Alida slipped out of Xanatos' office, moving quickly toward her room. Her mind reeled from everything that had happened in such a short time. Not that she was unused to life moving at an accelerated pace, it was more... what was moving and how.
Intellectually, she understood they had their reasoning for the punishments meted out and that they accepted them. And now, young Lady Zelek and Octavia had been subjected to that, along with Lon Solo. In Lon's case, she found it more... understandable. The boy had to count himself fortunate, Aingidh could have easily killed Lon.
Karon and Octavia, though... Alida pushed open the door to her room. She disagreed greatly with what had been done to the two young women. Not that her thoughts on the matter made any difference.
With a heavy sigh, Alida sank to her knees. It seemed she was spending a good deal of time in meditation now. But after today...
Discovering that Octavia had been the one to feel the bite of the lash had shocked Alida more than she cared to admit. She'd known it was possible, and when she looked at things from another point of view, she realized it had been inevitable after what had happened on Arridor. Still... Octavia was not one of the Aldersons, this was not the method of correction the young woman was accustomed to.
Then there was Andre... Alida felt her lips curl upward slightly at the thought of the physician, so mild mannered compared to everyone else here. She had surprised herself by opening up to him, talking to him about her feelings on this. It had helped to calm her, to keep her from growing angry at the situation Octavia was in. She realized that she was coming to care for him. Perhaps not the fiery feelings that had touched her soul in her youth when she had been with Cirje Bollen, but there was something growing between them. Just what it would be remained to be seen.
As for Damien and Master Fer'rer coming to her room after Andre had departed for the evening ... Alida frowned. She had no idea what had transpired between the two, nor why Damien had decided to bring their disagreement to her to attempt to mediate, especially since it seemed to involve something Alida had no knowledge of. Based on the way Master Fer'rer had drawn back, she doubted it was something Damien should have mentioned at all.
Then, finally, Lon. The bitter young man who had attempted to murder Aingidh was so unlike the Lon Solo she remembered as Zuren's apprentice. She'd been pleased, all those months ago, when Zuren had taken on Lon and Danna. She'd done Zuren no favors by passing on leadership of the Council to him, but she had been almost certain that his Padawans would be there to help him. Instead, Zuren was one with the Force. Danna was, hopefully, healing, and Lon was nothing more than a faint echo of the man he used to be.
Alida closed her eyes, sinking into meditation, calming her mind and her soul. Eventually, she rose from her position on the floor and went to work on her journal. Completing that task, Alida prepared for bed.
She lay across the bed and closed her eyes. Sleep came easily at the end of such a day.
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