LITTLE RICH GIRL
Chapter One
The city of Theed was always
busy, but was especially so today. Bail Organa of Alderaan was coming. He would
be in the high court of Naboo, but not only that, he was bringing his new
fiancée. The grand ship landed on a platform, and the royal court was there to
greet them. The first person to come out was a young woman. She was dressed in
a black suit and her hair was pulled back and twisted into a bun, and she wore
a matching hat. She had brown eyes and a tiny frame. Then Bail came out,
dressed in a suit for a politician of his stature. He smiled at the palace. He
walked up behind Padmé with his cane. She turned and faced him.
"I don’t see what all the
fuss is about. Naboo doesn’t look much different from Alderaan." She spoke
in a tone that was proper, as her mother would say.
"You can complain about
everything else, Padmé, but not about Naboo. It’s much bigger than Alderaan.
And far more luxurious." He turned and saw Padmé’s mother and father,
Jobal and Ruwee, coming off the ship. "Your daughter is far too hard to
impress, Jobal," Bail said. Then Padmé’s older sister, Sola, came out with
her husband, Richard, and her two daughters, Ryoo and Pooja. Richard, before
Sola married him, was more of a middle class person. But it was his charm that
had worked on Jobal’s heart. Ryoo was only five and Pooja three, but they had
manners like young adults. The queen came forward. She was about twenty-four,
about six years older than Padmé. Her hair was twisted in braids, and her dress
seem to flutter in the wind.
"Welcome, Viceroy
Organa," she said. Bail bowed down. "I hear you have brought your
fiancée."
"Yes. Padmé!" he
called. Padmé walked over. "May I introduce my future wife, Countess Padmé
Nicole Isabel Amidala." Padmé stood next to Bail. Any woman of a rich family
had the countess title before her name. This would let everyone know she was
not married. "And this is her mother, Baroness Jobal Elena Simonton
Amidala. Her father, Ruwee Michael John Amidala. Her sister, Sola, and her
husband, Richard Naberrie, and their two daughters, Ryoo and Pooja." The
queen smiled.
"I trust you’ll enjoy
yourselves here," the queen said. The crowd went to the palace.
*****
Another ship landed on another
platform, but no one was there to greet them except the Councilor.
"Welcome, master Jedi,"
she greeted. The eldest of the three Jedi came forward.
"I am Master Qui-Gon Jinn,
and these two are my former apprentices and best friends, Master Obi-Wan Kenobi
and Knight Anakin Skywalker." The other two Jedi bowed.
"The queen should be here to
greet you all. After all, you will be protecting her. But she’s meeting the new
Viceroy right now. So, I’ll show you to your rooms."
*****
Up in the higher parts of the
palace, Bail was being shown his private balcony that overlooked the waterfall.
"This will be yours. Will
you need anything?" a male servant asked. Bail shook his head. Padmé was
in the living room, unpacking the paintings that she had.
"No. It had many faces on
it," she was telling Tina, her servant. Finally, she found it--the painting
she wanted.
"Do you want all of them
out?" Tina asked.
"Yes. We need color in this
room." Padmé put it on a shelf.
"Oh, gods. Not those finger
paintings." Bail came into the room with some wine. "I was told they
were a waste of credits."
"The difference between
Bail’s taste in fine art and mine is that I have some." She pulled put a
painting of a ballerina.
"It won’t amount to a thing.
Trust me. It won’t." Bail took a sip of wine while Padmé went into another
room. Bail’s personal bodyguard came out. "She thought those things were
cheap." The bodyguard laughed.
*****
It had been only one night, and
Padmé couldn’t stand it. She sat a table with her parents, Bail, her sister,
brother-in-law, and her two nieces, along with the queen and an architect. It
was lunchtime on the second day at her new home. They were talking about how a
new ship would be made for political travel that would be even better that the
ships now. Also, another man was at the table who had helped fund the project.
"It’s one of the largest
ships that is being made for politicians to travel, and one of the most
beautiful. And Mr. Anderson helped design most of the structures."
"Well, it was Mr. Ismay who
came up with it. He envisioned a ship so grand and beautiful that it could
never be challenged. And here it is, willed to solid reality," Anderson
was saying. Padmé felt bored. Bail looked up and saw the waiter.
"Ah…yes. We’ll both have the
agnina, rare, with very little mint sauce." Bail turned to Padmé.
"You like agnina, right, sweetpea?" Padmé turned her head and gave an
evil smile.
"Are you going to cut her
meat for her, too, there Bail?" Ruwee asked, and smiled. "Hey…uh…who
thought of the ship? Was it you, Mr. Ismay?"
"Yes. I want it to have
size. And size means stability, luxury, and strength." He smiled and took
a sip of water. Padmé wanted to get out.
"Do you know of Doctor Ali,
Mr. Ismay? He has a book on the male occupation with size which might be of
interest for you," Padmé said. Her father smiled and her sister laughed.
Her mother, however, seemed appalled. She leaned forward to Padmé.
"What’s gotten into
you?" she whispered.
"Excuse me." Padmé
stood up and left the dining hall. Ismay was about to follow her, but sat down.
"I do apologize for her
behavior. She’s a bit homesick," her mother said. Ruwee just rolled his
eyes and kept eating his bowl of fruit. Sola spoke.
"She’s a rebel, Bail. Hope
you can handle her." Sola took a bite of her fruit. Bail leaned back in
his chair.
"Well, I’ll need to start
minding what she reads from now on, won’t I, Mistress Naberrie?" Bail
stood up.