Reath sighed. Frustration practically radiated from him, but he maintained control admirably. He managed to ask, “Where are we going? Specifically, I mean.”

Jora raised her head and looked into the sky as if she could see the stars beyond the sunset. “To the beacon of the Republic,” she said. “To Starlight.”

Chapter One

Reath Silas was about to leave the Jedi Temple on Coruscant for his impressive new assignment on the frontier, and he was miserable about it.

“Cheer up!” Kym insisted, clapping him on the shoulder and nearly making him spill the contents of his cup. Her face was flushed with the excitement of the farewell party that percolated around them. “You’re about to have an amazing adventure!”

“‘Adventure’ is usually a euphemism for ‘going places that have lots of bugs,’” Reath said. “I mean, I know bugs have their place in the Force and are living beings in their own right…but that doesn’t mean I want them in my socks.”

Kym laughed at him. A couple of the colorful streamers decorating the Padawans’ common area had gotten snagged on her lethorns. “You realize at least half of the apprentices here would do almost anything for a placement on the frontier, right?”

In Reath’s opinion, “frontier” was usually a euphemism for “the middle of nowhere.” But he didn’t have the heart to debate with Kym any longer. It was hard enough pretending to be grateful for the big goodbye party his friends were throwing him.

No. He was grateful. It could never be a bad thing to know that others cared about you and would miss you when you were gone. But Reath was in no mood for a party when all he felt was melancholy and the absolute certainty that he was being taken from the best place in the galaxy to one of the worst.

Coruscant was the center of the known galaxy, literally and figuratively. Reath had always been grateful that was the temple he’d been sent to, that he’d had the privilege of growing up there, of learning directly from the members of the Jedi Council. His luck had continued when he’d been chosen as the Padawan of Jora Malli, one of the most renowned Knights of the age and a Council member herself. This meant Reath had served on a handful of the most significant missions of the past few years. What he lacked in natural strength in the Force (which he’d been keenly aware of since he was hardly more than a toddler) he made up for by working hard, being trustworthy, and taking responsibility. The majority of apprentices were still hoping for a measure of independence when they turned twenty; at only seventeen, Reath had already been trusted with tasks that his master said would’ve proved a challenge for even a full Jedi.

But most of all—best of all—he’d had access to the Jedi Archives.