If there was ever a time when Qui-Gon felt lost, now was one of those times.
Both of his girls were very unhappy, and there seemed to be no way they would stop arguing with each other. They practically made it a sport. All they were missing was a scoreboard and a referee.
Qui-Gon knew it was all because of this betrothal thing going on. Both women were right in some respect. Kara was right that the rules did not stop her from competing and she did win her hand fair and square, as well as the fact that a man was not required to marry in order to inherit the throne. But Shmi was also right that legends taught important lessons sometimes and that the betrothal law had been a big tradition for centuries.
The only reason Qui-Gon was betrothed to a then Princess Tahl before becoming king was because he was an only child, the only heir to the throne, and thus the only one who could produce new heirs to the throne. This, Kara knew. And unlike her father, she had siblings who could inherit the throne instead of her. But, it didn't appear that simple.
Kara gave a simple solution. That she would willingly abdicate so one of her brothers could inherit the throne. But instead, her parents went through with the Gathering to have three men compete for her hand when Kara made it very clear she did not consent to being a trophy for anyone.
"Dad?" said Anakin, approaching his father. "Are Mom and Kara gonna be okay?"
"I honestly don't know, Son." Qui-Gon confessed. "Nothing has been the same in this palace since Kara's mother died."
"I thought Mom was her mom." Carmine said.
Qui-Gon sighed.
"She is her stepmother." Qui-Gon said. "You boys must remember I had another wife before your mother. She was the one who birthed Kara. The woman I was betrothed to when I was crown prince."
"I thought a prince didn't have to marry to become king." Anakin pointed out.
"It's true, but I went through a betrothal because I was the only heir. I had no brothers or sisters, nor a cousin who could inherit the throne. But I was fortunate enough to fall in love with the princess I married. Your mother was a commoner when I married her. And yet, she proved herself to be a good queen, and eventually gave the kingdom two more heirs than its previous rulers had conceived."
"But you said you married her out love, right?" said Carmine. "Why can't Kara choose her future husband?"
"Yeah, and what if none of these guys wanna marry her either?" Anakin said. "What if they have girlfriends we don't know about or don't even want to marry in the first place?"
"I wish it were that simple. Nothing like this has ever happened in the history of the Gathering. Never has a princess of Coruscant been brave enough to challenge the law or discover a loophole that would allow her to win her own hand. Unfortunately, I don't know if the lords will be accepting of this change. For now, we must keep them at bay until we can settle this matter."
So, Qui-Gon had his sons get up with him. He had Anakin grab the guards and go search for Kara while Carmine and their father stayed to entertain the lords.
Anakin got up on Sapphire and adjusted her reins.
"Alright, Sapphire. Let's go find my sister. Hyah!"
And Sapphire ran out with Anakin and the guards splitting up in search for Kara.