Chapter 20
Amidala returned to her apartment following a long and exhausting day of listening to testimony from the senators who claimed to have slept with Eirtaé at some point. It seemed as if Eirtaé had slept with every single human male Senator, although there were a few noticeable exceptions from that list, namely Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan, and the still not dead Garm Bel Iblis of Corellia.
Ryoo had served her faithful as a page all day and Sabé had now taken her down to Under City to perhaps find some mutants for Ryoo to practice her combat skills.
During her limited free time during the day between testimony, Amidala had managed to get arrange a face to face meeting with Onara Kuat. She had made the meeting under the pretence of introducing her to Ryoo and letting Ryoo meet her future husband, but she also planned to discuss construction of the Star Forge.
Amidala went to her bar and poured herself a drink and knocked it back quickly. She then asked her protocol droid to prepare a bath for her. While she waited for her bath to be ready Amidala undressed and put on a plush robe.
She was leaving her room and heading to the bathroom when she heard the entrance to her apartment open. The door had recently been set so that it could only be opened by four people including Amidala herself, and she wasn't expecting Sabé and Ryoo to return for a while.
"Hello Yané," Amidala said without turning around.
"My Lady," Yané responded with a respectful nod of her head.
"What brings you here at this time?" Amidala asked.
"I have news to report on what I learned while following Eirtaé," Yané replied.
Just then the protocol droid exited the bathroom and informed Amidala that the bath was ready. Amidala entered the bathroom waving for Yané to follow. The large tub which was big enough to fit four people, was full of bubbles and scented oils and Amidala dropped her robe to the floor as she stepped into the tub. She dunked her head under the water as she moved to the far side of the tub and sat on one of the seats to look at Yané.
"Why don't you join me?" Amidala offered.
Yané seemed to be caught off guard by her offer.
"I… uh…" Yané stammered.
"Come on Yané, you look like you could use a bath and I think you've earned some relaxation," Amidala said.
Amidala waved a hand and most of Yané's clothes fell to the floor, leaving her in her underwear. Yané's hands quickly went to cover her midsection.
"Take your own underwear off unless you want me to tear it," Amidala warned her.
Yané knew it would be incredibly rude to turn down the offer. She turned her back to Amidala as she stripped down and shyly and awkwardly climbed into the bathtub backwards.
Amidala found Yané's actions a little bit strange. When she had been Queen and Yané her handmaiden that had frequently bathed together in large communal bath in the palace of Theed, and Yané hadn't been as self-conscious about her appearance as she seemed to be now. As Amidala looked at Yané she saw a young woman who was fit and toned. Perhaps she didn't have large spectacular breasts like Eirtaé and her hair was a flat and greasy brown likely from not being washed recently; but she was still attractive looking.
"When did you become so worried about you appearance?" Amidala inquired.
Yané sat opposite Amidala, only her head sticking up over the water.
"People change," Yané replied cryptically.
Amidala decided not to push the issue further.
"Let me wash your hair for you," Amidala said. "You can give me your report while I do."
Yané turned around and Amidala poured some shampoo into her hands and began massaging it into Yané's hair.
"I followed Eirtaé down into the lower levels beneath the Jedi Temple today," Yané reported. "At first it seemed like she was just going down there to unwind. She had this rather ridiculous looking purple wig and the skimpiest outfit."
"Sounds like typical Eirtaé," Amidala commented.
"Well she went to this club and she was just dancing and having some drinks, and I really didn't think anything was going to happen, but then she ended up meeting up with this guy who was Obi-Wan Kenobi in disguise," Yané continued.
"The ever serious Obi-Wan Kenobi was in disguise?" Amidala asked.
"Yes, it wasn't very good I could tell it was him almost right away," Yané said. "You would have laughed it was quite amusing."
"So what did they meet about?" Amidala inquired.
"Well they've still got a relationship," Yané said. "It seems like she's got Obi-Wan stuck in this quandary where he is infatuated with her, or at least with having sex with her; but he otherwise remains completely loyal to the Jedi."
"Trying to turn him was always going to be difficult," Amidala commented as she poured water on Yané's hair to rinse the shampoo out.
"Well he's still a good source of information," Yané commented.
"Oh, what sort of information," Amidala asked as she began putting conditioner in Yané's hair.
"Apparently Jedi have been just up and leaving the order to side with Dooku and the Separatists," Yané replied.
Amidala's massaging of the conditioner into Yané's hair became slower.
"They just let them leave?" Amidala asked in disbelief.
"Well technically none of them are obligated to stay so if they decide to just leave that is their decision and the council has chosen not to say anything about any Jedi who do leave," Yané replied.
"So Dooku is starting his own order of force users…" Amidala mused. "Hmm, we may be nearer to war than I thought."
"War?" Yané asked in surprise.
"As the Separatist's movement grows they believe that they can replace the Republic," Amidala replied. "There's definitely just cause for that belief. This whole system is overly complex it's amazing any real governance gets done."
"There is one another thing," Yané said.
Yané reached back towards her clothes and suddenly a lightsaber came out of her clothes and into her hand. Amidala knew Yané's lightsaber and this was not hers.
"Where did you get that?" Amidala asked.
"There was a Jedi who also saw Eirtaé and Obi-Wan together at the club," Yané replied. "I killed him and made it look like a street robbery and murder."
Amidala took the lightsaber from Yané and activated the blade. The blade shone a bright sky blue as she waved it about experimentally. She dipped the tip of the blade into the water and it flash boiled the water nearest to it. Amidala then shut the blade off and handed it back to Yané.
"You're certain that this can't be traced back to you?" Amidala asked.
"Have any of my kills ever been traced back to me?" Yané retorted.
"Do you know who this Jedi was?" Amidala asked.
"No, he wasn't familiar," Yané replied.
"Well perhaps we can somehow use this to our advantage," Amidala said. "Why don't you go find out who this Jedi was?"
Amidala called her protocol droid to bring Yané a towel. She watched as Yané got out and dried herself off and began getting dressed. Yané was pulling her robe back on when Amidala noticed two small but identical scars on the lower part of Yané's abdomen. Yané had several scars but most were on her arms or back, but these scars seemed surgical.
"Yané where did you get those scars on your abdomen?" Amidala asked.
Yané froze unsure what to say.
"They're not new, I can tell you're fine now, but what are they from?" Amidala asked.
"I had advanced ovarian cancer," Yané replied softly. "They cured me but they had to remove my ovaries."
Amidala frowned this was the first she had heard of this and she didn't know why Yané had kept this from her.
"When was this?" Amidala asked.
"Just before I took my Sith trials," Yané replied.
"I always thought it was strange how you were so different after your trials," Amidala commented. "I didn't think that they would have changed you that much, it was this. That's why you changed so much."
Yané nodded rather solemnly.
"You could have told me," Amidala said.
"It was a weakness, and I wasn't about to show any weakness, especially not before facing my trials," Yané replied.
Before Amidala could say anymore Yané finished dressing and hastily left the bathroom leaving Amidala alone in the tub. Amidala sighed as she leaned back into the water once more and tried to relax. Her plans for conquering the galaxy were getting altered with each passing day it seemed and she needed to come up with contingencies in case things didn't go the way she wanted.
She once again found herself worrying about the Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker. Learning that Count Dooku was recruiting Jedi and probably other force sensitive people if he was smart was a concerning development. It meant that it could end up being a three-sided war, something which could be either advantageous or disadvantageous. Which one it was would depend upon just what Dooku's goals were.
Amidala had suspected for quite some time that he had been an ally of Palpatine. The timing of his rather dramatic exit from the Jedi Order coincided somewhat coincidentally with Palpatine having the Trade Federation blockade Naboo.
Amidala awoke to the sound of Sabé and Ryoo returning. She wasn't sure when she had dozed off or for how long. The protocol droid showed them into the bathroom where Amidala was still sitting in the bath, the bubbles had died off quite a bit.
Both Sabé and Ryoo were covered in slime and gore, a sign of a slaughter. Amidala had the protocol droid refresh the bath while the two of them removed their gore covered garments and left them for the droid to go clean before join Amidala in the fresh bath.
"Looks like you two had some fun," Amidala commented.
"We ran into this big pack of mutants," Ryoo said excitedly. "They kept trying to attack us even as we cut them down one by one."
"Cthons or corridor ghouls?" Amidala inquired.
"Both," Sabé replied. "I lost count of how many but it was huge pack, probably close to two hundred. Looked like they were feeding on some corpses that had been dropped from a few level above."
Amidala sat back and listened to Ryoo recount her tales about the various mutants she had killed while Sabé washed Ryoo's hair. Amidala then did the same for Sabé as Ryoo continued to animatedly continue her story waving her arms about in demonstration. As she did Amidala noticed a few small cuts and bruises on Ryoo's arms.
"Next week you're going to meet your future husband," Amidala said to Ryoo interrupting her story. "I need you to look like the Princess that you are, so no more journeying into the underworld until after the meeting okay."
Ryoo's face fell slightly at the news.
"Besides if you keep going down there and killing them at this rate there won't be any left in a few months," Amidala joked. "And then what would we do for fun?"
Ryoo laughed at the joke, probably not realizing that there were probably more than a billion mutants prowling Coruscant's Under City.
"Now let's get you to bed," Amidala said. "We've got a rather busy day tomorrow."
The following week was a rather tedious one for Amidala as she had to navigate the senate bureaucracy over Eirtaé's hearing. However public interest in that was soon lost as even more systems ceded from the Republic joining the Separatists. The prospects of a galactic war become more and more likely with each passing day.
The day came when Onara Kuat and her grandson arrived on Coruscant to meet with Amidala and Ryoo. The meeting took place in the privacy of Amidala's apartment. Amidala's protocol droid showed Onara and her grandson in when they arrived.
"Chancellor Naberrie, a pleasure to see you once again," Onara greeted Amidala.
"And you as well Lady Kuat," Amidala returned with a respectful bow of her head. "And this is my niece Princess Ryoo Naberrie."
Ryoo was dressed in a pink and white dress that she hated, but which her aunt had insisted that she wear. Ryoo gave a respectful curtsy to Lady Kuat.
"And this is my grandson Rowan," Onara said indicating the boy nervously standing just behind and to her left.
The boy gave a nervous wave hello and then bowed.
"A pleasure to meet you," he said so quietly that it was almost a whisper.
"Speak up boy," Onara snapped. "They aren't going to hurt you."
Ryoo and Amidala exchanged a glance but said nothing.
"Perhaps we should let the children go play while we have our own discussion," Amidala suggested.
"Very well," Onara agreed.
"Why don't you take Rowan to you room then Ryoo," Amidala said. "I'm sure you can find something to do."
Ryoo frowned but nodded. She grabbed Rowan by the hand and practically dragged him behind her to her room. Amidala couldn't help but notice that Ryoo was noticeably bigger and stronger than the boy. Ryoo was tall for a girl her age but not abnormally so.
"Did he just turn six recently?" Amidala inquired as she led Onara to the sitting area.
"No actually he'll be seven in two weeks," Onara replied.
"He seems rather small for his age," Amidala commented.
"Most Kuati men are," Onara said. "It helps maintain the matriarchy."
Amidala nodded in understanding and sent the protocol droid to fetch them some tea.
"I have a proposal I would like to make," Amidala said. "One that I think could be of benefit to us both."
"Oh and what is that?" Onara inquired.
"Well first I should inform you that galactic war seems imminent," Amidala said. "The separatist movement is growing everyday but perhaps more concerning is the fact that Jedi are leaving the order to join them."
"That is concerning," Onara agreed.
Just then the protocol droid returned with their tea. Amidala poured them each a cup before the continued their discussions.
"My people have recently designed a defense station which would provide protection for our planet," Amidala said. "But we don't have the infrastructure to build it."
"And you want us to help you build this defense station," Onara finished.
"We would obvious pay for your services and we would be willing to share the plans with you if you so desired." Amidala offered.
"Well I don't know…" Onara said.
Just then Ryoo came running into the room.
"Auntie Padmé, turn on the news," she exclaimed breathlessly.
Amidala turned on Holo News Net, HNN. The projection was of a male Twi'lek newscaster
"Once again we've received word that the Confederation of Independent Systems has attacked the planet Naboo," the newscaster reported. "As many of you know this is the home planet of our chancellor Padmé Naberrie as well as the disgraced Senator Eirtaé."
Amidala was in shock. She hadn't expected something like this so soon.
"I think you may have come to me too late about this defense station," Onara said.
"I think I'd prefer to wait and see what happens," Amidala responded. "We're not completely defenseless and I think my sister Queen Sola can help fend of the attackers. But if you'll excuse me I'm quite certain that there's going to be an emergency Senate meeting that I need to attend."
Amidala got up and hurried out of the apartment, she could only hope that Sola, Cordé, Saché, Rabé and the rest of the Sith would be able to fend off the attackers with exposing themselves as Sith.
So there we have what is hopefully the final transitional chapter. The next chapter will focus on the CIS attacking Naboo and the Sith there fighting them off so that should be an action heavy chapter.
Once again your reviews are appreciated and I like hearing your ideas so please send them in.