Late the next morning, three parades led by grand carriages were on their way to the palace of Clan Coruscant.
The other three powerful clans of Jedi Isle.
Clan Sorreno, led by Lord Tyran Dooku
Clan Mandalor, led by Lord Obi-Wan Kenobi and his wife Lady Satine
and Clan Kamino, led by Lord Jango Fett and his wife Zam
Kara gasped as the corset was tightened around her waist, and she was placed into a tight blue dress, her hair pulled back into a bun that practically yanked her head every time she so much as breathed in, or tried to anyway. And it was all topped off with a silver amulet with a dragon symbol on it.
"Alright, Kara. Give us a good turn." said Shmi.
Reluctantly, Kara did, but found it impossible to move.
"I can't move in this thing! It's too tight!" Kara gasped.
"Oh, hush. You look beautiful."
"I can't breathe!"
Kara looked at her stepmother, who looked like she had something important to say to her.
"Kara..." Shmi began.
"Mother...?" Kara said.
"Remember to smile."
Kara sighed as her stepmother left the room to finish getting ready. She looked in the mirror and decided this outfit wouldn't do at all. She needed an expert on clothes and comfort stat!
"Carmine, I need your help with something."
"What was Mom thinking?" Carmine said. "The dress is beautiful, but that shade of blue and your complexion do not go together. And that hair does not look comfy at all."
"Tell me about it." Kara said.
"Don't worry, Big Sis. We can fix this."
So, Carmine and Kara worked as fast as they could and picked out a different outfit for Kara. One that was more comfortable, and in a whole different color. A dress as good as gold, and her hair was fixed in a nice side ponytail that looked much better with her tiara. And the dress still matched well with the necklace.
"So, how is it?" Kara asked her brother.
"You look like a queen."
"Well, it'll please Mother for the moment, hopefully."
But just in case... Kara "accidentally" spilled some cocoa, one of the toughest stains to remove, all over the tight dress.
Kara and the twins soon joined their parents in the throne room.
"Kara! What happened to the dress I helped you with earlier?" Shmi asked.
"It had a little accident. I still have the necklace, though." Kara said. "Is this dress not up to your standards?"
Before Shmi could say anything, Qui-Gon said, "You look beautiful, Kara."
"Thank you, Daddy." Kara smirked at her stepmother, taking a seat on her throne.
The royal family all took their seats, and a fanfare was blown as the three other great leaders entered the throne room with their most loyal advisors and allies, all of the three leaders ready to present their firstborn heirs.
Qui-Gon stood up to greet the other leaders.
"Welcome, Lords of the clans Sorreno, Mandalore, and Kamino." began Qui-Gon. "My queen and I would first like to thank each and every one of you for accepting our invitation to this gathering."
Shmi then stepped in to speak.
"Welcome leaders. Each of you has come with a suitor to compete for the hand of the lovely Princess Kara. To win her hand, I must warn you, will not come easy. Whichever one of them is worthy of her hand, may the best suitor win. Let the presentation begin."
"Clan Mandalore." Qui-Gon called.
Lord Kenobi stepped up and introduced a young man who looked about Kara's age, maybe a year younger than her. He had brown hair and blue eyes like his father.
"Your Majesty, I present my heir, Korkie." Obi-Wan said. "Top of his class at the Royal Mandalorian Academy of Future Leaders, strong in mind and heart."
Kara just rolled her eyes when she looked at the young man. If she married anyone, it wasn't going to be with someone who was a child compared to her in her mind, not that she had a problem with children.
The next to present was Clan Kamino.
"Good Majesty," said Lord Fett. "I present my eldest son."
And up stepped a man who looked just like Jango. His name was Echo.
"He defended our land from ten thousand foes and rescued a Jedi from the Citadel, just barely surviving an explosion that took the lives of many fighters."
Echo stood up firmly and proudly, nodding to the princess, who just turned her head away without a word, to his disappointment.
And the final suitor was of Clan Sorreno.
Lord Dooku stepped up with a man a few years older than Kara. He had long brown hair that reached to his shoulders and a beard, brown eyes like the elder beside him, and was dressed very fancy too.
"I present, my only heir, my nephew Adan." Dooku introduced. "Who stopped a clan of Weequay pirated attempting to pillage our land, bravely fighting at sea singlehandedly. With one arm, he steered the ship, and with the other, he wielded his mighty sword."
"Liar!" coughed Wrecker, one of Lord Fett's other sons.
"Who said that?" Dooku said angrily. "Show yourself. Unless you are too afraid to scratch your armor."
"At least we wear armor." Jango teased. "And can survive on our own."
"Not to mention appearance is not our only priority." Obi-Wan said.
But, there were a couple of kids who did get a little mischievous. Two of Jango's kids, the four-year-old twins Omega and Boba.
Boba swiped his sister's pony, and made her chase him for it, but crashed into Korkie, who crashed into Crosshair and Jango. And ultimately, Jango started pushing Obi-Wan, who pushed right back until they crashed into Lord Dooku, and the whole room burst into a big brawl. Qui-Gon shouted for everyone to stop fighting, but ended up getting pulled in himself and some ended up piling up on each other.
"Oh boy!" Wrecker exclaimed, all to happy to play around with the others. "Dog pile!"
Wrecker jumped on to join in.
"Here I come!" Anakin exclaimed, jumping in as well.
"Ani!" Shmi scolded.
Kara, on the other hand, started to laugh at the men's immaturity.
Zam and Satine managed to grab the little ones before they could get roped in too.
"Must they roughhouse like this?" Satine said, holding Boba.
"You get used to it when you have as many sons as I do." Zam said, looking at Omega in her arms and cooing at her. "Isn't that right, Meggy? My precious little princess."
Plants were popping all over the place from Anakin's powers, people were thrown into the walls, and it was just chaos all over the place.
"That's enough!" Qui-Gon shouted, punching the floor, making the whole room shake, and making everyone fall down, including the leaders' wives.
Qui-Gon sighed as the room was quiet now.
"Good, now that we are all-"
As Qui-Gon spoke, Artoo sniffed around and bit Dooku's leg, making the man scream in pain, which made another brawl ensue between the men.
Shmi, Zam, and Satine all sighed. With Shmi in lead, the three women walked right through the brawl and approached the four male leaders as they were dogpiled on each other, fighting immaturely. The men stopped as they looked up and saw their wives looking far from pleased.
The women all had their husbands by the ears, Shmi holding both her husband and Dooku each by an ear.
"Ow, ow, ow!" the men all whined as their wives practically dragged them all back into place.
"Now, if you're all done behaving like children." Shmi said.
Everyone stood and paid attention as the queen spoke.
"By the rights of our heritage, only the firstborn of each of the great leaders may compete as champion in the games. Compete in feats of strength or arms and thus compete for the hand of the princess of Coruscant. To win the fair maiden, each of the suitors must demonstrate their worth, and it is customary that the challenge be determined by the princess herself."
Kara stood up and said, "I choose a race. An obstacle course of parkour and archery."
Shmi smiled a Kara appeared to have finally made peace with the Gathering, and she and Qui-Gon declared...
"Let the games begin!"