and vibrant on the balcony. Jelph of Marisota might never appear here, but at least some part of him had made the trip.
Thunder came from below. Ori looked down to see the riders, wearing the ancient garb of Nida Korsin"s Skyborn Rangers, entering the field with their crippled uvak. Harshest of all bloodsports on Kesh, rake-riding even began with gore. The wing muscles of uvak hatch-lings were cut, permanently grounding them while preserving some range of movement. With gla.s.s p.r.o.ngs screwed into their tough wing edges, the fully grown creatures stalked around, their flopping wings trans-formed into dangerous weapons.