...
" . . . I will worship you forever, my love"
...
Amidala raced down the corridor towards the Palace Library. She was trying desperately not to trip over her long white dress and fall flat on her face.
It just wouldn't be Queen-like, she thought to herself.
Without a second thought, Amidala increased her pace as she saw the door to the library fast approaching. She quickly grabbed another handful of her
dress and brought it up to her knees, preparing to stop. With unmatched grace, the young Queen skidded to a stop right outside the door. She let the silk
material of her dress fall from her hands as she smoothed a few strands of her hair back into place behind her ears. She brushed her dress, trying to get
some of the wrinkles out of it before anybody noticed her state of distress. Once satisfied with her appearance, she grabbed the door handle and slowly
opened the door.
Before entering, she peeked her small head around the door and scanned the room. The library was not quite that big - it was used only by herself, her
handmaidens and the most important staff in the Palace. The walls were painted a nice cream colour that gave the room a look of dignity and respect.
The floor was covered with bright red coloured carpet - 'The Royal Carpet,' as Yane called it. In the corner of the room were a few ancient bookshelves
that housed some of Naboo's finest books ever made. Amidala would never get around to reading them all, but it was nice to think that the people of Naboo
had assembled all these ancient fairytales for her to read.
A few very comfy chairs and sofas lay around the room. The chairs themselves were made from Naboo wood with Alderaan material to cover them.
Many times Amidala had found herself falling asleep in one and not waking up until a few hours later. A little dining table sat in the middle of the room and
many mugs filled with coffee were placed upon it. A small tin of biscuits sat next to one of the mugs.
Chocolate Chip Cookies - my favourite. Amidala also noted that all her handmaidens sat around the room on various objects.
Sabe sat on one of the coaches, lazily eating a biscuit. She seemed to be talking to Rabe, who sat on a chair next to her. Their conversation seemed to
be very intense, as it usually was with those two. Rabe was busy making hand signals and trying to explain whatever point she was trying to make. Sabe
seemed to be in-between listening tentatively and contemplating to either eat the biscuit whole or just nibble on it.
Amidala admired both of them. Rabe for always been a strong, a relaxing shoulder to lean on in times of crisis. Sabe for just being herself, her interest in
politics, her loyalty, her decoy. The woman who had saved Amidala's life many times. Rabe had come from a middle class family on Naboo that believed
in always looking at the bright side and staying as calm as possible in tough situations. Rabe was given the nickname 'The classic handmaiden' because
she was so much like the handmaidens in Naboo legend.
Sabe had come from a small farm, like Amidala, and wasn't used to a lot of attention being focused on her. The words respect, loyalty, and duty meant so
much to Sabe. She was 'The loyal handmaiden' - the one who would never turn her back on her Queen. Yane, the quiet handmaiden, sat on the sidelines
of their conversation, busily reading through a few sheets of paper. She was sighing to herself as she looked over a few paragraphs of writing. She wore
a look on her face that just said Something is not right here.
Something wasn't, Amidala thought, Yane had only once acted like this and that was when the Trade Federation invaded Naboo.
Yane was also one to be admired for although she was the youngest handmaiden in Amidala's service, she was the wisest - the constant advisor, not to
mention, protector. Yane's father was Mayor of one of the towns across the other side of Naboo. When Yane was chosen to be a handmaiden she had a
hard time leaving her family. Once she arrived at the palace she suffered terribly from homesickness. But, in the end, Yane became one of Amidala's
most trusted advisors.
A flash of concern appeared across Amidala's face as she continued to gaze at her 'quiet handmaiden.' Realizing that there were other people in the
room, she pulled her line of sight away from Yane and diverted it to Eirtae, who was sitting in front of a computer. Eirtae's blonde hair hung closely around
her shoulders. She was the only handmaiden that didn't look like Amidala, therefore she got the nickname 'The Unique Handmaiden.'
Eirtae could be very forceful at times, and somehow managed to get guards to do things for her. That was why she was sent on so many underground
missions - solely because of her cunning wit and pure skill mixed with her ability to bend people's judgement. Eirtae was of an upper class family before
she became a handmaiden. Her father was one of the richest Naboo traders in this sector. Eirtae liked to correct others on their manners and etiquette.
Amidala sighed and looked over at her remaining handmaiden, Sache - the most loyal of her handmaidens. Sache, like Eirtae, was sitting in front of the
computer reading what was on the screen. A few 'oohhh's' and 'aahh' could be heard escaping from her mouth. Sache was 'The Graceful Handmaiden' -
the one who would always jump in to save you or to finish your sentences. Sache was brought up in an upper class family who believed that loyalty to the
sovereign of Naboo was of the uppermost importance. So that's why when Sache was chosen to be a handmaiden she embraced the offer.
"Pad, Hi!" Sache stated, looking up from the computer.
How does she do that? Amidala thought, how does she know when I'm in the room? Amidala smiled and began to close the door behind her once she
was inside.
"Hey," she exclaimed. When she was by herself with her handmaidens she was just Padme, another loyal handmaiden, not Amidala - The Queen. Sabe
grabbed another biscuit from the coffee table and waved as she started to chew on it.
"So what did you find?" Padme asked curiously. Sache smiled and nodded to Yane.
"Something quiet interesting," Yane said, "it seems that Mayor Antillies isn't all he's cracked up to be." Padme nodded, waiting for Yane to continue. "We
looked up his security profile and it seems that 10 years ago he didn't even exist."
"What do you mean by not exist?" Padme asked.
"Well," Yane continued, "after looking through his security profile, personal records, and Yarmia Province data banks, we found no evidence of what he
was before he was Mayor. Like where he was born? What year? His parents? Nothing! The computer just gave us all this stuff about him being Mayor
and what has happened since he came into office. It's just all too weird."
Eirtae looked up from her computer, "How can a person not exist one minute and then become Mayor the next and have this totally fake profile?" she asked.
"Fake profile?? What makes you think it's fake?" Padme asked.
"Well look at it," Sache replied as she handed Padme a sheet of paper that had been resting on the computer desk.
Padme studied the paper. It would seem that the Mayor was only 35 and that he was born on a small farm in the jungle.
"35 years old? Whoever made this has a gigantic ego to say the least," she said, "that guys looks like he could be at least 55."
"The only person that could have created this profile would have to be Antillies himself. But question is, why would he want to lie about himself and create
this totally fake profile unless his real name isn't Bob Antillies?" Sabe stated.
"If he isn't who he said he is, then we've got a real problem on our hands. The only reason a person would create a fake identity is to hide who they used to
be. Who did Antillies used to be??? A smuggler, secret government agent, crime lord?" Eirtae added.
Padme pushed an annoying piece of hair off her face as she continued to analyze the situation. "No, something worse than that," she said, "he looks evil.
Those yellow eyes . . . they remind me of something I've seen in the past or at least in a dream."
They all nodded, agreeing with Padme.
"What about that attack on the base? Do you know who did that?" Padme asked.
Yane frowned, "We haven't got enough information together, but, from what we've read, they did a pretty good job of killing those people without leaving
any clues behind. Meanwhile, we're still trying to get into the Yarmia base computer. They don't seem to want to let us in."
Padme sighed, "You have my permission to use my security code." Sache nodded in thanks and continued to type.
"We should have access in a few seconds."
**