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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3820036" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 529: Lingering DoubtsAs the chaos of the last few days began to settle, a sense of normality returned to the Alraxian Empire. The first sign of it was when the people began to return to the Palace, making it a living, breathing entity both inside and out once again.    The surprising thing, though, was that the Alraxians that returned were actually quite happy. Very few had died, but there were casualties. Of course, true to their nature, the dead were not mourned, but celebrated for their returning to the Force. Still, though, there should have at least been an air of tension throughout all of the various territories of the planet, itself...    Perhaps it was because it had been so long since the Alraxians had seen war. Perhaps they just didn’t know what to expect. With the situation with Halpak, it was over in such a short time, a matter of two to three days, depending on which planet in the Empire time was being judged by, and it was over. So why shouldn’t the people be content now that the Mrrakesh were pushed back and the Jendari protecting the borders with their ships?    Marix glanced to her right and looked to the open door, taking only a short moment to inspect the empty room.    Not everyone had returned.Navik Keros had both Saaran and Andrea and they were safely off of Alraxia. Marix hadn’t actually received direct information on where they were, but that was due to the fact that the more normal lines of communication were being kept silent, especially of information like that. But, if she had to guess, and that was Marix wasn’t all that bad at doing, she’d put a strong bet on the three of them being on the Jendari’s homeworld, or a similarly well protected planet.    The past few days had been filled with boring bureaucratic nonsense...the kind which Marix had become very skilled at breezing through by giving non-answers that sounded decisive but didn’t cause any actual harm. Alyx had left the day before, making it all the more difficult to deal with.     It was odd, really, how much of an anchor Marix’s family was for her. Her immediate family, at least. Alyx, her children, Navik and Jyren. It wasn’t much, but it was family. Sure, there were all her other younger siblings that were around the Palace all the time, but they were almost more alien to her than the Yuuzhan Vong. Where Marix could understand the so-called ‘normal’ Alraxian, her younger siblings were all very odd and never seemed to like her that much. And yet, despite that, it was the six closest members of her family that held her down and managed to keep her sane through all of the insanity.    Without them around, Marix felt stranded in the vast Palace with people that were so difficult to deal with for so many different reasons, most of which weren’t even their fault. The few moments of peace she got, Marix spent in the quiet emptiness of her quarters: the large, multi-room ‘wing’ of one of the large spires of the Palace that was so much bigger than her old single-room quarters that, a decade later, it still felt wrong. Well, no, it wasn’t the size that currently bothered her...it was the quiet.    When they’d first been forced into the room, and it had definitely been forced, it was just Marix, Jyren, and Toby, who got his own separate little room that was now the twins’. But even with his own room, the age of Tobias at the time meant that there were rarely moments of actual quiet. He had even seemed to sleep loudly, which Jyren had always taken great amusement from...Marix assumed this was because Jyren didn’t know he talked in his sleep. But by the time Tobias got his own quarters, the twins were born and providing even more noise.    And now...    Now it was silent.Perfectly silent.    Almost just to make noise, Marix let out a sigh, her eyes turning to look out one of the large windows to see the expansive Palace and the horizon beyond. At least the Mrrakesh hadn’t tried anything. She may not be happy with deciding not to retaliate, but the rest of the Empire was content with it and the Mrrakesh seemed too caught up in their own problems to take advantage of what they would surely see as a sign of weakness.    But they would come. Of that, Marix had no doubt.    Now, though, she wasn’t waiting on them to return. It would occur when it did, and likely not for at least a few days. Instead, Marix’s focus was on Loki and Hermes, who she had asked to go to the Gateway and search once more. Not just with their natural senses, which weren’t technically eyes, but through the Force, which most Kanyaks had a least a small connection to.    She had felt something before. And Voort had said something. That brief image of Voort that was still infuriating to think about...Marix just wished she could have gone to see for herself, but things had to be settled down at the Palace. Of course, she trusted both Loki and Hermes, and if there was anything out of the ordinary, they would find it. This was discounting the fact that the previous four sweeps of the area had shown nothing.    If he was alive, though, Marix would know. Gods, she would have to know. But if he really was gone, as the past month or so would seem to say was true, then she should know...because she should have been.    Marix growled under her breath.    Over and over and over, she’d come back to it. Everything in her told her that Jyren should be alive because she was alive. But, at the same time, all evidence proved that he was dead and gone. But why had Voort spoken like Jyren was alive? Voort had called him Jyren, too...but, no, Loki had to have been right. If there was a way around the link, and there was a way around everything in the galaxy, no matter how hard and firm the rule, Jyren would find it. He was the kind of stubborn bastard that would break even the laws of nature just to protect her.    Maybe Marix gave him too much credit...but, then again, maybe she’d never given him enough. It was so infuriating that he would do something like that, but it would be exactly him. And that very contradiction was still driving Marix insane. She needed real, hard proof one way or the other. A body, living or not, would make it so much easier than having nothing at all.    Not that she ever expected to find one...that would make things too easy. And if there was one thing she’d learned over the years, whoever, or whatever, was in charge of the galaxy didn’t like to make things easy for Marix BlueIce. That was definitely something that didn’t seem likely to change in the foreseeable future. She just hoped that was something that stayed with her and didn’t extend to her children.    ...if only Marix knew the things Tobias had been through in such a short time.</blockquote>

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