Compassion - By BeElleGee

Rating: PG-13. A little violence, some grown up situations. (Not too grown up.).
Summary: Pre-TPM. Darth Maul is around seventeen in this story and is given charge of one of Darth Sidious' prisoners who is a Jedi, but also a girl his age. At first, he just finds her intriguing but after a brutal encounter with his master one morning, the Jedi shows him compassion--something he has never experienced from anyone before, let alone an enemy. It suddenly changes the way he regards her and Jedi in general until Sidious reveals a scheme that immediately puts a stop to it.
Disclaimer: All things Star Wars belongs to GL and Lucasfilm Ltd. This is just a twisted hobby of mine. No money will exchange hands from it, I guarantee it.
Initial posting: DMEB2.
Archive: Yes, but ask first.
Feedback: Yes please, to BeElleGee@hotmail.

Compassion - Part 1

The Force stirred. Lying naked on the cool stone floor of his room, Maul woke slowly. Slick with perspiration and shivering slightly, he realized his raging fever had broken sometime in the night, but his mind was still murky and struggled to interpret just what the Force was trying to tell him.

Feeling mysteriously vulnerable and full of adolescent apprehension, he defensively curled his aching body into a tighter ball. A familiar darkness soon settled over him and seeped into his consciousness. It was a call for action: one Maul preferred to ignore. However, there was no denying the presence he sensed. An entire season had passed, yet it remained unmistakable. With it, his period of solitude had come to an end.

Cursing under his breath at his master's untimely arrival, Maul gathered the Force to him, used it to push aside the sharp pain in his head and summon the strength to rise and get dressed. His trembling muscles were stiff with disuse and protested even the slightest movement he made. Maul knew it didn't matter how ill he was, he needed to be there--at the landing platform--when his master arrived.

Stalking through the dim, twisted corridors, Maul's overheated mind tried to rationalize the undisciplined state he had indulged in the past few days. He had not trained. He had not studied. Or meditated. He had only slept fitfully and dreamed of dying--a welcome release from the grip of his wretched fever. Fortunately it had not come to that. He wasn't completely convinced yet that he was ready to die that way having just immerged from puberty. There were still too many things he wanted to accomplish first.

Maul turned down the narrow hall which led directly to the old castle's hangar. He deliberately slowed his pace to give himself a few more moments, but the young Sith still couldn't think of anything to say to his master to stave off the inevitable punishment. Maul knew his illness would not matter. Sidious would only see weakness and weakness was never tolerated.

Darth Sidious was already descending the boarding ramp when Maul arrived. Cloaked in shadows and a heavy blue cowl, the Dark Lord raised his hand slowly, hailing his apprentice.

The younger Sith hurried towards the ship and awkwardly crashed to his knees at the foot of the ramp, submissively bowing his head and lowering his eyes.

"Welcome back, Master Sidious," Maul's voice rasped. His usually deep, silky rumble was currently raw-sounding from lack of use as much as the fever.

Sidious paused momentarily and regarded his young apprentice distastefully. His keen senses dutifully informed him of everything he needed to know and more thoroughly than anything Maul could say.

"You will need to train even harder these next few weeks to make up for your distinct lack of progress in my absence then," the Dark Lord said and apathetically shuffled off.

"Good," Sidious announced, effectively dismissing the matter. "You may rise and walk with me." He waited for Maul to stand before continuing. "I've brought you back something. It's in the ship," he added, almost as an afterthought, and gestured limply behind him.

The young Sith was startled by this revelation. It was not like his master to bestow him with gifts. He turned his head and glanced back at the ship curiously.

Sidious chuckled humorlessly. "Ah, the impatience of youth." He took several steps before continuing. "You'll see soon enough, Boy."

Maul quickly swallowed down his next question and nodded sharply. He followed his master out of the hangar and into the south passage.

"So tell me, before you were stricken," Sidious began, mockingly emphasizing 'stricken', "how far did you get with the empath droid?"

The Dark Lord nodded thoughtfully. "How long do you think it will take you to recover that level of accuracy and speed?"

The Sith Apprentice frowned, flexing his back and rolling his shoulders to test his current level of pain and muscle tone. "An hour...perhaps two." Maul licked his dry, cracked lips. "I have not trained in a few days."

"Yes, I am aware." Now Sidious frowned. "Don't try to impress me by lying to me, Boy. Failure at this point would prove most unpleasant for you." He lengthened his stride and continued on into the main drawing room.

"Deception would only compound it," he informed after lowering the hood of his cloak and locking his eyes on Maul.

Ire rose in the young Sith. "My Lord, I am not deceiving you," he replied, struggling to keep his tone respectful. "I only need an hour, at most, to regain my strength and speed. Admittedly, my stamina may require more attention, but you did not question that." He faced Sidious challengingly, feeling empowered by his sudden anger.

A slow smile crept across Darth Sidious' countenance. Maul's arrogance pleased him. He knew his apprentice would not disappoint him.

"But you will also need stamina...for what awaits you in my ship, Young One," Sidious went on cryptically. He took a seat with a heavy sigh and continued to peer up at Maul expectantly. "Go and see to them. They are quite valuable."

"Is it a new type of droid then, Master? For training?" Maul tried to sound pleased but his enthusiasm went flat at the idea of more droids. He sighed and closed his eyes briefly. He could only hope these would prove a

The Force surrounding Darth Sidious became charged with his irritation and radiated towards Maul with a suffocating toxicity. "No, not another droid, my Presumptuous Apprentice," he proclaimed sourly, leaning forward slightly. He waited until he sensed the appropriate amount of humiliated submission in Maul, then he smiled cruelly, and settled back in his chair. "I have brought you a Jedi."

Maul's heart jumped and his breath caught in his throat. That was the last thing he expected his master to say. "A..a Jedi?" A gift indeed.

Sidious' gaze was unwavering. "Yessss," he hissed. "A Jedi Knight and his healer padawan, in fact. They are in the ship's hold. They'll wake soon. You need to transfer them to the dungeons before they do."

Maul's mind was still struggling to grasp it all. His heart pounded and a carefully cultivated hatred now coursed through his veins with almost unbearable intensity. "I will be allowed to kill them, won't I?"

The Sith Lord snickered. "In time. In time. For now, you will use the knight to sharpen your skills in one on one combat. A living, thinking adversary will be beneficial at this point in your training. It will also give you a taste for the kill. You'll find humanoids are quite different from animals and machines. And their deaths are far more satisfying."

Maul inhaled sharply as he pondered his master's words. Death. Feeling someone die. Sensing their life ebb away until they are simply...no more. The death of a Jedi. And by his hand! He couldn't think of anything more empowering. What a sublime victory defeating a Jedi Knight would be.

"We will also use the padawan, only in a different way," Sidious continued. "Keep the child with you for now. I want the padawan subdued, but not harmed just yet. Once separated, the two Jedi's bond must remain open and strong if this plan is to work."

"Master, I thank you again!" the Sith Apprentice rang out with a distorted sense of joy. "You have truly honored me with this consideration."

Sidious nodded and blinked his eyes slowly. "I feel the bloodlust in you, Maul. It nearly consumes you. But I must warn you not to surrender to it until I allow you to." The Dark Lord fixed his pale eyes on his young apprentice. "These Jedi were hard to come by. I brought them to you to instruct you. Not for you to just exterminate."

This was even more startling to Maul. A rush of indignation washed over him. "What can they teach me? My skills are well beyond any Jedi's, Master. I will fight them, but I cannot guarantee I will be able to keep them alive for long."

"Don't try my patience, Young One," Sidious growled menacingly. "Are you saying your skills with a lightsaber leave no room for improvement?"

Darth Sidious continued, cutting Maul's denial off. "Against an entire legion of Jedi? It can be arranged."

"Enough!" the Sith snapped. "Return to the ship. See that the Jedi are placed under heavy guard. Tend to their needs...and then you may resume your studies." Sidious paused and rose ceremoniously. "I am weary and wish to retire. You, on the other hand will continue training until I come to fetch you is that understood?"

"Yes Master." Maul nodded and lowered his eyes, a mixture of relief and dejection washing over him simultaneously. The punishment was lenient, but it also meant he would not fight the Jedi today. Perhaps Sidious could sense the remnants of Maul's fever-induced lethargy. Was it possible he was concerned for him then?

Maul swallowed hard. "Master...I am anxious to use the Jedi to train. If I promise to show restraint, may I have your permission? It would offer me a unique incentive to speed my recovery."

"Patience, My Apprentice! Patience!" he chastised, but regarded Maul's enthusiasm with cool approval. "You will have your chance soon enough. In the meantime, we need to let our Jedi friends adjust to their new surroundings. It will encourage them to quickly come to terms with what I will propose to them later." He sneered wickedly and placed his hand on Maul's arm. "They will comply, I promise you. Their compassion for each other will insure it."

Maul returned to the docked ship as instructed, and ordered four battle droids and four utility droids to the hangar to assist him with transporting the two unconscious Jedi to the lower levels. Climbing the boarding ramp to the ship's interior, Maul gathered the Force to him to sharpen his senses. He drew his lightsaber instinctively as the presence of the two Jedi suddenly filled his awareness. He heard the droids clamoring up the ramp behind him and turned to motion them forward.

"There are two prisoners in the hold," he informed the droids quietly. "I will need your assistance in transporting them. They will not be able to walk on their own and will need to be carried. Nevertheless, stay on alert. They may waken at any time."

"Yes Sir," the highest ranking battle droid acknowledged. It turned to the utility droids. "Have two lift crafts standing by."

Cautiously, Maul entered the hold first, lightsaber in hand, poised and ready for a confrontation, but the two Jedi remained in their drug-induced sleep, tethered together to a back wall of the ship's hold by means of electronic restraining devices.

The Jedi Knight was facing the wall. Long golden hair spilled down his back and over massive shoulders, veiling his down-turned face. He was a full head taller than Maul, with long, powerful limbs and a lithe, athletic body which he had angled in such a way as to protectively sheild his small padawan who was tucked tightly against his right side.

Out of curiosity, Maul stepped forward and grabbed a handful of the Jedi's hair and jerked his head back to study him closer, but the Jedi's particular species was unknown to the Sith. His exotic face was fierce-looking, like a carnivorous animal's. Tan human-like skin was lightly covered in short tawny fur and he had a feline's flat, broad nose, and small slanted eyes rimmed in black. The young Sith inquisitively pushed up the Jedi's cleft upper lip which revealed a generous mouthful of pointed white teeth and long lethal-looking fangs.

"Quickly!" Maul snapped to the droids. "Get this prisoner below before he wakes further!" Cursing, the young Sith backed away from the Jedi and forcibly pried the curved claws out of his punctured wrist. He then gestured impatiently at the utility droids standing by with a lift craft.

"You four, take the child up to my quarters," he instructed, recalling his master's command to keep the padawan close to him. The utility droids could handle the padawan while he and the battle droids dealt with the imposing Jedi Knight.

As the droids deactivated the connections holding the Jedi to the wall, he slumped heavily to the floor, still enough under the influence of whatever Sidious had drugged him with to be manageable. The droids pulled him up to load him on the lift craft, staggering under his considerable weight, and for the first time, exposing the padawan he had been sheltering. The younger Jedi stirred, emitting a small moan. Immediately the Sith's attention turned to the padawan. It was then he discovered the so-called child was not a child at all, but an adolescent human, maybe just slightly younger than he was.

Maul's narrowed yellow eyes followed the curve of a hip to a tiny cinched waist and the delicate swell of womanly breasts. He swallowed down the thick dryness forming in his throat as he fixed his gaze on her, suddenly entranced. She was small, which might explain why Sidious had referred to her as a child, but to the younger Sith, her feminine physique was unmistakable. Maul leaned a little closer to her. The girl was beautiful, he decided, uncomfortably aware that he had never declared that about other females he had encountered. Her features were finely chiseled and her complexion was smooth and transluscently white framed by dark plaited hair which just touched her shoulders. She looked warm and soft and Maul struggled with the urge to bend down and brush the hair from her eyes to allow him an unobstructed view of her face. A muddle of peculiar feelings stirred deep within him, suddenly snapping him out of the trance the unconcious girl had put him in.

The young Sith cursed under his breath, reprimanding himself. He didn't like how strange this particular girl made him feel, knowing he had never felt this way before and didn't understand why he was feeling this way now. Maybe his fever had affected his mind. Granted, in his somewhat cloistered existence, his reaction to her was understandable, but Maul was sure he wasn't reacting to her presence appropriately. It occurred to him this young girl may be just as dangerous to him as the fierce, carnivorous Jedi Knight -but in a very different way.

"Sir, we are ready to proceed," one of the droids carrying the Jedi Knight announced. Maul tightened his grip on his lightsaber hilt and nodded. "Yes, go now.

I'm right behind you," he breathed shakily. He paused just long enough to peer over his shoulder and glimpse the utility droids placing the girl onto the second lift craft. He exhaled forcibly and sharply turned away.

With the Jedi Knight securely restrained in the smallest, darkest, and most isolated cell he knew, Maul closed his eyes and took a moment to massage his throbbing temples. As he drew on the Force's healing power to rid himself once and for all of his illness, he heard one of the utility droids he had sent away with the Jedi padawan quickly approach him.

"Excuse me, Sir," it began. "There's been a complication regarding the prisoner we were escorting to your quarters."

Maul's eyes popped open. He faced the droid with a piercing glare. "What happened?" he demanded as all the tension he had managed to release previously came rushing back.

"The prisoner woke and overpowered us," the droid informed dispassionately. "We followed it, but lost it in the north tower."

Maul's hand shot out and sent the droid smashing into the farthest wall,shattering it into a myriad of sizzling components. He darted up the stairwell, simultaneously drawing his lightsaber.

He should have known better than to underestimate the abilities of any Jedi, even an unconscious one, and sent one of the battle droids with the utility droids. This was a mistake that needed immediate rectification. Sidious could not find out about this. The last time Maul had inadvertantly let a prisoner escape, it was his apprentice that Sidious had locked in one of the dungeon cells and starved for a week. Maul was a child at the time and the fact that he had managed to recapture the prisoner didn't change the severity of his sentence in the slightest.

Gathering the Force to him, Maul jogged to the castle's north tower, gaining confidence in his ability to sense the Jedi's presence and overcome her before she could react. She would still be somewhat dazed and more importantly, she was unarmed.

The air in the tower was thick with her Force signature, her anxiety, and her suspicion. She was also on the alert, but Maul sensed confusion from her as well. She did not know where she was at or where she was going and was moving fast, but moving deeper into the interior of the castle.

Maul knew exactly where she was going and could head her off before she got there. He found himself in his element now and well at ease in pursuit of her. The apprehension he had felt around her earlier quickly disappeared with the commencement of his hunt. She was simply his prey now.

The Jedi sensed him in the same moment he spied her, and fled through the nearest open doorway. Maul sprinted after her, grinning, enjoying himself. He wished he could toy with her for awhile and let her run, but duty pressed in on him. There would be time enough to torture the little Jedi later.

But this was disappointingly too easy, Maul thought to himself as he entered the storage room the girl had run into. She should have known she'd trap herself in there. The only way out was the door he had just stepped through. He stood watching her for a moment as she desperately paced the length of the opposite wall, her shackled hands oddly skimming the stone's surface. To announce his presence, the young Sith raised his lightsaber and twirled it in his hand, its staccato humming cutting sharply through the ominous silence in the room.

The girl gasped and turned towards the sound. She looked in Maul's direction, then cocked her head, listening closely, and pressed herself tighter against the wall. The Sith noticed her large eyes were a metallic green color flecked with silver and her gaze was utterly piercing in its intensity.

"I am Joss Sek Las, padawan to Master Verteigo Nassy of the Honorable Order of Jedi Knights of the Galactic Republic," she suddenly blurted. "Who are you and why have you brought us to this place?"

Maul did not reply. There was something unusual about her. Besides her mesmerizing beauty. Something about the way she was looking at him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He quietly crept forward until he was standing in front of her, then lowered the tip of his lightsaber until it practically touched the bridge of her nose. She did not flinch or even appear aware of the blade's deadly proximity.

The Sith stepped back and looked deeply into her unfocused eyes. He was right. She was blind.

Without warning, the Jedi gestured sideways towards a nearby chair, using the Force to fling it haphazardly in the young Sith's direction. Startled, Maul ducked the airborne piece of furniture and neatly severed it in two as the Jedi darted around him with surprising speed and agility. Peeved by the fact she had managed to catch him off guard so easily, he sprang after her and caught her by grabbing her hair, then threw her forcibly into the wall.

The girl crumbled to the floor at his feet and simply sat there, opting for more passive resistance for the time being, and nursed her lower lip which had split upon impact with the wall. As Maul cautiously approached her, her small hand stretched towards him and brushed the toe of his boot. She let her hand rest there, her sightless eyes narrowing.

"Who are you?" she said again, her voice an expelled breath. "I sense..." She suddenly jerked her hand away from him as though it had been burned and a look of horror crossed her face.

"So now you know," Maul murmured nonchalantly. As he bent to drag the Jedi up, she braced herself against her chains and powerfully kicked him, sending them both tumbling towards the doorway. The Sith landed first, hitting the ground with a thud, his lightsaber drilling a hole in the flooring beside him. The girl rolled away from him and hopped to her feet, but Maul tripped her, and sent her crashing down on top of him once more. He flipped her over and hauled her up with him as he rose to his feet.

He was going to have to render her unconcious again if she was to remain in one piece as Sidious had ordered. Maul tried to hit her, but she deftly blocked his arm with a well aimed blow, turned around, elbowed him in the jaw, and pushed him aside. She was almost out the door when the Sith seized her this time.

The Jedi refused to give up however, still sensing a remote chance for freedom with the open doorway so close. She backflipped in Maul's grasp, twisting his arm so severely he had to release her, but immediately caught her again. Now Maul had a firm hold on her restraints and waved his lightsaber threateningly in front of her so she could hear it. Still, she threw all her weight backwards, pulling against the Sith's grasp, dragging her heels determinedly on the rough stone floor.

Maul was surprised and impressed by her tenacity. This had been an exhilarating warm-up for his upcoming training sessions, but enough was enough. Sidious probably already sensed something had gone wrong with the transfer. Maul should have had her securely locked up by now. Methodically, the young Sith reached over and tapped the tip of his lightsaber on the Jedi's upper arm, scorching her. She cried out and grabbed her arm in pain, her struggling abruptly coming to a halt.

Shaking his head, Maul quickly deactivated his saber and closed his hand around the girl's neck. He shoved her into the doorframe, crossed her arms over her abdomen, and pinned her with the weight of his body against the stones while he worked to attach her shackles to his utility belt.

With the thrill of the hunt subsiding, the young Sith became increasingly aware of the girl's extremely close proximity to him and the way her small, firm body was pressed enticingly against his.

He was also awed by the fact he could discern the pounding of her heart against his chest and feel the heat of her flushed skin through her tunic. Her slightly labored breath warmed and dampened the hollow at the base of his throat and her tousled hair tickled the underside of his chin. It was all inadvertently very sexual, but it made him imagine what it would feel like to be with her in that way.

Intrigued, the young Sith tried to sense if the girl was experiencing any of the same feelings he was, but she was shielding herself, and her emotions remained unreadable. Maybe, if he touched her just right, Maul pondered, she might respond and he might be able to sense something.

"Be still," the Sith instructed sharply. The girl only narrowed her eyes at him in reply.

Licking his lips, Maul slowly loosened his grip on the Jedi's neck and let his hand slide over her collar bone, and suggestively down the open neckline of her tunic. Her skin was softer and hotter than he imagined and the swell of her breast beneath his hand was firm and round. He searched her face for any hint of emotion.

Touching her this way pleased him more than he thought possible, but the girl spasmed with outrage and spit at him in protest, then struggled vehemently to get away.

Startled by the intensity of her repulsion, Maul flushed with indignation. Their intimate proximity obviously had not affected her amourously in the least. The Sith told himself he shouldn't have been surprised by her unfavorable reaction, but it still embarrassed him deeply, showing him she not only had stronger control of her feelings than he did, but far more experience regarding personal physical contact than he did. It made him feel emasculated and inferior and he didn't like feeling inferior to anyone concerning anything.

What made it worse was knowing the Jedi had sensed his disparaging feelings and was surely convinced he was nothing more than an ignorant, undisciplined juvenile delinquent. He could not let her get away with that kind of demoralization of him. She was his prisoner. His possession. She was the one who needed to feel inferior and humiliated.

As Maul focused his mind more on his anger and embarrassment, a cold darkness shadowed his heart and began swirling around him in a tempest of malice. He closed his eyes momentarily, absorbing the power it tempted him with.

Sensing the way the Force had moved and the sinister change overcoming her captor, the young girl started trembling. Her reactions now told the Sith she didn't feel so much like an intrepid Jedi anymore, but merely a small, vulnerable female in the depraved clutches of a much larger, stronger male, and her fear was the catalyst the young Sith sought.

The girl's eyes flashed with panic which spurred Maul into action. He banged her head against the wall to stun her and roughly wedged his thigh between her legs, lifting her slightly and forcing her to balance herself against him as his hands slithered over her body, announcing his intentions. Her face contorted with dread and she bit savagely into her lower lip, rupturing it again.

The young Sith's eyes were immediately drawn to the smear of crimson which made her parted lips look inflamed with desire. He moved to kiss her, then decided against it. Embracing her that way would surely make him lose his initiative and his ill-gotten dominance, but he desperately wanted to touch her mouth with his. Lowering his face to hers, he tilted her head back and passed his tongue slowly over her bleeding lower lip. Not surprisingly, her entire body shook with revulsion and in a frenzy, she tried to push him off her. A pathetic whimper escaped her throat when she could not.

Incited by her futile resistance, Maul pressed his hips against her harder, making her squirm even more. She screamed suddenly, quite gratifyingly to the young Sith's ears in a declaration of powerlessness, her intense fear clearly inhibiting her ability to call upon the Force.

Maul savored the helplessness he felt in her trembling body, his heart stirred by her in more familiar ways now.

Paralyzed with fear, her hands tethered together and smashed between the Sith's body and her own, and her legs barely touching the ground, the small Jedi finally appeared to succumb to her fate and Maul backed slightly away from her. Seizing the moment, the girl suddenly turned her head and sank her teeth into the Sith's wrist, then wrapped her legs around his and drove her heels into the backs of his knees. They both crashed to the floor together in a tangled heap.

Infuriated, Maul pushed the Jedi off of him and rolled her over on the floor. Kicking and screaming for all she was worth, the girl continued to pummel the young Sith until he dragged her to her feet and slammed her back against the doorframe.

"Fight me," the Sith growled as his hand delved brazenly beneath her clothes. "You have every right to be afraid, Jedi. I will hurt you as you have never been hurt before."

Suddenly and much to Maul's surprise, the girl simply froze and all traces of emotion fled her face.

"I am not afraid of you," she stated, although somewhat unconvincingly as tears filled her unseeing eyes. The tension in her body slowly eased however and the Force began moving over her with increasing strength, blanketing her in an aura of peace.

Her courage stayed the Sith's straying hand. Awestruck by this new and unexpected demonstration of her proficient command of the Force, Maul felt the inclination he had to harm her evaporate and his anger dissipated along with it. He had temporarily subdued her, but he realized such cruelty had ultimately gained him nothing. She had only proven herself to be strong again. Perhaps not as strong as he, though her power was admirable, enviable, but he no longer felt the desire to stifle it. Her brave defiance in the face of her unfathomable fear had inadvertently earned her his respect. Stepping back, Maul sighed, scowling down at her upturned face.

Maul grabbed the front of her tunic and jerked her towards him, making her gasp. He leaned his head over her shoulder and whispered in her ear.

"So you were enjoying it after all," he murmured seductively. "I can continue if you prefer, Joss, but I want you to know you will not dictate to me what becomes of you. You're mine now, and I will do with you what I please, when I please." Having made that clear, the Sith turned on his heel, hauling her after him, and headed back up the hall.

Darth Sidious entered the training room well before dawn. Maul was too absorbed in the task at hand to acknowledge him. The death droid was just off to his left and demanded his attention first.

It moved erratically, up and down, with an eerie silence. There was no detecting it except through use of the Force.

As it dived, Maul spun and somersaulted over it, whipping his lightsaber forward and neatly dispatching the lethal droid within a single heartbeat. He paused and took a deep breath before turning in his master's direction.

"Thank you, Master," Maul replied, slightly winded. He raised his hand and summoned the next droid, but Sidious intercepted it and sent it away.

"You've done enough for the time being. Tomorrow I want you by my side when I rendezvous with our Jedi guest. I will no doubt need your unique power of persuasion to show him the hopelessness of his situation."

Maul lowered his eyes and nodded his consent. "Then you are pleased with my progress."

Sidious eeked forth a small smile. "If all goes as planned, you will have the Jedi tomorrow to spar with instead of these sacrificial droids. Just remember what I told you. Study him and learn from him. He'll teach you if you let him."

Nodding more forcefully this time, Maul faced his master and bowed. "If I am finished with my training for the day, I will retire to my room to meditate."

"That would be wise of you, My Apprentice," the Dark Lord droned. "Distraction in the presence of an adversary would be regrettable...to say the least."

Maul looked up sharply. "You'll find my concentration is focused on what it should be, Master."

"Focused on what it should be, how curious," Sidious echoed mockingly. "From what I sensed your concentration focused on this morning, it is clear to me you are an undisciplined, weak-minded boy who's all too easily distracted by insignificant things. You are not to harm that girl yet, do you understand me? You'll ruin everything. Control yourself, Maul or you will be dealt with accordingly." He straightened slightly and sighed, regarding his apprentice with distain. "Perhaps I expect too much from you."

These words were like a blow to the young Sith. He knelt at Sidious' feet entreatingly. "Master, have I not met all your expectations?"

Darth Sidious walked stiffly away and grumbled under his breath, "Only time will tell."

Tearing off his cloak, Maul strode into his quarters and hotly paced the length of the floor. When this proved insufficient, he threw himself on his bed and curled his legs underneath him in a meditative pose. Still infuriated by his master's insults, the young Sith drew power off his intense emotions with practiced efficiency and channeled them deep down inside him. The Dark Side came to him readily and filled him with an empowering calm, cooling the heat of the blazes his anger had ignited but not extinquishing them.

After awhile, Maul opened his eyes in sudden awareness and stared into the far corner where the shadows were broken by the huddled figure chained to a metal fixture in the wall. He emitted a low growl of disgust. She was the reason his master was displeased with him now. She was the cause of the unsettling sensations which led to all those unwieldy cravings.

And the Jedi had the audacity to not acknowledge his presence, though Maul was certain she knew he was there. She was curled in a tight ball, her knees drawn up to her chest and encircled with her arms. Her head rested lightly on her wrists with her eyes open, staring back at him unseeingly. She didn't look nearly as wiley and strong as Maul knew she was, sitting there so unassumingly like that.

Unwittingly, Maul soon found himself contemplating her capture this morning, undeniably respecting the courage she'd shown him, her power, and her proficient command of the Force.

He also readily recalled the crisp, clean scent of her skin and the feminine athletic tone of her petite body which seemed to fit so perfect against his own. Maul sighed despondently. He must not think of such things anymore.

He rose from the bed and crept towards her, crouching down in front of her. Perhaps Sidious was right. Maul did find the girl inexplicably intriguing, but he was determined now not to give in to the urges she stirred up inside him. He was neither weak or undisciplined as Darth Sidious had declared.

"Evil, vile creature," the Jedi whispered in the dark, making Maul's heart skip a beat. "You exist only to destroy. Your lifeforce is empty. Your mind is the color of shadows, death, and foul decay. But I won't hate you. And I won't fear you, whatever you choose to do to me. I will only pity you."

The young Sith narrowed his yellow eyes. "What would be the point of doing anything to you then?" A slow smile crossed his face at her confused expression. Obviously she had not expected him to say that. Maul eased himself to the floor, mirroring her position. "I am not evil, Joss. I live to serve, just as you do, only mine is a different philosophy from yours. Real evil lies within a faction of despots who have ruthlessly hunted my kind to the brink of extinction for over a millennium. The way they turn their eyes from the truth, they may as well all be blind."

"You are evil. You're despicable and corrupted," Joss replied with a sneer. She straightened her shoulders and raised her head.

"Perhaps," Maul agreed. "But tell me you wouldn't kill me if given the chance just as surely as I would kill you." He shifted his weight and leaned closer to her. He noticed her hair was dusty from the floor, her neck was bruised with his fingerprints, and she had a superficial scratch just under her left eye. She seemed more like a real person this way; not quite as specteral and bewitching as before, and Maul was surprised at how comfortable he felt talking with her now despite her insults.

"Your master? The other being here who is like you?" Joss continued, lowering her voice. "I can sense him--his darkness, his cruelty."

Joss turned her face away and tightened her grip on her legs. "A Sith...." she breathed and swallowed hard. "....The rumors were true." She passed her hand over her face and roughly pushed back her numerous braids. "Where am I? And Verteigo. My master. Where is he? Tell me, what is it you want from us?"

The young Sith saw no reason not to tell her. "You're in a hidden place. A secluded place, where my master keeps me and trains me. He brought you both here for me. I am to duel with your master for training purposes," he explained. "You are simply here for us to manipulate him to cooperate with us."

Maul rose stiffly and stepped back as a disturbing thought suddenly occurred to him. The girl was here for Sidious to use against the Jedi Knight. Maul knew how ruthless his master could be when it came to getting what he wanted, and suddenly the idea of him in control of Joss didn't sit well with the young Sith. Sidious didn't know about and probably wouldn't appreciate her strength and her steadfast courage or her unique beauty the way Maul did. If the Jedi Knight didn't agree to the Dark Lord's terms, he would imperil the girl. Maybe the Jedi Knight did not realize this.

"Your master is well...for the time being," Maul quickly added and turned on his heel and stalked back to the bed. Grabbing his cloak, the Sith continued out the door.

The air in the castle's dungeon was thick and musty. The darkness was impenetrable. The dim glow rods attached to the upper walls did little to light the way, but Maul knew the prison's layout and his superlative night vision made any lightsource unnecessary. The Jedi Knight's strong presence served as a beacon as well and Maul went directly to his cell and peered inside.

Verteigo was sitting on the floor, his back to the wall, curled up much the same way his padawan had been. He looked up as Maul approached, his bright blue feline eyes obviously well accustomed to the darkness. He rose ominously, his restraints crackling in protest, and moved as close to the door as he could get.

"Where is my padawan? What have you done to her?" he demanded in a breathy, gravelly voice, the whiteness of his impressive teeth flashing as his upper lip curled back with a menacing snarl.

Maul ignored the Jedi's question and continued to stare at him, fascinated by the intense concern and distress he sensed in him. How different from his own master who never showed the slightest degree of concern for his well-being.

The Jedi sighed and lowered his eyes briefly. "Keep me, but let her go. You'll gain nothing from holding her here."

Maul grinned. "You lie unconvincingly, Jedi. I feel your compassion for her. You will not let harm come to her if you can help it."

The Jedi Knight snarled again and turned away from the young Sith. "You have much to learn if you believe that about a Jedi, Young Rogue. Joss is an apprentice like you, but she is fully aware of the sacrifices a Jedi must make to thwart the progress of evil. She would not want me to comply with your twisted schemes just to spare her life. Kill her, kill me. We shall die honorably and you and your Dark Lord will have accomplished nothing."

Maul crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. "Ridding the galaxy of two more Jedi will be accomplishment enough."

Verteigo nonchalantly resumed his seat on the floor of his cell and folded his legs under him and closed his eyes as if to meditate. "Leave me. You have what you came for. Go inform your master."

Maul turned to leave, then paused. "Naturally, you'll want to seek her mind now and reassure yourself all is well." The young Sith leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice as he glared at the Jedi in the cell. "I will go now, but not to my master. I will go to her. Perhaps her screams will give your Jedi honor pause. Perhaps her pain can even make you reconsider your conviction."

Maul laughed lightly. "Are you so naive as to think I would grant her a swift, merciful death? You have much to learn if you believe that about a Sith...."

"Very well, you wretched spawn!" Verteigo growled through his teeth. "I will...hear your proposal."

The young Sith smiled slyly. "Then allow me to fetch my master." He straightened and turned away, then paused and faced the Jedi once more. "I want you to know if you agree to cooperate with us, I give you my solemn word I will protect your padawan to the best of my ability."

Verteigo shook his head. "Do you think such a vow holds any significance for me? Honor among the Sith? I don't believe it for a moment."

Maul frowned deeply. "I have given you my word. She is my charge, Sir. I take that responsibility seriously whether you believe it or not." He turned then, moving quickly through the black halls and up the stone stairs.

The young Sith paused at the top and looked back. The relief he felt went beyond the Jedi's acquiescence. To be truthful, a large part of it was knowing he had saved the girl and now he would be allowed to keep her.

As Maul waited another hour outside Darth Sidious' chambers, his muscles grew increasingly stiffer and his skin steadily radiated a deepening heat. The virus he had contracted earlier had regained the upper hand, threatening to further weaken the already tenuous conditioning he had achieved the day before. It made him wonder whether now would be a good time to approach Sidious regarding the Jedi Knight. He should just return to his room and try to get some sleep until he felt stronger.

He was just about to turn back when a protocol droid by the name of C-827S suddenly appeared within the vast, oppulent room and waved Maul inside his master's chambers.

Maul inhaled deeply and stepped around the despised droid to enter. The Dark Lord was seated in a tall-backed silver chair that resembled a royal throne. He sipped passively at a sour-smelling tea in a cup, then handed it to the droid and cleared his throat.

"Yes, I meditated," Maul answered quickly, dismissing the Dark Lord's observation. His body felt like a cauldron however as his internal temperature continued to rise. He slipped out of his cloak and roughly pulled at the collar of his tunic. "I came to tell you I spoke with the Jedi Knight. You were right about the compassion he feels for his padawan. He resisted at first, but then I was able to persuade him to agree to hear your proposal." Maul noticed his hands were shaking slightly and quickly clasped them behind his back. "He wishes to speak with you, My Lord," he reiterated.

Sidious' expression hardened as he regarded his apprentice. "Maul," he growled, shaking his head. "Will you ever learn patience? Patience is the one attribute we Sith need to possess in abundance and too often I find yours lacking."

The young Sith opened his mouth to speak, then promptly closed it, feeling the Force move ominously around him.

"I understand it's hard for you. You are so young still," the Sith Lord continued condescendingly, his mouth twisting into a distorted smile. "You thought I would be pleased and on one hand, I am very pleased. You have spared me considerable time and trouble. You have succeeded beyond expectations. On the other hand," Sidious paused and abruptly frowned, "this does not excuse the fact you could have jeopardized everything I had so carefully planned. Destroy months of preparation because of your infernal adolescent impatience!" He rose from his throne and stalked over to where the younger Sith stood. "On your knees," he commanded.

Maul clenched his teeth in frustration. He knew what that command usually proceeded though he had not been subjected to it since he was a boy. "Impatience was not what motivated me to confront the Jedi on my own. The decision to do so was born from another reason." Maul closed his eyes and cursed himself. He was only digging himself in deeper and he needed to keep his mouth shut from now on.

Sidious moved behind the young Sith and motioned to C-827S, which knew what the Dark Lord wanted and scurried off to get it.

"Perhaps if you share with me your secret motive, your behavior might be justified and I may grant you clemency," the older Sith countered.

Maul bowed his head, respectfully declining his master's offer, and obediently dropped to his knees, humiliation piercing him to the core. He tensed, feeling the Sith Lord's cold hands on the back of his neck pushing him down farther.

"So be it," Sidious proclaimed, accepting the crude leather whip his droid presented to him. "You leave me no choice. I will have your submission before this is through. You will learn your place, Maul."

The younger Sith closed his eyes, steeling himself for the punishment to come. "Have you no faith in my abilities? Will you ever trust me enough to allow me to follow my own initiative from time to time?"

"Not when your initiative is determined purely by impulse," the Dark Lord replied and brought the whip down across Maul's back with a resounding crack.

The young Sith knew better than to cry out or even flinch, but the intense pain rocked him and he began to sway unsteadily. He reached forward and braced himself up with his hand. The thin gauzey material of his tunic did little to absorb the blows and his fevered skin was twice as sensitive to the stinging. He would have to use the Force to alleviate this kind of pain.

"And you've let yourself become ill again, I sense," Sidious added and beat his apprentice even harder, again and again with unabated sadistic zeal.

Darkness soon inhibited Maul's vision as another darkness consumed his heart. Hatred laced with resentment sped through his veins, feeding off of every stroke of the whip his master bestowed on him and gradually the pain became more distant and ineffectual as the power of the Force filled the young Sith.

"Yesss, good. Good!" the Dark Lord encouraged. "Draw the power to you. Feel it Use it to become stronger." He paused in his exercise and layed the whip aside, pleased by what he sensed. "I believe you have learned what you needed to. I know you will think twice before succumbing to your impatience in the future. Now, return to your room and wait for my call."

"Yes Master," Maul responded, warily opening his eyes. At first, the room was spinning wildly, then it slowed to an almost imperceptible rotation. The young Sith slowly sank back on his haunches and groped the floor for his cloak.

The droid reached down and awkwardly pulled Maul to his feet. "Come along, Sir. Let me assist you."

Maul pried the droid's fingers from his arm and shoved the machine away from him.

"I don't want your assistance," he grumbled, pulling his cloak gingerly over his shoulders, then turned and staggered towards the door.

"By the way, Maul," Sidious interjected, resuming his seat on his throne-like chair. "I want you ready to train with the Jedi by tonight. Do what you have to to prepare yourself."

The Sith Apprentice felt a jolt of exhilaration shoot through him at this bit of information. "Then you'll go to him now?"

It was mid-morning when Maul finally shuffled into his room, but the shadows within remained long and heavy. He stood just inside the threshold, eyeing the smooth patch of stone on the floor where he had last slept, and pushed the cloak off his shoulders. It fell to the floor with a muffled whoosh--the only audible sound beside his short raspy breaths.

The Jedi must be sleeping, he thought, and carefully peeled the tunic from his bruised and torn back. The blood was scabbing already, fastening the material stubbornly to his skin, making him wince once or twice. He pulled off his boots, kicked them aside, then unbuckled his belt and began to unfasten the clasp on his trousers.

"I hope you aren't going to strip completely," came Joss' petulant voice through the shadows. "I don't care to know you are nude over there."

Maul rolled his eyes. "You must have a keen imagination if merely knowing I'm naked incites you," the Sith hissed in irritation, but left the remainder of his clothes on. He slowly lowered himself to the floor and stretched out with a heavy sigh.

"Do you usually sleep on the floor?" the Jedi inquired after a short while. Maul frowned but did not reply.

There was a moment of silence before the Jedi continued. "What happened to you? I sense that you are suffering."

The Sith sighed. "How very Jedi of you to feign concern for me. I have a minor fever, now shutup and leave me alone." He sat up slightly and peered at the girl across the room.

She was sitting with her legs folded under her, a blanket from his bed wrapped around her shoulders. One of the droids attending her may have given it to her or she may have used the Force to call it to her hand if she was cold in the night. Maul felt a tinge of guilt. He should have offered her a blanket, but he wasn't used to being considerate of others' feelings.

"Your pain is severe, Maul. It's hard not to notice," Joss answered with a shrug.

Maul was chagrinned by the fact he was not controlling said pain as well as he should and she was able to sense it. Maybe his fever had something to do with it.

"Forgive me for allowing my discomfort to disturb you then," he muttered and turned away from her. He waited, but she did not reply this time. Gratefully, Maul slowly closed his eyes.

The sound of the static restraints clinking told the Sith Joss had moved. When she spoke this time, her voice was much closer.

"Let me help you. I may be able to take the edge off the hurt to make it more tolerable for you. I'm quite knowledgeable in the Jedi art of healing."

Maul inhaled deeply, peeved by her persistence, but admittedly moved by her offer. "I can tolerate it without your help," he muttered and opened his eyes to face her. "Pain is simply a message. It is just as easy to ignore as it is to accept. The punishment I received had more to do with humiliation than pain. This pain is nothing. Merely an irritation. I just need to rest for a few hours."

"Then discard it," the young Jedi suggested. "It will help you rest easier. You'll feel stronger when you wake."

Maul noticed the girl's expression softened as he felt her use the Force to palpate his thoughts. "Stop it!" he seethed.

Her shimmering green eyes suddenly sparked in shock, then clouded with sympathy. "Your master did this to you?"

Embarrassed and exasperated, the Sith pushed himself up again and rose to his feet. He stalked over to where Joss was, seized her arm and shoved her aside.

Maul worked to unfasten her chains from the fixture which tethered her to the wall. "Since you won't leave me alone, I'm taking you elsewhere," he informed her. He took hold of her right hand and held up her index finger. "And if you try anything along the way, I will break this in two, do you understand?" He dropped her hand and gathered up the restraints.

Joss stared up at him wide-eyed and nodded silently. Maul turned sharply to lead the girl away. Thrown off balance by the sudden movement, the Jedi stretched out her arm to right herself and inadvertantly struck the Sith's back. He gasped sharply and cursed at her, spinning around as she jumped back with a look of shock on her face.

Joss shook her head. "Oh! I'm sorry....I didn't mean to...." her voice trailed off. Then: "You're bleeding." Her hand remained frozen in the air for a moment as the warm, sticky substance dried on her fingers. Then she tentatively lowered it until her palm rested gently on the Sith's chest over his pounding heart. "Let me help you," she breathed as an aura of compassion enveloped her. Her eyes narrowed as she concentrated, feeling her way back around him, her hand tracing delicate exploratory paths over his wounds.

Stunned by the boldness and intimacy of her touch, Maul found he could barely breathe, let alone stop her or move away. He had never been touched like this before and found it intensely sensual. Her tenderness was like a soothing balm which penetrated his mind and eased the stress from his body. The impressions of pain were subdued more by these breath-like caresses than her use of the Force. Each welt she traced burned with a different kind of heat. A pleasant, tingling heat.

The young Sith closed his eyes as Joss slipped in front of him, her small hands moving up his sinewy arms, across the span of his chest, and over his shoulders. She paused at his throat as if suddenly uncertain he would let her continue. Maul lowered his head in consent and soon felt her soft fingertips brush across his lips, the bridge of his nose and over his eyelids. Her breath caught slightly as her straying hands encountered the short, jagged horns covering his scalp, but then she continued to explore his features, running her fingers down the side of his face catching every last detail--even the tiny silver stud piercing his left ear.

When she finally took her hands off him, Maul opened his eyes and looked down at her with newfound esteem. He was somewhat taken aback by the fact his sworn enemy had shown him more empathy than the man who raised him and claimed to value him. He suddenly wanted to reciprocate her tenderness, but was not entirely sure how and contented himself with merely drinking in her exquisite beauty for the moment.

Then as the young Sith continued to stare deeply into her great green eyes, he apprehensively reached up and trailed his fingers softly across the bruises he'd inflicted upon her neck with remorse. The fact that she did not flinch from him this time was encouraging.

Joss blinked up at him vacantly, her brows knitted, and an unidentifiable expression on her face. Finally, she cleared her throat and gently pulled away from him.

"I promise to be quiet now," she stated, subtlety implying her desire to remain where she was. Her voice was barely audible and Maul noticed a slight blush coloring her pale cheeks.

"You can stay then," he replied with a grin, pleased she wanted to. He glanced back at the wall where she had been tethered and frowned. It didn't feel right to make her go back there now. She deserved better. He wrapped the end of her chain around his wrist several times and tested it to make sure it wouldn't slip. "Come with me," he said, carefully pulling her to him. She hesitated at first, then went to him and let him guide her to the bed. "Now lie down."

The young Sith sighed. He hadn't meant that the way it must have sounded. "Just...lie down."

Maul leaned forward and grabbed her hand and hauled her back, and shoved her onto the bed.

"Don't jump to conclusions," he grumbled. "I'm tired and battered and dizzy with fever. I'm hardly fit to ravish you at this point in time."

"At this point in time," the girl echoed, unconvinced, and nervously edged herself over to the far side of the bed.

Maul gestured at the blanket she had been using on the floor across the room and used the Force to bring it to his hand. He threw it at her in a token of reassurance, noting the small smile she fought with as the familiar material suddenly struck her. Then the young Sith turned and eased himself down to the smooth patch of stone on the floor. He closed his eyes and took a deep cleansing breath.

The summons from his master came far too soon. Maul opened his eyes and groaned, not yet ready to vacate his crude, cold bed of stone. However, his hand was severely numb from Joss' chain inhibiting his blood's circulation, and the floor beneath him was once again slick with perspiration from the fever he had shed.

Stiffly climbing to his feet, Maul unwrapped the chain cutting into his wrist and secured it to the heavy frame of his real bed where the Jedi Padawan slept on. He paused momentarily, studying the anxiety and exhaustion reflected in her contorted expression.

The young Sith reached down and with a feather-soft touch, stroked her furrowed brow with his knuckle. If only he could soothe her worries as effectively as she had soothed him earlier.

But Maul knew she had a right to be worried. Her master's fate was sealed, but hers remained uncertain. Maul knew he would not be able to keep her from Darth Sidious for long. The Dark Lord only saw her as a means to an end. When he was finished using her, he would more than likely order Maul to kill her. Then, even if Sidious decided to spare her life, he would no doubt enslave her: torture her until her spirit broke and her mind totally disintegrated. The idea of doing such a thing to someone so powerful and intelligent and genuinely kind, made Maul sick.

He frowned and licked his lips apprehensively, realizing his master would view such concerns coming from him as nothing less than treasonous. Sidious would never understand the strange feelings the girl provoked in his apprentice. Maul wasn't even sure he understood them himself, but that didn't stop him from wanting to gather them in and experience them to their fullest extent.

Darth Sidious' call came more insistently this time and Maul immediately cleared his mind to respond. The moment he had been waiting for all his life would soon be at hand. His heart began to pound in his chest and he cast one last look at the young Jedi on his bed.

Maul was meditating in the training room when Darth Sidious entered followed by two droidekas, four battle droids, and the Jedi Knight, Verteigo Nassy, in shock restraints.

"I understand you have already met my apprentice," the Dark Lord was saying as he drew up in front of Maul.

"Yes. I've had the...pleasure," Verteigo sneered in that peculiar raspy but breathy voice of his, regarding Maul with disdain. He then turned to Sidious and shook his head. "You're certain you want me to do this? He's just a boy. He's not much older than my own padawan. If you turn me loose on him with a lightsaber in my hand, not only will you be minus one apprentice, your sallow-skinned head will roll shortly afterwards."

Sidious emitted a low laugh. "I wouldn't be too sure," he murmured. "Maul is quite skilled for one his age. You may even find him a bit of a challenge."

"Experience," the Sith Lord hissed. "I have guided him in all the finer Jedi Arts. He's learned much from me, but the one thing I cannot give him that you can is experience."

The Jedi Knight straightened to his full imposing height and snarled. "Jedi Arts? From what I understand, he's trained to be nothing more than an assassin!"

Maul had heard enough. He rose to his feet and drew his lightsaber. "Master, may we begin?" He spun the saber hilt in his hand restlessly.

"Yes. Unchain him," the older Sith ordered the droids. "And let him choose a weapon." He turned to his apprentice and stood looking at him with a cold calm expression. "Remember what I told you, Maul. Even if you feel mortally threatened, do not act on it." He paused and raised his voice just enough for the Jedi to hear. "He would not dare try to kill you. And if he so much as steps out of line, we have our little padawan insurance policy tucked away all safe and sound for the moment. If we need to fetch her here to convince him to conduct himself accordingly, we shall."

Verteigo snarled again, menacingly exposing his fangs. "We have an agreement," he rumbled, snapping off his cloak as soon as his hands were freed. "You harm her in any way and the deal's off." He dragged his clawed hand through his shaggy blonde hair, pushing it back from his eyes. "Besides, I wouldn't think of giving you two vermin the pleasure you'd derive from killing an innocent child." He picked out a lightsaber from a case an astromech droid offered him and weighed its hilt in his hand. Satisfied, he strode onto the mat and activated it. "Shall I power it down?"

Maul walked slowly towards the Jedi and shook his head. "Full power. Always." He activated his lightsaber and assumed a classic combative stance.

"Then how is a match to be determined?" Verteigo growled, locking his eyes on the young Sith standing in front of him.

Sidious laughed lightly, taking a seat at the side of the room. "How about first dismemberment?"

"My Lord, if I dismember him, he'll need considerable time to recover before he'll be able to face me again. Wouldn't that be contradictory to our intent? You said yourself he is of value to us." Maul held his breath, half-expecting to be struck down where he stood for such insubordination.

But Sidious merely frowned. "Yes. I suppose you are right. First strike then. Painful, but easily overcome with the Force." He waved his hand through the air, dismissing any further disputes. "Enough. Begin."

Maul gathered the Force to him and attacked immediately, catching the Jedi momentarily off guard. He drove him back across the length of the mat before Verteigo managed to fend him off enough to stop retreating. Maul could sense the Jedi's surprise. He truly hadn't expected the young Sith to be much of an opponent, but after recovering from his initial unpreparedness, Verteigo collected himself and soon fell into an easy rhythm of attacks and parries.

The young Sith was forced to overreach many times to compensate for his lack of size compared to the Jedi's, something he never had to do with droids. Verteigo seemed to sense his doubled effort and purposefully dodged strikes he could have easily thwarted just to make Maul work harder. When Maul realized this, he backed off, forcing the Jedi to chase him, utilizing his speed and agility, and jumped, twisted, and flew over many of Verteigo's near misses making the Jedi work just as hard to land a blow. As soon as the Jedi recognized that pattern, Verteigo swiftly changed strategies and called upon his natural strengths, strengths he knew the young Sith did not have, to gain the upper hand.

Now Maul could clearly see the Jedi's style was slower, but much more powerful. Verteigo used it to his advantage, locking his lightsaber with Maul's with one hand, only to punch, slash, or backhand the Sith away with the other. Maul's face and upper body was soon bloodied and bruised.

Angered by the Jedi's repeated assaults, Maul bent his head the next time Verteigo tried to hit him and leaned into the Jedi's fist, goring it with one of his horns. The Jedi's feline eyes flashed in pain and he leapt back, shaking his hand furiously, and Force-pushed Maul away from him. The Sith back-flipped to keep from losing his balance and the Jedi sprang after him and used his strength now to double the power he put behind his attack with his lightsaber.

After attempting to absorb the incredible force behind one of Verteigo's connected blows, Maul was thrown to the mat. Verteigo immediately slashed down again before the Sith Apprentice could parry, and Maul had to roll out of the way to avoid the Jedi's next consecutive lightsaber strike. The Sith sprung to his feet, wondering if the Jedi had forgotten his vow not to kill him.

Irritated with himself as much as the Jedi, Maul tapped into the Force and went after Verteigo with a series of gravity-defying maneuvers: leaping towards him while spinning midair and kicking out as he descended and then furiously striking at the Jedi on the left with his lightsaber to distract him, only to somersault over him and attack his unprotected right. Maul dodged, flipped, and danced fluidly around the Jedi and forced Verteigo to waste his energy and fight in a tight circle, limiting his ability to manipulate his lightsaber.

After awhile, Maul noticed the Jedi Knight was beginning to sweat. His long hair clung to the sides of his face and his fur had developed a slick sheen to it. Perhaps he was merely warm. The Sith didn't detect the slightest anxiety in the Jedi. In fact, Verteigo was the portrait of calm concentration no matter what Maul did. The Force flowed around the Jedi with remarkable strength and he utilized it to its fullest extent.

"I'll give you this much, Young Sith," Verteigo muttered, slightly winded. "You are talented and you can take a lot of punishment."

The Sith didn't like the implication behind the Jedi's words and wondered if Verteigo was resorting to taunts now. Maul sneered at the Jedi and brought his lightsaber down in a sweeping arc to the left, then flipped the hilt in his hand and came back in the opposite direction, forcing Verteigo to jump straight up to avoid being struck across the knees.

Verteigo leaned back, drawing the Sith closer to him, then stabbed at Maul to get him to back up. With more room to maneuver now, the Jedi slipped to the Sith's left, purposefully turning him around, then tossed the lightsaber from his left hand into his right hand, changing the direction of his assault in the blink of an eye and managed to slice through the flowing tails of Maul's robe before the Sith could entirely escape him.

"You see, I know a few tricks as well," the Jedi Knight snarled. "I guess this is where the learning begins."

Anger rose in the young Sith and allowed the Dark Side of the Force to flow through him more freely until it throbbed in his veins. He charged towards the Jedi then retreated making Verteigo instinctively chase him. Then, copying the Jedi's complicated move to perfection, Maul actually made connection with Verteigo's thigh.

The Jedi gasped in pain and surprise. Maul quickly took advantage of the Jedi's lowered defenses and gestured at the lightsaber in his hand, using the Force to disarm him. He held up both sabers for Verteigo's inspection, then simultaneously deactivated them and stepped back.

"You taught me well today," Maul retorted snidely, as the droidekas quickly surrounded Verteigo and the battle droids hurried forward to restrain him.

Darth Sidious rose and applauded limply. "Well done, My Apprentice. Well done." He made his way over to Maul and relieved him of the second lightsaber and passed it on to the waiting droid. "However, I sense your fever has made you sluggish. I think you should carry on with the death droids until there's a noticeable improvement in your timing. Tomorrow's duel will not be so elemental as this one was. The Jedi knows what to expect from you now. Trust me when I say he will pull out all the stops the second time around."

"Yes Master," Maul agreed and bowed his head as Sidious summoned an attack droid to him.

"Good. I shall check on you tomorrow," the Sith Lord stated and ambled slowly away to escort the Jedi Knight back to his cell.

After the Dark Lord had gone, Maul obediently turned and faced the waiting droid with a growl of contempt. He raised his lightsaber and thumbed its activation switch.

The droids soon proved to be no challenge. After systematically destroying three within record time, Maul resorted to using two simultaneously. That worked to stimulate him for awhile, but when only one droid remained and there were no others left to pair with it, the young Sith stopped to reprogram it, hoping to tap into a higher level of its performance that had yet to be discovered.

Finally, frustrated, Maul sent the droid away and put in an order for thirteen more to be ready in the morning. He was confident his master would be pleased with his progress tonight: there was no need to continue. Even he noticed his timing had become sharper and more accurate. He felt invigorated by the exercise and in perfect tune with the Force having manipulated it throughout the day's activities. He finished off his training with a well-deserved hour of meditation before indulging in a scorchingly hot shower.

The idea of returning to his room and the company of Joss quickened his pace through the castle's corridors. But as he drew closer, the oppressing sensation that all was not well weighed down the atmosphere around him. The battle droids mulling about the entrance to his chambers confirmed his suspicions.

"She has escaped, Sir. My troops are searching the interior for her now. We'll find her," the droid duly informed the Sith.

Maul pushed the droid aside to gain access to his room. The protocol droid C-827S was puttering about the bed, looking as distraught as a droid could look and visibly jumped at the sight of the young Sith.

"Please forgive me, Sir! She tricked me! I was only doing her a kindness!" the droid exclaimed.

"You released her?" Maul snarled, gesturing at the empty restraints in the droid's shaking hands. "Does the master know about this?"

C-827S bowed its head. "No Sir. I could not bring myself to inform him of my misconduct just yet."

Maul breathed an internal sigh of relief, but turned and snatched the rifle from the nearest battle droid and fired, blasting the hapless protocol droid to pieces. He had always hated that droid anyway. Handing the weapon back to its owner, he made a sweeping gesture of the room.

Closing his eyes, Maul stood concentrating for a brief moment, letting the Force speak to him. Joss was still within the walls of the castle and she was heading down to the lower levels. To the dungeons. To Verteigo. The young Sith swiftly turned and sprinted out of the room.

Fortunately for the young Sith, Joss had managed to trigger one of the numerous sensory-activated snares installed on the dungeon level. Maul found her tangled in the lacings of the trap just north of the first prison access. He smirked down at her and placed his hands on his hips.

"I would have thought a Jedi, even a padawan, would have been able to detect these devices," Maul taunted.

Joss sighed heavily. "I know my mistake. I was moving too fast and I didn't anticipate encountering a static snare. Their use is rather...archaic, if you don't mind me saying." She shifted her weight slightly and was immediately shocked with a small bolt of energy. "Ouch! Blast it! Can you get me out of this thing before I get electrocuted?"

Maul knelt down in front of her but did not move to deactivate the snare's charge. "Archaic...maybe. But nevertheless effective. I should just leave you here. At least I know where you are and know you won't be escaping again anytime soon."

"I'm not going anywhere without Verteigo. I sense he's been injured so I was only trying to find him. I wanted to make sure he was all right." Joss' eyes suddenly flashed with irritation. "You make it sound as if I should be grateful to you for chaining me to a bed and leaving me alone all day. I really did have to use the fresher when the droid finally showed up."

The Sith fought a smile. "I suppose I would have been disappointed in you if you had not taken advantage of that kind of opportunity." He paused momentarily and took a deep breath. "Attempting escape is only an exercise in futility, Joss. I will always find you...though I may not always get to you first. There's an entire platoon of destroyers and battle droids who patrol these corridors day and night. If one of them had seen you, they would have shot you. And if my master had come across you, he'd make sure you'd be experiencing more than a little discomfort for your efforts. You clearly don't comprehend the danger you place yourself in by such ill-conceived forays through these halls."

The Jedi raised her brow. "Do I detect a note of concern for me in your tone, Maul?" Joss teased. When the Sith did not reply, the Jedi sighed, lowering her head, and blinked several times, her mood sobering. "I do comprehend the danger I'm in. I know what holds me captive here." She paused, her sightless eyes darkening. "Verteigo is in even greater danger, isn't he? When I felt his pain today, I knew you were the cause of it."

Maul rose and stepped back slightly. "I spared him considerably more pain today because of you."

At that, the young Jedi looked up. "Because of me? Why would I influence you to do such a thing?" She cast her eyes down again and frowned deeply. "I wouldn't have thought a Sith knew how to show kindness to anyone for anything."

Slightly peeved by her insulting accusations, the Sith replied, "Kindness must be experienced first if it is ever to become known."

Joss merely shook her head. "You obviously have no understanding of what kindness is. It comes from compassion. Kindness isn't just a reaction," she retorted assertively.

She had misunderstood what he had said, but the young Sith didn't try to correct her. Feeling uncomfortable talking this way, Maul licked his lips and quickly turned away from her, choosing to simply ignore her last comment, preferring to focus his attention on his growing sense of urgency.

"Stay still while I turn off the charge," he instructed. He walked a few steps down the dark hall and opened a plated panel recessed within the wall. After a full turn of the connector, the snare's webbing abruptly disappeared with a loud snapping sound.

Joss stiffly rose to her feet and brushed herself off. "But what did you mean by that? Because of me?" she asked again, her curiosity too piqued to let his statement go unexplained. She turned around a few times as if trying to get her bearings.

Half expecting her to run again, Maul practically pounced on her and seized her upper arm. She made no move to flee, but twisted her arm out of his grasp in silent protest of his vice-like grip. It was then the young Sith realized he had neglected to retrieve the restraints from C-827S in his haste to find her and rolled his eyes with irritation.

"Why don't you answer me?" Joss pressed. She faced him fully and fixed her eyes on him as if trying to gain insight into his complex psyche. Giving up, she looked beyond him and sighed. "You're impossible. I don't understand you," she finally announced.

"Good. Leave it at that," Maul snapped in reply, glancing around. He took hold of her elbow this time and started to pull her after him, but she promptly lost her balance, tripped, and fell. Sighing with exasperation, the Sith hauled her to her feet again and bent down and brusquely threw her over his shoulder.

Joss gasped in surprise and wriggled wildly. "Just what do you think you're doing? Put me down! You know, I can walk, even run, just fine on my own if you let me!" When the Sith ignored her, Joss stretched out her hands searchingly and latched onto the first solid fixture she brushed against.

Maul suddenly felt himself jerked backwards and cursed again. He yanked her from the fixture and swatted her soundly on the butt. Joss yelped and froze.

"If you try something like that again, I swear I'll throw you back in that webbing and leave you there to rot!" Maul seethed. He was simply too tired to put up with any childish behavior on her part tonight and before she could protest further, he started jogging with his burden up the stone stairway which wound around the castle's outer walls towards his quarters.

"You...you are nothing but a barbaric, sadistic...chauvinistic miscreant!" the Jedi spouted indignantly, recovering from her initial shock. "Must you always resort to violence when you don't get your way? I understand you completely now! You don't want to know compassion because you prefer cruelty. It's easier for you, isn't it?"

Maul stopped in his tracks at the top of the stairs. There was enough truth in her accusations to give the young Sith pause. She was right about some things, but wrong about others and he realized he did not want her thinking of him that way.

"I know what compassion is," Maul replied, his throat tightening uncomfortably, his pulse racing in his ears. He lowered Joss to the floor and stood her before him. "You offered me compassion. I did not deserve it considering how I first treated you and your willingness and capacity to show me such compassion regardless meant something to me...which is why I spared your master today. I felt obligated to reciprocate your kindness."

The Jedi's mouth fell open and her expression reflected the awe she was feeling, caught completely by surprise at the young Sith's words. Tears misted her eyes. She stretched her hand towards him and placed it gently on his cheek