Hey, Butterflies! I'm back with Chapter 3! Hope you enjoy!
The palace is quiet; there seems to be no one moving. Desara dresses quietly before going to the other side of the living quarters to find Ré. She knocks on the door, and a very awake Ré opens it.
"It's too quiet," Ré says; Desara nods. They hurry to find some guards, and when they finally find one, he explains that the Queen is much better today than she has been, so she and her handmaidens went outside the palace grounds. Ré and Desara both relax a little, but Desara knows that the Queen is not out of the woods just yet. The Queen will have to kick her illness entirely in order for her to be safe. In her years since leaving the sanctuary on Maldofy, she has seen people get sick and then improve just before they pass away, but she has also seen many others overcome their illness. Desara hopes the Queen falls in the latter category.
"Ré, what happens if the Queen dies?" Desara asks back in the privacy of their quarters. Ré seems surprised by Desara's question, but she understands Desara's concern.
"The Royal Advisory Council will act as the Head of State until a new Queen is elected. The new Queen will finish out Queen Catareese's term. After that, there will be an election, and then we have our next Queen." Desara nods and thanks Ré for the answer. "Desirée, I know you're worried about the Queen, but I'm sure she'll be fine." Ré knows, however, that the Queen's recovery is not guaranteed, and it worries her, too, that the Queen has made this sudden improvement.
Later that day, Desara finds Ré in the palace gardens. She sits down on a bench next to Ré and asks if she can tell her something. Ré says of course.
"One of the representatives is my mother." Ré takes a deep breath.
"Does anyone else know?"
"No, just us two." Desara decides it best to keep quiet about her grandmother's Force ghost.
"But your mother didn't recognize you?"
"No, not when I was dressed as the Queen."
"In that case, Desirée, I'd keep quiet and not tell anyone else. They don't know your story like I do, so they won't understand. Do you want to see her?"
"No, I have a duty to Naboo first. I'll see her after I finish my assignment." Ré gives Desara a side hug, but she cannot help but feel a pang of jealousy and resentment that Desara's mother has shown back up in her life and doing what she had been doing before, too, when that was the very thing that led to Ré's own parents' deaths. It is something she had mentioned in passing to Desara only once, three years ago, so she does not expect Desara to remember it. Besides, Ré's parents died seventeen years ago, almost eighteen. She had let go of it, or at least she thought she had. Now, she is not so sure.
"Let's go inside now," Ré suggests, and the two leave the gardens. On their way in, a young handmaiden in training tells the two that the Queen is holding a meeting for all the handmaidens. Ré and Desara follow the trainee to the throne room, where the Queen is seated on her throne, a handmaiden within reaching distance on both sides.
"My loyal handmaidens, I know there has been much concern about my health recently, but I assure you all, my friends, that I am doing much better now." The relief of all the handmaidens is palpable. "You have no need to worry."
The next morning, Ré enters Desara's room, only to find her gone. Desara, meanwhile, is in the Queen's chambers, the Queen's hands grasping hers as she gives her a daunting assignment, so quietly that the Queen's personal entourage cannot hear what she is saying.
"Desirée, you must become the next Queen. I have full faith in the Force and in you, that you will lead these people into a great future. I just wish I could be there to see it and to touch it." The Queen then begins coughing, and Desara pulls her veil over her nose and mouth while the Queen's personal handmaidens swoop in to help her. Silence follows, but Desara cannot see anything. A couple handmaidens step back while the lead handmaiden folds the Queen's hands on her stomach before another untucks the covers from the Queen's arms and pulls the sheets over the Queen's face. The remaining handmaidens step back from the Queen while the lead handmaiden fetches a necklace with the royal seal of Naboo on it and places it on the sheet covering the Queen.
"Call the Governor of Naboo," the lead handmaiden says. Desara stands to be the one to get the Governor. As she leaves the Queen's chambers, she hears the sobs of the Queen's personal handmaidens. The door to the Queen's chambers closes, and silence once again fills the palace.
