Madine smiled, triumphant; Leia had agreed, placing herself in an irriversible position without anybody addressing the one issue he'd hoped fervently that nobody would mention- The Heir would be on the Bridge too.
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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
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Mara sat hunched down in a small droid maintenance corridor overlooking the Aft Bay, which was always closed to all personnel besides the 701st Stormtroopers. The Commander's Untouchables, they were being called now, and with good reason; no-one had access to the areas of the ship which they were stationed in, neither docking bays nor accommodation nor supplies nor recreation bays. They were a completely separate entity within the Destroyer. It had been done gradually and subtly, the 701st split up and moved often, barracks kept at several locations, but Palace Intel had slowly come to realise that they had little idea of numbers or identities. They had all the official figures of course, and they all added up... it just didn't feel right to Mara.
So she was on a little recon. She'd managed to trace shipwide 'droid maintenance access shutes to a point where she was close enough to an internal wall in the Aft Bay to drill two tiny holes and set two surveillance lenses, the transmitters taped to the inside of the cavity wall high up, close to the ceiling.
To avoid being picked up in random anti-surveillance scans, the lenses were shielded and live-wire-only. Requiring Mara to actually be with the system when it was active and power it down when she left, this made the system difficult to detect even on close scans. But it also meant that if she wanted any information, Mara had to be close by sending an active wired signal from her monitor. Which meant she was spending her night off sitting in a cramped, stuffy, unheated maintenance corridor watching a huge, neatly-arrayed docking bay practically devoid of life. Apparently even if she had nothing better to do with her night, the 701st did.
Reece was with Skywalker tonight, the pair going through reams of reports from Abregado-rae's official agencies. They'd made planetary orbit three days earlier and Luke was just... hanging around it seemed to Mara; procrastinating. Looking at accounts which were obviously forged - he knew that as well as she did; at the tip of the Shapani Bypass, Abregado-rae had long been the centre for all smuggling operations entering the Colonies, the planetary wealth probably doubling due to bribes and deals.
But this was nothing new, and Luke was generally a great advocate of 'better the devil you know' which made his close scrutiny all the more puzzling.
The obvious answer of course was that he was delaying his return to Coruscant. They were almost two months into the Tour of Duty, and were now completing their their wide loop and heading for Coruscant, only a few more scheduled stops to go. And they both knew that when they reached Coruscant and the Palace, their nightly meetings were suspended and their affair put on hold, so in truth she wasn't complaining about the length of stay, or looking too hard for its reason.
They had... settled was the wrong word, but she had felt the slow change over the last few months as they had been together, safely away from the prying eyes on Coruscant. Their affair remained nothing if not explosive, but then that was part of the draw for Mara.
He had changed so much in the last four years. All the big, sweeping changes were so easy to mark, but it was the subtle changes which had crept upon him without her even noticing that she considered now. For so long she had looked to the man and seen a glint of Palpatine's precious wolf in his eyes and then - so gradually that she couldn't mark an individual moment or name a date - now... now she often felt as if she were looking into the eyes of the wolf, searching for some trace of the man beneath.
Did it bother her?
No. She'd spent her life walking amongst wolves- so much so that it felt natural to her now, the spark which lit the flame. The man who had come here had been fascinating and strong and honourable and maybe if things had been different...
But they weren't and it didn't matter- because now she had a wolf, and the thrill in being close to that stormy, feral, volatile edge would always bring her back one more time. Occasionally she still saw the pilot who had been brought here and the moments were all the more valued for their rareness... but much as she loved the man with the sky blue eyes, much as he'd pulled her in long before the wolf ever turned those mismatched, ice-cool eyes on her, she also loved the exhilaration of running with the wolf... and she knew it.
She gazed blankly at the image of the empty bay, mind wandering...
She remembered distinctly when she had defended the Emperor once during their last stay on Coruscant, their relationship already irrevocably changed but still very much an unknown quantity. Beladon D'Arca had turned to Luke as they had made their way through the expansive stretch of the Attendants Hall following Court. Palpatine had stopped to enter into conversation with someone, forcing everyone in his entourage to wait until he set forward again.
Stood a half-pace behind Luke, she had seen him backstep as D'Arca approached, but with nowhere to retreat he had been forced into conversation, the influential man congratulating Luke on his upcoming command, the Invincible, adding that he had great respect for those the Emperor valued, asking whether he may press The Heir to attend an upcoming event at his estate on Coruscant.
When Luke had issued a polite decline, citing Fleet obligations, D'Arca had nodded appreciatively, stating that he of course understood; many of his family held positions of great responsibility within the Fleet. He did however insist that The Heir should consider an invitation to take advantage of his family's 'Hunting Lodges' in their estates on Borleias, Commenor or Teyr open-ended; surely, he espoused, a thin smile to his dry lips, the Emperor's Wolf would appreciate the opportunity to indulge in a hunt?
Mara had watched Luke's shoulders tighten from behind, his spine straightening, and momentarily worried that he may actually knock the man to the ground right there and then.
But the procession moved abruptly forward, saving her- and probably D'Arca - from having to deal with that event, though just to be sure she had stepped level as D'Arca turned about, murmuring hushed counsel as Luke had quietly cursed his Master for giving him the epithet at all.
Mara had made the mistake of claiming in whispered tones that it fitted him - and he'd rounded on her, eyes ablaze though his face remained a neutral mask, his voice low and tight in the crowded hall, "If I'm a wolf then it's because I live in their company!"
"I didn't say otherwise." she'd defended mildly as they walked slowly forward, her eyes front, experiencing the same dangerous thrill she always felt at being in his company when he was like this.
"Then you're a fool to be here- never trust a wolf." he growled, body tense, stance subtly aggressive though he remained outwardly calm, keeping pace with the entourage as it stepped forward, his frustration hidden by the fact that as they passed, those about him in the Hall were already bowed low in respect.
She'd hesitated, glancing momentarily from the assembly to him, tensing slightly in reaction to his body language, aware of how close to the edge she was walking in continuing this conversation, of how quickly that volatile temperament could now shift- daring herself to step closer still.
"I trust you." Mara had countered, emphasising the difference, knowing instinctively how to calm her wolf.
He stared ahead in silence for long moments... and though the wild fury bled from his eyes, they remained sharp and fierce.