Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens Lost Stars Read Online Free PDF Page A

outcropping and overshadowed by another, making it so secret that
Ciena sometimes thought she and Thane might be the first people in the history of Jelucan to walk inside. In short, it was the perfect hangout.
    Occasionally,each of them went there alone, but mostly they visited the Fortress together, talking about everything in the world and dreaming about their future among the stars.
    “My father said it was three dozen senators who walked out,” Ciena said.
    Thane shrugged. He was less interested in politics than Ciena was and continued lounging on the red rug, staring out at the sunset. “What difference doesit make whether it was twenty or
thirty-six? Out of hundreds of senators, that’s not that many either way.”
    “They refused to cast votes. They’re going to be replaced by Imperial appointment. That’s a big deal, Thane.”
    “It’s just some rich old politicians being self-important. That’s their idea of fun.”
    “How could they betray their oaths? Their
honor
?” Ciena still couldn’t fully believeit. “Everybody knows it was the Senate that steered the galaxy into civil war
before the Emperor established order again. Why would anyone take the peace we have now for granted?”
    Thane shrugged. “Probably they’re really fighting about something else entirely and just saying it’s all about these high ideals. When they realize they don’t have any
power anymore, they’ll come crawling backto the Emperor and forget all about the stuff they were arguing over before.”
    “You’re really cynical sometimes.”
    “I’m right, though. You’ll see.”
    Ciena sighed as she lay back on the black gundark hide, its thick fur as cozy as any bed. From this angle, the sunset blazed magnificently just beyond the far ridge of mountains. The light
glowing into the cave turned Thane’s hair to truered and added warmth to his pale skin, and something about the way it fell made his face look startlingly older.
    He’ll be handsome,
she thought. Strange though it was to realize that, Ciena felt she was only being objective. It wasn’t as if she and Thane were—as if they would
ever—well, they wouldn’t. If her parents loathed her having a second-wave boy for a friend, how would they reactif she ever fell in love with one? And while Thane had never explicitly
told her about the way his father treated him, she’d seen the bruises and sensed in his silences the things he hadn’t said. Thane’s father would do worse than that if he ever
thought the two of them were together.
    Besides, she and Thane…maybe they were
too close
to each other to fall in love. Sometimes she felt thatthey were two parts of the same person.
    “Hey,” Thane said quietly, carefully. “Can I ask you something that might be, uh, personal?”
    Had he guessed what she was thinking about? Ciena sat up and hugged her knees to her chest. “You can ask. I don’t promise to answer.”
    “Fair enough.” He paused again before continuing. “Every once in a while, when we see something really amazing, you whisper,‘Look through my eyes.’ Is that a
valley thing? What does it mean?”
    It
was
personal, but Ciena found she didn’t mind Thane’s knowing. “Yes, it’s one of our customs. A rarer one, though. See—when I was born—I was a
twin.”
    “A twin?” Thane sat up straight. Even a second-waver would be intrigued; most planets had myths and legends about twins. “For real? But I thought you were an onlychild.”
    “I am now. My sister, Wynnet, died only a few hours after we were born.”
    “Oh. Sorry.”
    “No, it’s all right. It’s not as if I remember her or anything. But I live my life for both of us.” Ciena held up her arm to show off her leather bracelet.
“Didn’t you ever notice that I never take this off?”
    “Well, yeah, but I thought you just
liked
it.”
    Ciena ran her fingertipalong the braid. “I wear it as a symbol that I’m still tied to Wynnet. All my life, everything I do,