Leia sat gazing out the transparasteel window, the Coruscant cityscape stretching to the horizon below her. The five towers of the Imperial Palace were the highest buildings on the planet by design. The air traffic of shuttles and speeders was restricted, leaving the palace airspace clear, shining pink and gold as the sun set.
She felt the weight of jet-lag on her, but she would fight it a while longer. It was already past midnight in Aldera. She would have to sleep soon, her body demanded it. She wondered if her parents, Queen Breha and Viceroy Bail Organa had gone to sleep yet. Just this morning they had been together, in Aldera, a family. Now she was here, in Imperial City, alone, exhausted, and more than a little bit scared.
It wasn't really her fault, not completely. She had provoked Moff Tarkin, and as her father had later explained, he was a proud, powerful, and vengeful man. She had humiliated him, and in return he had whispered something in the emperor's ear, and now she was here, being punished for her childish crime.
She had been escorted, not arrested, from Alderaan, by a number of Stormtroopers and one Imperial agent, who had presented an invitation, not a warrant. That was how the adults spoke to each other, and to her, not meaning what they said, iron fists clothed in silken gloves.
So here she was, the emperor's guest, resting in her suite, exhaustion slowly dragging her towards unconsciousness, but not yet willing to fall asleep, for fear of what tomorrow might bring. She forced herself to get to her feet and strip off her travel clothes. She let her tunic and trousers, Alderaanian white, fall to the floor. She had other clothes for tomorrow, and the next day, and for as long as she was kept here at the emperor's court.
She lay down on the covers of the massive bed, the sunset light falling on her, reminding her it was still too early to sleep. She mustn't.
Leia awoke far too early, it was still night time, though her room wasn't particularly dark, the bright lights of the city finding her. The trails of speeder lights and the distant holographic signs cast a cold, anxious light that just barely illuminated the heavy furniture in her bedroom.
She rolled off the bed, she hadn't even gotten under the covers, and slipped, barefoot, onto the heavily carpeted floor. She hadn't unpacked, and she didn't want to now. It must be day break on Alderaan, but it was still night here, and she really should try to sleep again, to get on local time. Imperial Standard Time. Imperial City and, indeed, the entire fleet ran according to the way the sun rose and set on Emperor Palpatine's seat of power.
She moved through the rooms of her suite. It was luxurious in a way that was even more ostentatious than the Royal Palace of Alderaan. The tables and divans were not just crafted in the finest woods, and covered with velvets and silks, but ornamented, with what might be real jewels and precious metals. In a corner she found a food replicator, which she ignored, in favor of pouring herself a glass of water, which she drank in great gulps.
It was strange to be all alone. As the Princess of Alderaan she wasn't often left unsupervised or unguarded. Had she woken in the middle of the night at Aldera Palace, her nursemaid would have been up in an instant, comforting her, coaxing her back to sleep. She was thirteen, which was a bit too old to have a nursemaid, but the old woman had been with her for her entire life, and now, without her, Leia felt more alone than she had ever been.
She set down her glass on the polished tabletop, wandering across the carpet, reminding herself that thirteen was nearly fourteen, and hadn't she planned to join the Apprentice Legislature next year? This was just a year early, and, she supposed, her presence here was a diplomatic role, from a certain point of view. She had read about the ancient kingdoms of Alderaan, rival kings would take each other's heirs as wards to ensure harmony between their lands. Now she was the Emperor's hostage, and it would be her father, the Senator of Alderaan, who was forced into harmony with Emperor Palpatine's will.
Her parents had no love for the Empire, she knew that, but they were diplomatically cooperative. They had resisted a large military presence on Alderaan with the claim that they were a pacifist planet and posed no risk to the Empire. Still, the amount her father could do in the Senate was limited. This was the Galactic Empire, if there were new laws enacted or sentient rights removed, it was because the emperor, Sheev Palpatine, preferred it. As she understood it, the Senate was an institution far older than the thirteen year-old Empire, and its ongoing existence provided a sense of continuity, and a venue for planetary representatives to petition the emperor. But the Empire never gave what it didn't want to give, that was what her father said privately. Publicly, however, the Senator of Alderaan was eager to discuss legislation which would be of benefit to all beings in the Empire.
Her timepiece was still set to Aldera time, where it was nine in the morning. The suite had no other time pieces, and she hadn't been permitted to keep her datapad. But Imperial Standard time was five hours earlier, so it must be four in the morning here.
Leia got back into bed, if she couldn't sleep, she would at least rest.
She must have slept again because the room was full of daylight and there was a chime sounding from the far corner of her rooms. A doorbell, she guessed. She got up, pulling a sheet around herself, wishing she had though to unpack her dressing gown the night before. She palmed open the door. It was a female officer, who glanced at her wearing just a sheet, then stared strait forward, with absolutely no change of expression.
When she spoke, it was in a Coruscanti accent, monotone, and ringing with Imperial professionalism and disinterest, "Your Highness, your presence is expected at court in one standard hour, do you require assistance to dress?"
"Yes, assistance would be appreciated." She replied. Always take the opportunity to get more information, draw people in to conversation if you could. Make a friend. Her father had been full of diplomatic advice like that.
The officer followed her into the suite, expression perfectly neutral.
"Officer, how should I address you?" Leia asked as she pried open the latch on the valise that held her gowns for court.
"My name is Lieutenant Venn," the woman replied smartly.
"I'm Leia," Leia offered in return, though the woman undoubtedly knew who she was. "I appreciate your help with this, I'd never be able to fasten the back on my own." She had pulled a white gown from the valise which had a long zipper at the back, for the very reason that she had claimed to need assistance.
The officer turned away, to give her privacy, and she slipped the gown over her head. It was full length, and high collared. She was, after all, thirteen and low cut gowns were the province of women, not girls like herself.
"Okay." She called to Venn, who came and fastened the zipper up her back. "Thanks."
"Could I ask your assistance with one more task?" She asked, smoothing her hair our over her shoulders.
"Of course, Ma'am." The officer replied. 'Ma'am' she wasn't used to being addressed like that. It made her feel old.
"This is embarrassing, but I don't have experience with this sort of food replicator." Leia lied, leading the woman to the device in question. The truth was she didn't have experience with food replicators at all, she was used to eating natural food, cooked by chefs, brought to her by servants.
Venn showed her how to use the machine with perfect patience, as though it were normal for a thirteen year old girl to be baffled with such a ubiquitous household item. Leia replicated herself a meal bar and tore into it. It must be lunchtime in Aldera, she thought.
"Are you on duty here at the Palace everyday?" Leia asked the officer.
Venn nodded, "Yes, Ma'am. I have been brought in to assist with your security detail."
"Oh how lovely," Leia replied, at a loss for why she would need a security detail. "And what was your previous posting?"
"The ISD Devastator, Ma'am."
Leia couldn't help but stare at the woman, imagining her saluting Darth Vader himself. Everyone knew the Devastator was Vader's personal ship. She had to stay away from Vader, her father had told her. That was absolutely essential.
"How interesting." Leia replied in a tone that shut down the conversation. She wished she was better at this, she couldn't panic at every mention of matters peripherally related to Vader.
"What can you tell me about court?" Leia asked, sorting through her shoes until she found the appropriate pair for this gown.
"It is customary for the emperor's guests to greet His Majesty on arrival. Then, subsequently, as a princess of an Imperial-aligned world, you are expected to attend court regularly while it is in session."
Leia shivered, she had to meet the Emperor today. She had known she would have to. Her father had advised her to keep silent, only speak if asked a question directly, and "For pity's sake don't even think of dropping a water balloon on him, Leia." The last was a reference to the crime she had committed against Moff Tarkin, which had landed her in this whole mess. No, no more water balloons, she had assured her father.
They left her apartments. Venn led her down a hall lined with closed doors to a turbolift which quickly transported them down out of the West tower, into the main atrium of the palace. The Jedi had such exquisite taste, she thought, no wonder the Emperor had taken the old Jedi Temple as his palace. It was a stunning vast space of corridors and pillared archways, filled with sentients of various worlds, all very well dressed and none of them interested in a teenager accompanied by an officer.
That would take some getting used to, she thought. As Princess of Alderaan she got a lot of attention everywhere she went. She was the heir to the planetary throne, it was normal. Here though, she was anonymous, just a kid from off-world. She followed Venn through the atrium and into another turbolift, this one in the center of the atrium. They were going to the throne room, she thought, her heart speeding up.
Lights were set low and the windows in all directions were dimmed, as though to set the opulent chamber in a perpetual twilight. There were dozens of sentients in the outer throne room, all far more interested their own whispered conversations that in her arrival. She had never seen so many species in one place. It was a microcosm of the Empire as a whole, if a particularly rarified group who teetered at the very peak of power and privilege.
Venn only came with her so far, halting at the door to the audience chamber and saluting crisply forward. Leia peered into to chamber, it was even darker than the outer hall, but she could feel eyes watching her from within. She stepped over the threshold, blinking as her eyes adjusted. The Emperor was there, at the far end of the room, in the stark cut obsidian throne she had only ever seen in Holos. He was conversing with a tall blue skinned Chagrian. Mas Amedda, Leia reminded herself, the Grand Vizierof the Empire.
Leia strode forward, curtsied, then continued her approach. By the time she knelt at the foot of the Emperor's throne she could feel his gaze on her. She had been careful not to stare at him, his face mostly hidden, thankfully, beneath the cowl of the heavy robe he wore. He was human, her father had told her. His ravaged features were a result of an altercation with the Jedi just preceding the formation of his Empire.
"And who is this?" The Emperor asked his Vizier, his voice a dry whisper which set chills up Leia's spine.
"Your Majesty, this is Leia Organa, the Princess of Alderaan, she has come to attend court."
Leia felt an overwhelming urge to look up at the Emperor, and gave into it. She met the old man's yellow eyes and flinched, then forced herself to to meet his gaze.
"Your Majesty." She murmured, then looked away, feeling strangely light headed.
"Ah, the Organa girl." The emperor said softly, "Welcome, child, your father has been a colleague and friend of mine for many, many years."
"It is my honor to be here, Your Majesty." Leia replied, it was what courtiers said to her mother, the Queen.
The emperor smiled, revealing broken teeth. "Yes, I'm sure." He stared at her unblinking for an unsettlingly long time. "But you are so young to be at court and alone."
The emperor's gaze went distant, and Leia felt a spark of cold, then it was gone and he was staring at her again. "Ah, my Hand." A slight, black clad girl with tightly braided red hair had arrived silently and was kneeling at Leia's side. "Jade, I hope you will assist the Princess Leia Organa in the process of acclimating to court."
"Yes, My Master." The girl replied, her voice crisp and clear. She looked at Leia, her expression neutral, "Ma'am." Her eyes were a vibrant green but her skin was so white, Leia wondered if she ever went outdoors.
Jade led her from the Emperor's presence, carefully back-stepping until they were back in the outer hall.
Leia hesitantly smiled at the other girl, who gazed back at her impassively. "C'mon." Jade whispered grabbing her hand and pulling her into the crowd of sentients.
Jade led her to a bench next to a tapestry covered wall and they sat down together. Leia let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Jade raised an eyebrow.
Leia forced herself to smile, she suddenly felt so tired. "Your name is Miss Jade?" She clarified gently.
Jade finally smiled, "Mara, Ma'am."
Leia smiled, she hadn't been sure the serious girl was open to making friends. "Please just call me Leia."
Mara nodded, "How old are you?"
"I turned thirteen just after Empire day." Leia told the girl.
"I'm twelve. I guess I'm still the youngest at court."The girl informed her.
"How long have you been here at the Palace, Mara?"
Mara frowned slightly. "I've always been here."
"Are your parents courtiers?"
Mara shrugged, "I never knew them. I've been here serving the emperor my whole life."
Leia smiled politely, but she had to ask, "Why do you call him Master?"
Mara's cheek twitched as though she were fighting back a proud smile, "Because he is training me personally."
Leia did not have a chance to ask what the Emperor was teaching Mara. Lieutenant Venn had found them, and looked extremely relieved. Her gaze skittered over Mara and rested firmly on Leia.
"Your Highness, would you like to return to your chambers?" The officer asked.
Leia nodded, "Mara, do you—?"
Mara rose to her feet, forthright in a way that surprised her, "Of course. The emperor has assigned me to assist you. Would you like to show me where your apartments are?"
Leia set off with Mara and Venn, feeling a little less lonely than she had the day before.