A/N: Here is the next chapter of the Time! Fun fact: I got the title and the reoccurring phrase from a documentary about Anne Boleyn I was watching a few weeks ago. In one of her personal journals, she had once written 'The time will come. I, Anne Boleyn.' And that made me decide to write about Amidalo, using a similar phrase as a basis.

Also, thank you to Judy-Laura-L, who suggested I use 'manservants' as an alternative to handmaidens! It sounds much better than 'handmen, which was my original idea.

Let me know what you all think of this chapter!

…~oOo~…

Chapter 2: Highness

My time has come. I, Amidalo, king of Naboo.

My heart pounded with the vivid reality of it all. Just as quickly, nervousness took butterfly-like flight in my belly. This was it. The culmination of all for which I'd worked for so long. My ultimate dream come true.

I wouldn't waste the effort, or my people's faith. What it had taken to get here was necessary. Now, I must prove I was the best for this role and that it had all been worth it.

As his new King, I turned to greet Panaka. Face expressionless, I offered the security officer my hand. He took it and kissed the back, as per tradition. "Your Highness."

"Captain." No longer was he merely head of my election security. He was a Captain of the royal guard, the highest of all honors for those guards who served the ruler of Naboo. Now, me. "Thank you. I am ready."

"If you will come with me?" Panaka invited, gesturing out of the room. "Your security team is ready for inspection. As you know, a mere formality, but it's expected before Governor Bibble gets here to brief you officially."

Yes. I knew. "Of course, Captain." My tone was Amidalo's impersonal inflection. When shaping my princely persona, I'd made certain he was never the type to show any of what was within. This would hardly change now that I was king.

Besides, I barely knew the man; and he didn't seem offended.

"Later, we'll have to talk about the personalizations to your security," Panaka continued, as we left the room and headed down the hall where the guards awaited me. "The Order of the Sanctuary has fielded a number of excellent candidates I feel confident will fit the role well."

"It is good to hear of your confidence, Captain."

Panaka glanced at me sidelong, as though unsure whether I was employing sarcasm or not. But Amidalo never employed such petty means. The Order of the Sanctuary always produced excellent attendants, whether they were handmaidens or manservants. Naturally, I wanted to check them all out for myself before any concrete choices were made. But I'd done checking up on Panaka after he'd been assigned to me: the man appeared entirely, positively squeaky clean. I trusted his judgement well enough.

Just not too much. Never would I trust anyone besides my family too much ever again. Not after what had happened.

I pushed that line of thought from my head to focus on the now.

The newly minted King's personal guard awaited us at the end of the long hallway, and I couldn't help but reflect that the name sounded mightily fine indeed. So they also looked: Arranged two neat lines, all straightening to attention as I strode toward them. These guards, sixteen in total, would now protect me on a four-person rotation. Other guards in the palace concerned themselves with operations and coordinating with the King as necessary.

With me.

I found the eyes of each guard as they were introduced to me. So much could be known simply by looking into another's eyes, examining the soul within. Since I had already taken the liberty of memorizing their names and pictures prior to today, I needn't focus on putting names to faces. I could focus on whether or not I believed I could trust each of them.

Eyes could lie, but I'd found they couldn't lie so easily as other things could. Not foolproof. But a good place to begin.

When I reached the end of the line, Panaka dismissed thirteen of the guards. (The other three were currently on duty alongside him.) Then, Bibble was ushered inside. Again, I offered my hand, and the governor provided the kiss to its back. After that, he proceeded to brief me on procedure and rules I already knew. But I nodded and listened with Amidalo's customary polite grace, never interrupting, but asking clarifying questions of minutia I mostly already knew. (I'd prepared down to the micro-details to be king, after all.) Soon enough it became clear Bibble wasn't going to discuss anything of policy or substance, yet I gave him my full attention until at last he concluded,

"And that seems to be all we can cover today, I'm afraid." It had been several hours. "Unless you have any more questions, Your Highness?"

"That covers all my queries at the moment. Thank you, Governor Bibble." The inflection made it clear that this was his dismissal. "But I would appreciate it if you could arrange for a droid or staffer to bring me any relevant political documents. That way I can read them this evening and be prepared for tomorrow's meetings."

"Yes, of course, Your Highness." Bibble got to his feet. "I will send you the files as soon as I have finished the rest of my duties for today. It is a busy one for all of us," he jested.

It was a poor joke, but more than most would offer. I nodded to him in kind, and the Governor gave a bow before departing with his aides. Then it was me, with my four guards, and the knowledge that all in this palace—all on this entire planet—awaited my any order.

My time has come. I, Amidalo, king of Naboo.

…~oOo~…

It took several more hours before I could retire to the temporary quarters which I'd be staying in until former Queen Rélàta had vacated the royal apartments. Panaka had wanted to discuss security measures yet again. (We had discussed security several times during my candidacy.) Now that I was King, not Prince, however, "everything was different," according to him. While I agreed wholeheartedly with the sentiment in regards to politics, I was beginning to wonder if the man might be slightly obsessive when it came to security.

It would sure be an adventure to meet the manservant candidates he'd picked out from the Sanctuary.

But I couldn't stay annoyed at the older man. Not when I was too jazzed to think about anything else except victory. Grabbing the nearest pillow, I put it over my face to muffle the sound of my laughter. It probably would sound somewhat manic to the guards standing just outside the door.

I did it. I really, really did it. Yes! It'd all paid off. All the work. All the time. All the years. All the backhanded efforts against my unworthy opponents.

It had all paid off. It had all been worth it. Because now I was here, and I could actually do some good unlike the ineffectual weaklings who had served consecutive terms before me.

My time had come.

As soon as the better part of my laughter had petered out, I grabbed my comm. and made the call I'd been hoping all day to make. Soon enough, the figures of my sister, mother, and father appeared, hovering above the floor like ghosts. Nothing was more valuable to me in that moment than their smiles. Not the finest piece of art or the fattest Corusca gem.

My mother was the first to speak. "Oh, my baby! King! I'm so proud!"

"Yeah," Sola remarked stridently in turn. "We all are. Too bad I didn't vote for you."

I stuck my tongue out at her, which my father took as his cue to speak. "We're all proud, son," he said, shooting a look at Sola. "And I happen to know your sister did vote for you."

My sister responded with a hand gesture considered rude on most worlds, to which I returned with a one-up, then said, "Thanks, Mom and Dad." Emphasis on those two of the three.

"I'm just saying, baby brother. That speech you gave about an age of kings nearly made me want to hurl. Nonetheless… I will admit that I couldn't turn on family."

"Sola, your assessments of life are, as ever, a wonder," Dad said dryly. "Go check on our guests, huh?"

Right. Because they'd still be holding their usual post-election party for friends and staffers at the university he taught at part-time. It was hard for a moment to remember life didn't stop just because I wasn't there with them.

"Touchy," uttered Sola, but then gave me a smile that let me know she really was proud. "Nice job, Mee."

I smiled back. "Thanks."

After she left, Mom shook her head in fond exasperation. Dad continued, "I wasn't sure I was ready for my son to be King until today. But now, I'm sure. Well done, son. We're all proud."

I managed to freeze my smile in place, but something in my father's eyes had stopped the literal beat of my heart for an instant.

No. No. I must be mistaken. He couldn't know. There was no way.

It just wasn't possible.

So why, suddenly, was his old advice playing in my head as if he'd planted a micro-chip on permanent repeat? "Victory at any cost is no victory at all." And why was he kriffing gazing at me like that? Visible even through the holo?

Well. He was wrong. Victory at whatever cost felt damn good. And I'd make good use of it, too.

"Love you," I said briskly, causing Mom some suprise. "Good luck with the party."

After quick goodbyes, I clicked off the transmission, leaving myself alone in the semidarkness of the room.

…~oOo~…

A/N: Next time… Amidalo chooses his manservants from the Order of the Sanctuary candidates…

I am now putting challenge questions at the end of each chapter. You will answer the questions in the reviews.

Challenge 1. Favorite part and/ or line? 2. What do you think caused Padmee to lose faith in clean politics and turn corrupt? 3. Do you believe think he really has good intentions for Naboo or has just convinced himself he does? 4. What would you like to see happen during his pre-Phantom-Menace reign?

Thank you all for reading and reviewing.

~ Rivkah ~