"She is too good to me." Lena's upbeat voice gave no clue that there was any real threat. "She insists on staying with me without any thought of the danger to herself. I know I should not allow it."

"You are the one who does not give any thought to putting yourself in danger," Mica said softly.

As Lena watched her cousin stand and leave the room, Obi-Wan thought he caught a first glimpse of tension and fear on her face. He looked at Qui-Gon to see if he too had noticed it, but Qui-Gon had retreated inside himself once more and was gazing into his tea cup.

"I'm sorry," Lena apologized, suddenly placing her hand to her brow.

"I'm wasting your time, and I have not been entirely honest."

Obi-Wan sat up and Qui-Gon placed his cup on the table. They did not speak, but waited for Lena to continue.

"It is true that I need an escort to Coruscant. And it is true that I wish to testify against the Cobral. I must complete the task that Rutin started. The task he died for." Lena's voice caught and she stood, turning toward the shrouded windows before continuing. "In so many ways it is my fault. I did not mean to fall in love with him. I did not know he was a Cobral. But love isn't a choice, is it?"

Obi-Wan thought he saw Qui-Gon nod slightly.

"Before we married, Rutin promised he could stop the crime, but he could not stand to be cast out of his family. He was his parents' favorite and he loved them. He hoped that he could convince them to change their ways. He was not content to remove himself; he wanted to stop it all." Lena spoke more quickly as she went on, as if she could not stop the flow of words.

"But then his brother Solan found out that Rutin was trying to change things. Furious, he went to their father. Rutin could not close the crime ring from the inside. So he decided to try to close it from the outside. It was the hardest decision he ever made. I wanted him to get out, but I begged him not to risk his life. He insisted. For me, he said. He did it for me." Lena paused again and turned back toward the Jedi. Her dark eyes were moist with tears.