Saga ~Deeper Than The Shadows~ A Dorme/Typho fic, my first here!

Hey, I joined these boards a while ago but I'm not even sure if I got to post any! This story was posted on fanfiction.net and a very nice reviewer who is (or was?) known as Sache8 on here suggested that I post it on these boards! So I am, just for fun. I hope y'all like this story. It will be fairly long, and it is a romance but not too fluffy, nor too angsty if I can help it, LOL. So, well... I hope someone reads this, and greetings to all of y'all. *bows* I'm sorry I didn't post here before!

Disclaimer: I own no characters, settings, or plotlines from any Star Wars movie!

Chapter One
Queen Jamillia, newly crowned ruler of Naboo, stood on a high platform before a huge crowd of the citizens of Theed. Dressed in a magnificent royal blue gown instead of her usual black, with her hair arranged in an almost impossible looking fan-shaped style on her head, she cut an imposing figure. But it wasn?t just the spectacle that had drawn the masses that day; it was the announcement that would be made.

"My fellow citizens of Naboo!" Jamillia began, shouting to make her voice heard; she had small amplifying device affixed to the stage in front of her, but the crowd was so vast that she still needed to speak loudly to make her words carry. "Today I announce an important occasion for our planet?s well-being. You are all familiar with my predecessor, Padmé Amidala. She has ruled Naboo well, and I am grateful to her for the good situation she has left for me as I take up her responsibilities." The crowd cheered their support for both their new queen and for Amidala, who was the best loved of any of their monarchs in recent history. "Today, I have called you here to announce that I have asked Amidala to serve as Senator of our fair planet- and she has agreed!" The shouts doubled, and the bright banners many in the crowd held waved more vigorously. The dignitaries seated on the stage applauded politely.

"If you will please step forward, Amidala," Jamillia continued when the cheers had died down a little. The former queen emerged from the group on the stage and stepped up beside Jamillia. She leaned over toward the amplifier.

"My people," Amidala began, smiling graciously in acknowledgement to the cheers. "I am greatly honored by Queen Jamillia?s request, and I am happy to be of service to you again. I will do my best for our planet and our people."

A handmaiden stepped up and handed Jamillia a purple cushion with a small gold object resting on it. Jamillia turned to Amidala and gave her the cushion. "I present this medallion to you as a token of my appreciation and a formal declaration of your position. Citizens of Naboo, before you stands Senator Padme Amidala!"

As the crowd went wild again, the two women went back to their chairs, and Boss Nass stepped up to the amplifier. "Mesa like to announce the representative of Gungans in the Galactic Senate- Jar Jar Binks!"

Many humans in the crowd giggled; they were glad to be in alliance with the Gungans, but they found the bumbling Binks hard to take seriously. Nonetheless, the general reaction was good as Jar Jar stepped forward from the group of Gungans sitting on the stage and walked up to the amplifier.

"Mesa honored!" he squealed, waving his arms and beaming at the crowd. That was apparently all he had to say, for he turned around and began to walk back to his seat. However, his large foot caught on a wire, and he fell flat on his face.

Everyone roared with laughter, and Queen Jamillia, seated at the center of the stage, rolled her eyes slightly. She leaned over and whispered to Amidala. "My stars, that Gungan will be the death of us all." Padmé grinned and pressed her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Jamillia smiled back, then quickly leaned over and added, "That was not an official royal statement." Amidala nodded and folded her hands in her lap. Good thing we?re not by the amplifier, she thought.

Royal Palace Guards hovered around Queen Jamillia?s throne, and Security Troopers were stationed all around the stage and at strategic sp

 

Chapter Two

As the guards walked off, Cordé leaned over to the other girls and whispered "Did you see that guard in the third hallway we went through?" She raised her eyebrows and dramatically fanned herself with her hand. "I think we might need to run a few errands in that wing later!"

"Weren?t you listening to what Captain Typho was saying?" Zaré asked with a grin.

"Yes, of course! I was multi-tasking, that?s all."

They all laughed at this explanation, and the slight shyness that had hung over them dissipated a little.

Dormé studied each of the others carefully in the short, awkward silence that followed, forming impressions of them in her mind. Cordé wasn?t hard to read; she?d barely stopped talking since they met in the lobby. Dormé always felt a little plain and faded beside bubbly, carefree sort of people, but Cordé was impossible not to like. Zaré seemed nice, too. She had an air of observing everything and being vaguely amused by it all, which was a little unsettling, but despite that, she didn?t seem standoffish- just thoughtful. Versé hadn?t said enough for Dormé to have any real opinion, but she?d looked anxious the whole time, which activated Dormé?s protective instincts.

Once again, Cordé took charge, suddenly all business. "So who wants to stay where? I don?t care, I get can get along with anyone!" She paused. "Well, almost anyone. Any of you, I?m sure! So you all can choose."

The other three looked around at each other and shrugged. Another pause, then Dormé tentatively said, "Why don?t we just look at the rooms now, and decide later? We should get to know each other, anyway. We have two hours."

The others agreed, much to her relief, and they proceeded to the nearest room.

"Oh, hey, this is nice!" Cordé exclaimed as they walked in. The room had the same gray walls and glossy marble floors as the rest of the palace, but the velvety purple curtains and bedspreads made it look luxurious, and the sunlight that poured in through the tall windows added cheer. As Captain Typho had said, there was a holoplayer, as well as two datapads and several holodisks stacked up on a built-in table. There was a closet on the far wall; Zaré walked over and pressed the button to open the door. It swished open, and Cordé crossed the room in a flash.

"Ooh! Clothes!" she gushed. Dormé and Versé followed, and all four girls stared admiringly at the gowns hung up in the spacious closet.

"They?re beautiful!" Zaré exclaimed. From her own simple gown, you wouldn?t think she?d care about such things, but her eyes were brilliant in her slim white face as she stroked the sleeve of a gown.

"They?re all so? dark," Dormé said softly. She?d always preferred pastels; deep colors washed her out. But these dresses were far finer than any of the gowns she?d had at home, of course. They even smelled a little different? sort of rich.

"I suppose it?s because we?re supposed to ?blend in?," Zaré commented.

"Yes, I guess so. They?re very nice, I mean!" Dormé answered quickly, trying not to sound like she?d been complaining. Honestly, sometimes she felt as uncomfortable as Versé looked around people, only she showed it by scrambling around for the right words to say- trying to do things properly, keep people happy. It worked most of the time, but sometimes she just wanted to just fly to the Outer Rim and live alone on a lost planet- just never think again.

"Look, there?s two of each dress. I guess we?ll all be matching," Cordé said, pulling a dress out and holding it under her chin.

"It?s like we?re a music group or something," Versé commented, and the others shot her surprised glances as they laughed.

"Appearing every night at the Theed Royale Nightclub- the Handmaidens! " Cordé boomed out in an announcer?s voice- which really wasn?t that much louder than her everyday tone.

They laughed again, then Cordé suddenly sobered. "Are you all as nervous as I am about this job? I?ve never done anything like this before. I?ve never really done anything at all before, except school, I guess. Do you think i

 

Chapter Three

The low drone of the alarm sliced through the darkness filling Typho?s head. He moaned and pressed his face into the pillow, trying to escape the faded gray light that was seeping into his room. The alarm buzzed on, and he sat up and shoved his blankets off. "All right, all right!" he muttered, setting his feet on the floor. He took the few steps from the bed to the desk and clicked the switch on the clock off.

He fumbled around for his eye patch, which had somehow become buried under a pile of holodisks. He walked into the fresher and looked in the mirror, wincing a little at the sight of his own empty eye socket. It had been eight years, and he was still a little surprised sometimes when he looked in the mirror, especially without the patch.

He turned the water on and splashed some on his face, then rubbed it dry on a towel. He snapped the eye patch in place. There. That was better.

He stuck his hand under the water again and splashed some across his hair, running his hands over the tight curls and restoring their close-cropped shape.

His neck felt a little stiff. He leaned his head to the left, then the right. The bones made a little cracking noise, which always made him feel like an arthritic old man. He stretched his arms over his head, clasped his hands and extended them in front of him, then swung them back and laced his fingers together again. He surveyed his torso in the mirror. Not too bad, he decided. But he grabbed his shirt off its hook and pulled it on quickly anyway.

A few minutes later, he was dressed and seated at his desk, reviewing his schedule for the day. Drills in the morning, then he had to meet with the handmaidens and evaluate their defense skills.

He let out an unconscious sigh as his mind skimmed over the Senator?s new attendants. They seemed capable, of course. They wouldn?t be here if they weren?t. But very young, and not exactly intimidating; of course, the very advantage of the handmaidens, besides their ability to act as decoys, was that they seemed demure and ladylike until their bodyguard training was needed.

His main concern was their maturity, he supposed. They had been reserved at first, but he?d heard them giggling from two corridors away when they were supposedly "asking directions" from that guard.

He clicked the datapad off and stood up. Oh, well, he thought. No one starts out as the best. He certainly hadn?t; he?d had many scoldings from his uncle when he first began training as a guard, and still received one every now and then.

As he walked toward the door of his room, he had a sudden wave of déjà vu. He was puzzled for a moment, then chuckled to himself as he realized that he had good reason for the sensation- lately every day felt the same. You?d think a job as tense as his would be exciting? but he still wished for something more.

The question was, of course, what the missing thing was. But before he could consider the matter, he realized that he might be late for inspections, and a new habit of tardiness was not the kind of change he was looking for.

~*~*~

Later that afternoon, the handmaidens met with Typho for their first official training session. "I guess we?re going to be doing combat stuff, right?" Cordé whispered nervously into Dormé?s ear. When the other girl nodded, Cordé sighed dramatically. "I?m so bad at combat! I hate that stuff."

"I don?t think I?ve ever really done anything like that," Dormé whispered back. She was a little nervous, too, but then, long days of work in her village had made her pretty strong.

"This should be horrible for me, I?m a weakling," Zaré chuckled.

Versé, as usual, said nothing.

When they assembled in the training room, Typho babbled on about their duties for a while; Cordé studied her nails while he talked, Zaré hummed a concerto under her breath, and Dormé pulled loose threads off the new pants she was wearing. Versé looked at the Captain respectfully, but her gaze was so vacant that Dormé was almost sure the quiet girl was just daydreaming.

They were then order

 

A very interesting story. I look forward to some more.

 

Oh my goodness! Someone read it, yay. ^_^ Thank you, I'll try to be fairly quick in updating!