Star Wars: Queen's Shadow

“You want to do an on-site switch in an unknown location?” Padmé clarified. “We haven’t done that in a while.”
“We’d have a week to prep,” Sabé pointed out. “That’s approximately one hundred sixty-seven more hours than we had to prepare for the Invasion of Naboo.”

“You were queen of a planet, and your mother would have preferred you to be a musician?” Bonteri said.
“Naboo is a unique world,” Padmé admitted.

“On Naboo, we encourage all children to experiment with artistic expression so that they can determine where their talents lie.”
“Where were yours?” Bonteri asked. She poured hot water into a plain metal teapot and got two cups out of a cupboard.
“Oration and poetry,” Padmé said. “Not skills commonly cultivated, I must admit. Most parents would prefer their children be good at making something besides words.

Padmé could deny it all she wanted, but Sabé had been trained by a man who always, always prepared for the worst, and he had lived long enough to retire, which Sabé considered was something of an accomplishment, despite their ideological differences.

“I suppose we can’t just burn down the whole Senate and start over again with a system that makes sense?” Dormé asked.
“I’m fairly certain that would be treason,” Padmé said. “We’re going to have to work with what we’ve already got.”

Sabé stood still as Padmé pulled the first dress over her head and helped Yané pin the parts where adjustments needed to be made. They had grown up on Naboo, and it had been good to them. Now it was time to grow someplace else.

This was a line Yané had watched them skirt for all the years they had been friends. Padmé knew in her heart that Sabé would do whatever she asked, even if it meant Sabé’s life, and therefore she was always careful never to ask too much.

Padmé stopped, and turned to look directly at her.

“I don’t have enough capital to free them all,” Padmé said, still avoiding the word buy.

“Then we’ll find out what they want on Tatooine and sell it to them in trade,” Sabé said.

“‘We’?” Padmé said, her heart in her mouth.

“Of course we,” Sabé said. “You haven’t tied your own shoelaces in four years. You’re going to need all the help you can get.”

“I know how the Senate works, Chancellor.” This was said in Amidala’s coldest tone, despite herself. Palpatine straightened, almost imperceptibly. “I have stood before it and pled with desperation for the lives of my people, Republic citizens, and they did nothing. It might be only a little effort, but it is mine to make.”

My greatest abilities have always been determination and negotiation.” Padmé still spoke in her own voice, but Amidala lingered close by. “I know that if I applied myself, I could learn any manner of skill, but it wouldn’t be something close to my heart.”