Ubiquitous Intrigues: Pampering Session

Ulterior motives. If Razielle was guilty of anything, it was for always having a reason for everything. Today was no exception. She had been promising the Queen some much needed girl time. She'd been in charge of coming up with something creative for them to do and arranging it. They both needed some time to themselves to settle in after recent revelations.

Razielle looked around the garden solarium and took pride in half a mornings work. She'd arranged for one Iziz's finest day spa's to set up massage tables, mud baths - the works. Everything was amidst flowering trees and potted blooms. Razielle had gotten permission to have privacy for the duration of the spa's stay. Mostly due to the fact that no one was going to be allowed to stand around and gawk at the Queen in a towel.

Even though she was technically on official business, Razielle was determined to have fun at the same time. Her mood was that good. In fact her cheeks were beginning to hurt from grinning.

"Your Highness, the Queen is on her way."

"Thank you, Lira."

Razielle grabbed two towels and two robes from a small cart and went to greet the Queen at the door. Adraudia was in for a surprise.

The Queen wasn't quite sure as to the reasons behind Razielle's summons this time. Razielle was most vague in her letter, merely stating that they needed time to talk about important business. What she really wanted to discuss further about they couldn't, their shared partnership under the tutelage of Callidus. They were able to mend their friendship but there was still so much left unsaid. She hoped that sometime in the near future they would have the chance to talk further ...

But for now, Adraudia walked down the stairs to the garden proper with her two personal guards, wondering what the devil was going on. And when Razielle appeared with towels and robes the Queen could not hid the confusion from her face. Though the guards managed to smirk to one another with most pleasant amusement.

"What is going on out here?" Her eyes narrowed in on several females unpacking several boxes of ... something. She wasn't sure.

"Good Morning, Your Majesty!" Razielle dipped a quick curtsey for show and then rushed forward and tucked her arm through the Queen's, strolling her toward a table laden with fresh fruit and breakfast pastries.

"You said girl time. I have delivered."

She leaned in close to whisper, albeit loudly for all to hear if they so desired. "I even got permission from the Prime Minister to lose my guards for the duration of our session."

"The Iziz Premiere Day Spa was good enough to bring along the works and set up stations around the solarium. For the next few hours you don't have to do anything at all, except relax." She stopped and grabbed a glass of juice and handed it to the Queen."

"No, that's a lie. First you have to do two things." She handed Adraudia the soft robe and towel. "First you have to change!"

Razielle beamed a smile at the Queen's guards. "Then you have to decide if they are staying or waiting outside with the others."

The Queen's eyes widened, completely perplexed. "Surely you must be joking!"

When Razielle did nothing but smile and jiggle the bathroom, it finally sank in that this was no jest, though the Queen half expected a camera crew to pop out at any moment and yell surprise! Fooled you!

"You heard the Princess." Adraudia turned to address her guards. "Your presence is no longer required."

The objections came as expected. "I'm quite sure that the Princess has ensured our safety in conjunction with Tar's approval." She smiled lightly towards her friend. "Is that not correct?"

"Quite so. In fact I have it on the Prime Minister's authority that the area will remain secure for both our safety and privacy. So as you can see, it's all in hand."

Razielle started walking for the two little cabana's that had been set up for them to use to change. "As I understand it, we can do things in any order. Personally I'm a bit hungry. Why don't we take our soak in the spa first and have breakfast brought to us?"

She opened the flap to a cabana and held it open for the Queen. Inside was a pair of sandals and a simple bathing suit, for the more modest.

She dismissed the guards and smirked, but it was a smirk of surprising approval. Adraudia half expected to see some flimsy bikini that would barely cover what was required to be covered. Instead a simple royal blue one piece bathing suit was chosen.

"Thank you, and I do believe a spot of breakfast would be wonderful." The Queen slipped into the cabana and undressed.

A short while later the pair was sitting on the side of a portable, gently bubbling mineral bath. They were poking through a chest containing several scented oil vials, trying to decide upon a scent to add to their soak. Razielle, wearing a violet suit cut in a similar fashion to the Queen's, was favoring a light floral scent.

"I think anything stronger would be considered basting.. We are supposed to relax, not be the soup of the day.. However, this is all for you, so pick whichever you like!"

She stood and unwrapped the towel that had been tied around her waist tossing it on a chair. Munching on a piece of fruit, she waited while Adraudia picked one of the few choices they had both liked.

She uncapped the bottle and gently waved her fingers over the top to allow a scant scent of the aroma to touch her nose. Her eyes lit with approval. "I do believe this is an excellent choice. It smells of delicate lilacs found blooming in spring time."

The Queen poured the contents into the bath and stirred it around with a hand before taking a slow step into the mineral water. She sighed and closed her eyes at the soothing warmth that hugged her foot and gently dipped down the rest of the way in utter bliss.

After pinning her long hair up, Razielle slipped into the soothing water and lay back with a sigh of pleasure. This was definately worth whatever price she had paid. In fact they may have to turn this into a habbit. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, she opened her eyes and sat up, wiggling her toes in the water.

"I think this is the first genuine state of relaxation I've been in since the attack. I hate to bring that up now, but it's true. Even with all the enforced rest I had, I still was quite tense about the whole thing. This is lovely.."

Adraudia's lips fell into a frown as she regarded Razielle. "It distresses me that you had succumbed to events that were meant for me and the Prime Minister. We both had accepted and lived with the consequences of our station for many years. You never should have been hurt."

It still angered the Queen that her friend had to suffer the realities of war. It was Adraudia's duty to protect the Princess, no matter how capable Razielle was able to do that herself. In that promise that their parents had made, Adraudia had failed and it made her uncomfortable.

Razielle's eyes snapped to the Queen's. That hadn't come out how she had wanted at all. Beneath the surface of the water, she took the Queen's hand in her own and gave her a gentle queeze.

"Listen, I am going to say my piece on this and we'll speak no more of it today. You are meant to be relaxing." Razielle took a breath and continued.

"It is not your fault at all what happened. The blade wasn't meant for me, I chose to step in its path. Oh to be sure it was a stupid move on my part, but Salem had his back turned and wouldn't have seen it. I would have done the same for only one other person, you. I love you both and I chose my path. I've been a target before and likely shall be again, assasination attempts go along with being royal and wealthy, I accepted that fact long ago."

She wasn't speaking of things she shouldn't, not anymore. If they were overheard so be it, her relationship with the Prime Minister was being offered for public inspection anyway. "I also know that given my associations with Salem, anyone seeking to get to him would consider me a target as well. I accept the weight of all of this and regret none of it at all.

She let go of Adraudia's hand and lay back once more. "Aside from that I wasn't the only one hurt. I understand the General was in a sickbed down the hall from my own. How is he fairing?"

She smiled at Razielle's strength and ability to defend her actions. The Princess was right; their life was a never ending spiral of intrigues, scandals, political backstabbings and assassination attempts. It was a life they were born into and accepted it for they had no choice, but even with the persuasive argument by Razielle, Adraudia still felt responsible. Yes, she still did, even knowing that the Princess was able to take care of herself. Not only Royal blood did they share, but they shared Salem as Master in their education of the Force ...

But the Queen put on a smile and pushed her reservations aside. "He is doing well. The General has survived worse. Our doctors say he should fully recover within the next two weeks."

"He strikes me as the type to bounce back quickly. Actually he is quite formidable, isn't he?" Razielle had to tread very lightly..

She didn't like fishing information out of her friend, but she didn't want Adraudia to know of the threatening letter, either. Salem wanted it secret and she knew that in the end when all was revealed, Adraudia would understand that it wasn't she didn't want to tell her, she'd been told not to by their Master. Aside from that, as a monarch surely not every single bit of correspondence must be delievered to her or she'd never be done with reading it all.. Still, they would have to tell her eventually.

"I haven't gotten the chance to know him very well, with the recent events and all. It seems to be one thing after the other since I've arrived. Tell me about him? You two seem quite close."

Eyes still closed, her smile grew quite fond in answering the question. "He served my father before I was born. I still do not know all of the details, but what father did tell me is that he was highly impressed with Dalamar's abilities when Mandalorians breached the South Wall. Without any hesitation, Dalamar leapt into the fray to help defend the city. And, if not for his quick thinking in using the nearby wine stock as a bomb, the streets of Iziz would have been bathed in blood.

Since that time, he rose through the ranks quickly and already was in charge of our armies when I was born. He's like an Uncle to me."

"That's it?! I expected more of a story!" She looked put off for a moment, then rather let down.

"Her Majesty is far too shrewd to leave the command of Her army to someone who's past was unknown. What did he do before impressing your father with his battle prowess?" She was speaking candidly, conversationally. She really did want to understand..

Razielle took a sip from her nearby juice and tried in vain to put togther the mystery of General DeSang. She really was curious to know how the general worked. Knowing ones opponents was always a good strategy. Adraudia's lifelong perspective of the man would be a great help to her..

Adraudia's lips grew heavy, wondering why Razielle was so curious about Dalamar suddenly. "Me being shrewd has nothing to do with this decision. I trust my father's judgment and belief in the General's character. He has never proven me, nor my father wrong in that decision.

However if your curiosity must be sated, he was recommended by a colleague of my father. DeSang was a bodyguard before coming to Onderon. It was then my father hired him out as one of our Captains because of the Mandalorian insurgents."

An awful lot of power and influence for someone with such a humble background. She was certain that there was more to the General than the the Queen was aware of, but she was also wise enough to detect the defensive tone Adraudia had taken. The Queen seemed to have a weakness in her faith in DeSang, she was protecting him.

Razielle was not sure how far his deception ran, but he was somehow aligned with those who would do her friend harm, that enough was reason alone to kill him. The fact that Adraudia cared for him at all was a poor circumstance. She wondered, how would Creas take the news that someone she valued as family had tried to eliminate their Master? Where would her loyalty lay then? Razielle frowned slightly, then took another sip of juice changing the subject.

She would let the matter rest for now and gain her information from another source. "Well.. I suppose at some date I'll sit down to a lengthy conversation with the man. If you hold him in esteem, I am sure there is much to be learned from him." Razielle smiled, but it quickly turned into a grin..

"Speaking of men to be held in esteem..." Razielle peeked around to make sure they were quite alone. "How's Victer..?"

Her scowl turned into an appreciative smile now that the matter was dropped. She also approved at how her friend would talk with the General herself. It was hard for Razielle to understand how much faith was placed in DeSang because the Princess had not lived through the war all her life here on Onderon. She merely sampled a taste of what the Queen's life was like since a small babe. Friendship and trust were not easily given out, but those forged were not created lightly. The General had earned that from Adraudia.

The quick change in subject caught her off guard. For a moment, Adraudia stumbled over her words. She was taken aback that Razielle was insinuating that their dinner was more then just business. It was plain as a clear day with the tone of her voice.

"That grin of yours serves no purpose. It was merely a quiet evening discussing our trade agreement." A white lie. Adraudia didn't want to mention their dance or how the music invoked some uncharacteristic feelings towards Victer ...

"Uhuh..." Skepticism was plain on her face.

Razielle shook her head. She had seen the look in Victer's eyes that day at the gaming table. He had purposefully ensnared the Queen with less than business-like intentions in mind, Razielle was sure. She had spent enough time with him to know that he was a bad boy of the first order.. That and he was quite inspiring on the dance floor..

"You are forgetting that I danced with the man. He has a twinkle in his eye when he looks at you that has nothing at all to do with trade.

"He does?" Up until their dinner 'date', Adraudia had never noticed, but it was there that night on the dance floor. He was charming and handsome, so deft on his feet as they had swayed to the music. She still thought it was a combination of the imported wine and the song laced with innuendo that had caused her to blush so in his arms. It was horribly out of character to react in such a manner.

"That twinkle is merely his calculating mind placing him in my good graces so he can have a lucrative trade with Onderon." That was a proven fact. He did want her to like him so that he could a foot hold, a very small but promising one, in the court.