Their Lady Adyé [Star Wars]

When Master Meets Apprentice

Part II

She was finally ready. But that didn't lessen the writhing, clenching terror in his gut in the slightest. It prickled over his skin; itching, phantom sensations that travelled right down to the tips of his fingers, ghosting over flesh that no longer existed.

He knew she was ready without a doubt. When he tested her mind, no amount of brute force nor sly tendrils of mental focus could breach the barriers he'd taught her to create. He couldn't even find them within her mind, anymore. Not even when he took her by surprise. And he knew they were there. If she chose to hide a memory from him, she doubted he would be able to find it. And when he tried to get a measure of her potential now? It was virtually second nature to her to hide it now. As it needed to be.

Yes. She was ready. Her defenses were strong and clever. More clever than he suspected he'd be capable of himself. Certainly far more subtle.

Hopefully subtle enough to fool his Master.

Palpatine would see what he expected to see. Of that Vader was certain.

Or, as certain as he could be.

Against all effort, he couldn't help but doubt. Should the Emperor choose to dig deeper?

Athara was good, but she would still be no match for the Emperor. Not yet. She was still a child, and though he'd left her to defend her own mind and presence for years already, the Emperor was far craftier and more cunning than he was. He was sly and ruthless and subtle.

Palpatine's talents lay in manipulating the mind; it was how he had orchestrated and schemed and influenced his way to tearing the old order down and replacing it with one of his own design. It was because of his unchallenged skill in knowing and controlling the minds around him that he was now the supreme head of the Galaxy. The Emperor. He was far, far more skilled and cunning at slipping his way into others minds than Vader could ever hope to be, skilled as he knew he had become. It felt a very near thing, some days, when it came to shielding his own traitorous thoughts from his Master, after all. And the Emperor was ruthless even on his most valued and trusted servant.

So naturally, he feared he hadn't done enough.

But what else could he do?

Much as he might be tempted to shield Athara himself, he knew were Palpatine to sense even the faintest trace of Vader's presence in his little apprentice's mind, he would grow suspicious. And if that were to happen? The deception Vader had been weaving for years would unravel with devastating consequences.

The brunt of which would be borne by his precious apprentice.

In a flash of foresight and manipulative instinct that would do Palpatine proud, Vader had set his mind to laying the groundwork for this very meeting almost since he'd found Athara years before. Since before he had even told Palpatine that he'd found her.

Spinning his Master a tale of coming across a young Force-sensitive child on Nubia—not terrible powerful, mind, but with enough potential and spirit to serve a purpose to Vader. Under the guise of full disclosure and unwavering deference to his Master, he'd admitted to feeling it prudent to take the child on as a project, molding an agent of his own with the ability to touch the Force even if she wasn't so powerful as to truly wield it as he or any remaining Jedi could. He'd even confessed that he wanted to do so, using the truth to fuel his lies.

And Palpatine had been amused by the idea of a little so-called 'apprentice' for Vader and intrigued by the idea of an agent trained under Vader's own considerable knowledge.

So with his Master's tacit approval, Vader had collected Athara and hidden her away both on Mustafar and within his expansive quarters aboard the Devastator to begin her training. And Vader had continued to feed his deception for years, venting impatience with the limits to her power and sharing his satisfaction when she proved herself clever and ruthless and proficient in the other lessons he provided just as he'd kept his Master appraised of his 'pet's' progress in general—slow when it came to the Force as it undoubtedly would've been had Athara not possessed the natural strength as she did.