Chapter 36: Wedding

Aemiliaé Phoenia's POV

Royal Palace, Theed, Naboo

For once, I was the one being fussed around, not the one fussing.

I felt sick thinking about what awaited me later – my wedding day. I hadn't spent my childhood dreaming about this day, as I knew many other young girls had. Many dreamed about a big fairly tale wedding with no expense spared, but all the pomp and circumstance was lost on me.

It was hard to be happy. My dress, which was made of a thick velvet material, resembled a nun's robe more than it did a wedding dress, but I could not wear a traditional nubian dress, not in my condition.

It was a shame Naboo still frowned upon having children outside of wedlock. I personally thought our world was far too advanced to hold such outdated views but here I was, sweltering in my unflattering wedding dress while the royal handmaidens added the finishing touches to my hair. I didn't know why they were bothering. It wasn't like adding ten thousand flowers was going to make me look any better. If anything it looked even worse.

I was sure I had already sweated off half of my make up, my ankles were too swollen to fit into the delicate heels I had originally planned to wear and I was half a second away from losing my temper.

Perhaps Rabé sensed this, and that was why she shooed the others away under the pretence to make sure the queen had everything she needed for the big day. I tried my best not to scowl thinking of Padmé. This was all her fault.

If it wasn't for her obsession with making the senator pay for blackmailing Sabé, I could have had a nice simple wedding in the countryside, in a nice flattering dress with just a few of my closest friends in attendance. And of course I wanted Greejatus to be punished for what he had done to Sabé, but Padmé had already had a massive ball to rally Naboo's key representatives to her cause only a week ago.

Perhaps I was losing my touch but I really didn't see how inviting the senator to the wedding – which was being held at the Royal Palace in Theed, yes, the exact same city where Sabé was located - was going to help at all. My dearest future husband had insisted that it was only right to invite him as we had invited lots of other important politicians and he would take it as a snub if we were to leave him off the guest list.

Obviously he wasn't aware that the Senator had tried to take Sabé's baby off of her, but even though he was my fiancé I couldn't have told him about Sabé. The less people that knew the better. My problem wasn't with Sio, who was only trying to make sure no one was offended. My problem was with the Queen, who had the power to overrule his decision and yet she had done nothing of the sort. It was fortunate then, that Sabé was still recovering from childbirth and was unable to attend.

"Milady?"

I snapped out of my thoughts to study Rabé. She was looking at me uncertainly, and I wasn't sure if she had asked me a question or not.

"Yes?" I inquired.

She chuckled softly. "I asked if there was anything else I could do for you before you walk down the aisle."

I grumpily looked at myself in the mirror. I had thought about talking to Padmé before the ceremony but thought better of it. I was already stressed out as it was, I really didn't need an awful exchange with the stubborn queen.

"No. Let's just get this over with."

···

I had decided to walk down the aisle on my own.

It was a decision I had made when I was angry and I slightly regretted it now as I slowly made my way to Sio. I was aware that everyone's eyes were on me and I felt incredibly foolish. It was obvious to me that there would be at least a few people (if not everyone) that would notice that I was pregnant. I was basically about to pop for force-sake!

Padmé was the first person I noticed among my guests. She was dressed in a beautiful green dress right in the front row, surrounded by all of her handmaidens. In an effort not to focus solely on her I glanced to my right, instantly wishing I hadn't. I saw Greejatus sat smugly among his aides and other guests.

I kept my smile even despite my disgust. Making an executive decision to not look at any other guests in case I saw any more unwelcome faces, I stared right ahead, where my husband to be was waiting for me.

What seemed like an age later I arrived at his side. His eyes lit up when he saw me and he gave a genuine smile when he saw me. "You look beautiful, my love."

I blushed in response as the priest began the ceremony.

It was not an emotional wedding at all, if anything it was horribly formal. That's what I get for marrying the Governor of Theed. Before I knew it it was time to exchange rings and say our vows. We faced each other and held hands.

Sio recited his perfectly, putting the wedding ring on my finger. He gave me an encouraging wink before I said mine.

"I, Aemiliaé Phoenia, take you, Sio Bibble, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

And just like that, we had been pronounced husband and wife.

···

My nerves had calmed down considerably after the ceremony was out of the way. We had all retired to the Palace's great dining hall which had been decorated beautifully for the occasion.

"Can you believe we have actually just done that?" I giggled to my husband as we were sat down, ready to start our meal.

He took my hand in his and kissed it. "It took us long enough didn't it?"

After all the guests had finished eating the party moved on to the great ballroom, where we performed our first dance. Despite being stuffed from our wedding feast we did a good job, and were soon joined on the dance floor by our closest friends.

As Sio twirled me round in the corner of my eye I noticed the Queen and the Senator having a heated discussion. I didn't want to get involved for obvious reasons but I couldn't let Padmé lose her temper in front of everyone, so I casually told Sio I was getting a bit tired and he immediately lead me back to our table. He wasn't going to take any chances with our unborn child.

Saché was standing on guard near us, eagerly watching the Queen.

"Saché!" I called. I whispered in her ear that I would like to speak to the Queen and she nodded and made her way over to her. Padmé looked displeased at being interrupted, but nonetheless excused herself and came over.

"Lady Bibble, Governor." She greeted us coolly. "I congratulate you on your Wedding. It has been quite spectacular."

"Thank you, Your Highness. I was hoping to have an audience with you, if that's possible."

"But my love, it is your wedding day! Surely whatever business you need to discuss can be postponed until further notice."

"Darling,"I gave him a pointed look. "I wouldn't request such a meeting if it wasn't absolutely necessary now would I?"

"Of course, Lady Bibble. Follow me."

I gave Sio a quick kiss. "I'll be right back, I promise."

···

Most of the guests remained in the ballroom, and after walking for a few minutes we entered the queen's private wing of the Palace. I signalled to one of the many alcoves that lined the hallway.

"Really Aemiliaé?" She huffed. "You want to talk about this in an alcove of all places? It would only take a few more minutes to reach my private quarters."

I frowned at her. "Please Padmé. There is no one around and I'm not sure how far I can make it in this dress."

"Alright then but let's be quick about this, it's only a matter of time before everyone starts asking where the bride and the Queen are."

"What did Greejatus say to you? It looked pretty serious."

"Of course it was serious." She rolled her eyes. "Palpatine told him everything. He basically asked me why I thought it was okay to badmouth him to his boss with no proof. Gods, I wish I could just get rid of him!"

"Padmé. I think we need to get the guards to check on his movements. I really don't like that he is in the same city as Sabé. Especially now the baby is here."

"You're right." She went to run a hand through her hair but stopped when she remembered her headdress. "We should be heading ba-"

"There you are!" Announced Yané, seeming relieved to have found us. "Padmé, you're going to want to see this. I think Obi Wan is here."

"You think? Are you not certain it is him?"

"It looks a lot like him, but it's hard to tell. He's not wearing his usual robes, he rather looks like a minor politician from a distant town."

Padmé and I glanced at each other. What was Kenobi doing here? And why was he undercover? We were soon to find out, as we followed Yané back to where she said she had seen him last.

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. But I'm back and these two are wedded at last! I can't stress enough how much I want to update more regularly, but studying and working takes up a lot more time than I thought. If you have any thoughts I would love to hear them :) GroovyGrape