Voice of Naboo
Theed Pavellion, Royal Palace
After the events of The People v. Lysander von Asacania and The Least of These Monsters
Interacting with:
Aurelian Veruna
Items: x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x
By the time Sibylla returned to the Royal Palace that evening, the events of the day had become an exhausting tangle of consequences she had barely begun to unravel.
The court session alone would have been enough to deal with.
Yet instead in the hours since she left Aurelian behind in that negotiation chamber, every moment had been consumed by Corde feeding her every scrap of information she could uncover regarding Knight Reingard, Acier, and precisely what had transpired that night at the Jedi Order detention center.
The Jedi Order remained a stand-alone organization recognized within the Republic. Their intelligence was not automatically relayed to the Senate or the High Chancellor, and ordinarily Sibylla understood the necessity of that separation.
Except the detention center had been on Naboo.
Now the High Chancellor had been informed and even more importantly, it meant questions would follow. Questions of jurisdiction. Questions of oversight. Questions concerning what the Jedi had known, what the Republic had known about Acier's activities within the Covenant, and precisely how a dangerous Force User had escaped confinement with the apparent assistance of a Jedi Knight.
Who was it that they had become accomplices with in breaking out!? Why did the blasted pair even do so? All that and more questions Sibylla was far too infuriated and frustrated to properly make heads or tails of in the handful of hours she had been afforded.
And, Shiraya help her, there was still Aurelian. What precisely had he been doing in that conference room?
That was another blasted matter percolating in her thoughts, because everything suddenly seemed interconnected. Lysander's trial and Acier's circumstances might have been separate, but how the Senate and Republic chose to approach one would inevitably raise questions regarding the other. What happened when someone surrendered willingly? What consideration should be given to cooperation or intelligence provided? How did that differ from someone apprehended? What did restitution look like when lives had already been lost?
Every answer threatened to establish precedent for the next question.
There was simply too much at play. Every passing hour left Sibylla feeling as though she were slowly drowning beneath the consequences of choices she had not made but nevertheless found herself responsible for navigating. What they meant for Naboo. For the Republic. For its relationship with the Jedi and the galaxy beyond its borders.
And, painfully, what they meant for those she held dear.
The sharp click-click-click of her heels carried through the polished corridors of the Royal Palace, Corde and her escort keeping pace beside her as the Voice of Naboo made her way deeper into the governmental wing.
Then another entourage crossed the adjoining corridor ahead. The slight melodic jingle of her headdress sang as her head gave a slight turn towards the direction at the familiar clipped stride. The circlet of gold resting against inky black curls and the impeccable uniforms of the Royal Naboo Kingsguard told her who it was.
Aurelian.
Sibylla's lips immediately pursed, and there was no avoiding how her course changed immediately towards his direction. To anyone watching, there was nothing improper about her approach. Her shoulders remained squared, chin lifted, every measured step carrying the impeccable composure expected of the Voice of Naboo.
Unfortunately for him, Aurelian knew her far too well.
He would recognize the rolling tension gathered across her shoulders and the almost unbendable straightness of her back. He would know that particular stillness in her expression for precisely what it was. She was angry, frustrated, and barely holding her composure together through sheer force of will.
"Your Majesty." Sibylla's came to a stop several feet before the King of Naboo and inclined her head with impeccable public courtesy. By every measure, she observed the proper decorum between the Voice and her sovereign. But even then, it did absolutely nothing to prevent several nearby eyes from flickering between Sibylla and Aurelian before quickly finding somewhere else to look.
"If I may have a word in private."
