Oddly enough, striding through his palace with Qui-Gon just behind him felt wrong to Obi-Wan, as though he should stop and wait for his companion to step along at his side. As it was, however, they attracted more than one curious look. He knew without glancing back that Qui-Gon's head was lowered, his carriage appropriate for a slave, and his clothing was not too provocative. Still, the urge to change the balance was strong, and it surprised him.
"Where are we going?" Qui-Gon asked curiously.
"I'm going to introduce you to the boy who will rule Taganor one day."
Qui-Gon pulled up short; he spoke softly, to escape lurking eavesdroppers. "Is this the child...the one...You asked if I was familiar with the prophecy of the Chosen One."
Obi-Wan gestured impatiently for Qui-Gon to continue, and resumed his course down the corridor. In an equally low tone, he answered, "Yes. The Emperor feels this child is the one." He could feel Qui-Gon's eyes boring into his back. "I want you to tell me what the Force tells you about this child."
"Why?"
Now Obi-Wan stopped, turned to face Qui-Gon. "You are a Jedi. You're trained to be attuned to the Force, to understand when it speaks to you. I need to know what you sense about this boy."
Qui-Gon frowned. "Why does it matter? He is being raised under the influence of the Empire. He will turn. It is only a matter of time; the Emperor will see to it."
"He sent me to see to it," Obi-Wan replied softly, refusing to look away as understanding dawned in Qui-Gon's eyes.
"You are a Sith, yet I have seen...the Force works its will through you." Qui-Gon stepped closer. "You have turned away from the Dark Path, haven't you?"
"I do what I must. What my master requires of me." Obi-Wan began to walk again, and this time Qui-Gon fell into step beside him.
"There is great conflict within you."
"And within you. We are all held prisoner by our destiny, Jedi." Obi-Wan placed his palm across the identilock outside Anakin's classroom. The bond that tied him to Jinn thrummed with insistent need - *let me in* - but he refused to give in to the punishing impulse, to open himself completely to its demands.
Anakin looked up in surprise as they entered the room; his guards bowed briefly and returned to their positions of vigilance. "Obi-Wan!"
"Highness." Obi-Wan bowed before the boy and looked toward the tutor, who deactivated his teaching screen. "I apologize for the intrusion, Yanesh. We won't be long."
"You never interrupt my lessons, Obi-Wan. You always say it's most important for me to learn." Anakin looked suspiciously at Obi-Wan, and for a moment, he seemed far older than his nine years.
"This is a special occasion. I'm sure it won't hurt, just this once. I've brought someone for you to meet. Anakin Skywalker, heir to the throne of Taganor, this is Qui-Gon Jinn."
"Highness." Qui-Gon bowed low, as befitted his current station.
"You're the Jedi." Anakin's eyes narrowed even further. "Obi-Wan spared your life so he could make you his slave."
"Well, yes." Qui-Gon's eyes crinkled with amusement. "It does seem that way, doesn't it?"
"What do you think of him, Anakin?" Obi-Wan perched on top of the nearest desk, stretching out a leg and folding his arms across his chest.
"He's tall. Is he smart?"
"Oh, yes, very smart."
"Not smart enough to keep from getting captured." The smug tone was chilling. Obi-Wan watched as Anakin took a lap around Qui-Gon, looking him over, and wondered if he had made the right decision - if any of his decisions had been right, from his refusal to turn Jinn over to the Sith for execution, to his refusal to draw away from Xanatos, to the feeling that compelled him to bring Jinn to Anakin. There seemed to be no pattern of logic to anything any longer, and it was both disconcerting, and freeing.
"What have you been studying, Anakin?" Qui-Gon leaned forward and read the screen of the data terminal. "Commerce and trade practices?"
"The Council - *my* Council of Advisors says I should understand the principles of taxation and profit."
"Very wise of them." Qui-Gon's expression was kind, but there was a spark of keen interest in his eyes as he looked at Anakin. Obi-Wan could feel Qui-Gon reaching out with the Force; it was subtle, but he was testing Anakin, and the boy was not responding.
Which would have been fascinating under ordinary circumstances, but the tense concern filling their bond told him much more was at stake than a mere test of the Force. He took a deep breath and allowed himself to capture the emotions Qui-Gon felt. Short moments later, he understood: it was not the absence of power Jinn sensed, but power concealed, power so deep and vast that it dwarfed anything either of them had ever experienced. He raised startled eyes to Jinn, who nodded once and returned his attention to the boy.
"What else do you study, Anakin?"
"Why are you asking so many questions?"
"You should be equally curious, and I don't see you asking the Jedi anything which might be of use to you, Highness," Obi-Wan chided instantly.
Anakin's head dropped down for a moment, as if he were thinking. "Why do the Jedi oppose the Empire?"
"The Empire has a policy of suppressing free people, of controlling and destroying those who do not bend to their will. The Emperor believes only those who follow his path have the right to exist in freedom. All others are enslaved and dominated. The Jedi believe all beings should live in peace with one another, and should be allowed to believe and live as they choose."
"You sound like you're reading from a datapad." Anakin smiled. "I think the Jedi oppose the Empire because they don't have the power anymore, and they want it back."
"No, Highness. The Jedi do not wish for power. We are the guardians of peace. We do not rule." Qui-Gon dropped to one knee, bringing him to eye level with the boy. "The Emperor knew we would use our skills to prevent him from harming innocent people, and so he destroyed the Order. This is why we hide, why we oppose the Emperor."
"How do I know this is the truth?"
"Anakin, I've taught you how to use the Force to sense the truth. Go ahead," Obi-Wan urged.
For a moment, Anakin's face became a mask of concentration. After a moment, he looked into Qui-Gon's eyes. "You believe what you're telling me."
"Yes."
"But that doesn't make it true." Defiantly, Anakin went to Obi-Wan's side. "Obi-Wan says the Jedi aren't bad. I guess that's why he didn't kill you." His voice dropped, becoming a chill whisper. "I think he should have killed you."
Qui-Gon stood, straightening his dark tunic, and met Obi-Wan's eyes. "Someday, when you are ready to rule, all those decisions will be yours to make," Obi-Wan said softly. "Until then, you must trust my judgment."
"Some of the Council members think you're wrong," Anakin persisted.
"They don't rule, either." Obi-Wan changed his tone, using the voice that always produced obedience in Anakin. "Now get back to your lessons."
"All right." With one last hostile glance at Qui-Gon, Anakin slid back into his seat and began to read the data on the screen.
Obi-Wan looked questioningly at Qui-Gon, but the other man's face had gone still, and his eyes were far away. "There's something...a disturbance in the Force," Qui-Gon murmured, turning his head slightly to the side as if listening to something no one else could hear. Immediately, Obi-Wan reached out for the Force. Yes. There was a strange kind of chaos, faint, but growing stronger...
The lights went out.
The interior darkness of the palace was absolute, and Obi-Wan whirled in confusion. "Anakin!" he shouted. "Get behind your guards!"
"We have him, sir," came the reassuring reply of the captain.
"Stay still," Qui-Gon ordered, just as Obi-Wan began to move in Anakin's general direction. "And get down!"
Bright bursts of laser fire erupted from the pitch darkness, and Obi-Wan gasped in surprise as he was thrown roughly to the ground, Qui-Gon's weight on top of him. A rain of laser blasts pelted down on them from overhead. Anakin's guards returned fire instantly, firing at an unseen enemy, and one of them cried out in pain as she was hit by a bolt of energy. The smell of sizzled flesh filled the air.
Obi-Wan twisted and rolled to the side, resisting the urge to call out to Anakin, lest the boy give away his position and make himself a target. "Night-vision lenses," he hissed to Qui-Gon, who hushed him with a finger to his lips.
A third round of fire began; Obi-Wan began to crawl toward the door. In the staccato flashes of light, he saw Qui-Gon, standing above him, hand outstretched. And the energy stopped short of his hand, bouncing harmlessly aside.
As suddenly as it began, the attack ceased. After another endless moment of tension-filled silence, Qui-Gon dropped back down beside him. "They're gone."
"Anakin? Are you all right?"
"Yes, Obi-Wan."
The doors were flung wide as Obi-Wan finally reached them, letting in the natural light from the corridor windows. "Get him out of here!" he barked, not even sparing a glance for Anakin as he was hustled by. He scanned the upper walkways of the second level, aware that Qui-Gon was beside him, doing the same.
"Are you all right?" he asked, turning to the Jedi. There was a singed patch of cloth, blackened by a burn, where Jinn had been struck. Obi-Wan grabbed his arm and pulled the cloth apart with his fingers; the skin was smooth beneath.
"I am unharmed." Qui-Gon laid his hand over Obi-Wan's for a brief moment, then withdrew his touch. "It seems strange, after so long, to be without my saber when I am under attack."
"I can't allow a slave to carry a weapon. Especially *that* weapon. Not openly."
"And if I am not your slave, but your bodyguard?"
"What are you saying?" Startled, Obi-Wan stared at the Jedi, who smiled slightly.
"I will stand as your personal guard. I seem to have little choice."
"You have had a choice all along. Why now?"
"Don't you feel it?" Qui-Gon asked. His eyes were haunted, filled with the pain of a man whose decisions are not his to make.
And Obi-Wan did, then, as he opened their bond just a bit wider, permitting entry to the flood of conflicting feelings and impulses Qui-Gon could not contain. The Force had made its will clear; the truth of it resonated with certainty.
The two men stood without speaking, until each looked away. The Force had bound the Jedi to him, and Qui-Gon would protect that bond.
Even at the cost of his oath to the Jedi.
*****
Deep in the bowels of the palace, total darkness reigned unchallenged. The tiniest scrap of light was like a miniature sun, carrying pinpoints of warmth, illusory comfort in the cold blackness. He'd chosen this ancient system of passageways and water ducts in which to do his business; there were no cameras or guards to disturb them, and the dark drew him there, held him fast in its embrace.
He had not needed any instructions. From the beginning, he had known what to do, who stood in his way, what price must be paid to achieve his ultimate objective. He was frustrated at times by his own lack of control, by the terrible need to know more, to do more, to reach the point of total understanding he knew was just beyond his experience.
The Emperor would have need of him, and he would be ready. He would make his master proud.
A shadow slipped from the inky dark, clad in black, and moved into the circle of the glowlight. A hint of red flashed beneath the hood as he bowed his head. "You summoned me, Master?"
"You failed. Again."
"I should have made allowances for the Jedi. I beg your forgiveness."
"I'll kill you before I'll let you tell them anything, you know."
"Yes, my Master."
"I have credits for you. Half of what you agreed to. No more until you take care of this!"
"I understand, Master." The low voice dipped down on the last word, followed by a short bow of the head, but yellow eyes glanced up, scanning the dark beyond the perimeter of light. After a moment, the cloaked figure rose and moved silently away into the tunnels.
Anakin Skywalker turned his head toward the shadows and scowled. "He knew you were here."
A tall man emerged from his hiding place and moved into the light. "Maul has a strong sense of the Force. He's incapable of using it, of course, or he would have been recruited by the Sith long before now. As it is, he is merely an adequate assassin. You have done well, Anakin."
"I want Obi-Wan dead!" the boy hissed fiercely. "They all want to control me. He's the worst."
"I think I have made an alliance that will ensure you have what you want. Now that the Sith are here, Obi-Wan will not hold power for long."
"You had better be right, Ambassador. I want the Emperor to be proud of me. I'm not going to be Obi-Wan's puppet."
Mace Windu nearly smiled as he heard his own words, spoken in their first negotiation, repeated back to him from the mouth of this Darksider child. He was nearly twitching with anticipation. "I promised you, Anakin. I'll take care of everything. I am your loyal servant. You are the rightful ruler of Taganor."
"You'd better do it right, Windu." The boy's eyes narrowed as he looked up, and for the briefest moment, Windu felt his throat close in response to a phantom pressure on his windpipe. "I've learned a lot. If you can't help, I don't need you."
Windu bowed low. "Yes, Highness. I will serve you well."
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