Star Wars Republic Commando: Knight of Honor ✓

Chapter 59

Author's Note: If you have any tips writing tips, please feel free to comment.

As always, I continue to hope that I am doing justice to the spirit of Star Wars as well the respective authors and characters from which I borrow. Again, I gratefully accept constructive criticism as a means to help me develop my skills further as a writer.

Mandalorian (Mando'a) words

Buy'ce (BOO-chay, BOO-shay): helmet; Colloquially: pint, bucket

Ge'tal (ge-TAHL): red

Ika (EE-kah): diminutive suffix written as 'ika - also added to a name as a very familiar or childhood form, e.g, Ord'ika - Little Ordo

Ner vod (nair-vohd): "my brother/sister"; colloquially also "my friend"

Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum (Nee soo-COO-yee, gar keer-AH-deesh, nee par-TIE-lee, gar dah-rah-SOOM): "I'm still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal"—Daily remembrance of those passed on, followed by the names of those being remembered

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Chapter 59

The responsibility of the palace guardian is solely for the preservation of the royal bloodline. Many before you have sacrificed everything, including their own lives in order to ensure harm does not befall the royal family. Before taking the same oath that our ancestors had, you must be certain that the time for questions and hesitation is long past. Provided that you are willing to accept the potential that your life may be sacrificed for your leaders, please step forward and recite the oath to your sovereign that will finalize your commencement to a palace guardian.

Excerpt from the palace guardian inauguration ceremony

Tochin Moon III, 87 Days after Order 66

Arlesse kept her hands folded before her and her head down as the speeder moved along through the wide streets of Tochin's main town. In the past, she had always looked eagerly out the windows, watching the life of the people on her world as she sped past. She used to enjoy watching the families out on their shopping sprees, and she often stared with wonder at the bustle of the crowds as they moved about the busy town. 

There was a time that the people used to stop and gaze at the hovercar as though trying to see which of the nobles had ventured into their humble realm. Even now, after the Empire had invaded her world and brought with it a new way of life, she could see from the corner of her eye that the citizens continued to remain curious about who in the Empire was willing to venture out into their ordinary town.

Arlesse also got the sense that the journey into town seemed even longer than she could remember, but she didn't dare lift her eyes. Sitting directly before her on the cushioned bench was Moff Harkin, and his attempts to make verbal and physical contact with her continued to turn her stomach. 

She had seen yesterday that a decent man was somewhere beneath the politician's exterior, and she was more frightened of him than she was of the politician. She feared that this decent man would finally succeed in earning her affections, and she had already betrayed Jas once. She refused to allow that to happen again. 

Jas had fought as a soldier for freedom in the galaxy, fighting to keep her world safe, even though he was light-years away from Tochin. And while Jas fought and probably suffered from injuries he didn't tell her about, Arlesse was certain that Harkin had done nothing but sit in a cushioned office during that horrible war. Jas had earned so much more than her heart, and she still regretted that in one moment, she had nearly lost him to her juvenile curiosity.