Midnight in the Garden

Chapter 19: Careless Whispers

Sereine had cried so much that it was easy to sleep. Her tears left her with a numbness that lent itself to slumber. She reentered her office in the morning feeling better able to withstand the madness of her feelings and the blue of Palpatine's eyes.

She noticed the hole in Palpatine's schedule at the tenth hour, but she thought little of it.

At about five minutes before that time, Palpatine stepped out to speak with his receptionist, caught sight of Sereine, and started into her office. She had chosen an office with clear walls and a good view of the entrance to the Chancellor's wing, electing to forego privacy in favor of knowledge.

Palpatine wore a slate blue robe, exactly the hue of his eyes but several shades darker. Swirling patterns in green, purple, soft yellow, and darker blue lined the sleeves, and a purple cummerbund defined the Chancellor's still-narrow waist. The ensemble set off Palpatine's silver hair quite nicely and added a touch of color to his cheeks. He knows I like him best in blue.

He paused in her doorway and studied her, a seldom-seen softness in his look. The softness hurt her because she knew it wasn't genuine, and she wished it could be. She remembered only too well the times, years ago, when it was.

Probably.

Sereine usually kept her door open. He stopped at the threshold and said, "How are you?" and came in. For just the moment, she delighted in his throaty voice and the handsome picture he made. He would never be quite as splendid as he was in his late forties, but whatever became of all of this, and whatever he did, Palpatine would always be beautiful to her.

"I'm all right," she said. She smiled up at him, and he rounded her desk, came closer, and gently drew his fingers along her jaw line.

"You looked sad," he said, in a tone that made her wish that it really was fifteen years ago, and that she could greet him in their old manner, with an embrace and a lingering kiss.

But it wasn't, and she couldn't. She met his eyes and said, "I thought you did, too." Maybe not just this instant -- but in general, it was the truth.

Palpatine signaled his displeasure with her answer with a testy exhalation of breath and one corner of his mouth drawn back. For a moment his eyes searched hers and his fingertips stroked her chin. Then he turned abruptly and left her -- just in time for her to catch a swirl of motion beyond him.

Had someone just walked into the Supreme Chancellor's office?

Sereine glanced up through the lobby at Avila, Palpatine's executive secretary, who sat attending to her work. After about five minutes Avila got up and set the kaffe machine to brew, and began arranging the Supreme Chancellor's fine china cups on a tray. Two  fine china cups, on a tray.

Sereine got up and sauntered past. Instead of turning left toward the ladies' 'fresher, however, she dove right into the Supreme Chancellor's office before Avila turned around.

The red meeting room was empty, but she could hear voices murmuring indistinctly from the private office.

Sereine slipped out of her shoes and started quietly down the corridor. She'd chosen a wide skirt with a crinoline this morning and she had to press it down hard so it wouldn't rustle.

About halfway down the corridor the murmurs resolved into words. Palpatine and Bail Organa.

"-- for the short notice," Bail was saying, "but because he's no longer a member of the Order I thought it might be best to come to you."

A soft laugh. "After your petition I thought none of you would ever see fit to come to me for anything ever again!"

"Obviously we were mistaken," said Bail. "And even if we weren't, this ... it's important."