No easy way to say...

[Feena]

Cyril was gone, doing good or ill for the Galaxy was anyone's guess. He wanted to help. He really did. For that reason alone, Feena could not fault him, but the damage he'd do, was already doing...
And then there was his sisters. Because of his actions, she'd already had to send Felicity away for her own safety. She had been happy where she was, found friends for life, a purpose, new family with the Magraths. And then it all came tumbling down with a single threat from the Queens only son.
Now the girl was forced to grow up, take on responsibilities before anyone should.
And then there was Celeste...

If Felicity was in danger, then Celeste would certainly be as well. Felicity had a rare gift, the gift of future sight, but Celeste had natural talent, true talent, the sort of strength and understanding of the Force that could not be taught. It all came perfectly natural to her. With proper training, she would certainly be a force of nature.

And that was why Feena had not yet sought out a trainer for her. Fear kept her close. Fear was the reason Feena could not let her youngest out of her sight. Fear was why now she needed to rethink her entire strategy. And now Celeste was old enough to have her say. It was only fair. Her Mother had clung to her for far too long. The nest was unstable. Time for her little birds to fly.

It was not often that Feena had time to spend with her children. The job was demanding, even more so now. She was working when she ate, bathed, even her scheduled 'down time' was spent with politicians. When she slept (not something that happened often) she often woke in the middle of the night, fearful of all the work she was not currently doing.
So when Feena dismissed her handmaidens for the day and went to personally visit her youngest daughter, it was clear that something very important had drawn her there.

[member="Celeste Mason"]

 

[Beowoof]

A princess--that was who she was, and sometimes she just seemed to want to make sure everyone was reminded of that. In what sorts of ways? Well, for one, she refused to get out of bed.

"Rrgh! Mother!" she groaned when one of the handmaidens had come to alert her of an appointment she was supposed to be honoring with Naboo's queen. Why did she have to concern herself with that? It was only the woman who had given birth to her. She should take a ticket and get in line. Because it was a long line. The youngest Mason girl totally had a bunch of people to administer to. It was tough work being the only princess in the house! She just wanted to lie here and think about boys and traveling to who-knows-where.

Begrudgingly, Celeste wasted all the time she could just inching out of bed, deliberating on a clothing decision before deciding she was just going to go about in her nightgown, and fixing up her hair--because it was no big deal to walk around in her jammies, but God forbid her hair not be in the most elegant weave. She had an image to preserve, after all! She was royalty. Duh.

Making her way outside her room with a pair of her noisiest feet, Celeste placed her hands against her hips and gazed at her arriving mother. "What?"

[member="Feena Mason"]

 

[Feena]

"What?"


Feena blinked at her youngest daughter. The little Princess. Ah, Feena remembered the day she was born and nearly killed her on her way into this world. Ah, her deadly little angel. She was painful even from the womb. It was good to see nothing had changed.
She scanned the girl from head to foot. Nightgown still. She had not even bothered to dress? But her hair was at least in order. More than Feena could ever say about her elder sister. That girl could never keep her hair in place. Celeste was the beautiful child, even Feena could admit it. Felicity was far from ugly, but she had none of her sisters, well, anything. Shame the girl seemed to resent her so much.

"Not out here, Celeste. Into your room. Now."

She shoved past her, glancing down the hall to be sure they were alone. At the end of the hall, her trusted body guard, Percy gave a nod, indicating that the coast was clear. Good.
What she had to say needed to be kept absolutely secret.

[member="Celeste Mason"]

 

[Beowoof]

She huffed as she was ushered back into her bedroom, irritated with this whole communication thing she had to do with her mother. The queen's daughter brushed by her and immediately plopped on top of her bed, claiming a pillow and hugging it to her chest like a shield from whatever unwanted speech she was going to get. These mother-daughter moments always had a sort of charm to them--they usually ended up with Celeste slamming the door shut and sulking around her confined quarters. This had better be important.

There were some things she did not say to her mother. But they were not many in number. "You always have to interrupt everything..." She had been extremely busy before she had gotten this visit, of course. "Can't I just have my own space for a few seconds?" Celeste moaned and let her head loll to the side in a dramatic way. This was such a painful, torturous experience already.

[member="Feena Mason"]

 

[Feena]

Dramatic. Angry. Where was her little angel? Teenage years. Absolute hell. Feena rolled her eyes at her daughter, very obviously not amused.

"Oh, So sorry I interrupted yet another day of you laying around in your nightclothes doing absolutely nothing! Really. Wish I didn't have to be such a bother to you, your majesty."

The Queen of Naboo dipped into an exaggerated bow to her own daughter before straightening up.

"Does your Father let you talk to him like this? Honestly! Where do you pick this up from?"

She could not imagine Keter letting his youngest daughter talk back. He was the one with all the discipline. He was teaching Felicity how to fist fight when she was six. But maybe he had let Celeste slip. Feena had to admit that she was the one most often overlooked, and she was probably starved for attention-

"Never mind it! Celeste, stop your pouting and listen to me. You need to pack your things. Tonight. I'm sending you back to live with your Father. Where it's safe."

[member="Celeste Mason"]

 

[Beowoof]

No, her father did not really take that kind of lip from her, but he also paid more attention. That was hard to come by around here, but then her mom could be super attentive and commanding like she was right now. Celeste was actually considering stopping her whole act and being respectful for a short second of her life when Mother announced her plans to ship her daughter back to that lonely place with her father. "What!" Why did she need to go back there? What was not safe about Naboo? Did they not have like a thousand guards at their disposal?

"MoOOOoooOOoom, I don't want to go. Whyyyy?" she whined, stuffing her face into her pillow. "It's not like I'm not there all the time, anyway..." It felt so lonely way out there. Here she could decide when she was alone. Unless the queen wanted to talk with her, obviously.

[member="Feena Mason"]

 

[Feena]

And again with the dramatics! The Queen was losing her patience for it. Keter was better at handling a mopey teenager than she was. He'd handled Felicity's teen years already. He knew what to do. Feena could talk a politician out of anything, stop a war, heal the sick, enrich the poor. But when it came to teenagers? She was hopelessly lost.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I'm right there with you, Celeste," she sighed, sitting on the girls bed, "I was hoping I could start training you this year. You were going to spend time with my handmaidens, learning the ropes, studying politics. Then I was going to teach you how to heal like me. You have the talent for it. But of course, your dear sweet brother gets in over his head with this rebellion of his, now every Sith that wants a little payback knows exactly where to look. It's bad enough I have to deal with this. I don't want you girls mixed up in it too."

[member="Celeste Mason"]

 

[Beowoof]

She kept her cheeks burrowed in the pillow, emerald eyes bouncing from side to side in a display of aggravation until her mother took a seat beside her. The teen girl inhaled deeply, trying to ignore the gesture and stay mad. It was difficult at this moment, but she was intent on remaining her huffy, bratty little self. She compacted her body, elbows squeezing into her sides as if it was a game to not be touched by the queen.

"Mom..." Celeste badgered, though her tone was losing its edge. "I don't want to go again. Everyone is gone. It's just me." Of course her half-brother would have to do something boneheaded and get them all in trouble. It was like that was the point of his existence. "I'm not scared, Mom."

[member="Feena Mason"]

 

[Feena]

If Celeste thought she was upset about this, she didn't have a clue what her Mother felt. There was such... annoyance to be felt. Feena Mason did not get angry. Anger was for the weak. And the uneducated. But she was close. Very close.

"I know, I know. Not afraid. My brave little Princess," Feena managed a smile, but it quickly faded. "But can I tell you a secret? I am afraid. I'm terrified about what could happen to you. It's why Felicity was sent away. It's why your Father doesn't live with me. And it's why I have to send you away. I'm a target for any number of angry Sith, Rebels, Slavers, even some Jedi resent me. Doing the right thing can sometimes make powerful enemies. You'll understand some day."

[member="Celeste Mason"]

 

[Beowoof]

"But what am I going to do?" Celeste wailed, voice still muffled as she spoke directly into her pillow. "I never get to do anything. I never get to be anything." It seemed like everyone was out to ruin her princess-ship ever since she figured out just what kind of royalty she was. Fourteen years was a long time, and she had been stuck on that boring old rock with Dad and her dwindling family for the majority of it. Just one year. One year with Mom on Naboo, and she would be a good girl. Was that too much to ask?

Thanks, Brother. "It's not fair..." She further buried her face into her pillow so the queen would not notice her wet eyes. "I wanna stay, Mom. Please." Was she ever going to get to have two parents? Even the normal, not-royal kids had two. The princess was spoiled in countless ways, but the one thing she never had was a consistent family.

[member="Feena Mason"]

 

[Feena]

Guilt. That was all she felt now. Such a great guilt. Her daughter was practically begging to stay with her, just to spend more time with the parent that had neglected her. Keter had always been there, taken care of her. And Feena had provided financial stability. But never the two of them together. Never for Celeste.

"It's dangerous," she sighed, moving to touch her daughters hair, "I don't want to lose you..."

Feena, the ever fierce and stern Queen, was actually starting to break.

[member="Celeste Mason"]

 

[Beowoof]

"I don't want to lose you either, Mom..." Her brother was gone. Her sister was gone. As much as she had clashed with both of them in one way or another, everything felt far too quiet without them. The strange thing was that, despite being the only child left to her parents, Celeste still felt like she did not get enough attention. Everything was back-and-forth now, and she was just floating in the middle somewhere.

She felt the gentle touch of her mother's fingers as they slowly stroked through her hair and realized everything she had missed. She could be a brat on demand and at any second of the day--Hurricane Cel, she had heard some people call her--but this was all she really wanted. She wanted time. "Please Mom..." the princess sniffed, leaning her teary cheek into her mother's side. "I want to stay. I promise I'll be good. I promise. Please..."

[member="Feena Mason"]

 

[Feena]

She broke. She was stupid for doing so, but the girls begging finally broke her. The Queen sighed, stood up abruptly.

"Fine. Just.... fine. But you must promise me, at the first sign of trouble, the second I tell you to run, the very instant you even suspect something might be wrong, you will leave as fast as you can and never look back. Do you understand?"

[member="Celeste Mason"]

 

[Beowoof]

Never look back? She could obey--when she absolutely had to--and she could run; listen and flee if the moment arose. She could be obstinate and petty, but she was not one to be so at the price of her own skin. Not that she had ever been tested in such a way, but the princess seriously doubted she would ever feel the need to just stand and let someone do something to her. She hardly stood still when her mother's handmaidens fussed over her attire or whatever special hair weave she needed for some very serious occasion. But to never look back? Leave her mother and never look back?

Maybe she would not be able to. Perhaps she would not even be capable of running, but she wanted this. She wanted to be here. And so Celeste made the promise--whether she could actually keep it or not. "I promise. I promise."

[member="Feena Mason"]

 

[Feena]

Feena didn't believe her. Not for a second. She could see through it, right away. She'd been trained from childhood to spot a lie, even if the person telling it did not know it was a lie themselves. Yet, Feena did not call the girl out on it. Instead, she did something she hadn't done in too long. She leaned in to plant a gentle kiss on her daughters head.

"Alright then. Be a good girl. I will start teaching you first thing in the morning. Be ready."

[member="Celeste Mason"]