Empire's Child

Chapter 24

"You're not focusing." Father says as I stumble away again. I'm not doing well today.

"I'm sorry." I return to basic stance but Father shuts his lightsaber off. I follow suit.

"What's on your mind?" He asks after a second of awkward silence.

"My last name. At school." I hesitate. "Naberrie. Was that my mother's last name?" I frown. "And if it was, then why were they saying that Padmé Amidala was my mother?" Father watches me for another minute. I half expect him to just ignore my question.

"Yes, Padmé was your mother. Amidala was her queen name to protect her family and privacy." He says.

"That...makes sense, I guess." No one has ever mentioned my mother before today, so I kind of hoped she was still alive. I guess not.

The news hits harder than I expected. I vaguely remember people on my old moon talking about the Senate. Politics were rare on the moon, especially for the kids, but I do know the a name Senator Amidala came up multiple times. From what I heard, she was a good senator who cared about her people.

"I wish I had known her." I say. Father nods, just a short jerk of his head.

"It's getting late. Go get some food then go to bed." Father commands. I nod, then go to hand my lightsaber back. "Keep it with you whenever you aren't at school. This weapon is your life." I nod solemnly and clip it to my belt.

---

Over the next two months, things continue to get better and better. Training is so much better. My father isn't exactly patient but it's light years better than training with the Grand Inquisitor. My classes aren't easy, but they're not bad either. I keep my head down and the other students ignore me. So it surprises me when two months to the day after I join AOTE, the popular kids in the grade invite me to hang out. "It'll be fun." One of the girls tells me, grinning. I shrug.

"Probably, but I have to go home. I'm busy." I say.

"You can miss it. Hang out with us." She loops her arm into mine and I give up. Maybe I have been a little bit lonely. They take me to their speeder. "It's the newest model." The girl holding me brags. I refrain from correcting her. The newest model is only available for the Empire.

"What's your name again?" A second girl asks. The group is made up of five kids. Two girls and three boys.

"I'm Luea." I tell them. The girls both sit next to me, and one boy squishes in the very back while the other two drive.

"I'm Eryn, and this is Tara, Zarek, Jaxon, and Alek." Tara. For a millisecond I'm back on Jabiim, following my father through dimly-lit tunnels where I see a woman I had come to respect lying dead on the floor. After Father had left, I'd checked the death roll. She'd been about halfway down and right next to her name had been NED-B.

"Nice to meet you." I say, hiding the flashback with a smile. The speeder continues for another minute before stopping. I step out first. "The water reservoir?" I ask. Tara nods, stepping out after me.

"Thought it would be pretty deserted today. No troopers."

"Yeah, they're all busy with Empire Day. It'll be interesting to see what they come up with this year." Jaxon says, rolling his eyes.

"My parents are invited to the celebration with the Inner Rim Senators." Zarek says, sweeping his bangs in a way he probably thinks is cool.

"As if. That's, like, the second best party on the entire planet. No way are you going." Eryn rolls her eyes.

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"Ignore them." Alek says, nudging my arm. He's tall for his age, over half a foot taller than me. Probably a foot taller.

"So why are we here?" I ask him. The six of us are all standing on the metal grating over the pool of water. It's large and deep, but definitely not the biggest pool.

"Swimming!" Eryn shouts behind me. I feel hands on my shoulders and a shove forward and I stumble off the platform.

The water is freezing cold. I can feel it drawing warmth from my body. Water closes over my head and I panic. My old home had no large bodies of water, nothing to learn to swim in. And until very recently, I've been focused on surviving and learning to swim wasn't a priority.

What I'm trying to say is I can't swim and now it's coming back to bite me. I kick but I don't go anywhere. My lungs scream for air. Terror flashes across my mind and it takes all my self-control not to scream. Then someone grabs my hand, yanking me up. I attempt to kick again, trying to help whoever is pulling me back to the surface.

My head breaks the water and I gasp the cool, fresh air. I turn to see Alek steadily paddling beside me. "Thank you." I whisper. It doesn't feel like enough. But I don't know what to say. What's the correct way to thank someone for saving your life? Can we learn that in protocol and diplomacy instead of the right way to eat a salad on Alderaan?

"We should've made sure you can swim." He says, keeping a grip on my hand as he pulls us toward a ladder hanging just above the water. Eryn leans over, watching us from above. Her face is pale, like she's seen a ghost.

"Hey! You there!" The unmistakeable shout of a stormtrooper. Even more blood drains from Eryn's face, making it almost look like she's a ghost. She turns. Alek yanks me underneath the grating. It brushes our heads. I reach up and grab a ladder rung, keeping myself up so Alek can focus on himself. "What are you doing here?"

"W-we were just going for a swim." Tara says, stuttering slightly. I lift myself up, trying to climb the ladder and go to help them. Alek grabs my ankle, keeping me in place. I glare at him and yank my foot away, but I don't move again.

"We're just leaving." Zarek says. I hear footsteps retreat and I climb the ladder.

"Clear." I whisper. "I'll call Lieutenant Rorak." He's been driving me to and from school every day and if I have anything I need signed, like a field trip form, I'm supposed to go to him. I can't exactly get my father's signature. Basically he's in charge of everything school-related.

It doesn't take him long to pull up. "Are you insane?" He shouts, jumping out of the speeder. I blink in surprise and flinch back. "You left school without telling anyone. You know you're supposed to go straight home. L..." he stops himself, eyes flicking to Alek, "your father is furious." He hesitates, looking at me fully. "Why are you wet?"

"I fell into the water." I know it isn't true, but I don't want to tell anyone what actually happened. It's bad enough that Alek and the others know.

"She was pushed." Alek says. Lieutenant Rorak rolls his eyes.

"We're leaving. And you," he turns to Alek, "are coming. We'll take you home." Alek nods and climbs into the backseat. I sit in the front.

***

"Where were you?" Father shouts. I duck my head but don't flinch away.

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again." That, at least, is very true.

"You are young." I nod. "That means you will occasionally make mistakes. But I expect those mistakes to be few and far between." I tuck my chin into my collarbone.

"I understand," I whisper.

"Good. Now go change and dry off." Father says. I take a few steps back. "The uniform will be dried for tomorrow."

"Okay." I exit the training room and run my fingers through my wet hair.

Inside my room, I wrap myself in a towel that was conveniently on my desk, then add a blanket on top, take one of my books, and sit in front of the window to read.