Queen Kylantha often has guests to the palace, this is where they find their comfort. Tended to hand and foot, it is a true luxury to experience. The chambers offer holo projection communication.

Finally, Amelia found her room, after half an hour of searching throughout the Palace. Closing the door behind her, she wandered over to the bed and set her little box on it. Then she noticed the wardrobe built into the wall and decided to investigate just how big it was - for no other reason than the fact that she was just curious.

Opening it up, she found two single items of clothing hanging in the otherwise empty wardrobe. A nightgown and robe. The nightgown was a simple V-necked white nightdress and the robe was a blue smocked robe with gold trim along the edges of the sleeves up to the neck.

"Very nice," Amelia admired as she pulled the items out and held them up to her, whilst standing infront of a mirror to see if they suited her. Hoping that they were actually meant for her, and not someone else, Amelia laid them on the bed thn opened her box and pulled out her old clothes. Hanging them from the hangers that the nightgown and robe had been on, she hung them in the wardrobe to keep them safe.

Then she went into the bathroom, changed into the nightgown and hung her handmaiden uniform up in there too. The robe, she drapped over the end of the bed, just incase she'd need it in the night. Finally she placed her pouch of credits and other assorted items into the box, took out the comlink and set the box on the floor under the bed.

Falling into the large, cushy bed, she pulled the covers up over her tired body and set the comlink on the bedside table.

Tomorrow she'd sort everything out properly.

Suddenly Amelia's comlink sounded off, it was Asané.

"Amelia, we will be leaving for Coruscant in 3 hours..... pack your things and meet us all in the Throne Room, Queen Kylantha will be giving us a briefing of the visit.... See you there!"

"What?" Amelia mumbled sleepily as she fumbled in the dark for the comlink to replay the messsage. Just when she'd finally dropped of to sleep...

Hitting the replay button, she rubbed her eyes and sat up as the message repeated itself.

"Amelia, we will be leaving for Coruscant in 3 hours..... pack your things and meet us all in the Throne Room, Queen Kylantha will be giving us a briefing of the visit.... See you there!"

"So you mean I have to pack everything I've just unpacked! After two hours?!"

Still grumbling, she hauled herself out of bed and pulled out her treasure box. Sticking one of the bacta patches on her knuckles, she hoped that the bacta would work quickly enough to conceal the wound while she packed.

Then she went over to her wardrobe, pulled out both outfits that she'd hung in there earlier and folded her old clothes back into the box.

Changing quickly into her handmaiden robes again, she folded the nightgown and robe and added them to her slowly filling box of items and clothing. Then she tucked the comlink in her pocket, made sure she'd got everything and - carrying her box under one arm - made her way to the Throne Room.

Amelia slipped inside her room and dumped her bag on the bed. Unwrapping her new outfit, she hung it in the wardrobe with all her other clothes that she'd brought along. Then she changed into her handmaiden's uniform, set her holo-image on her bedside table, slipped her holdout blaster into the pocket of her robes and shove her bag under the bed - ready to start working once again.

She left her room, locking it behind her, and wandered back towards the Throne Room once more.

After training for what seemed like an eternity down in the Palace firing Range with Rye, Amelia was glad to have a few moments to herself. Dropping onto the bed, she rolled onto one side and lay there watching the holo-image of her family.

Soon she'd dropped off to sleep once again - that days events yet again catching up with her. Being a handmaiden was hard work!

Some time later, Amelia had awoken and was now in the process of tidyong her already neat bedroom. By tidying, however, she was simply pulling out the chinese outfit from her wardrobe, twirling infront of the mirror in it, then putting it back somewhere else.

After this became a little too repetetive and boring, she grabbed her pouch of credits and started off for the market place once again.

Following her evening spent in the Royal Gardens, amongst the beautiful flowers, Amelia returned to her room with one last thing to do before she retired for the night.

Pulling out her comlink, she sent a message to Asane, asking to meet up with her some time to discuss what she could do to help her improve her vocal training. Once the message was sent, she changed into her nightrobe, placed her comlink on the side, quietly said goodnight to everyone in her holo-image then turned out the light and drifted off to sleep - the lingering smell of roses on her robes helping to sooth and relax her.

The following day, Asané arrived to meet with Amelia. She waited outside her room until she answered.

"Hey there, how have you been getting on? I've been pretty busy myself, studying mainly...."

"I'm sorry to bother you," Amelia replied as she invited Asane into the room and pulled up two on the balcony. "I've been praticing...but there's just something missing. I can't seem to get it spot on, and I was wondering if you might be able to help me?"

As the two women took their seats, Amelia pulled out the comlink.

"Ok, this is the Queen's speech," she said, playing Asane the recording.

"And this is me," she said when the first recording had finished and the second recording began.

"What do you think?"

"Hmmm! I think it's pretty close! And considering you haven't had much close contact with the Queen herself, it's surprising... I think there's definitely something there! What I will do, that is if you don't mind, I will take your recording to the Queen and her advisers to let them listen. They may want to test you, not just on this but other info, mainly to do with politics..... But it won't be so strict, after all, the Queen would be the one to teach about those certain things anyway....." She said, waiting to hear Amelia's reply.

"Of course, that's fine by me," Amelia nodded, handing over her comlink. "If it'll help me do my job better, then I'm willing to give anything a go...bit rusty on politics, but I'll give it my best shot."

Then a thought struck her.

"What if I need to contact anyone in the meantime? Not that I will, hopefully, but you know...just incase?"

"Here, take this new one.... It is more of a general one programmed for the use of handmaidens specifically, so you will probably hear anything that is said between handmaidens" She laughed, "I will go now to the Queen with this, I'll contact you as soon as the meeting is finished... In the meantime, go and enjoy the city... It's a beautiful day and the city will be alive with activity..." She said as she began to walk away, saying her goodbyes to Amelia.

It was indeed a beautiful day, and the handmaiden robes she'd been wearing all day were hot and stuffy, so Amelia pulled out a pale blue top and brown leggins from her wardrobe, quickly changed into them and tied her hair back in a quick ponytail, using a pale blue headband to hold the few stray bits out of her eyes.

Then she folded her handmaiden robes into a satchel that had once belonged to her mother, hung the pouch of credits from her belt and tucked the comlink in the satchel with her robes. That way if she was called back to the palace, she could quickly change somewhere and dump her stuff in her room on the way back.

Finally, when she was ready, she set out into Theed once again to enjoy the beautiful weather, and more importantly, her favourite scenery. She never tired of it, and believed she never would either.

Returning to her room after the garden meeting, Amelia put her clothing away in her wardrobe again, set her comlink on the bedside table beside her picture, changed into her nightgown and crawled under the covers.

"Hey Mum," she sighed, looking to the photo. "I did it...can you believe it...I'm actually a decoy now! I start my training tomorrow with the Queen herself...I can't believe it, but I did it! I did it for you...and Dad too."

Was it just her imagination, or was her mother smiling a lot more now than she'd ever remembered before? It was like she was showing how proud of her daughter she was.

"Thanks Mum," she replied softly. "Goodnight." The picture chose that moment to make all its occupants wave, and Amelia laughed, rolling over to turn off the light.

...

Some time the next morning, Amelia awoke, dressed and muttered "Wish me luck," to the image before starting out for the Throne Room, as requested the evening before.

The morning after her meeting in the garden with Asane, Amelia woke early. She'd been unable to sleep for more than a few hours at a time because of the millions of thoughts crashing round inside her head.

Pacing back and forth for a while, she contemplated on what to wear, and what to pack. After all, she wanted to make it appear that she was going on holiday - in which case a full case would be required. But then, a bounty hunter wasn't likely to carry a huge suitcase around with them. In the end, she dressed quickly in her plain travelling attire and sat on her bed, waiting for Asane to make contact in some form or another.

It was not long before Asané entered the chamber. She was carrying several bags for the journey.

"Alright, the arrangements have been made...... And the skiff is waiting for us at the other end of the city..... It is inside a hanger bay, security locked, but I have the password to enter...... The Queen said to leave at twilight...... We will dress in dark robes, keep our faces covered as we make our way through the plaza, then once we board the ship, we have to leave immediately...... And then we must dress into our.... Bounty Hunter attire..... Yes.... I have some for us so we'll hopefully blend well enough...... At least I hope...... It will take quite a while until we reach Mandalore, will give us time to plan everything out......."

Amelia nodded in understanding and picked up her case, placing it on the bed beside her.

"So...until then...what do we do?"

"Well, we have to 'leave'..... At least pretend to.... We must walk through the palace in normal clothing with our bags, and appear to leave completely for our leave of absence.... But we then must find a place to wait until after midnight..... So basically, we must find a place to hideout...... Like criminals..." She laughed a little at the sound of it.

"Well, I do not like the sound of hiding, but if it is the only way..." Amelia sighed and picked up her case.

"We'll we'd better 'leave' then. Although I do not know where we will go...I don't think there are any criminal locations on Naboo...none that I know of at least," she laughed, trying to make it sound like a joke, even though she knew the severity of the situation.

Amelia was enjoying one of her well earned - well...she thought it was well earned anyway - breaks, when the door chime sounded and she looked back from her balcony with a frown, wondering who it could be.

"Come in," she called, turning her back on the beautiful scenery outside her window, just as one of the guards entered the room and bowed his head to her.

"Milady, there's someone outside the Palace, waiting for you. Says his name's Resei. Shall I let him in?"

"No it's fine...I'll go to him," Amelia sighed, closing the doors to her balcony, grabbing her holdout blaster from the side table as she passed it and following him from the room.

"Did he say what he wanted?" she asked, but the guard just shook his head as he returned to his duties. This was the last thing she needed right now...her 'boyfriend' turning up when she was at work, and trying to keep her head down!

Walking out of the palace, she made sure to keep the hood of her handmaiden's robes up against the light wind that had picked up. Without saying a word to Resei, she took his arm and led him round a corner, away from prying eyes.

"What are you doing here?!" she hissed angrily, once sure that they were out of earshot of those in the plaza just outside the Palace.

Resei smiled as he saw her coming, and was nowhere near prepared for her reply.
"Wowowowow- hang on a minute! Amelia? What's the matter? I just wanted to come by and visit... Wanted to see you were Ok and stuff...
But hey- I'll leave if that's what you want... I just think it's unfair that you try to bite my head off because I care about you... And I am already getting worried- it's not like you!"
He didn't bother hissing back. He spoke as he always did. Why did she hiss at him? And why was she so pissed? Then he realised it (he thought).
"Oh, wait. It's PMS, right?"

"PM-what?!" She repeated angrily. "No it's not! It's the fact that you came here to see me, after I told you not to!"

Sure that they were now out of earshot of anyone else, she didn't hesitate to raise her voice, now.

"And what the hell do you mean you were worried about me? You knew I had work today! And I'm fine...I don't know why you'd think I wasn't!"

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she began to pace a little, like a caged tiger...aggitated...frustrated...and yet it was clear she was thinking deeply.

"Look, I'm sorry," she said at last, in a voice that was much calmer, and more like her old self. "I...didn't sleep last night. I guess this constant lack of sleep over the past few days is finally catching up with me."

Resei was now nearly angry himself. Ok, sure she was tired, but he hadn't deserved being yelled at.
"You did, did you? How strange because I really don't recall you telling me not to come see you."
Then his rage subsided.
"Oh, blast it! I think we both need some sleep. This kind of a silly argument is getting no one anywhere... But.."
There was something about her. Something else than lack of sleep... Something... Something familiar, although someting he had never sensed i her... Something... No. Whatever it was, it was gone now.
"Uhm... Anyway, I was thinking I would try to get myself a job at the palace... Thought I'd tell you. I'm kinda on my way to see the queen now."

"You'll have a job," Amelia sighed. "She's away on official business outside the city...apparently. I haven't seen her all day, so I dunno whether it's true or not."

Then she looked at him and found that he was staring right back at her with a strange expression. Like he was noticing something about her for the first time.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that? What's up?"

Resei frowned.
"Hmm.. I just thought... No, nothing. Never mind."
His expression turned to normal.
"Hm... So she's away. Oh, very well. I'll come back some other day. As for now..."
He pulled her close and promtly kissed her.
The effect was... Astonishing. Or maybe even electrifying. The air around their lips seemed to sparkle. Of course, no one not quite force sensitive would notice. There was in the intense absence of sound a feeling as if something crackled. And then it was over. Resei hastily pulled away, breathing heavily, rubbing his lips as if they had been stung...
He found he couldn't speak. he merely stood there, panting, his lower jaw somewhere beneath his chest. He did, all in all, look quite stupid.

"Well that was...unexpected..." Amelia muttered, leaning back against the wall and running a hand through her hair, tucking a few stray strands behind her ear. One day she'd get used to being blonde...one day...

"You ok?" She asked, noticing his perfectly stupid look. "Only, you look like you just seen a ghost, or something."

And then a thought crossed her mind, as she remembered what Alluria said about being able to sense those who were Force Sensitive, also. And Resei had been a Jedi...and a Sith...

Oh God...has he realised?

Doing her best to stay calm, and telling herself that she was being stupid, she smiled softly and placed a (slightly trembling) hand on his shoulder.

"Hey...you alright? Coz now it's you who's worrying me..."

Resei finally got a hold on himself. He shok his head.
Then he stared at Amelia for quite a long time, probably freaking her out even more. Could it be..? That sensation... A voice that didn't quite belong to him was laughing evilly in the back of his head, knowingly.
No. It couldn't. And would that blasted laughter just stop already?
It was just too absurd. No, he decided. Just his mind playing tricks on him. Like that condemned laughter.
Then the laughter stopped abruptly. It was followed by an alien voice, in an alien language he understood just too well.
"You must train. I cannot have you growing weak. I need you prepared. You are too weak already. Falling to the light side. I shall not, have it, I shall..."
"Resei? Are you there?"
Her voice brought him back.
"Wha? Huh.. I'm not sure... Oh, yes, I must be, mustn't I. Sorry about that... I'm fine. You just seemed... Oh, blast it. I'm so tired my mind is running wild.
"Yes, you might say I am. Mwuahahaha..."

"Look," she smiled gently, wrapping her arms about his neck and giving him a soft kiss on the lips. "Why don't you go home and get some rest. I'll see you later, yeah? When I've finished work."

Relieved when he took the hint and started to head off for home, she sighed in relief, glad that for now, he hadn't found out her secret. But she made a mental note that, in the future, she needed to be so much more careful.

If she was going to lead a double life from now on, she could leave no evidence to suggest it. The two lives had to flow smoothly into each other...no breaks or obvious signs that could raise suspicion.

"I'll see you later, yeah?" she called after him before heading back up into the Palace once more.