"Vader is too slow." Luke made no connection in any way between himself and his father before the Emperor, knowing from long experience that this was something his Master would not tolerate.
Palpatine studied his feral Jedi, who made no attempt to avoid or avert his own gaze. His cold blue eyes were as guarded as ever, aware that he was skating on the edge, but that was where he lived his life now anyway so it held no real fear for him. Which was why Palpatine enjoyed his company; he was hard to intimidate, hard to control. But therein lay the thrill.
Still, he wouldn't let the boy off so easily; "If you had wanted Leemarit dead, you should have asked for permission to kill him."
"Leemarit was a minor detail. I wanted to prove my value - that I could bring your enemies down better than Vader." His Wolf inclined his head, making a show of submission when he felt no such thing, Palpatine knew.
He hadn't failed to realise that any information which he now received would come first through his Jedi, and not directly to him. He could force the boy to tell him the spy's identity, could take over the contact, but it would be a show of weakness on his part and he had no guarantee of allegiance from an agent he had not himself recruited and placed. He would of course place another spy in that cell, but that would take time and wouldn't negate the fact that his Jedi still had his own reliable source of information, legitimately placed.
Oh, he was learning his lessons at the hand of the Master a little too well, Palpatine sometimes suspected- and certainly far more than he let show.
"And the action gained so much-" the boy said persuasively into Palpatine's calculating silence, "Mothma, if you'll let me bring her to you."
"Let you bring her." Palpatine repeated, emphasising the word, nodding knowingly, "And of course, it should be you, because you know her intent?"
Luke almost slipped - almost said 'my'- but caught himself before his lips had begun forming the word, which would have been as damning as speaking it out loud before Palpatine's close scrutiny. "Your newly-placed informant does. Exactly- to the hour."
The conversation was back where he wanted it- though he knew the Emperor's tolerance was anything but, "I can deliver her to you, Master- if you'll let me."
He stepped forward without realising as he spoke, so driven was he. And here, Palpatine realised; here was his opportunity to punish the boy.
"No." He said simply, settling back now, waiting to watch the fireworks.
He wasn't disappointed.
"No!?" The boy practically shouted, so disbelieving was he, all composure shattered.
How wonderfully he snapped- Palpatine never tired of seeing it. "No. You acted without my permission. This is your father's jurisdiction and you know it."
"I gained the information in months that he's wasted decades chasing! Because I know them- their strengths and weaknesses. I can trap her."
"Why should I let you?" Palpatine goaded, amused at his frustration now.
"Because I deserve it. Because she tried to kill me. It's my right to bring her in, not his."
"Then you defied me simply to fulfil your own private vendetta?" Palpatine said, his own voice raising, knowing he had the boy now, that his anger and exasperation left chinks in that normally unassailable armour. That he still had something to learn was reassuring.
"No Master." The boy ground out, frustrated at being cornered.
"You have no rights!" Palpatine boomed, making him drop his head genuinely now, clenching his jaw against his Master's wrath. Palpatine pointed one bone-thin finger to the floor and without looking up the boy knew and bent to one knee before him. Slowly though, reluctantly - which only served to feed Palpatine's anger. "You're nothing! Everything that you are, I have made you. Everything that you think and everything that you do is to suit my purpose - do you understand?!"
".... Yes, Master." He said quietly, though it cost him dear, Palpatine could see that.
He rose, stalking toward the tensing boy, stooping before him- to reach out and gently stroke his cheek with the back of his fingers, his nails catching over the ridges of the scar there, his Jedi tensing, unsettled at the unanticipated touch.
"Don't think to cross me." Palpatine murmured menacingly, leaning in. "You are not nearly beyond me yet, child."
He lifted the boy's head, nails digging a fine line into the skin on his jaw as he trailed them free. "Don't make me repeat the same lessons again and again."
The threat inherent in those quietly spoken words brought the boy's mismatched eyes up to his momentarily. They were lessons hard learned in blood and broken bones, and they both knew that Palpatine would not hesitate to reinforce them if he thought his control slipping. Had not hesitated in the past.
"Do you understand?" Palpatine murmured, pale hand trailing back over his Wolf's scarred lips.
Skywalker jerked back just slightly in distaste, unable to stop the reflex action. "Yes Master. I understand."
Oh, there was resentment in those eyes. Fury and fear both. Palpatine smiled, gratified far more by his reluctance than he ever could have been by his fallen Jedi's submission.
Three years since he had first knelt before Palpatine and he was no less the wolf today than he had always been. Just as wild and as feral; still trying to run, still searching to test the chains which bound him. But held in check now, tame enough to walk to heel, controlled by sheer force of will on Palpatine's part.
Which was a wonderful, empowering, enthralling thing.
He turned his back on the boy and walked easily away, dismissive and purposely so, keeping him on edge, unsure what his Master would do next.
"Turn the details over to Lord Vader." Palpatine said evenly, pausing before the elaborate screen as it slid open. "He commands the anti-insurrection force; he will deal with this. You are not to involve yourself further."
"Yes Master." His Jedi bowed his head, though there was no respect in the act, only wary capitulation. But that was enough.
.
.
.
Reece walked wearily into the medi-bay onboard the Peerless, glancing about for Hallin. The slight medic was in a side room, engrossed in some chemical breakdown on the holo-screen when Reece stepped in, his bulky frame dwarfing the smaller man.
"We're back in the Palace." Reece stated simply, his tone one which indicated that this was no great revelation.
"Have we been grounded again?" Hallin asked wearily; he'd stayed overnight in his quarters in the Palace before returning to the Peerless, as was originally arranged. Now it appeared there had been a change of plan, though they had all expected this to some extent- it was a regular thing for The Heir to be restricted to the Palace for some supposed insubordination and this time it wasn't even 'supposed', so no-one was really surprised, least of all Hallin.
The truth, Hallin deeply suspected, was that the Emperor simply liked his Jedi close at hand, and would use any excuse to keep him so without actually restricting him permanently to the Palace, which Skywalker, being Skywalker, would take as an open challenge to leave by any means possible.
Which was why Reece's answer came as a genuine surprise to Hallin. "No. But The Heir was refused permission to leave the Core Systems as he'd intended."
The ideal of course, Hallin had always thought, would be for all of his medi-bay, along with Reece's and The Heir's offices and private quarters, to be kept free of all surveillance devices so that they could talk freely, but Luke had logically pointed out that to do that was tantamount to admitting their collusion out loud, so there were few rooms in the medi-bay that were safe to talk out loud in and this wasn't one of them, requiring a little mental editing to read between the lines of what was spoken out loud- kind of like learning another language.