Just one afternoon outside the palace walls, that's all that was supposed to happen. My parents, the first king and queen of Naboo since the revolution, only wanted to keep me safe. My name is Princess Arabellah Oleid, heir to the throne of Naboo. My parents are very strict about keeping me and my little sister Rosali safe, so they don't allow us to wander beyond the palace gardens, except for official occasions.

But I got tired of the same old rooms, the same old gardens, the same old view. Every day was the same: get up, eat breakfast, spend four hours with the tutor, eat lunch, wander around the garden all afternoon, maybe draw or read for a while, eat dinner, go to bed. Every day, day after day after day after day. It's been that way ever since I can remember.

I never planned to leave, I swear. I never looked for the hole.

One afternoon in the early summer, I put down my sketchbook and went outside for another quiet stroll through the flower gardens. I decided to go to a part of the gardens that wasn't often visited.

This part of the garden was slightly more unkempt than the rest. The flowers peeked out from under weeds grown too long left untouched. Rogue blooms poked through the gravel path. I sat on a bench facing the outer hedge. The hedge hadn't been trimmed for a while, either. It was oddly refreshing, a vague contrast to the perfection of the palace, almost as if the garden itself were rebelling. Then again, maybe the gardeners needed to do the job they were paid to do.

Beyond the hedge, I heard the sounds of the city: the chattering of people and aliens as they ambled through the marketplace, the ships overhead as they pulled in for a landing in Theed's main spaceport. I longed to be out there with them, living a normal life, a free life.

Then I saw the hole. It was at the bottom of the hedge directly in front of me. I glanced around to see that no one was watching, then lowered myself to my knees and looked through. It went all the way through the four-foot-thick hedge but stopped at the outside wall. I sat back, disappointed. Then I noticed that one of the bricks was sticking out ever so slightly. I reached in and tugged at it. With it tumbled enough bricks to leave a gap the same size as the one in the hedge.

Without stopping to think about how the hole had gotten there, I plunged through, twigs prying at my elaborately pinned-up hair like bony fingers. When I emerged into the street, I stood and looked around me. No one seemed to have noticed a well-dressed girl suddenly appear out of nowhere.

I'd hardly taken one step away from the wall when I heard the sound of blasters and turned to see a young man streak around the corner of the street, followed by a squad of First Order stormtroopers hot on his heels.

One thing you have to know about me is that I hate the First Order. My parents don't mind them as long as they leave Naboo alone, but I can't stand them. They take advantage of the less fortunate and make it their business to control the entire galaxy.

So I did the first thing that popped into my head. I picked up a stone about the size of my fist and flung it at the troopers as they grew closer. The entire squad stopped dead and stared at me.

The boy they'd been chasing grabbed my hand and whispered, "Run!"

I took his advice. I'd wished it many times before, but that was the first time I really wished I hadn't been wearing a dress.

The troopers chased after us, randomly shooting at us with their blasters, as we weaved between hovercars and landspeeders and pushed through crowds. The boy tossed me a grenade as we ran.

"I can't use this!" I objected. "There are innocent people around!"

"It's only riot-control smoke, it won't hurt anyone," he explained, breathing heavily.

I pressed the button and threw it behind me, hardly watching where it went. There was a bright flash, and a few people cried out in surprise.

We careened around a corner and the boy pulled me into a concave along the side of the road. We watched in silence as the troopers ran right past us and into the rest of the city.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief. The boy laughed softly through his panting and rested his head against the wall.

"I'm Tal, by the way," he said, offering a hand. "Tal Castian."

I shook the proffered hand gratefully, looking him over. He had wavy, sandy-colored hair and soft hazel eyes that shone with an excited energy. His tan jacket had the symbol of the Resistance stitched on the sleeves.

I realized he was looking at me expectantly, waiting for me to give my own name. Now, I've been taught my entire life, as most people are, never to give my name to strangers. Only, in my case, it's to keep me safe from assassins and such. So I gave the first name that came to my mind.

"I'm Bellah Undarri."

As soon as I said it I regretted it. Shortened version of my real name? Not a great idea. Nor was it creative. I could've called myself anything, anything in the galaxy, and I went for Bellah. At least I gave a fake last name, I told myself. I'm lucky I didn't accidentally slip him my real name.

Tal looked at me thoughtfully. Scratching the back of his head, he said, "They're going to put a watch out on you, you know. Since you basically attacked a stormtrooper."

"I only threw a rock at him."

"And a smoke grenade. That counts as rebellion against the First Order. You could be in serious danger if you stay here."

"Where else would I go?"

"Come with me. Join the Resistance in their fight against the First Order. You'd do well, I think."

"I…I can't. I'm only fifteen."

Tal shrugged. "They let me join at age twelve. They'll let virtually anyone join, so long as you can prove you aren't a spy or something."

I shook my head. "I can't. My family wouldn't understand. Speaking of which, I should be getting home now anyway. I've been gone too long."

"Oh. Okay," Tal said. He looked a little disappointed, but he managed a smile. "Go ahead home, then."

"Thanks. It was nice meeting you."

"You too."

We left our hiding place, and I turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Looking back, I saw Tal holding out a small durasheet to me. "If you change your mind, you can find me at this address."

I took the durasheet and read the note. It wasn't an address - it was a spaceport dock number. I looked up to thank him, but he was already gone, disappeared into the crowded streets of Theed.

I made my way through the streets and reached the hole once again. I leaned down to crawl through it, and as I did, I saw my tiara swinging entangled from a branch. My hand instinctively went to my hair, feeling the crown's absence. Tal must've thought me to be merely a girl from a rich family. I guess that helped my alias.

I snatched the tiara from the grasping branches as I crawled through, then piled the bricks back up as best I could.

Pulling myself from the hedge, I jammed the tiara on my head and headed back to the palace, thinking over what Tal had said.

What was I thinking, saying no? I wanted to scream at myself. Of course I wanted to join the Resistance! That was exactly what I had wanted: a life of my own, free from the restrictions of palace walls.

I glanced at the durasheet I still clutched in my hand, thinking hard. My thoughts were interrupted when a harsh voice cried, "Arabellah!"

I looked up to see my mother striding towards me. She was clearly upset.

"What have you done to your clothes!" she exclaimed.

I hadn't even thought of what this whole endeavor had done to my dress, but looking down, I saw that I was coated in dust and leaves. My hair was probably a mess, too.

"What have you been doing to get so dirty, girl?" She began brushing me off, then stopped, her face contorted in disgust. "Go quickly and bathe before dinner."

Relieved that she didn't press the question, I hurried inside to my private quarters.