Conquest: Edge of Victory I Read Online Free PDF

when children stray, doesn’t that say something about the parents?”
    “This is a fine time to tell me you’re going to be a lousy father. Or maybe you don’t think I’ll be a good mother?”
    She was joking, but he felt a sudden wave of fear, depression, and anger from his wife.
    “Mara?” he asked. “It was just a metaphor.”
    “I know. It’s nothing. Just go on.”
    “It’s not nothing.”
    “It is nothing. Hormones. Mood swings. Very annoying,being jerked around by chemicals, and not your problem, Skywalker. Go on with what you were saying. Sans the parenthood metaphor.”
    “Fine. What I mean is, my teachings weren’t durable enough, or strong enough, or satisfying enough, if the others look to Kyp for their answers.”
    “We’ve been betrayed and we’re being slaughtered,” Mara said. “Kyp’s given them an answer to that. You haven’t.”
    “Wait. Now
you
agree with Kyp?”
    “I agree we can’t just sit and wait. I know you don’t want to do that either, but you aren’t expressing it well enough. Kyp has given the Jedi a vision, as clear and simple as it is wrong. All we’ve done is give a muddy jumble of assurances and prohibitions. We need to tell them what to
do
, not what not to do.”
    “We?”
    “Of course
we
, Skywalker. You and me. Where you go I go.”
    Her Force presence kissed lightly against his again, and for an instant he trembled. It felt good, a warmth against the cold hard nest of his doubts and pain. How could he afford to doubt? How could he let anyone else see it, when it might mean the end of everything?
    The touch eased, as if retreating, and he relaxed, and it came again, stealthier and stronger. He gave up, opening himself to her so they mingled in a bright stream. He took her in his arms and let her stroke away the worst of his doubts with her hand and the radiance within her.
    “I love you, Mara,” he breathed, after a time.
    “I love you, too,” she replied.
    “It’s hard to watch it all fall apart.”
    “It’s not falling apart, Luke. You have to believe that.”
    “I have to be strong for them. I have to be an example. But today—”
    “Yes, I saw it. You had a moment of weakness. I think I’m the only one who noticed.”
    “No. Anakin noticed. It upset him, a lot.”
    “You’re worried about Anakin?” she asked, picking up on the subtext of his spoken word. “He adores you. If there is someone he’s always wanted to be, it’s you. He wouldn’t side with Kyp.”
    “That’s not my worry. He’s more like Kyp than he thinks, but he doesn’t see it. He’s been through so much, Mara, and he’s too young to easily absorb what he’s had to deal with. He still carries the blame for Chewbacca’s death with him, and in the back of his mind part of him still thinks Han blames him, too. He watched Daeshara’cor die. He blames himself for the destruction of the Hapan fleet at Fondor. He’s carrying around all that pain, and some day that’s bound to add up to something he’s not experienced enough to handle. Grief and guilt are only a micron away from anger and hatred. And he’s still reckless, still thinks he’s immortal despite all of the death he’s seen.”
    “That’s what upset him about your weakness today,” Mara guessed. “He thinks you’re immortal, too.”
    “He
did
believe that. But now he knows if he can lose Chewie, he can lose anyone. That’s not making things better. He’s losing faith in everything he’s counted on his whole life.”
    “I didn’t have exactly a normal childhood,” Mara said, “but doesn’t that happen to most children at a certain point?”
    “Yes. But most children aren’t Jedi adepts. Most children aren’t as strong in the Force as Anakin, or as inclined to use it. Did you know when he was a boy, he once killed a giant snake by stopping its heart with the Force?”
    Mara blinked. “No.”
    “Yes. He was defending himself and his friends. It probably seemed like the only thing to do at