"Of course. Do feel free to reach out to my office if you have further questions, Miss Vendar."

"We will."

She stands to leave.

And the Senator stands to walk her out. 

Elesse makes her goodbyes gracefully.

She returns them with good humor and well wishes for her future work. 

And it's the handmaidens - specifically Ravrí this time, the newest handmaiden who's still settling into her role as part of the whole, a being without her own selfhood - who almost idly begin to track her. 

(Ravrí had been one of the two handmaidens accompanying their Mistress to the meeting with Elesse. The girl was interesting, she thinks, and knows her Mistress thinks that too, and she finds the rhythm of this peaceful and doesn't actually object to doing the new girl busy work here, or to having the older handmaidens keeping an eye on her. (It's expected that they'll watch the young Jedi. They don't want Plagueis realizing what they're seeing, though, not until it's too late.))

She's also the one on secretary duty for any messages or requests from the Jedi, of course.

The follow-up messages trickle in slowly. By itself, each one is relatively innocuous- but if you add them all up, it's clear that someone is charting a very precise map of the ebb and flow of money through the office (and more, what those perturbations mean about the wider Senate and the Naboo government back home).

She likes this girl. 

Ravrí responds, of course, checking some of the more sensitive questions with her mentor Vení first. The messages are marked as from the Senator's office, not the Senator, and Ravrí keeps to the official tone. 

Mostly, but where she doesn't is under Vení's careful eye. She lets slip hints that she's a new hire, here and there in tiny 'mistakes' or 'impulsive' comments, and lets slip the edges of the picture they want the Jedi to see. (And the faint outline of the picture they want the Jedi to suspect. Ravrí's status as the new girl should hopefully lend those slips an air of authenticity...)

And she makes it clear that for the more complicated or sensitive questions, the Jedi can very easily schedule a meeting with one of the handmaidens or the Senator herself, with an implication that more might be said off the record than in writing.

If she has the time to spare. Elesse wouldn't want to put the office to any trouble, it's just a couple lingering snags, you know.

Their office always has time for the Jedi.

Perhaps a lunch meeting? 

That works.

She'll schedule a light catered meal (after checking for allergies and the like, of course) in one of the side rooms for the Senator's office, then. 

Elesse shows up on time.

Ravrí is there already, with the food laid out - a cold and light lunch, so they won't have to worry about eating it right away. Finger foods, mostly, all the sorts of things one can eat while working. 

(Her outfit is of course designed to let her eat without revealing her face, especially sitting beside Elesse at the table rather than across from her.)

"Good noon, padawan Vendar," she says. "Please, have a seat."

(She's not Force sensitive, but she is a tightly controlled, muted presence. All the handmaidens are.)

"Hello, Handmaiden." She sits. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Now, I understand you had more questions for us?"

She has a list, actually. Somewhat harder-hitting than previously.

The handmaiden comes off as (and genuinely is) less polished than the Senator, speaks slightly less carefully, gives away slightly more in the Force, observes the Jedi slightly less keenly. (They're not even on camera - the Senator's office doesn't tolerate potential leaks - but her Mistress can watch through her eyes very subtly.)

There's more hints at potential entanglement with the Intergalactic Banking Clan and Damask Holdings, and yet more at ties to the Trade Federation, or else to parties the Jedi can't see yet - entanglement they're trying to hide, right now, and that shows up unusually infrequently even in every other record Elesse can access. (There's patterns outside this office, in who's reticent about questions, who openly or subtly aligns themselves with the Naboo delegation. In where else money trails vanish or lead to suspiciously innocuous places. In what requests get tied up in red tape and what don't - red tape is just about a reflex here, and it's odd, too, how forthcoming and prompt the Naboo delegation is acting.)

Ravrí also very clearly likes Elesse. It shines even in her muted Force presence and the careful lines of her posture. She's possibly willing to be a bit reckless, just to get a chance to verbally spar with the younger girl. (Ravrí is also obviously not just new but young - possibly a graduate of the Youth Legislature program, possibly not, given that no one has ever figured out who Palpatine's handmaidens were before joining her service and all their accents are blandly typical of those from Naboo's royal houses. Either way, she's likely at most a few years older than Elesse.)

It's kinda nice to talk with someone more her own age. Doesn't mean she won't ruthlessly take advantage of any gaps as best she can.

Ravrí returns the favor in part (implying that her offhand probes into what the Jedi already know or have found in their investigations are her own curiosity getting ahead of her, of course), but mostly focuses on dancing around Elesse, deflecting her where she can, leading her to other places (sometimes taking direction from subtle nudges in her mind from her Mistress)...

The nudges may be backfiring a bit, from the way Elesse circles back around on those topics. (Not that she notices anything, precisely, just... vague flickers in the Force that make her want to follow up.)

Ravrí's instinct is to back off, to deflect the Jedi girl away from finding anything special about the words her Mistress has influenced.

(There's a keen interest in her mind, a soft reminder that she's given up her own selfhood to become a handmaiden - that her instincts are subordinate to her Mistress's desires - )

(Her Mistress is increasingly a low hum in her mind, directing somewhat more of the conversation. Most Jedi shouldn't notice, even subconsciously. Plagueis struggles to notice, and while he's not actually particularly observant naturally, his enormous experience in the Force and with Sidious makes up for that...)

(The fewer changes there are, between Palpatine being present and not, words she guides and words she doesn't, the less Elesse notices.)

(The presence in Ravrí's mind pulls back, plays around with creating larger differences. Her Mistress is amused and curious, and Ravrí trusts her Mistress's judgment but this seems risky...)

Huh.

Elesse drifts the conversation away from what can strictly be called business and into more about the movements of people around the Senate, who's been talking to who, who's been wearing what, which unexpected coalitions are forming. Almost normal teenage girl gossip, if not for the exact subjects under discussion.