"You owe me the head of a Jedi, my apprentice" his master had said, "I suggest you deliver it too me before your usefulness runs out ."
He pondered his master's words as he sat in his ship, the Geonisian world moving across the view screen as the asteroid he had parked on slowly spun in its orbit of the planet. Of course his master had found out about Kenobi, it was inevitable, but it amused Maul to no end that the great sith lord had had the man practically sitting under his nose for the last ten years. He wondered how many times they had been in the same room, neither knowing the true power they shared.
His impatient colleague broke his thoughts.
"Well, let's get going then. Why are we still waiting here?"
"Patience, Assaj, patience," she could really get on his nerves sometimes. She had all the power of Kenobi and none of the discipline that made such a fine warrior. Her technique was sloppy and yet stunningly beautiful and although he had taught her a great deal since finding her, she still thought she knew better then he about a great many things. She was completely wrong, of course, and in a few more years of instruction she would figure this out, but for now her arrogance got very annoying indeed. The most fun way to deal with her when she was like this was to be as condescending as he could possibly manage.
"Now, why are we here?" he asked her, slowly.
She narrowed her eyes, recognizing his tone. If she didn't need him to teach her the ways of the dark side he would be in very small smoldering pieces right now. He was extremely talented and she knew she didn't know enough to usurp him yet, but the day was soon approaching when she would cut that sanctimonious tongue from his smug little face.
"To start a war. Although it hardly seems worth it after you gave up your army."
"That was never my army to begin with."
"That's not what you told the Jedi," she spat out the title, not wanting to honor the man by using his name.
"And, of course, I'm going to reveal my mind to a potential threat to us, just like that!" he said sarcastically. "I only had to make him think that was what I wanted. The man is naïve in his affection for the living force. He would have believed anything that had him coming to the rescue of innocent souls."
"Why would you want that kind of man on your side?"
He turned his darkly yellow eyes, which flared with an outer circle of red, on his companion.
"Mind your place, acolyte. I do not answer to you."
"No," she quickly replied, standing her ground against his gaze, the heightened anxiety she felt an obvious ploy on Maul's part through their mental link, "you answer to your Master. I bet he was not pleased when he discovered you had let the Jedi go."
Maul's hand gripped tightly around Assaj's neck and he pulled her face close to his.
"What takes place between myself and my Master is between us. Don't think I haven't noticed your desire to assume my role. You are not prepared for that just yet."
He pulled her face to his, smashing their mouths together and forcing his tongue into hers. He wrapped it around her tongue while twisting inside her mind through their link, spiking her arousal even as she tried to pull away.
A beeping from the controls made him break away from the kiss prematurely, and he released his grip on her throat, leaving her gasping and her face flushed.
"Ah, our guests have arrived. We should inform our friends on the planet's surface that the spies of the Republic are about to make their entrance. How should I phrase it? 'The Senator from Naboo and her Jedi protector – no, her Jedi enforcer – are here to determine your weaknesses and report back to the Senate, so that the Jedi and their new army can sweep in and destroy you all before you can respond.' How does that sound?"
He turned back to Assaj, who was still recovering from his aggressive embrace.
"I think that will do nicely," he replied for her, as the small Naboo cruiser was guided to the surface by the patrolling droid ship.