As Amelia walked into the Throne Room that morning, she saw the Queen on her Throne, with all the other handmaidens around her. Bowing in respect, Amelia joined the others and waited to find out what would happen, adjusting her robes to make them sit on her better so that they were more comfortable. Then she glanced at the Queen, making a mental note to keep an eye on her and memorize everything she did, from even the tiniest of gestures to her speech, to the way she greeted people, and so on. Every little helps, after all, and the more informatipn she learned, the better she'd be in the future.

After a while of waiting, the Queen and Amelia finally had the chance to discuss her future career in private. They walked with the other handmaidens into the Queen's office, though all left after a few moments to give privacy.

The Queen sat down at her desk, offering the seat in front of it to Amelia.

"I'm sorry for the delay.... Well, now we will begin your lessons. A lot of it you will need to learn on your own, I can only give you the details.... You have already mastered the voice.... Now you must master knowledge of politics on Naboo..... We concern ourselves more with local politics these days than galactic, the Empire has made it difficult to breathe outside our own system.... So for now it is not important..... What is the most recent political news you have become aware of on Naboo?" The Queen asked

"Well, the incidents surrounding your election as Queen, actually," Amelia replied after careful consideration. "Before that, I'd lost touch with the outside world for a while and the latest news I'd heard was of Senator Amidala's death. Then one day, for reasons I still don't know...I tuned into the holonet and saw the news report covering what had happened between you and Darkell."

"Yes, it was unfortunate all that business..... But, there is something that I have to admit, and that is that Darkell's claims are not entirely untrue..... I don't mean to upset or worry you, but I will be honest with you...... This is all top secret information and you must never utter it again to anyone.... But you see, at the time of Padmé Amidala's death, the then Queen.... Apailana, believed that she had not been killed by the Jedi, as is the official claim given by the Empire..... She believed there was something else behind it all, though we will never truly know what she did believe...... Anyway, after Order 66 and Senator Amidala's death, she helped the remaining Jedi who came her way, by hiding them and helping them get to safe places..... When the Empire heard of this, they came here and hunted her down....." She paused for a long moment.

"The Empire killed the last Queen before I..... Queen Apailana..... That is the truth..... But in all archives, it is stated that she was killed by rebel forces, probably connected to the Jedi..... But it is not true..... It was the Empire..... They punished her for helping the Jedi...... Once she was killed, the Empire placed me to replace her..... That is why I have been Queen for so long..... The Empire wants me to be ruler..... For life..... Because the practically bought and paid for me..... If I go against their wishes, they too will have me killed..... That is the reality of politics in the galaxy now Amelia...... There is no such thing as democracy anymore...... I am only Queen in name..... I never truly earned it the way that Apailana, Jamilla and Amidala did..... So Darkell is right, the election was indeed set up.... But it has nothing to do with me..... I must do as I am told.... But it is something that Darkell or any of his crew can ever know..... It is likely that if they keep causing trouble, the Empire will have them killed, and though Darkell is an enemy of mine, I do not think he deserves such a fate...... I'm so sorry to lay this all on you, but I want you to understand the position I am in......" She waited to hear Amelia's opinion.

Amelia sat in stunned silence for a long while, contemplating everything that she had just heard.

"So...You are a puppet ruler, then," she said at last, and the way she spoke this idea was one of pure disgust. "Then it is true what I have heard about the Empire...I thought they were just wild rumours designed to scare people into submission...but they really are killing anyone who stands in their way. That is terrible!"

Seeing Kylantha's expression, she suddenly realised how accusing she had sounded towards the Queen.

"Forgive me," she added quickly. "I did not mean that about you...It's not your fault. You make a wonderful Queen and I am proud to serve you...I did not mean to insult you with my harsh comments. I was not thinking." Her expression changed from appologetic to sympathetic as she looked at the young Queen before her.

"Don't worry. You're secret's safe with me. And I will do whatever I can to help you, aswell. You have my word."

"I thought it was best to be honest with you.... If you are to serve as my decoy then we have to trust one another..... There is so much more to tell you..... More secrets, but not for today..... I'm sorry if I disappoint you with what I have told you today.... And I am ashamed that I did not win entirely democratically, though I have been the most popular in the polls to date, still, it has been unfair that the Empire keeps me in power.... But if I sway from this path, I do will be entombed in my own grave..... Now.... I think that enough with politics for today.... First, I will throw you in to the deep end as they would say.... The only way in which I can be certain that you could convincingly pass as myself, is to send you on a small mission..... Oh don't worry, nothing extreme.... I wish for you to dress in my robes and make up, and with your fellow handmaidens, go into Theed Plaza for a small visit and greet the crowds. My men are already preparing for the event, to ensure your safety..... If you can convince the people of Naboo, then you can convince anyone across the galaxy..... Are you ready for this?" She asked smiling.

"Erm...sure," Amelia replied, trying not to sound alarmed. She'd been expecting something like this, but it had still come as a surprise.

"What should I say to them? What would you say to them if it was you?" Amelia asked. "If I am to be you, I have to know how you think, after all."

Then, as an afterthought she added, "Oh, and I'm not disappointed in you at all. I think you've handled this whole Empire thing better than anyone else ever would have done. You have my deepest respect, for I don't know anyone else who could ever have done what you do. The fact that you are still alive is credit to your skills, and I don't doubt for one moment that you are any less of a Queen than your predecessors. You've earned your title as much as they did."

"Thank you, I'm glad you understand the situation well... Concerning what you will do on the Plaza and what you will say... It is best for the time being to say as little as possible.... The security will be high so it is rather unlikely that people will get the opportunity to get very close to you... If some people offer you flowers and such, accept them and thank them... Although be careful in accepting some items... If there are any items that are in boxes, then it is best to let one of the guards accept it for you.... But flowers, you can take.... Well, I guess I should walk you through the planned procession.... First of all, you will start at the main stairs of the palace, there all will be able to see you, and it is likely that they will be watching you on the HoloNet.... Once you have descended the stairs, there will be a large barrier at the bottom to stop you getting overrun with people.... Walk past and shake hands with the people.... Smile and so forth.... It will only last 15-20 minutes maximum.... Once the event is over and you have returned to the palace.... All we can do is wait.... If any rumors begin to circulate that it was not me, then we will need to return to basics and try other things.... If they point out details that made it easy to spot that you are infact a decoy, then we will focus on those things to improve.... The event is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon... You will be dressed in an older robe, once worn by Queen Amidala and also Queen Apailana.... A Red robe with glowing orange lights on the dress... It is one of our oldest that it still in use.... Do you have any other questions?" She asked.

Carefully considering this question, Amelia finally shook her head.

"None that I can think of...apart from...just out of curiosity, which handmaidens will be with me? Will Asane? I don't want to sound biased towards the other handmaidens because I know that is not fair to them, but when she is with me, I feel safer somehow...more secure and confident. Perhaps because I have known her the longest." Amelia shrugged. "Of course if she is busy elsewhere I understand."

"Asané will be there, and so will I.... As Verlé remember..." She gave a smile, "Well there is not much more I can do but tell you to arrive tomorrow morning here.... early, I'd say around 10am, and then we will get you all dressed for the event... Don't be worried about it, I'm certain it will all go very well.... Have a good rest... Once it succeeds, then we can focus on more important things of decoy work...." The Queen spoke as she stood to walk Amelia to the door, "If you succeed in all aspects of decoy work, there is so much that could be opened for you.... You could become the next Princess of Theed... You could go into politics more strictly.... Or you could become a Queen on another planet...." She smiled.

"Thank you," Amelia nodded gratefully as she allowed the Queen to show her out of the room.

Once she was alone again, Amelia didn't know whether to jump for joy, or scream and run around like a headless chicken. She decided the latter might not be very appropriate, and decided to wait until she was at least in the safety of her own room before she did that. So instead she walked quickly away down the corridor.

The next morning, Amelia arrived at exactly 9:59am, ready for whatever make-up and clothing she had to be dressed in. Asane was there, as were the Queen in her handmaiden's uniform, and a handful of other handmaidens who Amelia had seen but never spoken to before.

"Right," she grinned. "Where do we begin?"

The handmaidens gathered around Amelia and began to dress her into her new gown, it was a dress that had once been worn by Queen Amidala herself, and incidentally, was the last gown worn by Queen Apailana before she was murdered. The dress carried a lot of history. After more than 3 hours of preparing the hair, placing a fake wig on to give the appearance of same hair colour and so forth, Amelia was ready for her task on Theed Plaza. The handmaidens smiled as they saw the amazing similarity between Amelia and Kylantha.

Suddenly, the Queen dressed in handmaidens attire, accompanied by Asané walked into the room. Both smiling at what they saw.

The Queen walked to Amelia, "Are you ready?... Your Highness?" She smiled as she bowed a little. Now she was to be called Verlé during the entire task.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Amelia grinned. "This is gonna be so weird, but I'm loving it already! I just hope I can pull it off." She took a deep breath and in her best Queen's voice said "Shall we?"

Together the small procession started off away towards the entrance of the Palace and the awaiting crowds.