Chapter 150

"Do you know what's this all about, Chati, for your father doesn't want to tell me anything. A joined hearing of the Harvest Council and the Council of the Elders in the presence of the governors of Cantamaga and Ribana. It must be something very important. Could it be that Ribana has been occupied again? Has that weird intruder returned. Well, one thing is clear. He can make a living again in those cave? Hasn't your master told you anything?" Udine asked very curiously.

"No mother, master Antilles certainly shouldn't inform me, for I'm just his padawan learner. I'm not a Jedi, yet. Oh look, there are Ian and Yarmod, too."

"Go over to them, Chati, asked them to join us. Maybe they know what's this all about."

Chati waved to her two Jedi friends and Ian and Yarmod walk over to her and her mother.

"Ian," Udine immediately said, "Do you know why both the Harvest Council and the Council of the Elders with my husband and my brother-in-law are gathered here? You certainly know more, for Toallin tells the Jedi a lot."

"The Jedi Knights and our friends are only asked to attend this joined hearing, Udine. We aren't involved in anything, as far as we know. This joined hearing This joint hearing is convening for an important matter of the Quelan community." Yarmod answered.

"What kind of important matter?" Udine asked.

Ian shrugged his shoulders.

"Sorry, Udine, we don't know." He said.

"Oh, look, master Manall asks for attention. Maybe he will tell us what's going on. I think it has something to do within the harvest families with the behavior of that immature daughter of master Pohinn." Udine said and snorted loudly.

Manall had walked over in front of the tables. The crowd at the central plaza looked up to the harvest men's leader.

"Welcome, my fellow Quelans. In consultation with Governors Toallin and Mugin Fonaldris and the Council of the Elders, chaired by Master Jocferin Kamalin, we are holding a joint hearing that will have to make several important decisions regarding the future of the Quelan community and the wellbeing of all the Quelans, regardless of whether they are residents of Ribana or belong to what is known as the group of harvest men and their families. But first I want to give governor Toallin the floor to make an announcement." Manall said and look at Toallin who was walking over to him.

"During our stay here on Tyr entering the nut forest has been forbidden, because after our arrival a serious accident has happened. Recently, Manall's eldest grandson Filann Radilan, accompanying by two of our Jedi friends, has met the leader of the Urams, Oltomyran. With help of the Jedi Knights Filann and Oltomyran have made an agreement which has ended the hostilities between the Quelans and the Urams.

In the agreement the Urams will be the ones which will use the unripe nuts still hanging at the trees as their food, while the Quelans will safely gather any fallen nuts in the forest. No Uram will attack the Quelan harvest men who are gathering fallen nut, and the Quelan harvest men will never chop any nut tree which will be the exclusive food supply for the Urams.

We, as governors of this community, in accordance with the Council of the Elders and the harvest mens' leader master Manall have fully agreed to the agreement between Filann Radilan and Oltomyran. This also means that the nut grove is safe again for harvesting nuts, but it will be the harvest men who will gather the fallen nuts," Toallin said in a loud voice.

A load cheer rose up from the gathered Quelans, but Udine looked disappointed.

"Is this all my husband had to announce," She said, as Toallin left and Manall took the floor again.

"Thank you, governor, but the safety of the nut forest isn't the only important issue we have to discuss." Manall said, "For decades, maybe even a century or so, that distinction between the two groups has existed.

The harvest men and their families were seen as the group of men which went to Tyr to harvest the nut which we all use as one of our food supplies. The harvest men also lived at a distance of Ribana and seldom mingled with the residents of Ribana. The inhabitants of Ribana also rarely concerned themselves with what was going on in the community of the harvest men and their families.

However the youngster of both groups met each other on a daily basis in the classroom of master Kamalin. There young boys and girls from harvest families met young boys and girls of the residents of Ribana families, but after school, both groups went to their own communities. Friendships that formed were rarely long-lasting, for when the boys and girls were able to leave school after a while, not much remained of the friendships, except perhaps for a single individual.

That all has changed when the continent of Myr was occupied and all the Quelans, harvest families or from Ribana, has to make themselves a new way of living on Tyr, here in Cantamaga. Our young people mingled cheerfully with one another, for there was now no longer any distance between the harvest families and the former inhabitants of Ribana. In Cantamaga, the harvest families had to build their houses among those of the Quelans from Ribana, because there was little building space in Cantamaga.

The result of this way of living more closely together of both groups, was that among the younger boys and girls of both groups close friendships were made. Harvest boys and girls were invited to attend celebrations and parties in Ribana Quelans families - my apologies for this name - and perhaps boys and girls from Ribana became familiar with some of the rules in the harvest families.

One of those rules in the last mentioned group, that amazed many Quelans from Ribana was the so-called marriage agreement between two harvest families. The two fathers, on with a son, the other with a girl, made an agreement that their son and daughter would form a new house hold once the daughter would have reached the age of fifteen, sometimes sixteen, although the son should have reach adulthood before their marriage would be announced..

For many years that hasn't been a problem as there wasn't much difference in years between the two future partners. The partners viewed each others as peers.

Over the years, however, the age difference between two partners for which the fathers has made an agrement, has become considerably. Age differences of six, seven, eight, even ten or more years are normal now, as these last decades more boys than girls are born in the harvest families. This means that the boys have become adult Quelan harvest men in their twenties, before their future wife is still an immature girl of fifteen.

While growing up the two partners have seldom or never met each other, for there is no longer a bond between peers.

Sometimes it's even worse and aren't the future partners informed of the agreement between the fathers.

While the two groups had to live among each others the boys and girls from the harvest families have become aware that among the Ribana Quelans there is never any question of such concluded agreements in which none of the partners has any input.

It doesn't need a further explanation, that this difference between in the way young harvest boys and girls and the boys and girls who grow up in Ribana Quelan families have cause tremendous feelings of dissatisfaction, disappointment and frustration among the harvest youngster which in my opinion is comprehensible, for why should parents decided which of their offspring should be forced to form a couple.

I've heard all kind of arguments over the years, while I live on Myr and here on Tyr, ranging from it is our traditional way of life, to young people are unable to make the right choice. If this last argument would be true, than I assume that among the Ribana Quelan marriages there should very well be a case that marriages in their group are doomed to failure, which it isn't the case, on the contrary, all marriages between Ribina Quelan youngster show happiness, love and mutual respect between the partners, whereas in several marriages between an young adult harvest man and the agreed young girl the partners feel no affection for each others which leads to many misunderstanding, culminating in frustration on both sides.

Therefore I call up the members of the Harvest Council: master Telconn, master Garinn , master Fenall, master Bernall, master Allrann and master Lioann to consider whether the marriage tradition among the harvestmen should change, or better yet, be abolished, for the members of the harvestman families are, just like the inhabitants of Ribana, Quelans. There is no difference between the two groups, as both are consisting of Quelans.

Give the harvest youngsters the same freedom as the Ribana youngster. Let them choose a life partner of their choice, and not one they are forced to accept."

Manall ended his long summing-up of what was going on among the harvest young people.

The six members of the Harvest Council looked at their chair-man and nodded. Master Bernall one of the oldest harvest man stood up.

"Thank you, master Radilan for this explanation which makes clear to all gathered here, harvest families and our fellow Quelans from Ribana what lives among our youngsters. It's my opinion that some harvest families are aware of dissatisfaction among their children, but we harvest men have always lived by this tradition, and now we're asked to abandon a rule which we have always seen as being right and just for our children." Bernall said.

A commotion arose in a group of young harvest boys and girls. One boy stepped up and looked at the older harvest man with a furious eyes.

"Master Bernall, your opinion shows the very old-fashioned point-of-view that lives among all those old harvest families who have never uncounted the frustration we young boys and girls feel. I will give you my personal experience. I'm a son of master Domar, Relonn. I'm twenty-eight years old. My father and master Wulann once made an agreement that master Wulann's eldest daughter Tiorinn would be come my wife when she would have reached the age of fifteen. I'm glad to say that Tiorinn is a very sensible young woman who is now twenty-one years old, to my knowledge. She always have convinced her father to delay the announcement of our marriage for five years now, not because she dislikes me, but because she knows that I already have a girlfriend, a Quelan woman of twenty-five who I have met shortly after I arrived on Tyr, now eight years ago. I want to marry that girl, because I love her and she loves me, and our marriage it could have been consummated long ago if my father had not opposed this union. In honest I wanted to know from the members of the Harvest Council, how long I will have to wait until I'm allowed to marry the woman of my choice, the woman I love." Relonn said in a loud voice.

A young woman walked over to Relonn.

"Relonn, we have talked this over many times, but as long as your father remains stubborn I fear that you will be an old man, older than master Bernall, who sticks to an outdated rule among the harvest family. Relonn, your father and my father once agreed that we would marry. When I reach the age of fifteen you were an adult harvest man of twenty-three. We had never met before, we don't know each other and although we have done a lot of talking over the years you're not the man I want to marry, not because I dislike you, but because I don't feel attracted to you. You're nice, you're friendly, but you can only be a friend, not my husband. That's why I asked my father, who luckily doesn't stick to rules which are no longer right in his eyes, to postpone the announcement of our marriage. Relonn, we're are both adults. We don't have to listen to what our parents tell us. We can make our own decisions and take our lives into our own hand. I would love to see you married to the Quelan you love. Relonn, take this opportunity and announce that within the coming days, or maybe weeks you will proposed to her and ask her to marry you. Love between future partners is the best reason to make a marriage successful." The young woman said, before she turned to the Harvest Council, "By the way, members of the Harvest Council who are sitting there as a group of old-fashioned men, who aren't able to think in a different way than you have always done. I'm Tiorinn Wulan and I will never marry Relonn Domarr, for I would make him unhappy, neither will my two sisters will ever marry the harvest man which my father has ever agreed upon. We want to make our own choice to live a happy live, and forced marriages doesn't guarantee happiness for the partners."

Tiorinn now turned to the Council of the Elders.

"Honorable members of the Council of the Elders. I'm a Quelan, born in a harvest family. My father and the father of Relonn Domarr decided when I was born that he would become my husband when would have reached the age of fifteen. The Council has the authority to make rules for all the Quelans, whether they come from harvest families, or from the Quelans who used to live in Ribana. Using your authority it's up to you to decided if the rule of forced marriages which only count for harvest families isn't in in violation of the rules applicable to the Quelans of Ribana. If that is the case, the Council may decide that forced marriages are forbidden for all Quelans, for there is no difference between the harvest youngster's wishes and those of the Quelans of Ribana. " Tiorinn said, before she walked over to Relonn Domarr and stretch out her hand.

"All the best for your future, Relonn, but I will never become your wife." She said to him.

Those gathered in front of the Harvest Council and the Council of the Elders applauded and cheered.

Bernall sat down with a surly face, after which Fenall stepped up.

"Master Radilan, is it true that something similar is going on in your immediate family as well?" Fenall asked.

Manall pointed at Filann who stepped in front, but suddenly a young Quelan girl made her way through the crowd, pursued by an adult harvest man.

"Sumall, I demand that you come back immediately," Honyan Pohinn yelled, but Sumall stood already next to Filann, while from the left a young Quelan boy of Sumall's age also walked over to her.

Honyan Pohinn wanted to grab Sumall's arm and drag her away, but Filann and the young boy blocks his path, after Manall grabbed Honyan and pulled him back among the crowd.

"I'm the chair of the Harvest Council, Honyan, and I give your daughter permission to give vent to express her frustration and that of my grandson. Go on, Sumall, the members of the Harvest Council will listen to you."

Sumall looked at Filann, but then she grabbed the hand of the other young boy.

"Members of the Harvest Council you are old men who I detest, for you're ruining the futures of young adult harvest Quelan boys and young harvest Quelan girls, because you stick to the believe that what parents decide is in favor of a boy and girl whom they want to form a new house hold. You are wrong, you're old-fashioned, you don't look what's happening around in our community.

Yes, I'm born in a harvest family, but I have decided that I'm no longer will be part of the harvest families. I'm a Quelan and I want that the rules which count for all the Quelans which are of higher authority than the rules the Harvest Council decides, will also count for me and allow me to marry the man I have loved from my early youth. This is Thero Usavon and we have promised each other to get married, once we would have reach adultness. At the moment we're still under aged, for I'm nearly eighteen and Thero, being five months older as me, is of the same age, but we have pledge loyalty to each other when I left school at the age of thirteen.

However, some two years ago, just before our governors returned, my father and the father of Filann Radilan made a public announcement that Filann and I were husband and wife from that moment. I was a girl of merely fifteen and I was forced to become the wife of an eight year older harvest adult. My imposed husband has built me a nice house, made all the furniture and bought everything I would need to run our new house hold, but there was something terrible amiss.

Filann Radilan and I never grew up together. We didn't know who the other was. We never met before our marriage announcement was made. We feel no affection for each other. We don't love each other. We are just acquaintances.

I admit that I must have frustrated Filann, because for two years I have refused to fulfill the obligation which are expected of a married woman, in other words, our marriage hasn't consummated and it never will, for I will at all cost stick to the wedding oath I have pledge to Thero Usavon. He is the boy, the man I love. He is the man I want to share my life with. He is the man whose children I want to bear.

Member of the Harvest Council I no longer recognize your authority on this matter, I only recognize what the Council of the Elders will decide, for their wisdom is of more value to me, that the decision a group of old-fashioned men who can't imagine what they have done to Filann, Thero and me."

Sumall turned to Filann

"Filann I have to apologize to you. I have treated you unfairly. I should have told you from the beginning that I loved someone else. I must have hurt you deeply, and I'm sorry have done that. I know that you have said that you no longer see yourself as my husband, that I'm no longer your wife. You're right, but we have to fight for our freedom again, for we both want to be free to live our own life, decide our own future."

Filann looked at Sumall and smiled at her.

"Sumall, during our forced marriage you even never have allowed me to kiss you. What you've just said is really great, for I feel the same. We're not a married couple. We are just two Quelans about whom our fathers once decided that we should become man and woman. I understand, that you no longer recognize that agreement, and I fully agree with your point of view. Like you I'm not longer see myself as part of the harvest men's group. For me that group doesn't exist any more. There are no harvest men and their families, there are only Quelans in our community, and in that case there can't be separated rules that protect the harvest men, for rules have to count of all Quelans, and only the governors and the Council of the Elders have the authority to make those rules. Those are the rules I will recognize and will be obliged to."

Filann turned to the table where the Council of the Elders presided with Toallin and Mugin.

"Honorable members of the Council of the Elders, honorable governors. I place the responsibility for the failed marriage between Sumall Pohinn and me upon you, for I acknowledge only your authority. You can use your authority to dissolve this marriage as soon as possible, so that Sumall and I will have the freedom to choose our own partners."

Filann walked over to Thero Usavon and smiled at the young boy, and took the hands of Sumall and Thero and put them together.

"Thero, you will take care of Sumall, and you will do it better than I have done. Had I known from the beginning about the wedding pledge between the two of you I would have stepped up before the announcement of this unfortunate and failed marriage. Whatever the Council of the Elders will decide I'm no longer Sumall's husband and she is no longer my wife. You're free to marry her one day and be happy together."

Filann looked at the bright eyes of Sumall who for the first time smiled at him. He released their intertwined hand and walked away.

Manall stepped in front again.

"Members of the Harvest Council it's up to you to make a decision now that you have listen to what a few of our youngster have said. You can discard what they have said as insufficient evidence for what lives among our youngsters. You also can give it a good thought and prevent future forced marriages. Tradition are wonderful, but over the time tradition become outdated and have to be reviewed thoroughly. I wish you much wisdom to discuss and reflect on what you have heard. May the Force be with you." Manall said and turned to the Council of the Elders and Toallin and Mugin.

"Members of the Council of the Elders and master Toallin and master Mugin Fonaldris. You have heard what some of the harvest youngster have told and how they feel. You certainly will discuss what you have heard among your group. I now what to adjourn the joined hearing to give both councils the opportunity to reflect on what has been said."

Manall stepped back and walked away. The members of the two council left their seats and disappeared in the administration building.

Udine looked at Chati and the Jedi Knights who had gathered around her with a serious face.

"It wasn't what I expected, but this is even a more serious matter. I'm glad that I'm not a member of one of these councils. It will be very difficult to make the right decision, but it's obvious that those youngster must have to opportunity to take matters in their own hands, like you have done, Chati. I'm proud of you, for it has been you who have set these changes in motion. You've always been an obstinate youth too."

Wedge, Luke and Han grinned.

"I disagree, Udine," Han said, "Your daughter has shown she is inventive, not obstinate, and that's what I like in women, for my wife and Shaayla-Car are the same."

Leia and Liane frowned, but refrained from discussing Han's words.

"You've such a generous and forgiven character, Filann," Anddra said and looked at him.

"I didn't expect to find you here, Anddra." Filann said.

"What made you think, I wouldn't attend this hearing of those joined council. It's very important for our community to know what they will be decide. Your grandfather hold a great introduction. I've loved to listen to what he said. He must be a wise man, Filann. You should be proud of him."

"I'm. Do you want to meet him, Anddra?" Filann asked.

"I would love to, but he probably is busy now."

"He isn't, for he intended to adjourn the hearing at this point. For it's important that the members of these council fully remember and concentrate on what they have heard from what he said, but more from what we as harvest young adults have told the Harvest Council."

"Did you know that your wife would step up and give her opinion about what was wrong in your marriage." Anddra asked.

"Anddra, she is no longer my wife. I am no longer married to her." Filann protested.

"That's how you feel it, Filann, but the councils have to annul your marriage. Until they haven't decided Sumall is still your wife." Anddra objected.

Filann stubbornly shook his head, but didn't comment on what she said. He carefully took her arm.

"Come with me, Anddra, to my grandfather's house. I'm sure he will like it that you come to see him."

Anddra looked at him and smiled.

"You really want to introduce me to him, don't you, Filann?" She asked.

Filann nodded.

"He send me to the farm and told I should give you a hand. He probably has done that on purpose."

"On purpose? How is that possible? He doesn't know who I am. I've never met him as far as I know."

Filann laughed and want to put his arm around Anddra's shoulder, but he quickly withdrew his hand.

"My grandfather senses a lot more than you and I can imagine, Anddra. He is a Force-user."

"Is he a Jedi Knight, like Shaayla-Car and Ben?"

"No, but when he was a young man he had two Jedi Knights as friends who have visited him here on Palomintar Four more than once."

"And they have learned him to become a Force-user?"

"Not exactly. It seems that individuals can be susceptible to the influence of the Force. Not everyone, for I am not, but my younger brother Lorann is, and so it Chati Fonaldris, the governor's daughter." Filann explained.

Together they walked through the streets of Cantamaga, before they left the town and walked through the fields to the path that led to Manall's house. Filann opened the door and let Anddra pass.

"Grandfather, I would like to introduce you to Anddra Jecolin, the owner of the farm in the hills outside Ribana." Filann said.

Manall stood up from his armchair and walked over to the young woman.

"Welcome, Anddra. I'm Manall Radilan, and as my grandson said I'm his grandfather," Manall laughed.

"It's a great pleasure, master Radilan to meet you. I've heard all what you said about the harvest families and their special way to arrange marriages between their children. I understand, that you oppose their view." Anddra said.

"Filann, you should offer your companion a seat before we talk more, and will you take care of some refreshments. It's been a busy day. I certainly didn't expect Sumall to speak up for herself. Honyan Pohinn was outraged." Manall sat and pointed to the other armchair. "Take that seat over there, Anddra. So, you're the young lady who ask governor Fonaldris for some help."

"I felt devastated, master Radilan, for the farm house has always been the pride of my parents. My father has built the first part after his marriage and later he extended the house to have more space. All those empty rooms that once had been furnished with fine furniture made me feel so sad. The week after I had arrived on Myr I only walked from one room to the other for I didn't where to start the huge cleaning I had to be done." Anddra confessed, feeling at ease, looking at the friendly face of the older harvest man.

Filann entered with mugs, filled with a mashed fruit drink.

"I hope you like this, Anddra. In it are different mashed fruits, like marouses and grens. When mashed and mixed with fresh water it's a good drink when you're hungry, but haven't time to prepare a meal."

Anddra sipped carefully from the mug and her eyes began to sparkle.

"This tastes lovely. It's sweet with with a kind of slightly sour aftertaste. I've never heard of these fruits. Where did you get them."

"They grow in the nut woods. The bushes always stand on shadowy place and not easily to find, but you don't need much to make this drink."

"Isn't it dangerous to go into these woods for these special fruits. What about those birds, Filann? Would they attack, when you pick those fruits." Anddra asked and in her voice Filann heard some fear.

"No, Anddra, those birds are content with the nuts that are hanging among the leaves of the canopy." Manall said reassuringly. "We can safely pick those fruits without fearing the Urams."

"Urams? Are those birds called Urams?" Anddra asked and she looked at Filann and Manall.

Concerned Filann looked at her.

"What wrong with you, Anddra?" He asked.

Manall put a reassuring hand on her arm and Anddra relaxed. She took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry for my reaction. I'm feeling foolish now." She said. "But after what has happened to Iljon after she had entered the nut forest I was told that it had been the Urams which attack and killed the group of young women and girl. The word Uram has always kept a frightening tone for me. While I lived with my mother in Cantamaga I heard that the harvest mens' leader was to blame for the death of the women and the girls, Many families who has lost someone accused him for chopping the nut trees in stead of being content with harvesting fallen nuts. As I was to busy taken care of my blind mother I haven't paid much attention to all those stories, but I understood that after that disaster the Council of the Elders decreed that no one at Cantamaga was allowed to enter the forest and the presence of the darkness and the danger of the nut forest became something that was looming over the town for a long time.

But recently some young Quelans are going into the forest again while two Jedi Knights are protecting them, and you told me, Filann, that we shouldn't be afraid of those birds, those Urams, anymore, for there's now an agreement between the Quelans who harvest nuts and those birds." Anddra said.

Filann looked at Manall before he turned to Anddra again.

"Anddra, I've told you that my brother Cemall and I have seen what happened to those innocent victims. I told you that I wanted to run for help, but that my father held me and Cemall back. You answered that that was a wise decision of him."

Anddra nodded.

"It was a wise decision, Filann, otherwise you and Cemall would probably been have attacked too."

"Anddra," Manall said, "Has my grandson told you why the attack happened, because Filann wants you to know that the death of your twin sister has been caused by the wrong decision of Filann's father. He was the harvest men's leader at that time."

"What has your father decided, Filann, that has worked out so devastating?" Anddra asked.

Filann looked at his grandfather, but Anddra intercepted the helpless look in his eyes.

"Filann, what happened to Iljon can't be your fault. Iljon decided to gather some nuts for my mother who had been complaining for days that she felt so hungry. You were a young under aged boy. You couldn't have done some good, for the attacking birds were numerous and everywhere I've been told."

"Anddra, your sister and the other victims wouldn't have been killed if Filann's father Cornell hadn't decided that chopping nut trees and gathering the nuts from the fallen trees would yield a more profitable trade, for the nuts on the tree are unripe and can be stored for a very long time," Manall said. "Filann's father thought that he could make more profit when he sold unripe nuts to traders who sometimes visited Myr. He was right, but he never kept the yield of the nut trade, for he always has handed the credits to the Council of the Elders to benefit our community on Myr." Manall told the young Quelan woman calmly.

Anddra had listened well and responded with a happy smile.

"I remember that that my father told me that there were enough extra credits to paint all the roofs of the houses in Ribana in different colors so that the town looked so much prettier, so Filann's father made a good decision, master Radilan." She said.

"Yes, and no, Anddra. Yes, because our community did benefit from the more credits the unripe nuts brought in, as you just said. No, because he never realized that the unripe nuts were the most important food for the Urams, and chopping the nut tree deprived them of those unripe nuts.

Before Filann's father became the harvest leader, it was my task to harvest the nuts in the forest. Under my leadership my men gathered the ripe nuts which had fallen on the forest floor. The Urams never bothered themselves with what my men and I were doing, but ripe nuts can't be stored for a long time, their shelf life is limited, and trading any surplus didn't yield much."

Anddra nodded.

"I understand what you and Filann want to explain to me, master Radilan. When Filann's father began to chop the nut trees, the Urams got angry, for those nuts were their food. They began to defend their food and probably also have attacked Filann's father and his men. It's now clear to me why the Urams attacked the group of women among which was my sister. Those birds must have assumed that those fifty Quelans had entered their territory to chop down more nut trees. Obviously that they defended their food supply."

Manall nodded and Filann looked in amazement at Anddra.

"You have listened well to what my grandfather told you, Anddra." Filann said looking very seriously at her. "I can imagine that you blame my father for what happened to Iljon."

Anddra was silent for a while, but then she shook her head.

"No, Filann, I don't blame your father for Iljon's death. It's not his fault. He must have had a lot of problems himself with the casualties among the harvest men, due to his decision to chop the trees, but Iljon's death is caused, because Ribana was occupied and all the Quelans were driven out of the town and the surrounding area.

If Ribana wouldn't have been occupied, my father wouldn't have been shot by those armed forced; my mother wouldn't have lost her eyesight, because she saw what happened to her husband; the Quelans wouldn't have been forced into the wild lands and struggled to reach the harbors, and Iljon wouldn't have been killed by those birds, for she wouldn't have been on Tyr, no one of us wouldn't have been on Tyr.

If I would have to held some one responsible for my sister's death, it should be the man who occupied Ribana and deprived us from our old way of living." Anddra said very determinedly. "What has happened to our community, what befell Iljon and the other victims of the Urams' attack, is his fault. He has caused much suffering within our community, but I believe that we will emerge stronger from this, as a community of all Quelans."

Filann looked at the young Quelan woman in awe.

"You have done a lot of thinking, my dear, while you have been forced to live in exile on Tyr," Manall said.

"I have always been listening to what others say, and while living with my blind mother I had only one duty: take care of her and make her life as comfortable as possible. She was often very depressed and spend most of her days alone in her room. Despite my constant worries about her, I was still left plenty of time to think about what I had heard, and sometimes I exchanged my thoughts with other Quelans. First with the Quelans who supported me and my mother, but later mostly during my visits to the market on the central square.

The more I heard, the more I have learned to see things differently, because I have been able to discuss many thoughts with others, and that's why it's now my believe that the man who occupied Ribana and had us driven out of the town, has done that to teach us Quelans something. I haven't figured out what that could be, but what happened to our community hasn't happened coincidentally."

Filann had been silently listening to what Anddra had said. Manall looked at his grandson with a smile.

"You just said that the Quelans had to learn something from what has happened on Myr, but you're not sure yet what we have to learn. May I suggest something. I don't see I'm right, but I would love to hear what you think about my suggestion," Manall said.

Anddra began to laugh.

"While I met Filann in Cantamaga, master Radilan I said to him that I loved what you said about the difference between the way marriages between the harvest men are arranged and those between Quelans who grew up in Ribana. I said to Filann that you are a very wise man. It's great to learn from you, so I'm eager to know what you think we Quelans should learn from what happened to us."

She turned to Filann.

"I'm glad that you said that you were sure that your grandfather would have time to meet me." She said and turned to Manall again.

"Tell me, master Radilan, what's your idea?"

Manall patted Anddra on her arm.

"First, lovely friend of my grandson, you'd better call like everyone does and use my first name: Manall. Secondly I want you to think about if you can recall how the Quelan community was organized before we have to flee. I know you were very young, but I'm sure you have noticed some peculiarities at that time. Tell me, who were your friends while you went to master Kamilin's classes."

"Oh, Iljon and I had many friends from Quelan families who, like my father, sold their wares on the market in Ribana."

"Did you have friends among your peers who came from harvest men's families? Have you ever met Filann's brother Cemall, for I'm sure that he must have been in your peer class."

Anddra frowned thoughtfully

"I vaguely recall that there were some classmates from harvest families." She said and suddenly looked at Manall, "Master Manall, that what you have been referring to this morning, before those young harvest men and woman stepped up to defend their cases. You said that on Myr the young Quelans met in master Kamilin's school, but there weren't friendship's between the children from harvest families and those of the Quelans who lived in Ribana. After school both groups didn't mingled as didn't the families of either group. In fact that's odd, for both groups consist of Quelans"

Anddra frowned again, but then she smiled.

"Should the occupation of Ribana learn us that the Quelans form one community and that once we all have gone back to Myr we should live in Ribana as we have lived here in Cantamaga, which means that the harvest families have to live in Ribana too and not at some distance of the town. When those harvest families would be part of the community in Ribana the young harvest boys and girls could become more easily friends with other young Quelans in our community and chose their own partner for life. Master Manall, you want the harvest men and their families to give up their separate way of living to protect their children to be forced into unhappy marriages like that of Filann and Sumall. You want the harvest men to build a new house in Ribana and not at a place outside the town."

Manaal looked appraisingly at Anddra and nodded at her with smile.

"You are indeed an very deep thinker, Anddra. Yes, it's my point of view that there shouldn't be any separate groups of Quelans in Ribana once our town has been restored to it's full beauty. The Quelans should learn to form one community, live together, show interest in each other's way of life and allow all the youngster to mingle with each other and form their own friendships."

"Do you think that will happen, master Manall?" Anddra asked.

"What do you think, Anddra, for you're doing exactly what I've just said. You, a young Quelan woman from Ribana, are now friends with my grandson, a young harvest man, aren't you?"

Anddra blushed and looked at Filann whose cheeks also had a slight color.

"Yes, master Manall, you're right Filann is my friend, not because he once knew my sister, but he has been a great help and he makes me believe that I will get the job done and run the farm again. I love to have him around at the farm to help me, but I can't speak for him if he feel the same about me." She said while still blushing vehemently.

Filann stood up.

"Grandfather I have to prepare our diner. Anddra, will you excuse me?" He said, and walked quickly over to the kitchen.

"Prepare a dinner for three, Filann, for when we have eaten, it's your duty to bring Anddra safely to her own house." His grandfather said more loudly, while he winked at Anddra who still blushed.

Then she laughed.

"Master Manall, I think you have a very special way to see through people, but I gladly accept the invitation to have dinner with you and Filann."

After having dinner with Manall and Filann Anddra insisted to help Filann doing the dishes. He protested, telling her she was his grandfather's guest, but Anddra simply followed him to the kitchen started to clear away the leftovers. Astounded Filann watch her, until Anddra looked up at him.

"It's my habit, Filann, to clean after having dinner, whether I'm alone, or that I have had some visitors. This time I don't want you and your grandfather to be left with a dirty kitchen while I have enjoyed that harvest stew you made." She said, remaining busy organizing the dishes. "I love what you made. Can you persuade you to make it again once I'm back on Myr. It's special, isn't it?"

"Eh, yes, the harvest men always made this while they were staying on Tyr to harvest the nuts. It's very nutritious. I also know a recipe of the broth we sometimes make. We make it from nagawa bones and flesh and has to simmer for several hours before you can add all kinds of vegetables. Whatever there is available. With a lot of herbs it give a great meal during cold evenings."

"You should make that too on Myr, Filann. You probably know a lot more recipes the harvest men make." Anddra said and smiled at him.

"Anddra?" Filann said hesitatingly.

"Yes, Filann."

"Anddra do you really see me as your friend?" He asked.

Anddra nodded.

"I do, for you want to help me to get the farm up and running again, and I love to talk with you and listen to your stories."

"My stories?" Filann started to laughed. "I haven't done much that is interesting, Anddra."

"You should leave that to me. What you might not find interesting I might love to hear." She said.

Filann thought about the drawings Lorann had made of his encounters with Oltomyran and wondered if it would be safe to show them to this young woman. Wouldn't the image of the Urams frighten her?

"When we done here I want to show you something before I bring back to Cantamaga, Anddra" He said carefully.

Anddra looked up at him.

"You're saying this so carefully, that it must be something wonderful, isn't it?" She asked.

"I think it's wonderful, but I can't tell if you would feel the same after you have seen it." He said.

"Filann, you pique my curiosity, for I want to know about what you have been doing all these years on Tyr. Isn't it odd, that we never have run into each other, while this last week after we have returned from Myr we almost met every day."

"After I arrived on Tyr nothing spectacular have happened. Four or five years my father has kept Cemall and me busy because all the Quelans of Ribana had to get a house, no to speak of the harvest families. It was not easy to please everyone, for many Quelans from Ribana, and also the harvest families expected to get a similar house and garden as they had had on Myr which was impossible. There wasn't enough space in this valley to do the same as on Myr. Besides we first have to take care for the elderly Quelans and those who had suffered the loss of the family member, like you and your mother. When we arrived here the whole place was one big chaotic mess and not fit to house some two thousand Quelans.

My father and master Wollin, his co-leader and master Roshann ordered their men to clear out several store house to give the elderly Quelans and Quelans like you and your mother and families with very young children a shelter. It must have been awful to stay in those crowded group, but their wasn't a better solution at hand. The other Quelans from Ribana and harvest families had to stay in tents.

Cemall and I had to help master Roshann. He started to build small houses outside the central plaza of Cantamaga, so we could give the elderly Quelans a better accommodation."

"Yes, I remember that master Roshann told me that there was a better house available for me and my mother. I still live there as you have seen. Now that I'm alone I don't need a larger house," Anddra said and suddenly she laughed. "What am I saying. I, now, have a very large house to tend on Myr."

She looked at him inquisitively.

"What will happen to all the houses in Cantamaga? Do you know what they want do with them? You have build here a house for Sumall."

"My grandfather wants most of the house to be taken apart as we can use the materials on Myr again. That will be a tedious work, for one day the Jedi Knights will leave us and then we have to transport those materials with our hover pulse boats and use the speeders for further transport to Ribana. I don't know how they will do it?"

"Your grandfather will certainly explain to you and your brother what to do, Filann," Anddra said.

Filann shook his head.

"I won't, Anddra. I have told my grandfather that I don't see myself as a harvest man anymore. I want to set up a living in Ribana, not as a harvest man, but as one of the other Quelans who live there. I have to figure out how I will useful in our community, but I'm sure I'll find something to serve the Quelan community."

"I hope, Filann, that you will stay on the farm and help me. There are such a lot of thing to do for me. There is so much that needs to be cleaned up, not speak of the farm land around the house. The berry bushes look an entangled mess and I don't know anything about pruning bushes, so they will grow new berries to harvest."

"Do you really want me to stay on the farm, Anddra. Don't you think others will find that strange?"

"Why, upstairs there are five spare rooms now. You could use one of them. Staying on the farm would save you a lot of time, for you don't have to get back to Ribana every night. Think about it, Filann, and if you doubt about it, ask what your grandfather thinks of it."

"Maybe I should take a tent with me and find a place on the farm land to set it up." He said.

Anddra began to laugh.

"I know a good place, if you don't want to stay with me in the farm house. When we have cleaned up the conservatory you could stay inside and you could keep an eye on those nut seedling and you could talk to them, or even sing them songs, so they will get happy feelings and will grow better and faster," She said laughing out loud, while she cleaned the counter.

"You should put everything away, Filann, for I don't know where you and your grandfather stack the plates and the cups."

Filann took the stack of plates and opened a closet. He put them on one of the shelves. As he turned Anddra handed him the bowls and the cups that had been cleaned. As the kitchen looked tidy again, Filann took her back to the living room where Manall was taking a nap. Filann pointed his fingers to his lips and took Anddra's arm and brought her to his bedroom.

"I have to apologize, Anddra, but I want grandfather to take his rest. What I want to show I have in here. Wait I'll make room on that those chairs."

Filann cleared the chairs and put them next to each other. Anddra sat down and looked at Filann while he took two foil sheet from a drawer. He sat himself in the other chair after he had put the foil sheets carefully on his bed, then he looked at her.

"I have told you that I have been in the nut wood to gather the nuts I have given to Iljon."

Anddra nodded curiously.

Filann took one of the foil sheet put it on a small table he had put in front of the chairs.

"This drawing shows what happened after I have gathered those nuts. Shaayla-Car and Ben were with us and when we sat down on the forest floor several young Urams appeared. I knew that Lorann, my youngest brother, has often been feeding young Urams with fallen nuts, and the two Jedi encourage my brother and me also to give those young birds some fallen nuts which they eagerly swallowed. Then an adult Uram flew down from the trees and went over to my father who was also with us. Ben showed my father what he has to do and we all were surprised when the leader of the Urams, for the adult bird was Oltomyran which I had met on another occasion, sat himself at ease in front of my father."

"But your father was actually that Uram's enemy, wasn't he?"

"Yes, so my father looked really scared, but Ben gave my father a few nuts and said he had to held out the nuts to the Uram. My father did it and Oltomyran accepted the nuts, and then he came over to me and put his large wings on my head, like he had done when he had taken me to the clearing which is in fact the hidden home of all the Urams. I'll show you what happened there on the other foil sheet.

Lorann has drawn the moment on which Oltomyran put his wings on my head and confirmed the agreement he and I had made before. It was really wonderful, Anddra, and Lorann has exactly drawn what happened."

In awe Anddra looked at the very detailed and colorful drawing. She recognized Filann, Shaayla-Car, Filann's grandfather and Ben. Carefully she pointed to the other two Quelans.

"That my father Cornell Radilan and that's Cemall. He's two years younger than I am. He had never been in the nut wood before and he was scared for he feared that the Urams would attack us. And, Shaayla-Car can talk to Oltomyran and she told us what he said and why he took the nuts my father had given him and why he put his wings on my head again."

"Weren't you scared when he did that?"

"He had done that before. He looks very fierce and dangerous, but his species only use the nuts for food and aren't predator birds, although I can imagine that you think they will also attack other animals."

"And Lorann made this drawing, Filann. How did he know what happened there, for it looks as if he was present too."

"He wasn't, but Lorann is a Force-user, like my grandfather, and when I told him about this I said to me that he saw what I was saying. Ben told my father that Lorann will be trained as a Jedi Knight, but not immediately, for Lorann wants a specific Jedi Knight to become his master, the brother of Shaayla-Car, Tama-Hin Kenobi. He is one of the Jedi Knight that have to leave us for a while, because the leader of a government goes on mission to another planet, or system and she wants some Jedi Knights to escort her."

"Your brother Lorann is an artist, Filann, while I was looking at the drawing I had to turn my head every now and then to see if I was still sitting on this chair, for I felt surrounded by the nut trees as if I stood behind you and Ben and Shaayla-Car, as if I could start talking to them. You should find a wonderful frame for it so you can decorate your own home with it." Anddra said and Filann felt a strange longing while she said it.

"The other drawing is even more spectacular, for Lorann has drawn the moment where Oltomyran and I confirm the new agreement between the Quelans and the Urams. I was alone in the nut forest. only Shaayla-Car and Ben were with me."

"How did you came in the nut wood alone with only Ben and Shaayla-Car, for all the harvest men where on Myr to help the other Quelans."

"That's a very long other story, Anddra, for then I also have to tell you that Cemall and I had made a very stupid plan to make Lorann scared of the Urams."

"You should tell me that another time, Filann, for then I will be sure that you will come to see me in Cantamaga," Anddra said and Filann heard a teasing tone in her voice. "Save the explanation and the story behind the other drawing for another time, for I want to hear everything that went with it."

There was a knock on the door and Manall stepped inside.

"Anddra, you're still here. I have to apologize. It's been a busy day and after dinner I often am dozing off when I've been busy. Oh, I see, my grandson has shown you the drawing Lorann has made. Wonderful, don't you think."

"Absolutely, master Manall. Filann has promised me to tell me the story behind the other drawing, but I've asked him to tell me that another time, for I want to go home now. It's a long walk to Cantamaga and I see that's dark now. "

"I've already said to my grandson that he should bring you home safely. You can take the speeder, Filann." Manall said while he walked them to the door.

Anddra thanked Manall for his hospitality and promised to attend the join hearing that would continue the next day. They stepped outside. For a moment Filann hesitated.

"I can take you home with the speeder, Anddra." He said.

"I would love to walk back home with you, but then you have to walk back all the way." She answered.

"Good plan, let's walk to Cantamaga. It's not completely dark and it isn't the cold season." He answered.

Anddra looked at him and with a smile she grabbed his hand.

"I don't want to loose you when it's getting darker," She teased him.

Looking at her, he carefully closed his hand around hers and together they walked hand in hand back to Cantamaga.