The next morning Anakin walks to the dining room together with Miss Ti who had come to his room to help him with getting ready for the day. Anakin had felt surprised that someone had come to help him as he always readied himself since he was six years old. Miss Ti had insisted that he wears nice clothing and after a short discussion he had given in. Still he had insisted on having a say in choosing the clothing he would wear and on dressing on his own as well as readying himself for the day. Anakin is glad that Miss Ti had offered to guide him to the dining room after he was done so that he would not get lost in the palace. Anakin made a mental note to ask if someone could show him around later today.
Arriving in the dining room Anakin sees that his father and Tahl are already sitting at the table. The table is made of dark wood with four chairs around it. In two of the chairs his father and Tahl sit. One chair is empty and the place on the table before the other one is set. Anakin believes that he is supposed to sit there which is next to his father. Thus he moves forward to the chair when he feels a hand on his back urging him forward. He suspects that the hand is from Miss Ti who when he looks over his shoulder is also walking with him towards his father and stepmother. When he reaches the chair he sits down while fiddling with the hem of his shirt nervously.
"Your majesty, with your permission I will go to the nursery to look after the princess" miss Ti says and after getting permission leaves the room. Shortly after she leaves staff enters with their breakfast and puts everything on the table in between them. Anakin waits before Tahl and his father take their breakfast before he helps himself as he is not sure if he can just help himself to what stands on the table or if he has to wait before someone else begins. Luckily everything is close enough to him so that he can reach it without difficulty. They eat in silence for a bit before his father asks Tahl
"What do you have planned for today, dear?"
"I wanted to go shopping with Anakin for some decorations for his room, if you are fine with that?" Tahl asks while looking at Anakin who answers her instantly.
"That is fine with me. Father? Can someone show me around today so that I can walk around the palace on my own"
"I'm sure we can find someone to show you around when you are back from your shopping trip" Qui-gon says.
"Father, to which school will I be going after the holiday?" Anakin asks as he was wondering where he would go to school.
"We have not made a decision yet, if you want I can have someone put the file of prospective schools on your desk so that you can tell us which school you prefer" Qui-gon says and sees Anakin smiling at him. He suspects that Anakin is happy to have a say in his school choice.
"Yes, please" Anakin answers happily before asking "What will you be doing today, father?" Anakin is curious to what his father will be doing today as both Talh and he had discussed their plans for the day.
"I'll doing some work today before meeting with my head of communication for the public statements I'll be making this afternoon" Qui-gon explains after which the staff enters to clean the table. As they are doing that Anakin asks
"When will we be leaving?"
"We will leave in about an hour as our ride is prepared by then. In the meantime why don't I show you around" Tahl suggests and after getting Anakin's agreement she shows him around the palace. An hour later they are told that their ride is ready and waiting in front of the front stairs. Soon they are on the way to their shopping trip.
Sitting in his office Qui-gon is working on his day's correspondence while waiting for his head of communication to arrive so that they can discuss how the public statement should look and who will be giving it. It would not be strange for his spokesman to make the statement nor would it be strange if he would make the statement himself as it concerns his family.
Around eleven there is a knock on his office door and after giving permission to enter his head of communication walks inside. She is Adi Gallia, a dark skinned woman with black hair and blue eyes. She is a cousin of Mace and also his former foster daughter. Mace took her in when her parents died when she was just two years old and because they made him as her legal guardian in their will. Currently she is wearing a beige colored suit and her long hair hangs loosely over her shoulders.
"How are you and your family doing, your majesty" Adi asks after she sits down in one of the chair on the other side of his desk.
"We are doing fine. Anakin is still a bit uncomfortable around us especially Tahl but I'm sure that at the end of the school break he will be comfortable around us. Now, we can talk more about my family but we had agreed to discuss the public statement that will be given later today" Qui-gon says
"That is true, your majesty. Shall we start with the wording of the statement before we discuss who will be giving the statement" Adi suggests as she wants to have that discussion last. She knows how her king is after working for him for the last six years and she believes that he will want to give the statement himself.
"Of course" Qui-gon says and for the next few hours they are discussing the statement that has to be given later this day.
Two hours later in the palace press room
The press room is slowly filling with reporters who will be reporting on the statement that the royal family will be giving in a few hours. They are all excited about the statement as the last week had been a mystery to them and they want to solve the mystery as fast as possible. As of yet nothing has been said about what the details of the statement nor who will be giving it. The press rumors that the statement has something to do with the sudden departure of the king last Sunday. They believe that whatever happened has to have something to do with family matters because else they would have gotten word of the matter much earlier. In fact they would have gotten word a maximum of a few hours after it happened. As for who will be giving the statement the press believes that one of the spokespersons will be giving it. It is incredibly rare for the king to give a statement himself. Such a thing normally happens in the rare case of a royal birth or dead.
While they are waiting the camera crews are setting up their equipment while the reporters are going over the little information they have or sit down to rest a bit after the hurry to get to the palace.
An hour later after the palace staff finished the final preparations for the press statement the door opens and the reporters and cameras fix on the person entering the room. The entire room is shocked to see the king himself entering together with some of his staff. They recognize the head of communication, Adi Gallia, and the king's personal assistant, Mace Windu. The press waits patiently for the group to sit down and give the statement everyone is here for.
"Good afternoon, everyone. King Qui-gon will soon be giving a statement on the events that led up to last week. We ask you all to wait with your questions until his majesty has finished giving the statement" Adi Gallia says before looking to her left side to tell Qui-gon that he can start which he does.
"Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us on such a short notice. I'm sure you all were surprised that I left last Sunday without giving any reasons for it nor have my staff give a statement. That is because my ex-wife, Shmi Skywalker, has passed away and I'm the only other person who has custody of our son, Anakin Skywalker Jinn who is my heir apparent and your crown prince. I did not inform you because I wanted my son to have a calm arrival at Naboo without the press hovering over him, something which he is not used to. Also I wanted to have him her used to my wife and myself before introducing him to the country. I want to ask for you to respect his privacy for the coming weeks so that he can get used to royal life" Qui-gon says and then the reporters start to ask questions all at once.
"Silence!" Adi calls out and waits for the room to become silent before she says
"If you want to ask a question we ask you to raise your hand. We will give each of you a chance to ask your questions. When it is your turn we ask you to first tell us your name and agency before asking one question so that everyone has a chance to ask their question"
When she is done they can all see the hands of reporters go up. Pointing to a female reporter Adi gives that reporter her chance to ask her question.
"Alana Winters from Naboo national television. Your majesty, you said that your ex-wife died but we were never told that you were married before your marriage with queen Tahl. Why was it not made public?" Alana Winters asks.
"I married Shmi in secret and when we were married for six months my father found out. He forced us to divorce as he didn't want me to be married to a commoner. At that time she was already pregnant for three months. My father told me that he didn't want to have anything to do with the child. Shmi and I discussed everything and decided that she would raise him alone while I would pay for his schooling when he starts with school. Before that time I would pay her alimony. We had planned to tell Anakin everything when he would be eighteen years old. We made that arrangement for Anakin's safety and to avoid emotionally stressing him" Qui-gon explains and sees the hands go up again. Adi then gives the turn to an older male reporter.
"Daniel Nomad from Naboo Times. Your majesty, you said that your ex wife raised your son till recently. Where exactly did he grow up?" Daniel Nomad asks.
"He grew up in Tatooine, Texas in the United States" Qui-gon explains. The Q&A session continues for an hour before the press conference is ended and Qui-gon, Mace and Adi leave the room. The press then pack their stuff and leave for their studio and/or office.
A few hours later Naboo citizens are watching the evening news to see what happened today.
"Now on to our next topic. Last Sunday king Qui-gon left on a unexplained trip. This afternoon he gave a statement on the reason for his sudden leaving. We will go to Alana Winters who is outside of the palace grounds and was present at the press conference. Alana, what was the explanation the king has given?" The newscaster, a middle aged woman, asks.
"His majesty said that he had to go to Tatooine, Texas to pick up his son who has been living with his mother until recently. The mother was called Shmi Skywalker and she and our king were married in secret for a few months before king Dooku forced them to divorce. King Dooku didn't want his son to be married to a commoner, in the words of king Qui-gon. His son and our crown prince is called Anakin Skywalker Jinn. Prince Anakin lived with his mother as the king and she both agreed that it would not emotionally stress the prince much. Till now the King has been paying for his schooling. We have been asked by king Qui-gon to respect his privacy so that he can used to his new royal life" Alana winters summarizes.
Within the next few hours the topic about prince Anakin is much discussed and searched topic on Naboo social networks as everyone wants to know what they can about their prince.