A/N: Thank you all for your patience with this chapter! I just finished two weeks of veryintense work, and am now able to finally come back to Amidalo's tale. This chapter is admittedly mostly setting the scene for the Anti-Corruption Summit, but chapter nine is in the works and will contain more action.

Hope you enjoy reading!

…~oOo~…

Chapter Eight: Arrivals

The sun shone with hope. The wind gusted with anticipation. I squinted against the light.

Today, Naboo waited with bated breath for the opening day of the Anti-Corruption Summit. I stood on the landing platform with Bibble, the usual contingent of guards, and Captain Panaka. Two of my manservants stood directly behind me. Each wore dark teal robes that perfectly complemented my grand outfit for the day.

Rab had said the outfit—which he called his "finest creation to date" as he cryingly observed me in it—represented Naboo's waterways and verdant valleys, with its greens and blues. Mostly, I was just happy that I'd only had to endure one fitting for it. Tsaben, as my substitute for all those other fittings, hadn't been so thrilled.

Three of our eight guests would be arriving this morning, including Senator Palpatine; the rest would arrive in the afternoon, before the banquet to be held. I looked forward most to meeting Sheeva Palpatine in person, given my mixed feelings after our sparse holo communications. While the woman had always stood against the corruption running rife in the regal ranks of Naboo's system, and indeed, in the mass of the Chommell sector itself, some of her policies pricked at me. Too, there'd been something in my initial meeting with her, something that just didn't sit quite right…

"Senator Palpatine." Bibble's quiet notification to the group at large also drew me from my thoughts and back into the now.

The sleek silver-and-gold ship soon landed, and a tall, stately-looking woman with red-gray hair disembarked. A small coterie followed after her. Her red robes rippled in the brisk wind of the fall day, and on her lips was a pleasant, polite smile.

She addressed me first as was proper, giving me a curtsy. "Your Highness. Thank you for the invitation."

"I am pleased to have you, Senator Palpatine," I intoned. "I look forward to working together during the summit."

"As do I, Your Highness. A most excellent idea. If some of our queens had had it a few decades earlier, perhaps I never would have decided to become a senator to change things from without."

The jest was implicit. I showed no signs of amusement, which was easy, since I felt none. "Hopefully we can begin to make a difference for the coming generations," I replied. "Let us go inside."

"Of course, Your Highness."

As we wound our way into the heart of the palace, Senator Palpatine switched to greeting Bibble, followed by Panaka, with whom she seemed especially familiar. I heard her call him "Quarsh," and he called her "Sheeva".

Interesting.

Might they be friends? I spared a glance back at Sashan and Eirtam, my two hands for the moment. (For some strange reason, Panaka had insisted Tsaben not accompany me on greetings today or tomorrow. But I'd decided to pick my battles and leave it.) Eirtam gave the slightest of shrugs, a signal that he, too, had noticed the familiarity between the two. Sashan gave a light cough, our signal for discussing it later.

I masked my smile behind Amidalo's usual stately seriousness. They were on it, as usual. It felt really good to have a team to be able to count on. These highly trained boys were no longer merely in my service; they were people on whom I relied for the everyday. I was very thankful.

…~oOo~…

Though it wasn't exactly "protocol," as Villish (the stupid advisor) had repeatedly insisted, I greeted every one of the arriving guests at the landing platform rather than in the Throne Room. Yes, some of the twelve delegates had been rather rude in their replies to the summit. But some worlds invited hadn't replied at all. More too weren't even bothering to come. Those who had agreed to make the journey, I wanted to make feel welcome. Above all, I wanted to show them that things on Naboo were changing. If breaking a small point of protocol was how I did so, then so be it.

Unfortunately, a number of those I greeted didn't seem to be feeling the same graciousness. The governor of Karlinus proved nice enough, with her slightly mischievous dark eyes and obvious friendship with Bibble. Another was cool, but polite. But when the president of Karlinia, the minor planet, came along, he offered a few haughty words and nothing else.

Jafan and Kreeling arrived together. Given the two planets were very far apart from each other in the Chommell sector, I could only view their unified arrival as some kind of statement. Namely, kriff you, probably. For the past decade or so, relations between Jafan and Kreeling had been tense, ever since Queen Veruna's corruption became public knowledge. After Rélàta's reign, they had nearly broken down completely.

And instead of coming themselves, it transpired that the leaders had sent their children as representatives. I guess this was intended as some kind of insult to me, but really, I thought it was great. Adults could be so difficult to deal with sometimes, so thick-headed and unimaginative. Maybe we could actually get down to serious talk this way, teen to teen.

"I am Harlan Jafan," said a tall, slim humanoid male with blue skin that proved partially translucent, showing some red veins beneath. His fingers were webbed. His head was hairless. "My father is the planetary director."

"And I'm Tobruntie." This from a stocky girl with strawberry blond hair and jade-colored eyes. "My mother is in charge of the Kreeling refineries, which in sum puts her in charge of the planet."

Naturally, I knew all this already. But it was a beginning. I shook each of their hands in turn, giving Villish some visible heart-failure (a bonus), and then replied, "Welcome to Naboo."

After that came a few more, bringing the total number of delegates to twelve, including myself and excluding Palpatine, who wasn't so much a delegate as a witness for the Chommell sector. Since she was the representative for (supposedly) all these worlds, she needed to be here in person. Though I had names, faces, and facts memorized beforehand, only a few more really stood out. A tall woman with bronze hair who immediately thrust her small dog into Panaka's arms and warned he was a biter before urging her coterie onwards. And, finally, a delegate who spoke no basic but had to have a protocol droid translate everything, which it did in a fussy, meticulous fashion that amused me.

It began.

…~oOo~…

After the greetings, the various delegates headed to their accommodations in the palace. The manservants went to the apartments to get themselves ready for the banquet. Guards were changing out of rotation. For one single solitary moment, I was alone. Breaking character, I slouched, and slumped against the wall. Paradise.

Of course, then Panaka strode into the room. He cocked his head on seeing me.

"You know," he ventured, "you did ask for this."

"I am aware, Captain."

He shrugged, a hint of mischief in his dark eyes I hadn't seen before. "As you say, Your Highness. Would you like for me to bring a chair?"

"I will be fine," I deadpanned. Then, I straightened up again. Rest later. Focus now. Amidalo had returned. "Captain Panaka, notify the manservants that I will be returning to the apartments to get ready for the evening. And get Rab from wardrobe."

Panaka recognized the shift back to my kingly persona, and bowed in acknowledgement. "Yes, Your Highness."

"Actually—never mind. I shall get Villi myself." Taking Rab from his clothing would only set him into a fashion frenzy. Better that I go to him.

…~oOo~…

Next up: The Anti-Corruption Summit begins with a banquet and talks, and Tsaben develops a crush on one of the delegates.

Challenge 1. Favorite part and/ or line? 2. What do you think of Senator Palpatine so far? 3. Will Padmee continue to mistrust her? 4. Why do you think Panaka didn't want Tsaben accompanying Padmee as he greeted the guests?

Until next time,

Rivkah