The bed was bigger and fuller than it had ever been on Arkanis. The chamber was far more luxurious and spacious than he'd experienced but it had become home. Now though, the red headed ruler just wanted to be with his family and sleep. Scarcely salvaging the energy to change into his bed clothes, the former General slid under the blankets and almost immediately; his wife's pale, delicate hand found his bare chest.
"You're late." The dark haired beauty murmured without opening her eyes, having turned on her side to offer her hand. Movement under the sheets told him he'd disturbed someone else. A small boy of about four emerged sluggishly, eyes barely open and crawled onto his father's chest. It seemed Killian had been waiting to settle down properly with the older male, despite the late hour.
"I know." He uttered, exhausted as he lifted Kendra's hand to his face and laid an affectionate kiss to her palm. He held it and it stayed on his chest just above Killian's head; the one with the more vivid hair colour, he knew them both exceptionally well by now as any father should. "The Senate are puppets; I wish they would act like it."
Brendol's free arm draped loosely around Killian; both for closeness and security so the small boy snuggled in closer at his father's contact, relaxing completely when his fiery head was kissed. Sometimes it amazed Hux when he thought back; there was no way he had this bond with his own father. They never even slept in the same wing, let alone the same room or bed. He put that down to Kendra.
"Tell them that when they wake up. You told them you'd be here for bedtime."
"I know. I doubt they'll be pleased, though I'm sure the Empress will defend me from my own children."
"Hmm... She might not. But quite frankly, Brendol, if you can't hold your own against two four year olds and a three year old, you don't deserve to be Emperor."
"Blunt as always, Kendra. I have Killian. Where are the others?" One prince was accounted for but two children were still missing. Kendra answered the question wordlessly by pulling back the blankets where two other children lay.
Hadrian was instantly recognisable with the thick red waves though it was very slightly darker than Killian's. He was wedged in the space between his parents, comatosed and splayed out as he had been when his father saw him for the first time.
Beside Hadrian, another smaller child lay tucked in close to Kendra's torso, one little arm draped across its mother's waist. The favour was returned by the guarding hand the female held against its back, a gesture of both concern and affection. A small whinge left said child and its face buried in deeper to Kendra's chest at the sweep of cold air from the blanket being pulled back.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart." Kendra soothed as she replaced the blankets, giving the child's dark head an apologetic stroke before replacing it to its original position. Her little one settled again once the cocoon of heat engulfed them. "Papa needed to check on you."
Brendol shifted over slightly, keeping hold of Killian and doing his best to avoid Hadrian's spread out limbs but trying to get as close to his wife as he could. When he finally achieved it, the hand on his chest rested warmly against his cheek, her thumb stroking gently across it.
"The Senate wouldn't know power if it struck them in the rear." She assured him with purred confidence. It was a statement of absolute certainty; to reinforce the authority, leadership and prestige her husband already knew he had but sometimes needed to be reminded by the lips that only he claimed.
"They are merely a pipedream of democracy for the common man but they are necessary. Let them squabble among themselves like rats. If the people think they have a voice in the Senate, they will be pacified and you can work quietly to do what you need to do. We both know what you're capable of; my Emperor. Leave the Senate be."
Kendra was strong; she was beautiful and she was intelligent. She grew up around possibly the slyest man in the galaxy; she knew what it took to attain and maintain power. His wife of just over eight years knew that unquestioning obedience of the masses didn't come easily but when it was gathered, it should be preserved in the most careful possible way. That's why their Emperor was respected but their Empress was loved.
Hux couldn't help himself. A firm, purposeful kiss was pushed to the female's lips (who had to stretch slightly to receive it); it was returned, savoured and intensified until eventually he pulled back with a somewhat frustrated exhale. She knew what that meant.
"Tomorrow night." She promised him with drips of the same vexation in her own lowered voice. "Tomorrow night I will be yours to do with as you please. You've been so scarce, we need it. I've almost forgotten what you look like under those robes."
"Every freckle is where you left it." Brendol replied as his lip curved into a tired, one sided grimace of smile. No matter how tired or busy the new Emperor became, his adoration for the one at his side would never waver. Previous Emperors took mistresses and concubines; what did he need those for? "Where would I be without you?"
"Not here, Brendol; that's for bloody sure." The grimace stretched at the humour and her hand was kissed again. "Go to sleep. It's typical you're the last one into bed and you'll have to be the first one up." She started to ease herself to sleep again and he did the same. It was such a wonderful sensation; the tranquilized hoarseness made it even more so.
"Typical is true. I love you."
"I love you too."
And speaking of pipedreams…..
Brendol woke in a different bed; an empty one. There were no children cuddling him, no kisses from his wife, no day to day declarations of love and certainly no empire. Disappointment burned in the pit of his stomach; he remembered the way she looked at him, the way she kissed him, supported him and promised herself to him. The tiny mattress in the shuttle had been refused for the night since Kendra was gracious enough to let him sleep inside. That said, she had made it very clear he would be sleeping alone.
Just like on Arkanis, the children slept in Kendra's room but breaking the habit of breastfeeding was already frustrating her. Still, she had to remember the greater good behind it. That thirty percent drove her and she'd be damned if the other seventy took over; it would devastate her. Every effort was already being made and that was clear when he joined her the next morning. Again, he wasn't invited but a place was set for him regardless. They were quiet; Kendra ate and Brendol watched her.
Her stomach was hidden by the table but that didn't stop his gaze seeking out the mound that carried a very small survival chance. Wasn't it every parent's worst nightmare? True, Brendol probably wasn't the best model for a father but he loved the boys regardless. And he'd love this one given the chance. He was given more or less the same meal as Kendra; they hadn't been expecting him so the menu was limited.
"I have to leave tomorrow." Brendol uncertainly broke the silence after a mouthful or two. Kendra's deep blue gaze flickered up, silently giving him clearance to continue. "I was hoping you would allow me to use the same room tonight. I'd like to see the boys before they go to bed, help during the night if I'm needed."
She looked like she was considering it until an accepting nod confirmed it for him. Her gartro egg omelette was ignored momentarily and her Chandrilan tea was sipped; he could only assume morning sickness was plaguing her already. "I don't see why I shouldn't." A stranglehold of tension slowly unworked itself from his chest; Hux had expected to be returned to his shuttle. "You may see the boys, I will be going to them in a moment but I doubt you would be needed during the night."
They continued with their meal, a few more mouthfuls taken until Kendra cleared her throat again. Brendol had declared he would do anything, anything to have his family fully together again. His dream cruelly showed it to him then returned him the normal world to force him to work for it. If he did, however, it would be his.
"Did you think about our conversation from last night?" He'd thought about it until his brain could no longer take it and sleep forcefully claimed him. The vision should have made that decision easier but it wasn't that simple. The redhead swallowed the piece of Traladon in his mouth but it was a glaring few seconds before he actually spoke.
"I did."
"And?"
His knife and fork were set down and Brendol shuffled uncomfortably in his chair, his wife noticed. He had chosen to believe that that dream had been entirely attainable; a glimpse at the future, if you will. However, it begged the question which choice he should make if he wanted that and to protect his family at the same time.
"I can't." Kendra blinked, unemotional and totally unsurprised by the answer. Once First Order scum, always First Order scum. Then again, she didn't know what she would have done if he'd said the opposite.
"I see. Well, I gave you a fair chance, you can't say that I didn't-"
"Kendra, you don't understand…."Unmoved by the small, new note of plea in her husband's voice, the dark haired female pushed her plate aside with the intention of getting up and leaving. The interruption made her stop and stare him down; a brutal gaze that would have crippled Snoke himself.
"Understand? I understand plenty. Whether you know or believe it or not, Brendol; I have my own ideals, my own principals. You forget that I am not an extension of my father." Kendra never intended Brendol to leave the First Order for her; in fact, she'd counted on him refusing. She never intended on playing happy families. Not because it wasn't in her; it was. Just not with Brendol.
"Just like you, I will not be turned from my principals. There will always be corruption and believe me, I know corruption; I was raised by it and in the very depths of it. But are you any better? Or are you that blind?" Kendra sat back in her chair, meal and tea forgotten. Nostrils flared in a pull of disdain, she continued to stare him down; that familiar feeling of whittling clawed at his chest. The strength he'd observed in the dream was barrelling to the forefront now and she wouldn't hold back.
"If you think that blowing up the Hosnian System was the solution then I truly can't comprehend how your mind works. How that can even occur to you? That all those innocent people must die at your hand on not one but five planets?" Kendra sat forward with her jaw somewhat clenched to scrutinize his facial expression that he was trying to keep together.
"Children. The same age as your two sons. Younger even. Pregnant women, just like me: All wiped out. Not even given a chance. And all for you to make a pathetic statement to the Resistance. Did you even think about those mothers? Those children? Did you even think that it could have been your family? What if it was?" Brendol swallowed. Perspective was an important thing. What if his family had been on Hosnian Prime? The mere thought of it made bile rise in the back of his throat. But Kendra wasn't finished.
"Do you know what that makes you, Brendol? It makes you a tyrant. A terrorist." It wasn't even disdain anymore just pure revilement. "I gave you the option of renouncing the First Order and you wouldn't do it. I don't care why. But I will not willingly share my bed, my family and my life with someone who can justify the mere concept of Starkiller Base, let alone what it did. Now if you'll excuse me, Brendol; my sons need me."
His wife left her chair without a nothing word and swept from the room, leaving him with a lot to think about. He couldn't leave the First Order. Whatever about what they'd do to him, he couldn't bear to think of what they'd do to Kendra (pregnant or not), maybe even his sons. He had no doubt that Snoke would take exceptional pleasure in sending Kylo Ren on a rampage with a squadron of Stormtroopers to tear apart whatever hole in the ground the traitor was hiding in with his wife and children. Brendol Hux was trying to protect his family.
Brendol left her for a while. To impose his presence so soon might cause her to lash out as she had become known for doing. He could hear her upstairs, talking to the children and them attempting to talk back; chattering senselessly but necessary if they were to learn. His time on Naboo was running out and the redhead needed to see his children before he returned to Finalizer. By the time he entered her bedroom (which was far more lavish than her room on Arkanis); she seemed to have cooled down. Not that she had been anything but cold when she delivered those numbing truths.
Killian rested on his mother's lap, his body supported by the crook of her arm with both grabby hands resting on the bottle. The first few times, they'd refused the bottle; opting for Kendra's chest instead and as much as it killed her, she had to insist until they eventually took it. Killian was greedier than Hadrian; he still lay in the female's lap, clutching the bottle but his eye lids were starting to droop. She tried to remove the bottle but he whimpered and grabbed it back. More often than not, he puked when she winded him.
For once when Brendol saw Hadrian, he was awake and quite excited to see him. He was more energetic than he remembered and far more affectionate. The five month old was heavier and stockier but pleasantly so; a reminder than his son was actually growing. Kendra and Brendol exchanged an amicable glance before returning their attention to their respective children.
"Does your father know you're pregnant?" The question seemed to come from nowhere. She didn't answer for a moment; her hair had been tied over one shoulder while Killian rested against the other, his back being rubbed. It was one of the rarer occasions where he did what he was supposed to do: Belch.
"He doesn't. Cole knows. My father doesn't know I'm here either." Brendol felt a jolt in his stomach. Romhain knew she was here. He knew because of Brendol. She was hiding from her own father?
"Why doesn't he know? Surely-"
"Because, Brendol; if he knew, he would want to know why. And then he would drag me back to Arkanis. And I don't want to go back to Arkanis." Surely he wouldn't? When he spoke to Romhain the next day, could he not tell him to leave Kendra where she was? But that was a confliction of interests. If Brendol wanted to keep his wife, he wanted to keep her in their 'family' home.
Naturally, he couldn't tell her Romhain knew. Even if Brendol had informed him by accident, the consequences would be the same. He'd seen when Kendra was on her deathbed that she was little more than a pawn; an assurance for Romhain who had diminished somewhat when the boys were born. But the eldest Varnett was not known for leaving anything to chance. Kendra still had her value.
"Know why?"
"Why I'm here. He doesn't know I've left you." Sometimes Brendol forgot that minor detail; that gut-wrenching talk they'd had back on Arkanis. Being with her and the children made it seem normal, like they would never truly be apart for it. Killian was fine, he was placed back in the cot and Kendra handed a full bottle to her husband who took it curiously. If he didn't know what to do with it, Hadrian would.
"There is no one who wants us together more other than you, Brendol, than my father. And purely for his own selfish reasons. I'm done with it." Brendol opened his mouth to protest; to inquire indignantly if she had left him to punish her father but from her earlier statements in the dining room, it seemed she wanted to sever herself from both of them. If he could view the situation, the whole messy situation from her eyes, he wouldn't have blamed her.
"I think you could have found another way to punish your father without involving me."
"Possibly. But if you think you're not guilty too then you weren't listening to a word I said back on Arkanis or in the dining room. Don't forget to wind him, towels are there. He probably won't get sick. Cover them both over when you put him back in. I'm going for a bath. And you're not to join me this time, Brendol."