by Jude Watson
The Dark Lord must have been prepared for him to bring it up. He didn’t give off any ripple of concern. “Save your fears for yourself,” he said instead.
It happened instantaneously. Ferus felt as though the top of his head had blown off. It was immediate and visceral. Every clue clicked into place, every suspicion, every nagging sense that he was missing something important.
They had stood outside the council room together.
“I’m afraid for you. You think admitting you were wrong opens you up to attack,” Ferus had said. He still felt shell-shocked and strange from his conference with the Jedi Masters. He still couldn’t believe that he had just resigned from the Jedi Order.
Anakin’s lip had curled. “I think you should save your fears for yourself.”
Darth Vader was Anakin Skywalker.
He didn’t know how he knew it, but he knew it.
Reeling, Ferus stood next to Vader as the Emperor approached them. Clouds had rolled in like a great gray carpet; a storm was brewing. The thickness of the air and the coming storm seemed to give a hard charge to the atmosphere.
Ferus felt the blast of the Emperor’s fury, though he remained calm. Palpatine came straight to Vader.
“A trap,” he said. He looked over at the people, who were now turning away, and added in a terrifying whisper, “I could kill them all, if I wanted.”
“There is nothing stopping you, Master,” Vader said.
“You should remember that we are being monitored. Someday, yes. Not now.”
Darth Vader said nothing. Ferus began to enjoy himself. He’d never been present while Vader was rebuked by his Master.
Anakin had always hated being chided in public.
Anakin had always wanted to be the best.
Use it. Use what you know. Bring him down. He is half of what he was.
As if the Emperor had heard the voice as well, he turned to Ferus. The heat left his voice. “But you have done your job well,” he said.
Ferus felt Vader’s frustration build. If Vader unleashed it, Ferus wondered if he could tear the spaceport apart.
The Emperor smiled.
“It is time for you to take a second-in-command, Lord Vader,” he said, chuckling. “And I think Ferus Olin is perfect for the job.”
