Father's study doors were already open when I reached them. That was the first thing that made me slow down. Usually, if Father wanted me there for something important, the doors stayed closed until I arrived. Today one stood open far enough that I could see Master Luminara near the windows and Aunt Jenza sitting in one of the chairs beside Father's desk with a datapad resting across her knee. Barriss walked beside me, quiet since one of the palace servants had found us after lunch and said both of us were wanted. She noticed the people inside at the same time I did and slowed a little too.
Father stood behind his desk with one hand resting beside the projector controls. He was still wearing the dark red and black clothes he had worn to the morning council meeting, though his cloak had been removed and folded over the back of a chair. A pale blue document hovered above the center of the desk. I could not read it from the doorway, but I could see the Jedi symbol at the top. That made me look at Barriss. She looked back at me and gave the smallest shake of her head before I could ask if she knew what was happening.
"Liora," Father said. His eyes moved to Barriss. "Padawan Offee. Come in." And so we did. Barriss went toward Master Luminara while I crossed to the other side of the desk. Father looked thoughtful and with him that could be worse because thoughtful meant he had probably already considered ten things I had not. Aunt Jenza had one ankle crossed over the other and was reading something on her datapad, but she glanced at me over the top of it as I stopped beside Father's chair.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Nothing happened." Father touched the projector control and turned the floating document toward me. "The Jedi Council sent this."
I leaned closer and the first few lines were formal enough. The Council thanked Father for his hospitality toward Master Luminara and Barriss. Then came something about continued understanding between Serenno and the Jedi Order. I moved down another line and stopped. They were inviting me to Coruscant. My eyes went back to the beginning and I started reading again, slower now. The invitation named me as Princess Liora Serenno and formally offered me guest residence within the Jedi Temple for several standard days. There would be no obligation toward training or membership. I would be permitted to observe lessons, visit public sections of the archives, see parts of the Temple normally closed to ordinary visitors, and spend time with younglings and Padawans if I wanted. It said the visit was intended as a return of the same openness Serenno had shown by accepting Jedi guests.
Then I noticed Father watching me instead of the document. "They want me to go to the Temple."
"That appears to be the intention." My eyes went back to the words. Coruscant. Jedi Temple. Guest of the Order. For a few seconds it was difficult to think about anything else. I had seen the Temple on screens and in films. Even when Barriss talked about the Temple, it still felt far from me, alien in a way. The idea of actually walking through those doors made something warm and excited start in my chest before I could stop it.
Then I remembered who else lived on Coruscant. Palpatine. I kept my face pointed toward the invitation and made myself finish reading before I looked up again. Father had probably seen something change anyway. Master Luminara stood with her hands folded inside her sleeves. "The Council asked me to present the invitation in person."
"Did they tell you why?" I asked.
"Yes."
Father looked at her before she could continue. "Then perhaps we should begin there." Luminara inclined her head slightly. "The Council believes the arrangement here has been useful. Barriss and I have been allowed to observe life on Serenno instead of judging it from reports. The invitation is meant to give Princess Liora the same opportunity regarding the Order."
"The same opportunity," Father repeated.
"Similar," Luminara corrected without any change in her voice. "The Temple is not Serenno and Princess Liora is not being sent as an observer for the crown. She would be a guest." Father came around the desk. He picked up the invitation with a small movement of his fingers, making the hologram follow him toward the windows. "You arrived on Serenno because your Council wished to understand my daughter and the environment in which she was being raised. That was made clear before I allowed you through the palace gates."
"It was."
"And now the Council wishes my daughter to enter their home."
"Yes."
"Where they would control access around her." Luminara took a moment before answering. "Temple security controls access around everyone inside it. That is not particular to Liora." Father's mouth tightened by the smallest amount. "My concern is rarely improved by being told a rule applies equally."
Aunt Jenza looked down at her datapad again. I knew that look. She had decided not to help either of them. I looked at Barriss. She stood beside her Master with her hands tucked into her sleeves, watching Father rather than me. She did not look nervous exactly, but her shoulders were a little straighter than usual. This was probably strange for her too, she had spent weeks in our home under rules Father had made. Now people were discussing whether I should go into hers.
Luminara stepped closer to the desk. "The invitation is not a summons. If you refuse it, nothing about our present agreement changes." Father did not answer. He set the projection back above the desk and enlarged the section concerning my status while I moved closer again. The words were almost painfully specific. The Council could offer instruction if I requested it, but nothing beyond the agreed visit would be assumed. They had clearly remembered every rule Father gave them before Luminara came here.
I touched one finger lightly against the edge of the desk. "It says I can train with people there." Aunt Jenza made a small sound that might have been a cough. Master Luminara's attention moved between Father and me before settling on the document. "The Council has included more detail than I expected." He walked toward the windows and stopped there. Afternoon light came through the tall glass behind him, catching the silver at his temples. For a while nobody said anything. I could hear one of the little wall vents pushing warm air into the room and the faint ticking of rain against the far window.
There were also training galleries, meditation halls, a Temple garden, dining areas. The Hall of a Thousand Fountains was listed as part of the normal visit. Barriss noticed where my eyes had stopped. "The fountains are better in person," she said quietly.
I looked up at her while Master Luminara turned her head, but she did not tell Barriss to be silent. "There are really that many?"
"No." Barriss considered that. "I don't think anyone has counted."
"Then why call it that?" I couldnt help but ask. Father turned from the window. His eyes rested on Barriss for a moment, then on me. "You are interested."
"Yes." Father folded his hands behind his back. Aunt Jenza lowered her datapad onto her lap. "Perhaps ask her." Father looked toward his sister. "I was going to." Father's attention returned to me. The room felt quieter when he did that, even though nothing around us actually changed. "Do you wish to accept the invitation?"
I looked down at the lines of blue light and thought about what I was actually being asked. The real Temple, with real Jedi who might like me or dislike me or ask questions I did not want to answer. Coruscant was also the Senate, the Chancellor's office, millions of people, cameras everywhere important, and more political eyes than Serenno could ever have.
I lifted my head. "Yes." Father did not move and Master Luminara's face stayed calm, but I felt Barriss's attention shift toward me. Aunt Jenza looked at Father rather than me, Father asked, "Why?"
"Because I want to see it for myself." I rested my hands against the edge of the desk because I did not know what else to do with them. "I've met some Jedi. I've talked to Master Plo. Master Luminara has been here. Barriss has been here. But it's still different."
"Different how?" I thought about that. "You left the Order because you thought something was wrong with it." Father's face went still. "You've told me why. Other people have told me different things. The Council has different reasons for what they do. Barriss grew up there and she doesn't think about everything the way you do." I glanced at Barriss and she looked down for a second before meeting my eyes again. "I would like to be the kind of person that makes my own opinion on people from my own experience."
Father's gaze stayed on me. Father looked at me for several seconds. I could feel him through the Force, steady but not empty. Then he walked around the desk and stood beside me. "Good."
I blinked."Good?"
"If the only understanding you ever possess is mine, then I have trained you poorly." I stared at him and Aunt Jenza smiled faintly. Father reached down and turned the hologram so the invitation faced him again. "I have no desire to send you into the Temple believing every criticism I have made is fact simply because it came from me. Nor do I want you entering it assuming the Council's kindness makes every concern I have false."
Master Luminara watched him with an expression I couldn't quite read. "Do not look so surprised, Master Unduli."
"I am not surprised." Father's mouth moved slightly, though not enough to become a smile. He looked back toward the invitation. "If Liora wishes to go, I will not refuse only because I am uncomfortable with the location."
I smiled before I could stop myself while his eyes went to me. "I have not finished." I nodded quickly. Father touched the control and closed part of the document. "I will accompany her." That did not surprise anyone except maybe Barriss. She blinked once. Luminara nodded. "I expected you would." Father seemed to consider that. He walked slowly toward the bookshelf behind his desk, though he was not looking at the books. "If she requests to attend a lesson with children her age, I will not object. If she requests to observe older training, I will consider it."
"That is workable." Master Luminara stepped toward the projector. "I can send your conditions with the acceptance. The Council may adjust parts concerning security, but I see nothing here they would reject."
"Security will be discussed separately."
"Of course." Father's eyes moved toward the rain running down the windows now. "I will not have a public arrival." Jenza spoke before Luminara could. "That may not be entirely within our control once Coruscant learns Serenno's heir is there." I looked between them. "Would people care that much?"
Three adults looked at me and I frowned. "What?" Aunt Jenza set her datapad aside. "You are the only child of a newly crowned king, publicly recognized heir to Serenno, highly Force-sensitive, and you are visiting the Jedi Temple after your father left the Order."
When she said it like that, it made sense. "Oh."
"Yes." Master Luminara looked at the invitation again. "The Temple has private landing platforms."
"Coruscant is just..." I searched for something true. "A lot." Father's expression eased slightly. "It can be."
"You lived there most of your life. Do you miss it?" That caught him off guard more than I expected. He looked toward the windows again. "Parts of it." The study had gone Silent. It had become , I looked back at the invitation. Something had been bothering me since I first read it. "Father?"
He looked at me. "Can Shmi come?" The question changed the room, Father's expression became careful. "Miss Skywalker?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
I stared at him for a second. "Anakin is there. She should get to see him." Master Luminara's eyes lowered slightly. Barriss stood very still beside her. I continued, "If we're already going to the same planet, and the same building he's living in, it would be stupid to leave her here." Father's eyebrow rose. "Poorly phrased," I admitted. "But you know what I mean."
"I do." I looked toward Luminara. "Would they let her come into the Temple?"
"That is not a decision I can make alone." My stomach sank a little. She continued before I could say anything. "But there is no rule preventing Miss Skywalker from entering the Temple as a guest. The matter would need to be arranged with the Council and with Master Kenobi." Father looked at Luminara. "Would her presence be treated as a problem?"
Luminara took a slow breath. "That depends on what you mean."
"I mean exactly what I said."
"It may complicate questions surrounding Anakin's attachments." Luminara met his eyes. "I said it may complicate questions already present in his training." Luminara continued, "Anakin entered the Order older than most. His relationship with his mother did not disappear because he became a Padawan. Everyone involved knows that. Master Kenobi knows it better than most. If Miss Skywalker wishes to come, I can send the request today. I will not promise details until Master Kenobi answers."
Father looked at me. "Then there is little point discussing Miss Skywalker's travel without Miss Skywalker." Aunt Jenza glanced at the time on her datapad. "She's in the eastern accounts room. Neral has her going through last month's household purchases." Father pressed the call control built into the edge of his desk. "Have Miss Skywalker come to my study when she is free."
The servant on the other end answered almost immediately. "Yes, Your Majesty." Father released the control and looked back to Luminara. "You can explain the Temple arrangements to her yourself."
"Of course."
That settled that for the moment. Father returned his attention to the invitation while I moved around the desk and sat in the chair beside Aunt Jenza. Barriss took the other one, though she sat straighter than I did, hands resting neatly in her lap. The room became awkwardly quiet now that we were waiting for someone else. Rain ticked against the windows harder than before. Father enlarged the section regarding our arrival and began reading it again while Luminara stood beside him. "The Council proposes seven days, five is sufficient."
Luminara considered it for a moment. "I doubt the Council will object." I looked toward Barriss. "How long have you been here?"
"A few months."
Father finally looked at me. "That has no bearing on this."
"It has some bearing."
"No." I leaned back in the chair. Aunt Jenza's mouth moved slightly, but she kept reading her datapad. There was no point arguing yet. Five days was still five days inside the Jedi Temple. I could work with that. Father continued down the document. "Private landing platform."
"The Temple has several." The door chimed several minutes later. Father shut off the section he had been reading and looked toward it. "Enter." Shmi stepped inside with a datapad tucked under one arm. She wore a simple dark green dress today, nothing formal, with her hair pulled back loosely at the nape of her neck. There was a faint line between her brows like we had interrupted something she was trying to solve. Her eyes moved over everyone in the room before settling on Father.
"Your Majesty."
"Miss Skywalker." Father gestured toward the chairs. "Please." Shmi's eyes moved to me, then Barriss and Luminara. The line between her brows deepened. "Has something happened?"
"No," I said quickly. She looked at me for another second. "You look excited."
"I am." That only made her more suspicious. Aunt Jenza shifted over and made room beside her. Shmi sat, setting her datapad across her knees. Father touched the projector controls again, and the Jedi invitation appeared over the desk. "The Council has invited Liora to visit the Jedi Temple on Coruscant," he said. Shmi looked at the projection. Her expression changed slowly as she read the first part, then she looked toward me. "And you want to go."
"Yes." She nodded once, almost like that answer made sense before I said it. "I imagine you do." I sat forward making sure my eyes locked on hers. "I want you to come too." For a moment she did not react at all. "To Coruscant?"
"Yes." Her fingers tightened slightly around the edge of the datapad.