They could not speak.
His keen gaze swept the room. Suddenly he turned and strode to the corner and picked up the Holocron. He placed it carefully in the deep pocket of his robe. Then he turned and regarded the two boys.
Lorian pressed himself back against the wall and pushed himself to a standing position.
"It was Dooku's idea," he said.
Chapter 3
Dooku was too shocked to say a word.
"The Council will want to see you both," Oppo Rancisis said sternly.
"But I didn't — " Dooku began.
Oppo Rancisis held up a hand. "Whatever you have to say will be said before the Council. The truth will be spoken there." He turned and walked out.
"Dooku, listen — " Lorian started.
Rage filled Dooku. He couldn't even meet his friend's gaze.
He ran blindly down the hall. He didn't know where he was going. He had so many sanctuaries in the Temple — a favorite bench, a spot by a window, a rock by the lake — but he could not imagine any of those places offering him sanctuary now. His heart was so full of black anger and bitterness that he felt he was choking.
His best friend had betrayed him. Throughout the years at the Temple, he could always depend on Lorian. They had shared jokes and secrets.
They had competed and helped each other. They had quarreled and made up.
The fact that this person could betray him shocked him so deeply he felt sick.
He didn't know how he passed the day. Somehow the news got out that the two had been caught. Students sent him sidelong looks and hurried by him. Jedi Knights who did not know him studied him as they passed in the hall. Dooku longed to go to Yoda and explain everything, but he knew that Yoda would only repeat what Oppo Rancisis had said. He had to suffer through the days until the Jedi Council found the time to speak to them.