"You'll sever your own damned foot if you don't concentrate on what you're doing, Jaesa!" Lusiel stepped back from their sparring match, smoothly retracting her lightsaber as she eyed her apprentice critically.

Jaesa was breathing hard, frustrated. Fighting Lusiel always made her feel like she was throwing herself hard against a real wall. Repeatedly. She was invariably left unfulfilled, unsatisfied. She only knew, that the first time she actually struck Lusiel would require a medal, a reward – a party! For now, she snarled at her master instead, "I'm trying!"

But Lusiel huffed an irritated sound and turned her back on the younger woman, utterly unafraid of her, "I'm in a good mood so I won't leave you a scar today, to remember how important it is to focus your mind on what you're actually doing! Be glad!" She held her hand up when Jaesa protested, "No. Press my patience with your complete ineptitude even a little more today, and I really will hurt you. Instead, you will tell me about the book I asked you to read."

Together, the two women sank into a more meditative stance, kneeling side by side in the center of the lounge. They were alone. Vette typically retreated from the space ever since Lusiel started using the area to train her apprentice, declaring she knew better than to get in the way of any sort of Sith instruction. "I'd probably end up doing the teaching. As an example, mind you," she had half-jokingly twittered. Jaesa would have rather she'd stayed close, if only to "accidently" bump her with a lightsaber at one point, or another.

Jaesa groused as she flung herself down next to Lusiel with her knees gathered underneath her, "It was a journal, master. Written by a minor Jedi, some woman I'd never even heard of, in fact. The book was so boring."

Lusiel lowered her dark head, closed her eyes. To better ignore her apprentice's temperamental tantrum, of course. "Yet it's possible to glean such interesting details from the most unlikely sources. You only have to listen, keep your mind open to anything, to any sensation or idea or feeling. The Jedi close themselves off, it's part of their weakness."

"Oh." Jaesa pondered, "What of those who can't use the Force, though? What possible value can be gleaned from them?" She was thinking of Vette, really. Although it suddenly occurred to her Lusiel may have some uses for men who couldn't use the Force, snidely considering how often they'd discovered Quinn emerging from Lusiel's quarters in the early morning hours ever since Broysc was executed.

But Lusiel was quiet for long moments. Jaesa glanced at her, saw a slight frown knitting her brow into a curved line. She realized her Sith master was growing angry, felt a slight twinge of fear titter along her spine and quailed there in her huddled position on the floor. Now Lusiel murmured to her, dangerously low, "It's been my experience, that the most dangerous enemies you'll face are the ones you utterly underestimate, Jaesa. I have known men who could slice you into tiny pieces without ever using a single touch of Force compulsion, and long before you even knew they were there. Believe me. The simplest blade can just as easily destroy you, when you're that much a fool."

Jaesa wondered about them, those men Lusiel saw in her mind's eye right then. That she respected them, as if they were just as worthy as any Sith – that was obvious. Jaesa bit her lip before she stupidly asked about them, though. "The Jedi woman, then … Well, she didn't seem particularly talented, I guess. Most of her abilities seemed average enough. She tossed things, rocks mostly. She had some skill with healing and much of her journal was taken up describing her work in various clinics."

Lusiel nodded, listening as her mind drifted.

"The only remarkable ability she mentioned, in fact, had to do with the real force bonds she created intermittently with other Jedi. It seemed an innate talent, something she did without conscious or willful thought. She could actually take on some of the talents of those Jedi she bonded with, at least for short periods, in fact."

Lusiel opened her eyes. But she kept her gaze centered down at the floor, rather than turn fully to look at Jaesa with half the fascination that filled her right then. "She doesn't describe how she accomplished such a thing?"

"She wrote, 'it just happens, without plan or consideration.' That's all she says, my lord," Jaesa answered, struggling to still her mind from its turmoil. How Lusiel seemed able to calm herself so easily and quickly never ceased to amaze her. Her Jedi masters demonstrated similar mastery, too. Was it a matter of age or experience, then? But Lusiel was only a little older than her, barely a year even! Jaesa felt frustrated.

"I see. Such an ability could be useful." Lusiel said, apparently thinking aloud. "Study the Jedi's book, Jaesa. I want to know more about force bonds, every bit of knowledge about them. Seek out similar writings, even."

"If you want me to, of course." But Jaesa's attention was already moving past Lusiel's curiosity. Disappointing, actually. Lusiel depended on insight; she shrewdly examined every detail and piece of information regarding those in power near her, around her. Knowing them, knowing what was important to them, what they wanted or needed – that was the most certain weapon Lusiel ever brought to bear against an enemy, or even a potential enemy. It was understanding them, above all else.

Jaesa's indifference, her disregard for whatever compelled Lusiel to fathom such bonds was frustrating. But Lusiel only asked her, "What's on your mind, Jaesa?" An apprentice who stayed so dutifully blind was far less worrisome a threat, Lusiel thought.

Jaesa exhaled abruptly, loudly. Like she'd been waiting for the merest opening, just to speak. And now everything would spill out in a blatant rush of humming excitement, maybe. Lusiel bit her lip, to keep from laughing at her.

"Oh, I don't even know where to start! I've only touched the dark side, and it already feels like everything - all of it is just there! Like the galaxy itself is finally unfurling right in front of me, and it's almost overwhelming. There's just so much to take in! I always felt kept and confined, having to watch what I say and feel, and suddenly I'm free. I want to express … everything that I'm feeling."

Lusiel pushed one of the tendrils of her hair that had snaked forward onto her temple back, tucked the fringe into control of the bun against her nape, nodding towards Jaesa, "The power of the Force is found in our emotions. So letting our feelings flow freely makes us stronger, unlocks our potential."

"That's what I'm hoping for the most, master," Jaesa asserted. She paused, abashed, "So can I ask you something?" Here it is, Lusiel thought. She gestured an assent, watching Jaesa closely.

"Right, then. So the Jedi kept me stifled." Jaesa fidgeted against the floor, so that the folds of her robes scratched across the surface. "That meant romantic interactions were strictly forbidden. Is that the case for Sith, too? I want …" Jaesa looked away, her voice trailing off as a blush crawled up her neck. Lusiel shook her head, biting her lip hard enough she thought surely there would be blood in her mouth before the morning session was finally concluded.

Like she was a taskmaster who'd rap the girl's knuckles, just for reaching into the cookie jar! Lusiel wanted to laugh, myself, "I've already required you to seek out a full range of sensations and emotions, Jaesa. By all means." Then Lusiel's gaze hardened, "Stay away from Quinn, Jaesa."

Jaesa swallowed. She had been a fool when she assumed Lusiel did not know how Jaesa was feeling. She murmured quietly, "I know he's yours, master."

Lusiel closed her eyes again, "Tell me more about the Jedi who made force bonds."