Chapter 3 - The Blonde Handmaiden
One Standard Month Later - Theed Royal Palace, Naboo
Sabé settled into life as a handmaiden quickly. Her duties consisted of putting together the Queen's schedule, designing the Queen's wardrobe, picking out the Queen's dress each day, and putting together information to debrief the Queen when foreign dignitaries visited Naboo. Luckily, Sabé shared these duties with the other secondary handmaidens, so her burden wasn't too overwhelming. She still had time to complete her duties, socialize with her fellow handmaidens and the Queen, and do her weekly mandated workout with Captain Panaka. The man insisted each handmaiden work with him each week to keep the skills she learned and developed during the trials sharp.
Everyone was elated with their position. During their free time, Eirtaé regaled Sabé with the tales of what she did as one of Padmé's primary handmaidens and in turn, Sabé told Eirtaé all the excitement that came with being a secondary handmaiden. A few weeks ago, there'd been a hilarious incident involving a hastily crafted state dress, a visiting dignitary, and sugar powdered sweets. It was a miracle that state dinner hadn't been a disaster.
Eirtaé's descriptions of her fellow primary handmaidens were fascinating. Of course, she already knew Rabé Taren was a kind, compassionate, and wise seventeen-year-old healer who could turn into a protective mother Guarlara at a moment's notice. Eleven-year-old Voraté Rivan was an innovative engineer and a skilled pilot with a backbone of steel; it turned out that she'd known Padmé before the trials. Starré Mylira had been introduced as a sixteen-year-old quirky, fun-loving woman who was adept at swords and blasters and a former member of the Mercenary Collective. That last tidbit confused Sabé. Surely, a former mercenary wouldn't be a top pick as the Queen's handmaiden but Panaka hadn't held that against her. Eirtaé assured Sabé the woman had been vetted and she didn't even act like a stereotypical mercenary. Together, along with Eirtaé's quick reflexes and weapons skills, the group seemed to be adept at being the Queen's primary handmaidens.
To be honest, Sabé was rather glad she hadn't been picked as a primary handmaiden. It sounded extremely boring, standing around the Queen all day and trying to fade into the woodwork while remaining vigilant for any threats. Though there were perks to the high position. All the primary handmaidens had received new weapons and gear, specialized fighting clothes, and training in new weapons they'd never seen before. Eirtaé couldn't say much else about what her position entailed for security reasons, but Sabé's imagination was going wild thinking about the cool new weapons and fighting techniques.
Today was like any other day. Sabé was putting the finishing touches on a new state dress, a magnificent creation of red, gold, and black. It would be stored in the Queen's private starship, a J-class Nubian. She hummed contently, quite proud of her work. The design classes she'd been subjected to at the academy had actually proved useful! Her mood plummeted all of a sudden and her stomach clenched with mild nausea. What in the world? Was it the bilka stew she ate earlier?
BOOM! CRASH! Blaster shots rang through the air. Sabé was so startled that she fell off her seat. What the hell was going on? She scrambled to her feet and rushed to the door to see what was going on, but just as she opened the door, her fellow secondary handmaidens rushed in, pushing her back.
"Saché!" Sabé called to the handmaiden who seemed the calmest. "What's going on?"
"They're attacking the Queen!" Saché gasped out. "The… the foreign dignitaries visiting today, the… Feritans… they're not ambassadors from the Feritan High Council! They're assassins!"
"What!" Sabé was shocked. What had the Naboo done to provoke such an attack? "We have to help the Queen!"
"There's no way we can," Cara said hopelessly, a sad heap on the floor. "They've killed the Queen's Guard stationed in the throne room and have blocked the rest of the Guard from reaching them with the blast doors. Queen Amidala only has her handmaidens to defend her. They don't stand a chance against twenty assassins."
"Get up!" Sabé sharply tugged Cara up and turned to address the other handmaidens. "You hear those blaster shots? That means the Queen is still alive. Our friends are still alive. So get off your asses, stop whimpering, and let's go free them! We're the Queen's handmaidens, in case you've forgotten. We went through four months of hell, training to be the Queen's best bodyguards, her last line of defense, so don't tell me we're not capable."
Sabé stalked over to a drawer and dug out a bunch of blasters she'd hidden there in case of an emergency just like this one. She tossed two to each handmaiden. Gita and Tallé were stiff with fear and barely managed to catch their blasters.
"There are old secret passages we can take to reach the throne room. The closest one is at the end of this hall," Sabé shucked off her sewing apron and outer robes, preferring to be able to move with agility and speed, and holstered two blasters in her tunic's belt. "You ready, ladies? This is what our training has prepared us for."
The other handmaidens stared blankly at her before they followed suit and stood with grim determination on their young faces. Sabé sucked in a deep breath to calm her jittering nerves, exhaled, and opened the door to lead her fellow handmaidens into battle.
The women reached the secret passage with no difficulty. It was obvious this particular tunnel hadn't been used in years. The door had creaked open, dust and a dank musk saturated the air, and their hair was catching all the spiderwebs. As they got closer to the secret entrance to the throne room, the intensity of the blaster noises increased in volume and they could hear shouting.
"Blasters out, ladies," Sabé whispered.
The tunnel let out near the entrance of the throne room. If Cara's intel was correct, Padmé and the other handmaidens would be towards the back of the room and the assassins would be blocking the throne room entrance. Sabé looked through the peephole located in the center of the hidden door.
Cara was correct. Padmé and the handmaidens were trapped. They had managed to construct a crude barricade, but they couldn't advance upon the assassins, who were thirty feet away behind their own barricade. The women had managed to take out a few assassins before they took cover. Sabé counted nine bodies on the ground, not including those of the Queen's Guard who had fallen.
"Surrender, Queenling! You are no match for us. Come out willingly and I'll make your death easy," The lead assassin called out. His tattooed face was lit up, reveling in the mayhem he was causing.
"We shall never surrender!" Padmé's high strong voice rang out. Five sets of blaster volleys shot at the man, who ducked to avoid being hit. The other assassins returned fire.
"We're right behind the assassins," Sabé whispered to the handmaidens. "If we can get the door open quietly and signal Padmé, she might be able to distract them so we can make our move. There are eleven assassins left. Between the six of us, we should be able to take them down quickly. We have to be precise and quick. Be ready for my signal. Saché, help me with the door."
Together, Sabé and Saché dug their fingers into the door's latches and pulled. It was slow going since it was partially rusted shut, but they were able to inch it open enough for them to fit through and the noise they made was covered by the blasters. Sabé inched forward and peeked out. None of the assassins had noticed the door opening behind them. Sabé moved forward a bit more and tried to get the attention of the trapped women across the room. She caught sight of Rabé's black curls as the woman fired off precise deadly shots, nailing one of the assassins in the forehead. The assassins, now furious at the death of their comrade, increased their fire.
A few seconds later, Padmé's voice pierced the air. "STOP!"
"Cease fire!" The lead assassin called out. "Are you ready to surrender, little Queenling?"
A pause, and then, "Name your terms."
That was odd, Padmé would never surrender, especially not now. Sabé straightened as a thought hit her. Rabé must have seen her and informed Padmé. Padmé had called for a cease-fire so they could sneak out and not be caught in the crossfire! Sabé gestured to the other women, motioning for them to be silent. They crept out of the tunnel and advanced upon the assassins, whose leader was now boasting about the rewards he'd been promised in return for killing the Queen of the Naboo. They were within ten feet of the assassins before one of them turned around and sounded a warning.
"Behind us!"
"Fire!" Sabé yelled, getting off a few shots before ducking behind a table to avoid the enemy blaster shots, cursing as her leg twinged. The other handmaidens managed to fire some shots too and six of the assassins and their leader fell to the ground. The remaining four assassins stood to return fire and fell too, remembering too late about the ladies behind them.
"Is that all of them?" Sabé shouted to the women across the room, keeping her blasters at the ready.
"Some of them went into the hall to fend off the Guard," Padmé said, approaching them, armed with two blasters. Curiously, her face wasn't painted in white and she was wearing handmaiden robes. Heavy blaster shots rang out in the hall, somewhat muffled by the blast door the assassins had erected. "But I'm guessing the rest of the Guard is taking care of the situation."
"Thank goodness for that," A woman with white face paint, formal robes, and an elaborate headdress that hid her hair came forward with Padmé. "I think we've all had enough for one day."
"Eirtaé?" Sabé asked, astounded and very confused.
"Hey, sister," Eirtaé quipped.
The blast door creaked and shot opened, and guards poured into the room led by Captain Panaka. "Your Highness!" They halted, taken aback by the carnage. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Eirtaé said regally. "Get these goons out of here. The sight is beginning to make me sick."
"At once, Your Highness. Please allow us to escort you to your chambers."
"Very well. Come, ladies," As they were walking across the room, Eirtaé said to the Captain, "Comb the rest of the palace and make sure no more of them are lurking about. And be sure to…"
"Two o'clock!" Starré hollered, bringing up her blasters.
At that moment, two assassins came alive from the ground on Eirtaé's right side and shot their blasters at her. She managed to twist and dodge one blast, but the other one hit her high in the chest. She fell to the ground as everyone else leaped into action, firing their blasters at the assassins, putting them down for good.
"Eirtaé!" Sabé screamed, unable to believe her eyes. She rushed forward to her friend and cradled Eirtaé in her arms, who could barely keep her eyes open. "Stay with me, Eirtaé! Don't you dare leave me. Rabé, somebody, help!"
"It's alright, sister," Eirtaé said hoarsely.
Sabé could only sob in response as she ripped open the dress, trying to get to the wound. To her surprise, Eirtaé was wearing body armor, but the blaster bolt had managed to pierce it. Sabé removed it as Rabé and Starré knelt down on either side of them. Starré put pressure on the wound, while Rabé summoned the Force and tried to heal Eirtaé. Long minutes passed while Sabé murmured to her best friend and Starré and Rabé tried to heal the damage. Eventually, Rabé lifted her hand from Eirtaé's chest and raised her tearful, sorrow-filled eyes to Sabé's shocked gaze.
"I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do," Rabé looked heartbroken. Her healing powers had never failed her before.
"What do you mean there's nothing you can do? Surely there's something," Sabé implored, looking between Rabé and Starré.
"The Force can't heal energy blasts to the heart," Starré said, frustration in her voice. "It just can't."
Sabé started sobbing in earnest as she realized she was about to lose her best friend, her sister.
"Don't cry, Sabé. You're stronger than that," Eirtaé murmured, clasping her hand over Sabé's shaking hands. "You're going to be alright without me."
"No, I'm not. How can I go on without you?" Sabé keened. "This is Padmé's fault." Hatred rose within her at the young Queen who Eirtaé was currently dressed as.
"Don't you dare blame Padmé," Eirtaé said with conviction, a little more awake. "I chose to be her decoy and it has been an honor. If I had to die for something, I'm glad it was doing the right thing. The world would be a bleak place without those who keep the darkness at bay and Padmé is one of those people. You are too." She paused to take in a shaky breath. "Promise me you won't let the darkness corrupt you… or this galaxy… promise me."
"I… I promise…" Sabé said, the hate draining out of her, leaving only all-consuming sadness.
"Good…" Eirtaé reached under her cloak and pulled out a six-inch-long gleaming silver staff and handed it to Sabé. "That wonderful new weapon I hinted at. Use it well. I love you."
"I love you, Eirtaé. You're the best sister anyone could have."
Eirtaé smiled and closed her eyes.
A/N: A moment of silence for Eirtaé Anidale :'-(