3 The Epic: ORIENTATION
Whereas a lowered head was typically sufficient, a full bow was expected if it had been some time, roughly a fortnight. One was to remain on their knee until the Emperor nodded or asked them to rise. That was item one. There were about a thousand more ( "Just skim it to get the gest," Greater Courter Marius would later tell her).
Eva was kneeling, waiting for permission to stand again in this, her second presence with the Emperor. The throne room was still freezing and every other nuance felt the same. No detail had been lost from memory. Two Royal Guards remained poised at the far end turbolift, and three other Courtiers lingered near - one arriving with the Emperor, and the two that had escorted her and stood around chatting by the empty throne until their master arrived.
Eva's chest felt tightened, and she was nearly shivering in her Captain's uniform. The Courtiers must have extra layers under those robes.
"These days are bittersweet as we will miss our retiring Petror. Eva, you may rise."
The three courtiers exchanged glances. The Emperor was setting a precedent calling her by first name. But otherwise he stuck to the script, "…Your devotion in accepting this Greater Courtier's appointment, at great personal sacrifice to you, is prodigiously appreciated. We look forward to your loyal service, and a great…many…years together." He seemed to take particular satisfaction with the last part and leaned back on his throne. In a less formal, almost wistful tone he continued, "You were given that award at Lord Vader's request. Otherwise I would have never set eyes upon you." Off script again. "How Vader has indulged you." He shook his head ever so perceptibly. "And you wonder your significance to him. Have you been considering, which has more prestige, a Greater Courtier or a Queen of Naboo?"
If he was trying to unsettle her, he had succeeded spectacularly. He was reasoning that her arrival there wasn't random, and the 'queen' to which he was alluding was no other monarch than Padmė. The Emperor was silent, waiting for her answer.
"Well," Eva responded tentatively, "there are eight Greater Courtiers and one Queen,"
"The Queen serves the people of Naboo and the Courtiers serve me. One Emperor, or the combined population of Naboo?"
"Our Emperor is of greater consequence, of course," Eva nodded gracefully.
The Courtiers didn't know what to make of it all; this young upstart who was turning the rules with her hand-picked appointment. Why, the Emperor himself had come from a significant family.
At first, Eva resented being yanked from her command as Captain when she had only recently been assigned an actual ship - just a few maneuvers for all the training she had been put through. But the Imperial Palace and Coruscant were an explosion of activity, power and color compared to the grey, rigid Lacerate. New beings were constantly coming and going - Imperial and otherworldly. Besides military personnel, there were one hundred Imperial Advisors tasked with governance and administration (strategist, economist, magistrates, financial advisers, ambassadors etc.), Fifteen Imperial Ruling Councilors, one personal advisor and righthand Grand Vizier, twenty five Lessor Courtiers, seven Greater Courtiers, one Supreme Courtier and Adviser ( and one Greater Courtier understudy). And all these bureaucrats were falling all over themselves with their thirst for influence and intrigue -the rivalry and squabbles. All to little effect, as the Emperor would seldom take advice.
But now Eva would long for her simple Captain's uniform over the voluminous purple, maroon or blue robes (each one unique in design). The top-heavy headdresses were prone to topple off, as 'she wasn't carrying herself properly.' Eva had taken to wearing the partial array of robes left by her predecessor, an act of austerity that antagonized her coworkers. Supreme Courtier and Advisor Sim Aloo had warned her that the other Courtiers already perceived her as being favored- for her inauspicious upbringing, for her youth and attractiveness. Behind her back, they referenced Eva as the 'hot-headed assassin.' (The Emperor sometimes called her 'the accountant from Arda-2 who has done well for herself,' which Aloo found odd, considering her name was a mere two syllables). Aloo would shake his head and tell her, "...the most bizarre collection of training of anyone I've ever met. You'll to have to wrap your head around being at once nothing, and everything to our Emperor..."
Privy to all who came, restricted not to leave.
Eva stood on richly woven carpet wearing her floor length robes, gazing out the window at the spectacular vista of the never ending, never sleeping and always sparkling cityscape of Coruscant. In that moment of luxurious ease, her prior trials were diminished. Her scars receded. And Eva considered the millions upon millions of people, (those were simply the ones within sight), within the city planet she had scarcely yet ventured. She reminded herself how utterly unbelievable it was that she was there – right next to the one person in the entire galaxy that had risen to the very top. The dues she had paid, the sacrifices to her self-determination, were nothing in comparison.