Chapter 7
Padmé Amidala was beginning to wonder if she should continue to trust Chancellor Palpatine.
She had been standing atop her Senatorial platform for an hour now, trying to get a word in edgewise with him when the entire address had been assigned originally to HER. And at six months pregnant, she didn't care to stay on her feet that long only to be denied the speaking time that was rightfully hers.
That, and she wasn't feeling particularly trusting at this stage. She shook her head as he rambled off again about something to do with the Trade Federation, which no longer had hardly anything to do with the war, wondering if it was just her overprotective mothering instincts starting to kick in or if there was actually something about the man gone wrong.
She knew Anakin certainly trusted him.
But she was worried about Anakin, too. Her husband had told her the good news—that the Chancellor had found a cure for his illness and soon everything would be fine—but she was still concerned. She was used to Anakin and his way of averting danger to his life at the last minute, but—
Palpatine continued to talk, nonsensical items that weren't on the bill or even related, delaying the Senate's action even more. Padmé faced him, feeling her normally calm face starting to pucker up with fury. SHE was supposed to be doing the talking!
Suddenly she caught his eye. The Chancellor didn't miss a single word of his rambling speech, but she clearly saw him register her presence. Instead of ignoring her like before, his dark eyes narrowed at her and she saw his lips turn up slightly in displeasure before turning away, his expression calm as ever.
She gasped and instinctively placed a hand on her belly, forgetting that she was hiding her pregnancy. He was purposely cutting her out! Palpatine may have been her husband's savior, but he was up to something in the political realm, and whatever it was, the outcome would be for evil.
Saché, her handmaiden, gave her a concerned stare. "Are you all right, M'lady?"
Distracted, she quickly glanced over at Saché, then back to Palpatine, who continued as if nothing had interrupted. "I'm fine, Saché. But I need to sit down for a bit. I can't keep trying to get his attention like this."
Her handmaiden pushed her chair under her and Padmé sat down a bit more heavily than she'd meant to.
"Saché, call my room for me, will you?" she asked. "Ask Yané if Miss Tano ever came by like she said she would."
She nodded obediently, taking the comlink and turning to leave the Senate chamber to make the call.
Padmé sighed, glancing at the time showing on the panel her pod showed at the top. Only 11:00. How could time move so slowly? She hoped Anakin was doing all right—he was weakening fast and yet he'd worked so hard lately. This morning he'd left so early she didn't even hear him and wake up. She had no idea where he'd gone today.
A minute later Saché returned with the comlink in hand. "M'lady, Yané said Miss Tano did stop by with her son, but she didn't stay. She asked if the handmaidens would look after Derolf for a bit and ran off like something was wrong!"
Padmé swallowed her alarm. "Well, that's not a particularly good sign," she replied, trying to keep a clear head and not let her concern overwhelm her. "Call Anak—Master Skywalker—and see if he knows where she is. If we have her child, we need to know."
"Yes, M'lady," Saché replied, leaving a second time.
Padmé watched Palpatine like a hawk while she was gone, trying to illicit some other reaction from him as he spoke, drowning out not only the remainder of HER speaking time but also two other senators'—both of them sympathizers with the Jedi. She narrowed her eyes at him. Somebody was due for a talking to.
Saché returned yet again, her face carrying more bad news. "Master Skywalker did not answer my call, M'lady. I left him note that you wanted him to respond when he could."
"Thank you, Saché," Padmé replied wearily. She decided she'd try calling him again during lunch.
