Padmé was escorted up to her own quarters. If she hadn't been on the verge of a nervous break down at the moment, she would have been impressed to see the royal guest room that was to be hers indefinitely. If it hadn't been for the apparent loss of her husband, she would have felt more like a diplomatic guest than a prisoner.

"Su Alteza has given his orders on your stay," her escort told her.

"Why? Am I not a royal prisoner now?"

The escort shook his head. "No my lady, you are to be treated as a royal guest. If you need anything you are to request it to any of the servants. The entire palace is within your limits except for the lower levels and the private royal quarters. The princesas will be here shortly to accomidate you."

Padmé collapsed in her bed as soon as the door closed. In part she was blaming herself for running out in that blizzard to begin with. If she hadn't been so busy stuck in her own worry, Padmé would have known to be more suspicious about the entire set up. After all, she had no reason to be treated like a guest while her poor Jedi was probably down below shivering in chains.

A while later there was a knock. Padmé did her best to make her hair and face look decent in a few seconds. After a final check in the mirror she answered the door.

"Yes?" Her voice had the slightest hint of hope for good news.

"Ah, Senator Amidala of Naboo?"

Padmé nodded.

"I am Princesa Corona, and this is my sister Margarita," she gestured to a smaller girl standing beside her. "Our brother informed us of your stay and we came to see how you were adjusing."

Padmé stiffened and felt uneasy. A 'stay' was hardly the way that she could put this right now. "I am grateful for your stopping by but I am rather surprised at all this. Do come in."

The wolf princesses entered. They looked much like the other women Padmé had seen during their discussion in the hall. Their clothes were much the same made of simple materials and fringed in furs. But they did have a hint of royal sophistication about them nonetheless.

"Has anything been unsatisfactory?" Margarita said while scanning the room.

"No, quite the opposite. But I am rather surprised about your being here. I didn't think the royal family would be much interested in a prisoner."

Corona's eyes widened. "A prisoner? No, no dear Senator! You are to be a guest of ours."

"I have no right to leave, I do believe I qualify as a prisoner."

"Yes, we do apologize for that," Margarita said. "Truly we are sorry. But you must stay until we have the situation more...stable."

"You mean my Jedi. Why should he be in chains and myself in a guest room?" Padmé said the words with a bit more force than she had hoped. Her eyes looked right into the princesses' and she awaited an answer.

"He is a shapeshifter," Corona said, "and he intruded on our lands. Our people have a...a type of history so to speak."

"I don't think race is a valid reason for withholding a general of the Republic."

"It goes deeper than that Senator, but we do not ask that you understand just yet. But I would like to tell you personally that my brother has requested your presence at dinner this evening."

Padmé raised an eyebrow. "Has he? Will General Skywalker be there?"

"A shapeshifter! At our table! A thousand times no!" Corona said as if Padmé had announced she was unleashing some sort of plague.

"I see," Padmé said. "Do forgive me if I came across rather brash. Tell your brother that I do thank him and intend on being there tonight."

In all truth, Padmé was anything but thankful for the invitation. But she knew that if she was to get anywhere in this case she would have to bend a few truths and step outside her comfort zone. It wasn't the first time she would be put in such a place, not by far. However, when her husband was potentially in great danger a whole new factor was introduced.

Anakin paced pack and forth on the rough stone floor like a caged rancor. He wasn't sure if he should be more upset about being dumb enough to let them capture him, or about the insulting accomidations that they had given him. He had been in enough Separatist prison cells to know an established faclity and this was nothing of the sort. Since he had been shoved down here he was questioning the possiblity that they had gone through a time warp of some sort and had crashed down in somewhere in an era before even the Old Republic.

A door opened. He didn't need the Force to tell him that. The rusty hinges on everything around here were loud enough to make sure that nothing was in secret.

"Ah Jedi what's the matter? Not happy about your stay?"

Ani looked up and glared at the wolf king. There were so many things that he was wanting to spit out but couldn't. And the worst part was that these wolves seemed to know it and enjoy it.

Anakin pointed up above them, to himself, to the wolf, and then shrugged.

"What the Senator?"

Anakin nodded so hard that he it was a wonder his head didn't snap off.

"Ah yes, she's being well cared for I assure you. Better than being thrown out into a blizzard you know."

Anakin struck out at the steel bars almost making his hand bleed. There was something about how the wolf said it that made him furious.

Another squeak of the hinges. A new face appeared in the dim torch light. Anakin recognized it as belonging to the boy from above.

"You're going to pay for what happened to my father, shifter," he said.

Anakin mouthed the words back at him in total mockery. The king placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"No Tito, not like this. If you're going to learn to handle his kind you have to do it properly. These don't break easy."

A smile crossed Anakin's face as if it was a challenge he was being faced with. He had always loved challenges.

Alejandro walked into the dining hall like any king would. Even Padmé would never have been able to guess that he had just minutes ago finished washing blood off his hands. The wolf sisters had personally brought down the Senator from Naboo. She didn't look so much like a Republic Senator wearing a borrowed wolf dress, however. But she seemed hardly to notice any of all this.

Corona and Margarita exchanged glaces when they saw how their brother's eyes lit up when he saw Padmé enter the room. She really did look like one of their own and nothing less. Almost fit to be the next queen.

"We are honored by your coming, Padmé," Alejandro said.

Padmé bowed lsightly before she took her place. "Why thank you your Highness. Actually I - "

"I have a name, Padmé. You have every right to use it and I must insist if you do not."

Padmé felt her skin twitch a bit in uncertainty. She wasn't sure what to think.

"In that case, Alejandro, I do thank you very much for your offer. It is truly I who should be honored. But I must say I am a bit disappointed that you are lacking a guest of yours."

"If by guest you mean that sorry excuse for a Jedi that came along with you I must disagree."

Padmé felt her own tension rising. She reminded herself that she could only get a better result if she tried her diplomatic reasoning and common sense. Getting emotional about all this was out of the question for her.

"Anakin has quite a reputation back home in the Republic," she said fighting to keep her voice from quivering.

"So I've heard, so I've heard. And I won't deny it, he has put up a fairly good fight with even my best warriors."

"He wouldn't have any reason to put up a fight if you had handled this rationally."

"Our hermano has done just that," Corona said. "Your Jedi was a threat to our people wasn't he?"

"He was protecting me was all. Only doing his job."

"And orphaning children qualifies?" Alejandro asked with some pain in his eyes.

"You were out that night, you knew they were poor conditions for a fight. I am sure he had no intentions of harming any of your men."

"I find that very difficult to believe. But tell me my dear, I'd very much like to hear about you."

He looked to her with a new interest as he said this.

"Me? There's not much to say," she said.

"Nonsense, you are an esteemed Senator are you not?"

Padmé sighed and went on to try to rush through her brief bio. She had done this so many times before that she had almost memorized the basic summary of her career and general life. She had said it many times before, just not under any circumstance that was near so pressuring.

"Do tell me more about your people, Alejandro," she said forcing on another smile. "I'd very much like to know its a culture unlike any I have ever seen before."

"Yes, few know that we are still out here, it has been so long. It is better that way we have always believed."

Padmé nodded and let the king continue. And without meaning too, she soon found herself absorbed into this new world and race in a way she didn't think possible.