Padmé smiled to herself. Sadicous wasn't very smart, at least not as smart as she thought he was. Maybe he just believed what he wanted to believe.
//Denial…//, Padmé thought. //I could use it to my advantage//.
"We will assign you your own quarters here in the building. You will not share them with anyone yet, you need to rest and have peace of mind before the membership ceremony that will be taking place tomorrow", Sadicous said in a hard tone. Padmé bowed and looked at Sadicous' boots.
"Yes, and thank you for accepting me". She was halfway there.
"Cynia will show you to your quarters". Cynia tried to hide her disturbance and walked pass Padmé.
"Follow me", she spat out. Padmé wasn't going to let her get to her with her attitude, so she just smiled and followed her.
Entering the sect's headquarters revealed a hallway with at least twenty doors facing each other. They walked through the hall until they reached the last door. Cynia pressed a few keys on the coded lock and the door opened. Inside the room was a bed located against a wall, a small table, a chair and a 'freshner. Padmé walked further inside the room and noticed a comm link on the wall.
"That comm. link communicates the entire building, including the rooms and the ceremony room. It works internally only", Cynia explained, putting special emphasis on her last words. Padmé just shrugged. Her laid back attitude affected Cynia. "Listen to me, I know who you really are, and I'll do everything in my power to make sure you are discovered", she threatened.
Padmé acted as if she didn't care and raised her brows. "I have no idea of what you are talking about. Oh, well… it's your problem, not mine"
***
"I'll be there in a minute", Padmé said as she walked outside the 'freshner. She walked inside once more and studied her reflection in the mirror. The thick and long brown cloak extended from her shoulders to her ankles, covering her body entirely. The baggy hood that hung down her back reminded her of her Jedi cloak. She never thought she would miss that itchy cloak until now.
//You can do this…you can do this//, she chanted over and over, trying to convince herself that she was able to pull out the plan that would eventually save her and take her back home to her family. With one last encouraging thought, Padmé covered her face under the brown hood and sighed. //Let's do it//.
While she approached the ceremony room, Padmé reviewed the plan in her head for the millionth time. It had to work, it just had to. Every step she took was a step closer to doubt and the uncertainties the plan brought with itself. This was the moment that would define her future and many others', so it just HAD to work out the right way. Padmé reminded herself for the last time why she was doing this and walked inside the ceremony room.
Candles greeted her entrance and continued their path until they reached the throne, where the leader waited expectantly. Padmé breathed and closed her eyes. She had reached the point of no return. This was her only chance to make her plan work.
The master of ceremony raised his stick and hit the floor with it a couple of times. Everyone stood up and lowered their heads in sign of respect towards their leader. Padmé took a step closer and fixed her eyes on the floor. As she approached the throne, Padmé brought her mind shields up and made sure nothing could go pass them and into her head.
Suddenly she found herself in some kind of parallel universe, where she could see everything that was happening but none of these things could touch her mind. For the first time in months, Padmé felt safe. Her plan was working. She remembered to make sure her shields were unnoticed by anyone else in the room and kept walking. Now she was face to face with Sadicous.
"Remove your hood", he ordered. Padmé complied and looked into his dead eyes, then realizing that they were so lifeless that it would be impossible for them to notice the suspicious look in her brown depths. A sense of security enfolded her like a blanket, letting her know that everything was fine for the moment.
"Now get on your knees", Sadicous said in a hard tone. Padmé did as told and got on her knees, lowering her head to show respect. She felt a cold hand on her head and had to resist the urge to shiver at the rough contact. "We call on the Power to help this young girl find her path among us. She will follow our teachings in order to reach maximum dominance of her true potential". Padmé felt a soft electric shock going from Sadicous palm and into her head.
//This is it//, she thought. With all her concentration she created a mental shield, stronger than the one she already had, so that whatever it was Sadicous was passing over to her would remain on the surface and not in her mind. After a couple of minutes, Padmé started to feel dizzy. She was about to pass out from the mighty effort she was putting in her shielding, when the hand left her head. There was what seemed to Padmé a long silence when she felt two hands in each of her shoulders.
"Now rise and let us contemplate the new Padmé", the deep voice greeted. Padmé slowly stood up and she swore she could still feel the electric shocks going through her body. She turned to face the rest of the members of the sect and lifted her eyes from the floor. A loud gasp was heard from the audience when Padmé made eye contact with them.
"Look at her eyes", she heard some one whisper. Padmé blinked a couple of times and felt as if a citric juice had been spilled into her eyes.
"My eyes… they hurt", she whispered, trying to avoid rubbing them.
"You'll get used to it, it happened to me, too", she heard Sadicous say. "Not everyone gets their eyes changed after the ignitiation ceremony, only the most powerful ones. I guess that's a good sign", he said in an almost amused tone. "Go ahead and see them yourself", Sadicous added, guiding Padmé to a nearby mirror.
Padmé slowly opened her eyes and raised her look to the mirror. Were her eyes… yellow? She blinked twice and confirmed what she already suspected: her eye color had changed.
"My goodness…", she said when she could find her voice. "They are… yellow", she stated the obvious. It wasn't an ordinary yellow, either. Most shades of that color where warm and soothing. This one wasn't. it was cold, uninviting, and so very sharp. Daggers could be softer than her eyes. Padmé realized that she could use her new look to accomplish her mission faster than she had expected. Once she got used to her new eye color, she would be able to intimidate people through menacing looks and uncomfortable stares.
"My eyes used to be brown, too. Look at them now", Sadicous pointed. Padmé just nodded, not wanting to look into his cold eyes again, afraid that Sadicous might discover her true feelings. She felt as if it was the first time she had used her eyes, and not knowing how they looked, she didn't want to jeopardize her position not knowing if too much was being revealed in one glance.
"I'll get used to them before you know it", she assured Sadicous. He just gave her a quick nod and left her to join the rest of the members. Padmé quietly returned to her private chambers.
*********
Theed Palace, Naboo.
Anakin was reading a contract sent to him by Bail Organa to make Naboo form an alliance with the senate, in order to have the planet to participate even more in the ruling of the galaxy. Naboo already had a senator who represented them quite well, and Anakin wasn't sure if his planet could afford to be even more involved. There were enough internal problems to handle already, like the Burgeois Commity, who insisted on not giving too much power to the labor class.
Naboo's entire economy depended on its farmers and low class workers, which made the high class skeptical. The high status people were already too involved in the government, after all, they managed all the economic issues regarding the planet. But they weren't satisfied. They wanted more power.
This meant a major problem to Anakin. He wanted his people to be satisfied, but he later realized that it was impossible to have everyone happy with his reign. Anakin knew that if he gave the Burgeois Commity what they wanted, the labor class would raise against him to get more attention.
And to top it all, there were no news from Padmé or the Jedi order. They refused to meet him or have any contact with the king. The Jedi knew that the king would get even more worried if they told him that they hadn't heard from Padmé since her departure. But it was too late: Anakin knew about Padmé and how she hadn't been able to contact the order. Obi Wan had secretly kept him informed of Padmé's situation.
"It's the least I could do after what I made you go through", Obi Wan used to tell Anakin.
"Your majesty, your comm link is beeping", Sabé informed. She had been standing next to Anakin as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb him.
"Oh, you're right. Thank you, Sabé. Could you please leave me alone?". Sabé nodded and left the room. Anakin reached for his comm link expecting it to be Obi Wan with some news. But the code displayed on the tracking device Anakin didn't recognize. He pushed a red button and a hologram slowly appeared. Anakin could tell that it was a woman, but the image was still a little blurry when the figure finally spoke.
"It's me", Padmé said. Anakin's eyes almost popped out of his head when he recognized whose voice it was. He was about to scream her name when she interrupted him. "Shh! Don't say my name, some one could be tracking the signal. Don't mention any names at all".
Anakin nodded and smiled. He had so many things to tell her yet he didn't know where to start. "How've you been?", he finally asked. Padmé smiled and Anakin noticed how her eyes glowed. She was about to cry.
"I… I've been better. This 'errand' is taking longer than I hoped…"
"I know… you've been away for a long time. I really miss you Pa…", he almost said her name. "I really miss you, partner", he finished, keeping himself from making a disgust face. He couldn't even call his wife by her name and it drove him crazy.
"I miss you too", she said, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"The 'little person' misses you too. Whenever I call your name, the little person looks at me", Anakin added, 'little person' standing for Seth. Padmé's eyes closed and she bit her lip.
"I miss the little person, too, more than anyone", she confessed, bringing her hands to her face. "I want this to be over soon!", Padmé desperately sobbed. She wiped her face with her sleeve and looked at the camera. Anakin got closer to the image and noticed that her eyes looked different.
"What happened to your…?", he asked motioning for her to look at his eyes, clearly confused. Padmé realized that Anakin had already noticed the eye color change and sat back.
"It happened during the 'errand'. I hope it's not permanent… I don't want anything to remember this by… It's been terrible…", she admitted.
"Do you want me to reach the…um… boss…so that they can send some one else in your place?", Anakin asked. Padmé noticed that she had been too weak, and that moment of weakness had made Anakin even more worried. Great. That was just what they both needed. "Please, answer me", he insisted.
"No, I can do this. If I need any help I'll let you know", Padmé answered, not sounding convincing enough for Anakin, because he raised a brow. "I mean it, I will ask for help if I need any", she assured, recognizing her husband's gesture. "I have to go, I can hear footsteps…", she started, but the transmition failed in delivering the entire message. Anakin pressed a few buttons and switches, but the image was gone. He felt the urge to call her name, but if the audio system was still on they might hear him. Frustration printed in his brows, he leaned back on his chair and looked at his comm link. A heavy sigh left his lips and he covered his face with his hands, then moving them to rub his temples.
But not everything was lost. At least he had been able to talk to her for a while. Anakin started to think how he could help his wife from where he was, but he realized it was impossible. If he wanted to be of any help, he would have to go there.
Anakin signed the contract compromising Naboo to be more participative in the senate. He would go to Courasant to deliver the news himself, that way he would be able to find out more about Padmé. Anakin dropped the pen hesistantly.
//Don't mix your personal life with your professional life…//, he heard the voice of his father telling him. What a wise man he was… He always had an answer for any of Anakin's questions, but this time, his advice would have to be left aside. This matter couldn't wait any longer. Anakin placed the contract in a folder and left the room, his mind already on his purpose of helping his wife.