Chapter Nine

Jar Jar, Anakin, and Obi Wan walked towards the throne room in relative silence. Jar Jar had eaten too much lunch and was feeling groggy; Obi Wan couldn't shake his sense of unease, and Anakin was too busy envisioning his first meeting with Amidala in over a year.

Jar Jar went inside the throne room first to do all the official and formal introductions. Obi Wan and Anakin waited in the hall beside a guard. When Jar Jar returned, he looked decidedly lost.

"Thesa nobodee dare!" he announced.

Anakin immediately bristled with concern. Obi Wan turned to the guard.

"Where's Her Highness?" he asked simply.

"Her Highness has retired for the afternoon to her chamber and does not wish to be disturbed," the guard replied. "She will receive guests this evening however. Those were her instructions."

Everyone visibly relaxed.

"Her Highness wasn't taken ill was she?" Anakin inquired.

The guard shook his head. "Her Highness was radiant," he replied admiringly. "Certainly feeling well. She had received guests earlier and was if anything a little tired."

Anakin sighed. He chastised himself for being too jittery. Jar Jar looked disappointed. He had been looking forward to this surprise gathering of his favorite people almost as much as Anakin.

"Well then," Obi Wan said at last. "We'll just return later." He looked up at Jar Jar. "If you wouldn't mind, Jar Jar, could show us to our rooms? We'd like to freshen up. Then we'd like to mill about for awhile and just check things out."

Jar Jar appeared to be thinking long and hard. "Rooms, rooms...ah mesa know off some rooms fer spare. Dis way, in sout wings." He offered them an apologetic smile. "Guess rooms got used up. Nottin elss mesa fear."

"If there are a lot of guests staying at the palace, it's no wonder Her Majesty got tired out," Anakin observed.

"Any rooms will be fine, Jar Jar," Obi Wan assured. "A room at the palace is very gracious of Her Majesty. It will indeed be a luxury. Jedi do not take shelter for granted when on assignment."

Jar Jar nodded. "Mesa could neber be a jedi. Too hard a life." He began leading them down long corridors, farther and farther away from the heart of the palace. "Sout wing not bery farther. Mesa like if yousa all clossa to me. Thes rooms all I's ken do. If wesa knew yousa wass comin, mebbe had time ta fine somtin close." He walked along casually, not realizing he was walking alone until he went to turn a corner and saw the jedi standing several paces back. "Huh? Whatta?" He hurried back to them.

Anakin and Obi Wan were staring up at Jar Jar in surprise. They both wore confused expressions.

"What do you mean, you didn't know we were coming?" Obi Wan asked. "Didn't you hear from the representatives?"

Jar Jar looked panicky. What did he mean exactly? he thought. "Umm, well....sure."

Anakin stepped towards him. "You mean you heard from the representatives that two jedi were coming and you are just surprised to see us? Isn't that right?"

Jar Jar sighed, relieved. "Yess! Dat's it. Espictin jedi allalong."

Obi Wan wasn't convinced Jar Jar had understood Anakin's meaning. "So you were expecting jedi? From the council?"

"Right, right?" the Gungan replied slowly, his certainty waning. This conversation was confusing him. "Espictin toes jedi. Wesa no espictin yousa. Okeday?"

Now Anakin was confused. He tried a different approach. "So you weren't expecting the jedi dispatched from the council to be us, that's what you are saying."

Jar Jar moaned and clutched his head. "Ahh, mesa gettin brain-bog!" He paused and took a deep breath. "Wesa so hopin jedi wer yousa. Haff espictin jedi to be yousa. Mesa glad yousa come inyways." He nodded for emphasis, sure he had made himself clear this time.

Obi Wan did understand, but was not pleased. "But Jar Jar, we are the jedi dispatched by the council. We are the ones you were to expect."

Jar Jar's eye stalks stretched to their limit in surprise. "Huh? Council no sent out more jedi mebbe?"

Anakin and Obi Wan simultaneously shook their heads.

"No, we are the only jedi dispatched to Naboo," Obi Wan explained.

Now Jar Jar was getting exasperated. "Den whosa dos udder jedi?"

Anakin's jaw dropped. Obi Wan leaned ominously close to Jar Jar.

"What other jedi?" he demanded.

DiArta made her way down the halls back to the throne room. She stopped herself short, spying the guard outside the throne room door. She wondered briefly if Tamerlane had spoken to any guards yet.

Taking a deep breath, she decided not to chance it. She turned and made her way down a different passage and through a series of large open rooms. If she could find somewhere to hide until nightfall, she could move about the palace with ease and help herself to any trinkets she found, before sneaking out.

She passed through another open room and down a short hall. She spied one of the queen's handmaidens turning down a passage. DiArta suddenly got an idea. She followed the handmaiden down the hall and watched her go through a large ornate door.

The handmaidens rarely strayed far from the queen, DiArta thought. Find a maid, find Her Majesty. Visions of jewels and precious metals filled her mind with greed. She stood back momentarily, hastily constructing a plan in her head. Then with a wicked smile, she jogged up to the door and pounded on it forcibly.

Amidala and Sabe' looked up, startled. Rabe' crossed the room to the door and peered through a viewscope.

"It's one of the jedi, Your Majesty," she informed. "Shall I let her in?"

Sabe' stepped out from behind the chair Amidala was sitting in where she had been helping style the queen's hair for the evening. Instinctively she switched to her role as bodyguard.

Amidala looked puzzled, but otherwise unconcerned, despite the frantic pounding.

"See what she wants," she told Rabe'.

The handmaiden opened the door and DiArta rushed in, uninvited. Rabe' moved to intercept her, but Amidala motioned her back.

"Forgive me, Your Majesty," DiArta began and bowed clumsily. "It's come to my attention, your life may be in danger."

"What are you talking about?" Sabe' asked tersely.

DiArta glared at her momentarily, then focused back on Amidala. "The jedi master who was with me, she tricked me! She's not my master! She used some kind of mind control on me to use me to gain access to the palace. She means to kill you."

The handmaidens exchanged worried looks. Amidala remained outwardly composed. Such news was alarming, but panicking wouldn't do anyone any good.

"Who is she? Why does she want to kill me?" Amidala asked quietly.

"Your Majesty, she's coming this way! There is no time. You must flee your chambers. I fear I cannot defend you against the likes of her. You must go and alert the guards."

"Your Highness," Sabe' began. "We need to get you to safety. We'll sort this out later."

Amidala held up her hand. Her voice, still eerily calm. "You didn't answer my question. Who is she?"

DiArta ground her teeth together in agitation and thought fast. "Your Highness must leave now. She's taken my lightsaber. I have no way to defend you. I only came here to warn you."

A flicker of irritation marred the young queen's fair features. "Answer my question."

DiArta swallowed hard. What was the one thing she could say that would frighten the queen enough to make her leave? Ah yes..."She's a Sith, Your Highness."

The very word made Amidala's heart skip a beat. She rose slowly, gathering her robes around her. She spared a disquieted look at Sabe'.