Cecily had arrived on Naboo only a day earlier, whisked away from Onderon by her would-be-savior, [member="Darth Adekos"]. She had spent the night in a small farming town in the countryside of Naboo. Her name still held sway on Naboo and the farmers had recognized her when she approached seeking shelter. They had offered to take her to Deeja Peak to be with her family, but she declined and sought instead to be taken to the Cloister of St. Cecily near Theed. She sent her handmaidens ahead to let House Valeria know of her coming.
For many years she had been the patron of the Cloister and come to love the Sisters as her own. When she would visit Naboo, she often opted to stay with the Sisters rather than intrude on her Aunt Eleanora at the Peak. Now, it had been almost one full Galactic year since she set foot on the fertile soil that entombed her ancestor and she longed for a place of rest.
Two speeders had been hitched to a round litter of Gungan make and at dawn, they set off for Theed, following the river Andrevea. They passed several farming villages and a city in the distance as they made their way across the rolling hills of the Nabooian countryside.
"Here," she said when they reached the tributary river. The farmers took a sharp left and followed the river until sheer cliffs rose up on either side. As they approached, Cecily could hear bells tolling in the distance and it warmed the cockles of her heart. When they made the final approach, she could see the high towers of the Cloister and the sound of the bells was deafening as it echoed off of the cliff face.
"This is as far we can take ye, m'Lady," said a stout man in plain clothes as he climbed off his speeder and hobbled back to her. As he did so the other farmer came around the other side and together they helped her down from the litter. They bowed low as she thanked them before setting off back in the direction of their village, but she was not alone.
When Cecily approached the first set of steps that led down to the Tower of Reception, she was met by two young novices all in white. They were beautiful young girls, no doubt of noble birth, yet they giggled and blushed when Cecily took their hands. They are new initiates, she noted as they descended the switchback path leading to the tower. It didn't take long to reach their destination, but Cecily was still severely malnourished and had to take a long break inside before setting off on the boat.
Another novice was waiting on stone dock and together the four Sisters had to lift Cecily up the steep steps from the boat. She had held off the exhaustion for so long now, likely from the rush of adrenaline she got during the escape. Yet now, it felt as though the entire seven months of torture and starvation were washing over her and she feared she would be swallowed in their embrace. Had it not been for the strong arms of the novices hoisting her up the steps, she would surely have collapsed.
When she crested the top of the steps and looked down into the gardens, she felt the sting of tears in her eyes as she beheld scores of Sisters waiting patiently for her arrival. They murmured happily when they saw her and Cecily gathered herself to greet them. Without the help of the novices, she descended the short flight of steps into the garden and the Sisters pressed forward eagerly, inclining their heads in bows before reaching out to touch her.
She only made it a few steps before a final wave of exhaustion hit her and she felt her knees buckle. She heard shrieks of fright, a barked command, she saw the face of the Reverend Mother for a split second, plowing through the crowd of Sisters before everything went dark. Cecily toppled to the ground and the modest tiara she had managed to weave into her grey-streaked hair rolled into the dirt.
