Rey is not a talker. Life alone for years on Jakku had ensured that. She's never had a true confidante and at this point she doesn't want one. Because Rey doesn't talk about her feelings. She keeps it all inside, like she has for years.
But oh how Rey dreads the next visit to Snoke. She can't sleep at night and she is short tempered with everyone, even Milo. Twice she bursts into tears for no good reason. Then at breakfast on the morning of the visit, one of the boys hurls his bowl of oatmeal across the room. It splatters everywhere. Rey mutters softly under her breath as she stalks over to pick up the mess.
"The droid will get that," Milo soothes as he walks in to find the Empress on her hands and knees scooping up porridge.
But crouched there, all Rey can think is that this is her job in life. To pick up the pieces and clean up the messes and shoulder the consequences of the Sith. From the youngest ones to the oldest Master. She scowls. It's not her fault that Darth Sidious was a murdering asshole who nearly killed Snoke. And it's not her fault that the Sith slaughtered all the Jedi healers that might have helped to heal him decades ago. But somehow it is Rey's problem now. And Snoke's solution is more than she can handle. It's like some ancient feudal droit du seigneur, only it's her modern life.
"Fucking Sith!" she throws down the spoon she has collected and it clatters loudly.
"Rey?" From across the table, Kylo finally looks up from his datapad to raise an eyebrow. It's not like his Empress to swear so casually. Especially in front of the children. And not knowing the context, he thinks she's swearing about the children. His little Sith.
"Fucking Sith!" Rey is crying now. Loud, gulping sobs. Milo is at her side first, helping to raise her to her feet. He nods over his shoulder to one of the nannies who is hovering in the doorway and she hurries in to take over feeding the twins.
"You're going to see my Master today, aren't you?" Kylo asks and she nods her reply. "Good. I think a break from the boys might help. They are a handful." This is an understatement, but miserable Rey only hears it as criticism. Because even with all the help, she seems incapable of handling two small children. And that that is a big comedown for a girl who once handled everything in life on her own. "Maybe you should go see him more often." Kylo thinks he's being helpful. He has no idea what he is suggesting because Rey hasn't told him. She doesn't dare. "It would give you more alone time." And that suggestion just makes her cry harder.
Kylo is puzzled. He stands there uncertain as to how to handle the situation.
So the castlekeeper inserts himself. "I will accompany her today. My old Master has requested my presence," Milo volunteers and Kylo nods his approval. "She'll be alright, Lord Ren. Perhaps some additional visits, like you suggest."
Kylo is frowning down at her now as she dries her tears. "Rey, you're not pregnant again, are you?" he asks.
No, she's not. And it's too bad, Rey thinks. Because that's probably the only way she could get herself out of this situation. Rey can see no other excuse for avoiding today's visit to Snoke. For without question, you come when the Supreme Leader summons you. And you do not say no to a Sith Master. Even when he's dragging you to bed against your will.
Kylo's power comes with strings attached and every single one of them leads back to his Master. And each string ties Rey as neatly as it binds her Sith. It's a spider's web, a stealth snare, the trap that cannot be avoided. For if Kylo is his Master's creature, then so is Rey.
This is abuse, this is betrayal, this crosses a line, this is wrong. But none of those conventional moral objections will sway a Sith, Rey knows. For this is the pursuit of power, and power trumps all where Snoke is concerned.
So slowly Rey gathers her composure and squares her shoulders. There are things you want to do in life and things you have to do. And even an Empress has things she has to do. But oh! She does not want to do this. But she doesn't see a way out of it. Not without telling Kylo. And that would mean risking Kylo.
Hours later, Milo and a stone faced Rey arrive at the Supreme Leader's stronghold. Rey is trembling now and the old manservant pretends not to notice. But he keeps giving her odd looks that betray his concern. Rey pulls up the hood of her long black cloak, seeking to shield her face from prying eyes. She can't help but wonder if any of the guards and officers know the true reason for her visits. Does anyone really believe that she is paying a mere social call on the Supreme Leader? Surely they have seen the changes in him and wondered about the cause.
Once inside, Milo beckons her to follow him and again she is heading down into the depths of the Sith's lair. She recognizes the route to his bedchamber and falters a moment, uncertain if she can continue. And that is when Snoke himself comes up from behind. And now Rey is really jumpy.
Snoke says nothing. He just nods to Milo and as a trio they continue in silence down a long, quiet hallway and through a series of security doors. They are deep into a very private, very restricted area. Rey has not yet acknowledged the Supreme Leader's presence. This leads Milo to raise a reproving eyebrow in her direction. But she ignores it. And Snoke does not comment. He flows stately and slow in their wake.
Rey is very grateful for Milo's presence. She doesn't want to be alone with the Sith.
They reach the final door and this time there is no security panel. It is locked with the Force, Rey recognizes. She watches as Darth Plagueis pauses for a moment at the door before it opens. Then he steps aside for Milo and Rey to enter.
But he does not follow. Rey glances to him warily, but the Muun just shakes his head and averts his eyes. "I will wait outside," he intones softly.
The room is large and dimly lit. Full of equipment that looks vaguely medical, including a shadowy tank of some kind. Milo crosses to an instrument panel to flip a switch. The lights in the tank come on and Rey sees her.
Now Rey knows why Snoke wanted to wait outside.
"This is Madame," Milo says simply.
A horizontal tank of some kind is in the center of the room and within it floats a Muun woman. She has been harmed, terribly harmed and someone has made an effort to repair the damage. For there are suture marks crisscrossing her arms and hands to fuse back together limbs once chopped in multiple places. She must have raised her arms to ward off her attacker, Rey thinks. But it had been in vain.
The woman's face appears unmarked but for a slight burn across her cheek that clearly came from a lightsaber. One leg bears a similar mark as well. But the mortal wound is to her chest. Rey instantly recognizes the blow, for she had spent weeks repairing the matching mark on Snoke's own chest.
Darth Sidious had stabbed them both through the heart.
In silence, Rey walks forward into the room and circles the tank. Seeing the woman's face with eyes closed and mouth slightly open. Observing her long Muun body with ample female curves. There are no sharp angles on this woman, no jutting ribs or collarbones. Just smooth, rounded grey flesh everywhere but where she is injured. She has pink toenail polish on, Rey sees. And though it is a bit gruesome to inspect her severed and restitched hands, yes her fingernails are the matching color. It's just what Rey would have expected from the fancy lady in the holonet pictures.
Snoke's wife wears a short silvery lace negligee to give her modesty. It wafts and flutters slightly in the liquid. A soft, lifelike movement against the backdrop of her perfectly still body. Was this what she had been wearing when she was killed? Or had someone dressed her in this later on? The garment ripples slightly and Rey catches a peek at a Sith tattoo encircling her upper thigh. Darth Plagueis had marked his territory, it seems.
For decades, Rey realizes, this woman's body has been kept in stasis. She is a ghostly Ophelia suspended in death and in time. Yet another doomed Sith wife from long ago whose story looms large over present events. Seeing her now, Rey much prefers Vader's sad portrait memento of Padme to this morbid basement mausoleum. Why ever does Snoke keep her like this?
"Shan Damask," Rey says her name aloud and it breaks the silence. She realizes that Milo has been waiting for her to speak.
"Yes," he nods. "Madame was known to the world as Shan Damask then. She had been Shan Merga in her prior life with the Jedi." The castlekeeper takes a deep breath and for a moment the ageless servant truly looks old. Old and full of secrets, full of regrets. "Such a pair they were, my Master and Madame," Milo reminisces. "They were quite celebrated in their day. Madame was much admired. She was very friendly and loved by all who knew her." And from the catch in Milo's voice, Rey can tell that she was loved by Milo too.
"All except Sidious," Rey whispers.
"Yes," Milo concurs gravely. Then he sighs. "He never forgave the Master for showing her mercy and taking her back. Lord Sidious was a hard, hard man, Empress. In the years I served Emperor Palpatine, I only ever knew him to care about one person. Mostly, Lord Sidious took pleasure in harming and humiliating others. He liked to punish." Milo frowns at some unspoken memory. Then he shakes his head as he adds, "At times, he could be horribly cruel to Lord Vader. Horribly cruel."
"Was that because Darth Plagueis was Vader's father in the Force?" she asks.
Milo shakes his head no. "Mostly it was because Lord Vader had been Jedi. Lord Sidious hated the Jedi."
Rey nods. Snoke has told her this. "Because Sidious hated the Light."
"Yes, he did," Milo agrees. "But mostly it was because in those days, as some would put it, the Jedi stole children." He does not elaborate.
"What happened to her son?" Rey wants to know. "Does the Leader have his body too?"
"No. Their son did not have the Force." Milo tells Rey this as if it ought to explain everything. And perhaps it does, for would a Sith ever value a child who did not have the Force? Sometimes even Kylo speaks of his boys like they are more his legacy then his sons. The expectations that will one day burden her boys are considerable, Rey knows. But while Darth Plagueis' son had none of those prospects, he had died all the same. Yet one more innocent bystander killed in the wake of the Sith.
She thinks of Snoke waiting outside in the hallway and suddenly Rey understands that this is the reason why Milo had made the eight-hour roundtrip journey today. To show her Lady Plagueis' body. Here is the long trusted retainer who knows all of his Master's personal secrets. And not just who this woman is and how she died, but also the more closely guarded secret that she is the Supreme Leader's weakness. For the man who coldly destroys billions on the Hosnian System is also a man who cannot bear to look upon the corpse of this one woman long gone. Here is one tragedy among the billions he has caused. But she is his tragedy, and that makes it different.
Rey wonders again why this woman has not been laid to rest and left behind like the rest of Hego Damask's life. Turning to Milo, she asks bluntly, "Why does he keep her like this?" Why, when he cannot even bear to look upon her?
The old retainer clears his throat. When he speaks, he is choosing his words carefully. "Long ago when he took Madame back, Lord Plagueis promised her two things. That he would give her the revenge of the Sith against the Jedi. And that together they would rule the galaxy." Milo looks Rey squarely in the eye. "Lord Plagueis still plans to rule the galaxy with his wife at his side. When you have made him strong enough, Rey, he will try again to revive Madame in the Force."
"Oh."
Rey turns back to the beautiful woman in repose in the liquid coffin. The might-have-been First Empress who lies in state locked away in a dark basement. Rey stares for a long moment. Thinking. Can Snoke really do this? Can he revive a woman dead almost eighty years and horribly mutilated? She thinks back to the Muun warning her not to attempt to avoid fate, and wonders why Snoke would dare to alter things this way. But he is Sith, and Sith dare anything. Even this apparently.
Her mind furiously rewinds back nearly a century of conflicts. She's trying to make sense of all she remembers of Darth Plagueis the Wise. But despite all Rey knows of the machinations of the Dark Side, all she can think of is the holonet pictures she had poured over. Of the secret Sith Hego Damask looking relaxed and happy with his wife by his side.
Insight flashes up to Rey in the Force. Intuition suddenly crystal clear. Rey turns wide eyes on Milo.
"So she is the reason? She is why he formed the First Order, she is why he had Kylo kill Luke Skywalker?" This woman is the why behind the Starkiller and behind the massacres galaxy-wide from Chandrila to D'Qar. She is the reason children are stolen and brainwashed to be soldiers, why the Order hunted a map for a decade and a droid for a week, and why a scavenger girl from Jakku crossed paths one day with a Skywalker prince in the woods. Shan Damask is the sine qua non. The private rallying cry for the heartbroken Sith who stayed in the game long after he had lost. The raison d'etre for the First Order and Kylo's Second Empire. The justification for Rey's own rape at the hands of the Sith Master.
It's all clear now. There is nothing Darth Plagueis won't do for this woman. Nothing.
Rey looks back to Lady Plagueis in undisguised surprise. And something like fearful respect.
"Darth Plagueis did it all for a woman?" she whispers. "For love?" For a promise to his dead wife left unfulfilled?
"It might be best if you spoke with him directly about this," Milo suggests gently. Then the castlekeeper turns out the lights and ushers her back into the hallway.
Snoke is gone now. She's not surprised.
