This- this was different; this was treason. A heavy iron band tightened across her chest, heart hammering at that thought; treason.
No matter how Luke validated his actions, rightly or wrongly it was still the premeditated, repeated disobedience of a fundamental rule; a primary order which had been intentionally breached. And knowing that, she became accessory to the fact- which was tantamount to committing it in her master's eyes.
This was more than an impassioned lie; more than the insignificant steps she'd taken to hide their harmless trysts. Never, in her whole life, had Mara disobeyed a direct command from her master; never.
She didn't want to this time; she didn't want to betray him now either...
She only wanted to protect Luke; if she could have done that without lying to her master then she would, but Palpatine was forcing the lie... because Mara knew what he would do if he found out.
Still, the guilt twisted her stomach and seemed to steal the air from her lungs, making every breath laboured. She wished Luke was here, if only in the Palace- some support; reassurance, no matter how muted. But this was her decision, hers alone. And that was how she needed to achieve it; alone.
She'd made her choice, now all she needed to do was follow through.
She walked, breathless, beneath the high arch which marked the Emperor's private apartments; past the row of eight Royal Guards who stood to still attention, a scarlet streak against the dark ebony walls, and into the vast, circular central hall, three storeys high, a sweeping double-staircase hugging the curved walls, carved from mirror-polished black stone with subtle, fiery veins of deep blood red tracing through, its imposing scale dwarfing the few who were allowed access even this far.
She paused momentarily then walked on beneath the first landing of the immense stairwell, feet leaden, instantly lost in the shadows and the columns of the dark, echoing space, knowing where her master would be.
Knowing what she had to do.
Was this how Luke faced the Emperor; every summons, every meeting, heart pumping, hands trembling, anxious and fearful that somehow Palpatine imagined, he suspected, he knew.
How had he held out against this? How could she? Because even now, committed as she was... without even facing her master, without looking into those sharp, perceptive eyes-
Already she feared that she would slip, that she'd crack, concede....
Already she feared she'd crumble.
.
.
Palpatine stood at the far side of the cavernous three-storey Receiving Room, the light from the long banks of tall windows dimmed by photovoltaic glass, reducing the massive hall to darkness and shadows. This was not a room for daylight- like all of the Emperor's chambers it thrived in darkness, the tall stretch of double-storey walls inset with two columned walkways, stucco plaster pigmented a rich, radiant claret red, the arched and vaulted ceilings above rendered in relief-carved tracery of glowing golds. Its heavy, stately grandeur engulfed all who entered, and it was not without consideration that Palpatine had chosen it.
The substantial carved doors slid aside and Mara Jade whispered into the hall, her footfalls inaudible though her sense in the Force sounded a heavy tone of unease.
His back still to her, gazing out through the muted windows, Palpatine's thin lips pulled to a malicious smile at the game ahead. He waited until she was close, neither turning nor acknowledging her reverential bow, leaving her to stand in uneasy attendance...
When he finally spoke he turned his head just slightly, his face still hidden within the heavy cowl of his raven cloak, "I am... confused. Chancellor Amedda tells me that my Jedi has left for Mosiin... yet you are still here."
The tension in Jade's voice as she spoke was palpable, "The Heir... forbade me to attend."
"Forbade you? You act under my decree, lest you forget, Emperor's Hand. I ordered you to attend him. He is now without a bodyguard... or a watcher."
Jade hesitated long seconds, and he knew she was gathering her nerve where normally she would have spoken without pause. "I apologise, master... but he wouldn't allow me to board- my rank isn't equal to his..."
"Why?"
She wavered, unsure "... master?"
"Why would he not allow you to board- what had you done?"
"We... argued. He told me I was to stay here to consider m..."
"About what?"
.
Mara paused, uncertain; had Palpatine already spoken to Luke? Oh, she could so easily destroy everything without whispering a word about his defiance.
No; Luke had played this game too often with the Emperor. If he'd already been quizzed and been forced to give an account, Luke would have made damn sure Mara knew every point. She'd seen him do it with scrupulous attention to detail so often over even the most minor matters in the past - and that must be a fraction of the truth, if he had hidden his meetings with his father for so long. No- this was something else...
The Emperor turned his head a little more, his tone a shade more indulgent; "A... personal quarrel perhaps?"
The breath went Mara Mara's lungs in a silent rush.
.
Palpatine turned, the slightest of smiles on bloodless lips. "Or did you think that I was unaware?"
He set forward, one arm out beside him to usher Jade along as he walked the length of the massive, imposing room. "I'm disappointed, my child; I thought you knew me better than that."
Head in a spin, she allowed herself to be guided forward, no words coming to her lips, no thoughts to her mind such was her alarm.
He shepherded her from the soulless grandeur of the cavernous space to a small waiting room, its proportions of a more comforting scale, more fitting to his line of attack, decided now. From what little they had spoken - from the lack of readable information through the Force when he had asked her directly about the argument - he knew she was hiding something. He could force her to tell him as he had originally intended, could terrorize and intimidate her or simply break the barriers she had placed and take the information by dint of relative strength... but this was so much better.
He owned his Wolf - and nobody else. Skywalker had learned his lessons and trusted very few, so the opportunities to clarify this fact were far between these days, but occasionally it was still possible to expose for Skywalker the limits of supposed fidelity in those about him, to underline that fact.
Mara Jade was his player; she would ultimately do whatever the Emperor demanded of her... he had held her too long for Skywalker to even think he might be able to change that. He allowed his Jedi this indiscretion, but it was on the Emperor's terms, not Skywalker's - and it was time to remind him of that. "Everything that transpires here is according to my will. My intent. You know that. You are with my Jedi by my consent... and you will remain so by my good grace."
He paused, then reached out to place one pale hand to her face and lift her chin, "But don't fret, child; I have every faith in you- you would never disappoint."
Jade looked to her master, emerald-green eyes anxious and apprehensive, and he smiled into that panicked face, arranging an expression of gracious indulgence about his own features, knowing that Mara would realize it only skin-deep. She knew her master well; there was no need for open threats- they were implicit here.
He had already seen their argument on the landing platform of course; had taken the trouble to have the images sent to him following a report by one of the Palace Guards. It was a tiny fragment, Skywalker shrewd enough to quickly move Jade to a point behind the shuttle where they were hidden from the lens, their words inaudible above multiple engines.