How I Fell For a Sith (Star Wars)-Chapter 14: Good Knight

[Tinos Kan’s POV]
The morning light filters through the temple’s crystalline windows, casting prismatic patterns across my quarters that dance with each passing cloud. I trace my fingers over the new insignia on my robes, still hardly believing yesterday’s ceremony was real. Knight Tinos Kan. After twelve years of training, meditation, and trials, I’ve finally achieved what once seemed impossible.
Master Zho’kal had smiled, actually smiled, as she placed the ceremonial sash across my shoulders. “The Council recognizes your commitment to the Order,” she’d said. “May your path as a Knight bring wisdom and peace to the galaxy.”
I should be centered in this moment, focused only on the responsibility before me. That’s what years of training demands. Yet my thoughts keep drifting to a message I’ve been composing in my head since before dawn.
“Computer, begin new transmission,” I say, sitting cross-legged on my meditation mat. “Personal correspondence, recipient, Rax Orlen.”
The holoterminal blinks to life, its soft blue glow illuminating my face. I take a deep breath, attempting to quiet the flutter in my chest that no amount of meditation seems to banish.
“Rax,” I begin, then pause. Too informal? Too eager? I clear my throat and start again. “Greetings from Coruscant. As promised, I’m writing to inform you of my elevation to the rank of Jedi Knight.”
Too stiff. I delete the message with a wave of my hand and slump forward.
“This is ridiculous,” I mutter to myself. “I’ve negotiated peace treaties between warring Wookiee tribes, but I can’t compose a simple message to an old friend?”
Friend. The word feels insufficient for Rax, for what we once were to each other before the Order claimed me. Before duty and distance reshaped us both.
I straighten my posture and try typing it myself this time. “Hey, Rax. I did it. Knight at last. Remember when we used to play Jedi and smugglers in the fields behind your house? Guess which role I ended up with.”
Better. More like me, the me he would remember, not the carefully composed Jedi I present to the galaxy. I continue typing, the words flowing more naturally now.
“I’ve kept my promise. Twelve years of training, and I finally have permission to maintain personal correspondence without oversight. The Council believes I’ve mastered non-attachment.” I pause, my finger hovering over the delete key. Too revealing? Perhaps. But it’s honest.
I let my fingers continue.
“The Council has tasked me with a diplomatic mission to Hutt space next month. Apparently, certain trade negotiations between the Republic and Hutt cartels require a ‘delicate touch.’ Their words, not mine.” I smile to myself, imagining his reaction to the thought of anything involving Hutts being “delicate.”
“I’m allowed to assemble a small security detail for the journey, independent contractors, not Republic forces. Politics, you understand.” My heart beats faster as I type the next part. “Your name was the first that came to mind. The Council wouldn’t question hiring a bounty hunter in training, and I’d feel safer knowing you were there.”
My finger hovers over the send button. Would he understand what I’m really asking? Not just security, but a chance to bridge the twelve-year gap between us. To see if anything of what we once were to each other remains.
I wonder if he’ll even recognize the message for what it is, an outstretched hand across the void that’s separated us. Or perhaps he’ll see through it completely, recognize the attachment I’m supposed to have conquered but have only learned to disguise.
I close my eyes and press send before I can talk myself out of it. The terminal chirps confirmation, and just like that, my carefully composed message is traveling across the galaxy toward him.
“Message transmitted,” the computer intones.
A sudden ripple in the Force pulls me from my thoughts, a familiar presence outside my door. Before I can stand, there’s a gentle knock followed by the whisper of the door sliding open.
“Tinos? Are you decent?” Saavi’s voice carries its usual melodic lilt as she steps into my quarters, her silver-white hair catching the prismatic light. My fellow Knight’s amber eyes immediately lock onto the terminal I’ve just used.
“Was that a personal message I sensed you agonizing over?” She raises an eyebrow, her lips curving into a knowing smile. “Your emotions are broadcasting rather loudly this morning.”
I feel heat rise to my cheeks, the blue of my skin likely darkening several shades. “I was merely... corresponding with a potential security contractor.”
“Mmmhmm.” Saavi crosses the room with the fluid grace that makes her such a formidable duelist, settling cross-legged on my meditation mat without invitation. “And this ‘contractor’ wouldn’t happen to be that guy from your hometown? The one whose name you mumble during meditation?”
“I do not mumble during meditation,” I protest, though the Force betrays my dishonesty even to myself.
Saavi laughs, the sound like wind chimes. “The Council may believe you’ve mastered non-attachment, but I’ve known you since we were initiates, Tinos. Your aura practically glows whenever you receive a transmission from the Outer Rim.”
I close the terminal with perhaps more force than necessary. “Did you come here just to tease me about my correspondence, or was there an actual purpose to this visit?”
Saavi’s smile fades into something more serious. “Actually, I wanted to talk about the knight they’re assigning to accompany you on your mission.”
“Knight?” I frown. “The Council didn’t mention another Jedi joining the delegation.”
“It was decided this morning. Knight Jaa Haruss.” She pauses meaningfully. “Or as he’s now insisting everyone call him, ‘King Skywalker.’”
I can’t help rolling my eyes. “The arrogant Knight. Perfect.”
“Are you worried?” Saavi leans forward, her voice dropping. “He seems rather... obsessed with you lately.”
I stare out the prismatic window, watching the light scatter across the floor. “It’s strange, isn’t it? A month ago, he was just Jaa, kind, normal, dedicated to the Order. Then one day, he wakes up, replaces his blue lightsaber with that gaudy gold one, and suddenly he’s ‘King Skywalker.’”
“And of all the names to choose,” I continue, shaking my head. “What does ‘Skywalker’ even mean? He claims to walk on clouds?”
Saavi nods slowly. “I’ve never encountered a Jedi who changed their name before. It goes against everything we’re taught about ego and identity.” She traces a pattern on my meditation mat. “The Masters are concerned but won’t say it openly. They think it might be a phase.”
“A phase?” I scoff. “He cornered me in the archives yesterday to tell me how he’d ‘seen the future’ and that our ‘bloodlines were destined to intertwine.’ Those don’t sound like the words of someone going through a phase.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That attachment is forbidden, of course.” I stand and pace the small confines of my quarters. “Which is rather ironic considering I’d just sent a message inviting an old... friend... to join my mission.”
Saavi’s expression turns serious. “Be careful, Tinos. There’s something not right about his sudden change. The way he looks at you from afar…” She shivers visibly. “I sense darkness gathering around him.”
“You think he’s falling?” The question hangs heavy between us.
“I don’t know,” she admits.
I move to where Saavi sits, kneeling beside her and placing my hand gently on her shoulder. Our eyes meet, and I can feel her genuine concern radiating through the Force.
“If the Council isn’t overly concerned, then perhaps I shouldn’t be either,” I tell her, my voice steady despite my own misgivings. “Whatever’s happening with Jaa... with ‘King Skywalker’... we’ll handle it appropriately when the time comes.”
Saavi nods, her silver-white hair catching the prismatic light. “Fair enough. You’ve always had better judgment than most give you credit for.” She covers my hand with hers briefly before standing. “Just promise you’ll be cautious around him.”
“I promise,” I say, rising to my feet. “Besides, I’ll have a security detail. Hopefully, including one particularly resourceful old friend.”
The knowing look returns to Saavi’s eyes. “Ah, yes, your ‘contractor.’ I wonder what the Council would think if they knew the full history there.”
“There’s nothing to know,” I say too quickly. “Rax and I were children together, nothing more.”
“Nothing more... yet,” Saavi teases, moving toward the door. “Your aura shifts colors whenever you mention him, you know. It’s quite fascinating.”
I feel my cheeks warming again. “Don’t you have somewhere to be? Lightsaber training? Diplomatic briefings? Annoying someone else?”
“Nope.”