The Children of the Stars

Jedi Princess

The stars were out when Allana awakened to the sound of her handmaidens entering the room.

"Wakey-wakey!" Vanya sang-song as she tried to sit on the Chume'da. "We've got work to do!"

Allana used the Fore to gently nudge Vanya off of her. Well, that was the intention. Instead, Vanya fell off of the bed as if she'd been shoved.

Allana sat straight up— she hadn't meant to hurt her handmaiden. "I am so sorry— Vanya, are you—"

Vanya burst into a fit of giggles as she picked herself up off of the marble floors. "I was wondering if Jedi ever used the Force for fun."

"Not often," Allana admitted primly as she got out of bed. "We're supposed to be above such things— but we are sentients, after all."

"Yes, well, now that we're awake and done playing, the Royal Dressmaker has given me our wardrobe for the debut," Vasilisa said, using a remote to summon a large floating durocrete crate into the room. "Her Majesty and Lady Serra worked with Madam Reine to create it. For the rest of the conference, we'll be allowed to select our which set we wear, but today—"

"Today's my debut," Allana finished. The mention of Tenel Ka working on the wardrobe had surprised her. After all, the Queen Mother had been fairly hands-off in the cultivation of her heir.

Vasilisa hit a button on the remote, and the crate set itself down. The locks clicked open one-by-one in rapid succession, splitting it vertically down the middle, revealing the inside like a geode.

It was like an armoire. The inside of the crate was lined with flimsi with a pattern of vovina blossoms, and the same flimsi wrapped the boxes that held the jewelry, headdresses, and shoes that would accompany the gowns. Said gowns were concealed in black satin garment bags on the right. In Hapan script and letters, each gown was dedicated to a different girl. The other boxes were labelled, as well.

Sansa was the first to remove her gown— that was what she missed most about being in court during their exile on Madrassa, Allana remembered. Inanna examined the script.

"Is that Her Majesty's handwriting?" Inanna whispered.

Allana knew she had recognized the script. Even though she had never seen Tenel Ka's handwriting before, she knew it from the very shape of the letters. They somehow carried her very essence.

Vanya snatched the box and gown for her next, and first opened the garment bag. Powder blue silk with a layer of striped indigo blue and teal gauze peeked out. Vanya held it up—there were multiple parts, pinned together for safety and instruction's sake.

Allana took hers and laid it out on the massive bed. All the gowns were designed to resemble hers, with a few differences.

What they found was that if the handmaidens and the princess wore completely identical outfits, it made it more obvious, the few differences between them. But by having some individualism in their gowns and jewelry, there was a sort of white noise for the eye. No one would really notice them, and their features blended together with the untrained eye.

It seemed that Tenel Ka had been inspired further by the traditions of Naboo. Allana was almost certain she was seeing the reconstructed gowns of Padmé Amidala.

The fabric shared across all three gowns were powder blue savra silk and white lace in the pattern of Queen's Herb acting as a trim. They also shared the same flaring skirts, square necklines, and capes that looked identical from the back.

Allana's had embroidery in indigo blue down all of the silk on her bodice and skirt of the fractal star that was the symbol of the Royal House of Hapes. They were on the silk gauntlets she was to wear with the gown, too, she discovered.