The Dark Handmaiden | Anakin Skywalker

10. Just a Padawan

{ Hi everyone, apologies for the hiatus. For those of you who are here for Anakin x Valis, it's coming very soon... promise }

Sunlight followed them into the throne room. It was the kind of space that gave a holy aura; lofty and grand, yet subdued in its opulence with pale stone walls and glimmering marble floors.

With their travel bags now taken to their respective rooms by nameless staff, Valis and Anakin followed the Senator with empty hands. Treating his poncho like a Jedi robe, Anakin folded his arms beneath the fabric, his posture unusually relaxed for someone who was about to meet a Queen. Eyeing him quickly from the corner of her eye, Valis supposed he was quite used to diplomacy and all of its airs and graces.

Moving quietly in Padmé's shadow, Valis turned her attention to the small gathering of people who were waiting expectantly in the centre of the room. She had encountered members of the Royal Advisory Council several times before but today, in her dusty travel attire, she felt somewhat out of place.

Immediately she recognised Naboo's governor Sio Bibble. He was a grey-bearded man, around the same age as her uncle though by no means friendly with him. Sio Bibble had given a speech at her parents' funeral. He had known her as a sad, little red-haired girl back then, cowering and clutching at her uncle's robes.

It was Queen Jamilla who spoke first, welcoming the new arrivals from her throne with a friendly smile on her bright red-painted lips. She wore a crown made of opalescent shell, shimmering purple and green around her head in the shape of a crescent moon.

'Your Majesty,' Padmé greeted her with a graceful but brief curtsy, her hands gently grasping the amber fabric of her skirt as she knelt.

The Queen's dark eyes acknowledged her with genuine relief. 'Welcome home Senator,' she replied warmly, 'though we all wish your return was not burdened by such dire circumstances'. 

'Indeed,' Sio Bibble interjected, his bass voice travelling far, 'our reunion is grave, though we have much to be grateful for all the same.' From his seat the old man's eyes swiftly drifted to Anakin, whom he studied curiously. The Jedi, who admittedly seemed younger than he had anticipated, stood tall and stoic, his eyes barely leaving the Senator.

Valis, on the other hand he noted, was watchful and coy. She had recovered well from her injuries, Bibble thought, a lucky woman indeed to have survived the attack on the Senator. He was glad, for the young Palpatine had suffered enough tragedy to last a lifetime.

'Please, sit.' Queen Jamilla offered, gesturing to one of the six seats that were laid out in front of her.  The invitation, Valis quickly realised, was for Padmé alone, as there was only one empty seat on offer.

After the Senator was seated comfortably, Valis positioned herself behind but at a distance, standing beside Anakin, her head barely reaching his shoulder. The scent of the refugee vessel lingered on him, not an unpleasant smell, but one that reminded her of that fleeting moment when he had made her feel like the only living thing on board. It was not a feeling she had experienced before; the memory of it now another secret she would keep close to her chest.

'I am greatly troubled by what lies before us,' Padmé began, pulling Valis' attention back to the present, 'if the Senate votes to create an army I'm sure it's going to push us into a civil war.'

'It's unthinkable,' Sio Bibble declared, his displeasure evident from the redness of his face, 'there hasn't been a full scale war since the formation of the Republic'.

There was silence for a moment as all eyes fell upon the Queen.

'Do you see any way through negotiations to bring the Separatists back into the Republic?' Queen Jamilla asked after some quiet deliberation. She turned her attention to Padmé, the black jewels of her headdress jangling quietly as she moved her head.