“I doubt the Council will ever again accept a Padawan so old. Those years made the difference between Rael thinking of Ringo Vinda as his home, rather than the Temple. It shaped his attitudes, his progress—even the way he speaks, as you’ll hear for yourself. As such, Rael Averross was always something of an outsider. Rare allowances were made for him, from childhood all the way to the hearings on Nim Pianna’s fate.
