Normally Palpatine would have ignored it; dismissed it out of hand as two fiery temperaments squaring off, as they had so often in the past... but today, so soon after the unsettling disturbance in the Force so clearly centred here in the Palace, everything was of interest.
Everything required further scrutiny.
This was not what it seemed- that much had been clear the moment she entered the Stateroom. Something had changed... and now everything else was shifting about it...
What exactly had changed the Force would not reveal, defying any scrutiny. But in Palpatine's experience events often became more difficult to see or predict according to their proximity to a trained Force-sensitive...
There were only three of those left in existence. If Palpatine were changing the Fates by his own actions then he would surely know... which left two others, both of whom had done something unexpected today, Vader in trying to delay his intended return to the Palace and Skywalker in leaving Jade behind when he set out to Mosiin.
Of the two, Palpatine knew who was capable of inflicting the most damage; like Jade, he held Vader completely... which left just one.
Skywalker himself would be a closed book even if he were here - he'd learned his lessons - but Jade... well, Palpatine had always told the boy that she was his weakness.
So he smiled at the woman now, dressing his question to hide its intent and play to her insecurity. "We do not speak enough of your new role, my dear. Perhaps we should remedy that."
"I..." she stumbled over her reply, wordless before the one person who could reduce her to such, lost as to how to react.
Not that it mattered; the Emperor spoke on regardless, "You of course appreciate how important such a role is- how strategically significant. You were among the very first I considered. Only those in whom I held absolute faith could be contemplated for such a role."
'Among the first'; she was sharp enough to hear the threat.
He bared ruined teeth in an empty smile, "And I know that you would never withhold information from me - cause me to question that faith. Make me re-evaluate that privileged position."
She lifted her eyes to him, and still he smiled indulgently, as if explaining the obvious; "You are consort to The Heir, child; a position of great... responsibility. This is the first time that I have ever asked you to prove your suitability- your loyalty. Don't make me doubt you now."
Again that grin, like a garral stalking prey; all cold eyes and sharp teeth. "You, my dear, understand the potential offered - and the terms inherent. I give him everything- more than any, ever... he has simply to take it. To reach out his hand and take it. And I expect you to aid him in that; in explaining to him the opportunity he has... and in illustrating to him the futility - and the danger - of defiance."
She shook her head fervently, "He's not..."
"Think very carefully before you answer, child." he interrupted, clipped voice silencing her instantly, "As I said; yours is a privileged position."
She hesitated momentarily, "He's not at fault."
Her first slip; he wasn't at fault - not he'd done nothing wrong. Palpatine smiled benignly, head to one side, "I believe you."
She fell to subdued silence, reluctant to betray him directly and Palpatine considered, caught up in the game now... perhaps he could offer her a pretext; a way to tell the truth but pass the burden.
"I... worry for him, child. I am concerned that he is... at risk from outside influences- that another has found a vulnerability and seeks to lead him astray. I hoped your closeness would give you the opportunity to identify such lapses."
She glanced down too quickly, eyes anywhere but at her master's, and Palpatine smiled into that guilt-ridden evasion. Before anyone else she was unassailable, unshakeably cool under fire. Before Palpatine and a lifetime of grooming, each manipulation carefully constructed one upon the other, she was tractable and compliant- though her fear was for another rather than herself, that much was clear. Which was what made it so wonderfully easy to exploit.
"I am not blind child; I know the games he plays- in fact I expect no less from him, you know that. On the contrary, it is his strength of spirit which I value. But there are times when that resolve is... misdirected. And then I rely on the counsel of those whom I have placed about him for clarification."
The slightest of frowns crossed her smooth brow, uncertainty played out in her face as Palpatine continued his subtly-insistent coercion. "I know that you wish only to protect him- that is why I allow you close to him."
She glanced up at that, fresh insecurity worrying her thoughts, and he softened his voice further.
"This need go no further, Mara. I have no intention of punishing him for something if I do not believe he is at fault. It is enough to know. By knowing, I may disperse this problem before it requires stronger action. To tell me now can only help him..."
"... he trusts me..."
"And he is correct to do so, because you will do what is right for him." Palpatine underlined, knowing how close to the edge she was, savouring the game, already looking forward to the moment when he could reveal to Skywalker that his greatest weakness had betrayed him with no more encouragement than a few coercive words.
"It will be our secret Mara; nobody else need know - what you say here will never go beyond these walls. In truth, you will be helping him, as you will be helping me. You will be fulfilling your obligations to both- I know that is what you want." He paused, taking the chance, pushing the probability. "I already know that there is something wrong. I don't wish to take him to the cells; don't make me do that."
.
Mara glanced up at this, aware of the gravity of that threat, remembering Luke's words; that he absolutely wouldn't be taken again. And Palpatine already knew- he already knew something was wrong. Would it be so terrible to tell him the facts? Surely her master was right; she would be helping Luke, dispersing the situation before it reached critical.
Luke wouldn't back down again; she'd seen that in his eyes, heard it in his tone. He was no longer the tentative innocent at odds with his own conscience. This could so easily escalate...
.
Palpatine leaned closer, tone persuasive, compelling, knowing from long familiarity exactly what she needed to hear, encouraging her hopes and voicing her fears, "I don't believe he is at fault... but until I know otherwise, there is no other way to deal with this problem, you know that. I don't wish to hurt him but it would become a battle of wills as it always does... one which he can only lose. Don't make me put him through that again."
She shook her head, concern obvious. "He won't yield."
Of course he would yield; Palpatine consciously kept his features from hardening, kept the cold amusement from his voice at the knowledge that he would simply break the boy apart a piece at a time until he did. But he nodded just once, tone grave, tinged with reluctant concern, "I know. But you know what I will do - what I have to do. Once we are on that path, I cannot back down."
He hesitated; just one more push. "You have the power to stop all that now Mara, before it's begun. You have the power to save him."
"It's not his fault..."
The Emperor nodded benignly, the touch of impatient steel beneath his quiet words unnoticed by Mara. "If there is something you think I should know then you should tell me now..."
She held to hesitant silence, at the very brink...
Perhaps it was time to replace her after all; Skywalker's hold was becoming too great.
"The Force whispers..." he trailed off into silence, intending to allow her own fears to fill the pause but, sensing her apprehension spike and realizing that Skywalker must have mentioned the disturbance, he arranged a contemplative tone to his voice and about his ravaged features. "I sense... a shift; a change- and I do not wish it to be between myself and my Jedi. I have invested five onerous years in establishing our collaboration- in ensuring his investment here. Left to his own devices he would have deserted us long ago... returned to his precious rebellion- or simply disappeared. My methods seem harsh but it is I who have held him here; my will, nothing else. Remember that."