A soft gong.

Draped in fine robes of velvet and silk, the Lord Chamberlain stood upon the high spire over a well-behaved and standing-room-only Senate Chamber. "This concludes the debate over the duration and term limits for the roles of Party Whips, Committee Leaders, and Lord Chamberlain." Leia ticked off notes on her console and lifted her chin again to command the next step. "I now call the vote. Office duration of six years, with a three-term limit. Yeah or Nay." She flipped the switched and stepped back.

Green and red lights began to flash alive throughout the room.

Ren sat calmly in the smaller chair to her right, watching with expressionless interest, as he always did. Questah sat in the smaller chair to her left, frequently jotting down notes and making any comm calls during the proceedings, as she always did.

Leia sat down in the big chair between them, crossed her legs, and awaited the vote. This part was all her. The Emperor and the Chancellors who commanded this spire before him all had the habit to remain standing during a vote, but Leia felt it important that she remove herself as an influence. To her, voting was a sacred ritual, not to be messed with outside of the strict and fair rules established a democratic government. Her job was to facilitate fair and safe debate and democracy, not subversively influence the results.

The problem with this symbolic respect was that many publically smeared her for it. Pundits and press claimed the pregnant woman was sitting down every chance she got to rest her swollen feet. This spurred rumors about her struggling health, that a human pregnancy alone was too much for any Lord Chamberlain to have to handle. Every sip of water or soft clearing of her throat were blasted across the right wing media so that 'caring' Imperials could question her ability to complete her term in office. Already, powerful Senators were vying to run to replace her as soon as Leia stepped down.

But there was only one person Leia would support to take her place, and until Senator Mon Mothma announced she was running for the seat, no one would know Leia's thoughts on the matter.

Leia had only seen Mon Mothma once since her rise to Lord Chamberlain, but they both understood the need for such strict communication. To strengthen the role, Leia had to appear un-swayed by the primary political parties. As such, her contact with Mon Mothma had to be balanced by the exact number of contacts with Grand Moff Jakobi, and Leia hated that man. The three of them were present at a political reception a few weeks ago, when a host of new Senators reported to their seats by free elections on their home systems. Under the watchful eyes of the press, Leia bowed respectfully and chatted lightly with Grand Moff Jakobi and, later that same evening, performed the same stale ritual with Senator Mon Mothma.

Yet before the evening was over, when many were swirling the floor to leave, Mon Mothma and Leia 'accidentally' stood near each other to greet the others goodbye, at which Mon Mothma uttered a joke behind a sip of her wine. "How's your feet?"

Leia fought not to laugh before someone caught her expression of humor.

Backchannels. That's where it all happened. And Questah was a key link in that chain. She carried a burner datalink on her person at all times, one that connected to one and only one aide in Mon Mothma's office. The links listed no names, no response came the same day as the sent message, and all text was painfully vague.

1 Are you running?

0 You'll be the first to know.

0 Are you asking me to?

1 When the time comes.

0 Earlier than later?

1 You'll be the first to know.

0 Stay healthy. That's an order.

1 MTFBWY, too.

Stepping into her office chambers after a Senate Session was always a bit of a circus. Threepio helped to remove her robes while aides stood by with reports and awaited instruction. Comments were as quick and succinct as the answers, all while Leia sighed with relief to be out from under the heavy robe and kicked her shoes off her swollen feet.

"...and Commander Antilles of Division One is in the lobby, but he doesn't have an appointment."

Yana kept her eyes on her datapad and tried to keep them there, but realized that Leia had already assessed her response and dismissed it entirely. "Do I have anything coming up?"

Winter shook her head. "Labor Union, but not for another hour."

Leia toed her shoes back on. "Questah, can you prepare a report for me on the special project in a few minutes?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Yana, would you like to join me?"

Yana lifted her eyes and shook her head, shrugging clueless... making a poor show of pretending to be clueless.

Leia grinned at the woman and stepped the length of the office common with Ren and Winter naturally at her flanks. Out in the public hall, Leia made a u-turn to the waiting area where Commander Antilles was sitting and reading a padfolio on his knee. He glanced to find her, tossed the folio aside, and scrambled to stand at an easy attention.

Wedge grinned, bowed, and greeted her brightly. "Good evening, Lord Chamberlain."

Leia clasped her hands together in front of her. "What can I do for you, Wedge?"

His eyes shifted oddly to Winter and back to Leia. He shook his head. "I don't have an appointment."

Leia offered with a gesture. "But I have a few minutes. Would you like to come in?"

"Um..." He thought hard on that, squinting at her for a beat, then blurted it. "No, thank you."

Her chin lifted up. Her mouth opened a different kind of grin. And her chin dropped down. "Ah." Her brow arched. "You're not here for me, are you?"

Wedge scrunched his face until one eye winked and the other eye peeked as if guilty. He shook his head. "No offense."

"None taken." She said and smartly turned her feet to return to business. Her voice carried an extra layer of insinuation. "Have a lovely evening."

"Thank you. You too." Wedge sat back down to continue his wait.

As if she were the first fighter in wing formation, Leia marched back across the office common with Ren and Winter securely at each hip. A few of the aides stood from their desks as she passed, but she didn't look at anyone, not even Yana, when she ordered, "Miss Dietrich, you can go home now."

Yana bit her lips closed, torn between embarrassment, glee, and guilt to step away from her duties before she was truly 'done for the day'.

Questah gave her a sympathetic grin and a shrug. Yana's eyes followed the Lord Chamberlain back to her office at the end of the hall. Winter sat down. Ren stood at attention next to the other Purple Guard detail, and Leia took a datapad from Threepio before glancing back to Yana again.

"Go," she grinned lovingly. "Have an enjoyable evening."

Yana gave in, sighed with distress, and turned to gather her tote. Questah stepped to the Lord Chamberlain with her special report, but Leia gestured an index finger for Questah to wait. Brown eyes snuck glances from the datapad until Yana was entirely gone from the office common.

Instantly, Leia launched to new business. She tossed this datapad onto Winter's desk. "Comm Senator Handel and tell him no." She turned to Questah and took another datapad from her hand. "And get me the RSVP list for the Senate Ball." She kicked off her shoes as she read and turned to her office. Questah caught up quickly and followed her in. "Close the door."

Questah closed the door.

Leia sat down on one of her guest couches as she read but Questah remained standing, waiting.

"Okay. This looks good. Well done." Leia handed back the datapad and met Questah in the eye. "Have Threepio put together a meal plan. Float the idea of a governess. Set up interviews with in-home tutors. Get her a credit account and a budget. Take the mortgage payment out of my personal accounts for now. When are they arriving?"

"Tomorrow night. 1700."

"Am I free for it?"

Questah shook her head.

"Alright. You're my ombudsman. Handle it, let me know what you need, and get me an evening at Luke and Kess's so I can report this to Nik in person."

"May I ask?"

"Of course."

"Why isn't Yana assigned this? Not that I mind, but she's closer to family than I am."

"Because right now, out of respect to Yana, I don't want to compromise her with information she can't share with her best friend. Until Miss Lendra says otherwise, the only thing the Jedi get to know is that they're here."

Questah's eyes flicked.

Leia realized the same thing and chuckled. "Perhaps we should start referring to the other Miss Lendra as Miss Lendra-Skywalker, just to keep them straight."

"Is she going to take the name?"

"I don't really care. Is that the Ball RSVPs?" Leia stood and stepped away without reaching for it.

"Yes, ma'am."

Leia sat down at her desk, already multitasking. "How many did Yana RSVP?"

Questah strolled closer as she flicked through the list. "Um. One."

"Put her down for two, please." Leia's eyes were on her screen, already doing something else. "And don't tell her about that either."

Questa nodded and took a note. "I'll need a name."

"I'll give you a name before the ball happens." Eyes smiled over.

Questah began to grin too. "Can I guess?"

"You can guess, but you can't write it down. Don't want to jinx it."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Thank you. You can leave the door open."

Questah turned away with the notes and left the door open. Threepio and Winter came in.

Leia lifted her chin at them. "What's next?"