The next three weeks passed in a blur of Self-defense class, dancing, relaxing with my friends, talking to Zak and trying to decide what to do with my life. I was having doubts about the whole dancing thing. Lt. Panaka was most complementary about my Martial Arts skills, so I was thinking about something in the Naboo Security Forces, or the Republic Navy. I guess my dancing helps my gracefulness in other areas.
At the end of three weeks, we got a message from the Jedi Temple. Master Koon had been injured, not seriously, but Zak was needed at the temple, and seeing as no one got anywhere on the assassination investigation, and no other attempt had been made, they were suspending Zak's mission. He was to report back to the Temple within the next two days. I was horribly sad.
The next day Zak left. He gave me a kiss on the cheek and told me to stay true to myself and the Force. Then he was gone. I spent the rest of the day in my room, looking at the holopics I had taken of him and me at the Jedi Temple, they had been in my backpack the day I left to go to the Senate, and us on Naboo. Yané came by the next day and we went shopping. She liked my pants, so she borrowed a pair and we wore them into town. We got some strange looks that day.
A month later, I received my speeder license. Yané and I went joyriding out in the country. We both got scared silly. Natan and I went out and bought me a small, two-person convertible speeder, so I wouldn't have to borrow his. It was small and a shiny light blue and I absolutely loved it. I drove it everywhere, even though I didn't need to. Yané turned thirteen and I had achieved my goal of attaining the patience level I had been aiming for by that time and I was happy. Riv, on the other hand was not. There was an Anti-Veruna faction on Naboo saying he delved to deep into off-world politics and had forgotten Naboo. The people had been pushing for elections. Well, they got them.
The elections were to be held two and a half months after Yané's birthday. Governor Bibble was running against Veruna, as was Princess Amidala. Joss and Riv had a strenuous relationship at that time, and Governor Bibble sent his son to the University of Garos IV. We all missed him terribly. Riv turned fourteen three weeks after Yané's birthday and two weeks after Joss left. Governor Bibble and King Veruna ran an admirable race, but Princess Amidala ran an outstanding race. Needless to say, Princess Amidala won by a large fraction.
A week after the election was over; Lt. Panaka approached me after the self-defense class.
"Rabé," He said, "I'm in charge of making a group of handmaidens for the new Queen, Amidala." He took a deep breath. "And because of your considerable skills in Martial Arts and your score on the Royal Exams, I would greatly appreciate if you would come to the Palace tomorrow so we can see if you fit what we are looking for."
"Of course Lt. Panaka, I'd be honored." He then gave me the packet of papers I was to complete by tomorrow. Force, was that a huge packet! I drove home and told Natan.
That's great little sis! He said.
Yeah, but I'm worried about what Riv will think. I mean, if they want to hire me.
Don't be silly. They'll hire you, and Riv will understand. Maybe not a first, but he will understand.
You know what I don't
understand? I said.
What?
How is it that they can elect someone who is fourteen, but you can't vote until you're seventeen? I just don't understand the logic. I smiled at him. He shook his head.
No one ever said that politicians were logical Rabé. He said with a laugh. You better get started on that packet, or else you'll never have it done by tomorrow.
You know me all to well. I went into the study and began my work on that horrible packet. Name, date of birth, eye color, hair color, height, weight, martial status (What, did they expect a thirteen-year-old to be married?), family status, strengths, weaknesses, etc...
It took me four hours to fill out that stupid packet. It didn't help that Riv called me while I was in the middle of filling out, and I blurted out (un-subtly, as usual) that I was filling out a packet to be a Handmaiden for the Queen and that's why I couldn't go out tonight. He got all cold and hung up on me. Great. Just when I need some support, one of my best friends is angry at me.
The next day was bright and sunny. I decided to wear pants instead of a skirt or dress because who knew what Lt. Panaka would have us doing. So I got washed and put on a pair of white pants, a white shirt with sleeves flared at the elbow and gold stitching above the elbow, a sleeveless white and gold overcoat, and my white boots.
I braided my hair back into tiny braids and wound them into a complicated bunch of braids that were tucked at the nape of my neck. Force knows I would have to impress these people. I took my packet of papers and put it in my white backpack, which was an exact duplicate of my black one except white, obviously, and as an afterthought, I took my exercise bag because I would be going to dance after the interview, or whatever it was.
I walked down the stairs and into the main hall. BYE NATAN! WISH ME LUCK! I yelled at him, where ever he was.
BYE! He yelled back. MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!
THANKS! Then I walked outside as one of the servants brought my speeder around front.
"Thank you Javier." I said to the balding man. He bowed and went back inside. I drove the speed limit that day, so as not to mess up my hair. Man, that took willpower. It was so beautiful out and there was nobody on the roads. I finally got to the palace and parked a couple of blocks away because there is no parking by the palace. Drop-offs and pick-ups, sure, but no parking. Stupid Architects. Sometimes I wish Theed was a little more practical and a little less extravagant.
I walked up the stairs, past the statues of philosophers, remembered how I first met Riv, Dek and Joss and walked into the main hallway. There were about seven girls already in there, only one of which I knew.
"Sabé!" I called out and waved.
She looked over at me with intense relief and hurried over. "Thank the Force. I was nearly about to die of loneliness. Are you here for the Handmaiden thing?"
"Yes, or so Lt. Panaka tells me." I scrutinized her face. "Though, I'm not surprised to see you here, from what I've seen of Queen-Elect Amidala, you two could be sisters. It's almost eerie, the similarities."
She blushed. "Yeah, well, so do a lot of these other girls." I looked around. The other six girls all were about the same height as me and Sabé, with brown or black hair and brown eyes. Sabé looked me up and down. "Why are you wearing pants?" She asked, confused.
I shrugged. "Didn't know what I was getting myself into, so I decided that pants are more practical for anything than a skirt or dress."
She nodded. "I guess it makes sense, but still, pants?"
I shrugged. "To each her own."
"I suppose."
"So, what have you been doing since graduation?"
"Oh, not much. I got my speeder license, acted in a couple plays, hung out with Aselpha and Kallé, took a trip to Keren." She shuddered. "I didn't like it very much, it was very filthy there, so many more lower-class citizens and corrupt things going on. I was very happy to come back to Theed."
I laughed. "Now don't we sound like snobs."
She laughed too. Just then, Lt. Panaka and Captain Magneta came around the corner. Everyone stopped talking. Lt. Panaka stepped forward and started to speak.
"I would like to thank you all for coming today. As you all must know, I am Lt. Panaka and this is Cp. Magneta of the Security Officers. Today will be a sort of testing day. I am sure you all want to know more, but first, if you will come this way please." And he lead us down the hallway and down a couple of flights of stairs to a large, empty room in the sub-basement that I didn't even know existed. Us girls stopped at the front door as Lt. Panaka stepped into the middle of the room. There were ten Security Guards standing against the far wall. Cp. Magneta walked off to the side. I got the distinct impression that Magneta wanted as little to do with us as possible. Panaka started to speak again.
"Today we will be testing you on many different things such as physical fitness, intelligence, quick thinking, hairdressing, royal protocol and," he rolled his eyes, "clothing combinations." Some of the girls groaned outwardly. I groaned inwardly. Physical fitness, great. Intelligence and quick thinking, even better. But hairdressing? Royal Protocol? Clothing Combinations? Force knows I would have to be really good at some things to make up for those. Lt. Panaka motioned for four of the Security Guards and had them set up four tables with two chairs at each.
"Lets try to be at the same table Rabé." Sabé whispered to me. I nodded.
"Now," Lt. Panaka said, "the first thing we will be testing on is intelligence. You will each be assigned a table," Sabé gave a little sigh, "and given a datapad with a test on it. Answer the questions as best you can." Then he began assigning tables. He separated two girls who would not stop whispering and put another two girls who wouldn't stop making faces at each other at separate tables. Thankfully, he put Sabé and I at the same table.
"Please have your packets on the table. A guard will be around to pick them up shortly." Panaka said as he handed out datapads. I took mine and sat down at the table, opposite of Sabé. I pulled my packet out of my backpack and set it on the table. Sabé pulled hers out too. I turned on the datapad and started on the test. Someone picked up the packets and Cp. Magneta, Lt. Panaka and the Security Guards left us alone in the room. To my surprise, the test had many kinds of questions, not just ones about Naboo. Like: Where are Givins from? Then it would give you four choices and you would pick the right one. The answer to the question was one of the moons of Yag'Dhul. Thank the force I knew that one, it was just a process of elimination. I knew it wasn't Alderaan, Garqi or Fondor, the other choices.
The test proceeded this way for another half hour. I was busy working on question 35 (What is the procedure of the Senate to pass a new law?) when the door burst in and a crazed group of men came in, shooting guns. I screamed, and ducked to the floor. Some of the girls were still screaming in terror as I made myself come to my senses. Push the table over for protection, said a voice in my head that sounded an awful lot like Zak. I pushed the table over and Sabé fell behind the table next to me. I picked up my datapad and was about to throw it at them, when Sabé grabbed it from me.
"Hey!" I said.
"There's electronic messaging on the datapad." She said. "We can call in for help."
"Oh." I said, my back pressed against the table. I took off my backpack as Sabé wrote the message. I went through it. Nothing I could use. Shavit. She pushed the send button.
"Got anything I could throw at them?" I asked.
"No."
"If only they would come closer. I could take at least one out."
"Wait." She said as the laser fire slowly came to a stop. "Play dead!" She hissed, and we both fell to the ground, motionless. I knew what Sabé had in mind, but I didn't know if I could keep a straight face for that long. Sabé was a good actress, she could do it, but me? I bit my cheeks to keep from smiling, a trick I had learned when I was young. A man came over and roughly knocked me on my back with his foot. I didn't smile. I heard the sound of metal sliding into leather and knew (hoped) that he had put his gun away.
"Hey!" He yelled to his friends. "These two are gone!" Then I did it. I snap kicked him in between the legs and he keeled over, groaning indescribable pain on his face. I grabbed him in a headlock with my left arm and grabbed his gun with my right. I kneed him in the face and he was knocked out. I slid back behind the table with Sabé and set the gun to stun as shouts of disbelief erupted from the other end of the room. Or, rather, I tried to set the gun to stun. It was plastic and metal. A fake.
"What the-" I said as we both stared at the gun in disbelief.
"Good work ladies." Said Lt. Panaka, coming up from our side of the table. We stared at him. I was very confused. Sabé recovered first.
"Was this a test?" She asked.
"Yes. Of your quick thinking and tactile skills. You both did very good." He looked at me. "I had no idea that you would actually take one of them out Miss Napola." I blushed a deep red. "Come now girls, you two and Miss Recané over there where the only ones to pass this part of the test." Panaka then proceeded to call two guards to come take the unconscious man away. Sabé, the other girl and I followed Panaka out the door where the other five girls where waiting, some scared, some angry, some confused. Some of them were saying that it was a trick and demanded to take the test over again. Panaka refused.
We went back upstairs to the third floor and into a comfortable room with tables and soft chairs and draperies on the marble walls. There were vanity tables at equal intervals on the walls, in between the tapestries. Sabé and I stood alone, most of the other girls giving us angry looks about us doing well. Miss Recané, or whatever her name was stood alone also, abandoned by her peers for doing a good job on the first test. The next test was the hairdressing test. Sabé and I partnered again, and sat at a vanity, that had any kind of hair thing you could imagine. Lt. Panaka started talking again.
"You will each be given a hologram for a specific hairstyle. You will follow the model as specifically as you can. When you are done, call me over and I will check your work. You will be given points for accuracy." Sabé did my hair first. The model she had to follow was a tricky one, with many braids piled on top of the wearer's head and some hair falling down to the wearer's back, then bunched up and twisted. She did an okay job, but she wasn't the best. I was kind of sad to see my hair go, I had been careful not to mess it up this morning, but one must make sacrifices.
I did Sabé's hair next. I had to make it stick out at the sides like a half circle around the wearer's head, then twist the remaining hair into a foreknot and stick a gold tassel-like thing at the end. It was hard, and I used a lot of mousse. I got pretty good points on it. I wasn't the best by far, but it was pretty good. I think.
Then, while we still had our hair done in a Queen-like style, we all attempted to do her make-up on our partner. I did Sabé's. I messed up a lot. I don't think I got very good points on that, but when I finally finished, Sabé looked so much like the Queen-Elect that if Amidala was to walk in the room, you couldn't tell the difference. Sabé then did my make-up, she was much better at it than I was, it took her half as much time and it was twice as good. I kinda looked like the Queen, not a lot, at least I don't think, but a little.
Panaka was then good enough to permit us to wash our hair and faces. It was quite a relief, my face was having trouble breathing beneath all that make-up. We then did the clothing combination test. Which was basically, you are given a dress. Then, you find the headdress, jewelry, matching handmaiden outfit and any other things you may need. I got this long red dress with Illuminated sein jewels at the bottom and shed potolli fur cuffs. I picked out a headdress with a gold faceframe and the Jewel of Zenda hanging down on the forehead. For the handmaidens I picked out a light, airy looking, form fitting yellow dress, that would complement the stuffiness and un-form fitting red dress. I scored very high on that test.
Sabé scored very high too. She had this black dress with gold undertones and black lace covering it to form patterns. She picked out a hooded, feathered headdress with gemstone and filigree ear coverings and firedresses for the handmaidens to complement the darkness of the Queen's dress. There were only two girls who scored very low. One of them got this outfit and the headdress she picked out was so ugly I thought I would die if I had to wear that. I shudder at the very thought of it.
~~~