Queen's Peril

The story begins as fourteen-year-old Padmé Naberrie triumphs in the election to become Queen of Naboo. Upon winning, she adopts the name Amidala and relocates from her family to the Royal Palace in Theed, the capital city, to assume her royal duties. Naboo and the Galactic Republic are entering a period of instability, prompting Amidala and her head of security, Captain Panaka, to develop a strategy to ensure the Queen's safety. This plan involves selecting and training several handmaidens. These handmaidens will serve as advisors, trusted friends, bodyguards, and even stand-ins for the Queen. Panaka chooses each young woman based on her unique skills, but it is Padmé's responsibility to mold them into a cohesive unit. Despite their differences, the handmaidens unite in their shared commitment to protecting the Queen at all costs. The Trade Federation's invasion shatters their peaceful existence, forcing Queen Amidala and her courageous handmaidens to confront their most significant challenge yet, testing both their individual strengths and their collective bond.

On Naboo, the election for Queen concludes, with the outcome anticipated by figures ranging from Captain Quarsh Panaka of the Royal Naboo Security Forces to the secretly malevolent Dark Lord of the Sith Palpatine, who presents himself as the benevolent Senator. The victor, Padmé Amidala, along with her family, expected her victory. She succeeds Queen Sanandrassa to ascend the throne. Panaka, ever the professional, has already selected a handmaiden for Amidala, who is the youngest Queen in recent memory. This girl, Tsabin, is chosen for her abilities and striking resemblance to Padmé. While the use of body doubles has waned among Naboo's rulers, Panaka prefers to be prepared. Padmé and Tsabin quickly form a bond, leading them to decide that more handmaidens are needed to make Padmé's potential undercover activities less conspicuous. Padmé then requests Panaka to find additional candidates.

Following her coronation, Amidala begins to govern her people. Her primary concern is the isolationist approach of her predecessor, which she believes has put Naboo at a disadvantage and strained its relationships with other planets in the sector. Two weeks after the election, Panaka introduces Padmé to four more girls recruited as handmaidens: Rabene Tonsort, Eirtama Ballory, Suyan Higin, and Sashah Adova. When the girls meet in the Queen's chambers, they share their skills, with Rabene revealing a past as an art forger, a detail Panaka intends to use to his advantage. With the four new girls and Tsabin agreeing to their roles, Rabene suggests they adopt new names similar to Amidala's to maintain privacy, ensure loyalty, and reduce the visibility of a disguised Padmé. They become Rabé, Eirtaé, Yané, Saché, and Sabé.

As the months pass, the Queen and her handmaidens develop stronger bonds and work more effectively as a team. Panaka's wife, Mariek, a fellow Royal Guard, observes that he should have anticipated such camaraderie among a group of teenage girls. Eventually, Padmé decides to host the Chommell sector summit for all the other worlds in the Chommell sector that are full members of the Galactic Republic, aiming to restore Naboo's connections with its neighbors. Unbeknownst to Padmé, dark schemes are unfolding, concealed within seemingly ordinary taxation bills circulating in the Galactic Senate. These plans are orchestrated by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, publicly known as Naboo's Senator, Sheev Palpatine. Qui-Gon Jinn, a Jedi Master who has never met Amidala, insists that his Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi review these bills with him, suspecting foul play. Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum also questions the various iterations of the taxation bill causing such turmoil in the Senate, but trusts Palpatine as an ally.

When Padmé decides to host her summit, she informs Senator Palpatine, prompting him to accelerate his plans through the Trade Federation, whose leaders fear his secret identity and are manipulated as pawns. Few worlds send ambassadors to the summit, with Governor Kelma of Karlinus being the only head of state to attend in person. Sabé develops a flirtatious relationship with Harli Jafan, a humanoid girl representing her father and her planet. This leads to the idea of attending a concert at the Theed Odeon with Harli, inviting the Queen and other handmaidens, which requires them to sneak out. Saché, feeling unwell, remains at the Theed Royal Palace while the others depart. Padmé and Rabé exit via ascension cable from the library window. At the concert, Harli distributes glitter-lits, but Padmé's breaks, spilling glitter on her hands. They are forced to return quickly after Panaka discovers their absence due to a blood-sensitive sensor and Saché's stomachache, caused by her period.

The following morning, Sabé must impersonate the Queen at the summit to conceal Padmé's nighttime excursion, as the glitter is difficult to remove, and she cannot wear gloves without offending the delegates from Kreeling. Disguised as her own page, Padmé encounters Harli in the hall and is mistaken for Sabé. Unaware of the situation between them, Padmé inadvertently offends Harli, who sends Sabé a message ending their relationship. Later, when the Queen and her handmaidens reunite, Padmé apologizes, but Sabé refuses to discuss it.

On the day the delegates are scheduled to return to their homeworlds, Governor Kelma, with the shortest hyper-lag, prepares to depart last. However, the orbital sensors detect an anomaly, prompting Panaka to request the Karlini pilot to expedite their departure. As Kelma's ship leaves, the Queen and her attendants hear a transmission: "What the hell?" They rush back to the palace, where Padmé summons her other handmaidens and Governor Sio Bibble to a meeting in the throne room. During the meeting, Panaka reports that the planet's orbital sensors were buzzed by an unidentified small craft. The meeting is interrupted by a holographic transmission from Viceroy Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation, who attempts to coerce Amidala into signing a treaty, which she refuses. After the Neimoidian disconnects, Amidala, confirming that she is the only one authorized to sign the treaty, asks Bibble to examine it for irregularities. She then contacts Palpatine to inform him of the threat. Following the call, Panaka reports that the situation has worsened: the Trade Federation has deployed a fleet and blockaded the entire planet.

As the first week of the blockade passes, Padmé dedicates her time to finding ways for Naboo to defend itself and mending her relationship with Sabé. At the week's end, an agricultural transport from Karlinus is turned away. Amidala inquires about the planet's food reserves, learning that most of the first yield was used as fertilizer due to its poor quality. The remaining public food supply can sustain Theed for a month but all of Naboo for only a week. Amidala orders rationing, hoping that the Chancellor's ambassadors, scheduled to arrive the next day, will bring about change.

The next day, Padmé dresses formally to greet the ambassadors, awaiting them in the throne room with her retinue. After several hours, Padmé sends Gunray a message reminding him of the dignitaries' visit, but the Viceroy seems overly smug. She attempts to contact Palpatine to learn who was sent, but the transmission is cut off before any meaningful discussion can occur. Bibble declares that an invasion is imminent. Before they can decide how to respond, news arrives that the Federation's ships are landing. As the government officials disperse, Padmé leads the way back to her apartments, deciding it's time for the decoy switch. Sabé agrees to set aside their differences, and the girls quickly execute the plan. While the other handmaidens dress Sabé, Padmé pauses to observe the city before transforming herself into a handmaiden.

From this point, events unfold rapidly. The ambassadors, Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, rescue the Queen's party after infiltrating Theed with the help of the Gungan Jar Jar Binks. The Queen is separated from some of her handmaidens, with Saché and Yané opting to remain on Naboo with Governor Bibble due to limited space on the Naboo Royal Starship. After the ship escapes, Padmé, disguised and cleaning carbon scoring off the astromech droid that saved them, considers whether to reconcile with the Gungans. R2-D2 seems to approve.

On Naboo, Saché, Yané, and Bibble are taken to Camp Four. The governor is soon escorted back to the palace by battle droids, while the girls find themselves in a tent with Mariek Panaka, Sergeant Tonra, and other guards. Mariek begins to strategize, sending scouts to assess the camp's boundaries and guard patrols. She tasks the two handmaidens with devising a secret communication method undetectable by the droids. Yané requests Saché's silk underrobe, planning to use a traditional communications code known to all Naboo children.

Offworld, the Queen's journey is disrupted by hyperdrive malfunctions, stranding them on Tatooine, a lawless planet in the Outer Rim. Qui-Gon plans to search for a replacement in town, and Padmé insists on accompanying him, despite her handmaidens' and Panaka's concerns. Padmé suspects that the Jedi Master is close to uncovering their decoy strategy but goes anyway.

Back on Naboo, as the resistance in Camp Four gains momentum, Saché is seized by droids and threatened in front of Governor Bibble, who has been brought to the camp by Gunray. Saché slips the code word "toll" into her message to the governor, intended for the Queen. The captive Naboo guards are impressed, but Mariek affirms her belief in the handmaidens' abilities. Alone, Saché and Yané acknowledge their mutual feelings.

On Tatooine, Padmé, unable to sleep, finds Shmi Skywalker assembling a viewscreen the night before the race, while Anakin sleeps soundly and Qui-Gon and Jar Jar sleep on the floor. Returning to bed, Padmé questions whether her concern for a world not her own is selfish or a sign of expanded perspective.

The novel introduces Queen Sanandrassa as Padmé's predecessor as Monarch of Naboo, and establishes that she was preceded by Queen Réillata. However, the canon reference book Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded had previously named King Ars Veruna as preceding her on the throne. It also contradicts the novel Tarkin, which mentions Naboo being ruled by a king fifteen years before the rise of the Galactic Empire.

• ISBN 9781368057141 ; Released on June 2 , 2020 ; Published by Disney–Lucasfilm Press ; US hardcover edition [1]
• ISBN 9781368063258 ; Released on June 2, 2020; Published by Disney–Lucasfilm Press; US eBook edition [7]
• ISBN 9781368077194 ; Released on October 5 , 2021 , Published by Disney–Lucasfilm Press; US paperback edition [2]