Chapter Two:
'
Rey woke with a groan. She was definitely dying. Despite her nausea her stomach grumbled at its current emptiness and she rolled over, blinking in the bright sunlight that was the result of forgetting to close the curtains when she climbed through the window the night before.
"Aureya!" there came banging on her bedroom door, which she had jammed shut with a wedge of wood, "You're late! You should have been up hours ago! The Queen from Alderaan is due to arrive soon and you aren't even dressed!" Rey groaned again and pulled a pillow over her head.
"If you don't open this door this instant, I will get Stan to break it down and you won't be getting a replacement!"
"All right!" Rey yelled then winced in regret.
Rolling herself out of bed she tottered over to her door and opened it.
Bunty stood on the other side, arms folded and frowning for all she was worth, "You need to bathe young lady," despite her apparent ire she handed Rey a mug of kaf.
Rey sighed and took a sip gratefully, "What's the point? No one will notice if I'm there."
"Your father will notice," Bunty replied sternly, "And you never know, one of the princes may take a liking to you!"
"Don't be ridiculous, and I wouldn't want them to anyway, I'm going to stay unmarried and free"
Bunty rolled her eyes, "What will you do when your father dies, hmm? Who will look after you?"
Rey scoffed, "Nakaar doesn't care if I marry and he will be king, or I'll just leave and go travelling."
"Sure, sure you will. Now, steam room, I'll scrape while you sit, from your eyes I can tell you were out of the palace again," she shook her head, "I wish you wouldn't - its not safe!"
"Its fine! I have Finn and Poe with me anyway," Rey grumbled as she followed Bunty to the steam room and stepped inside before pulling off her loose shift and sighing as the steam prickled her skin.
Bunty muttered the entire time she helped Rey bathe, but they were empty threats, she had once promised to hold Rey's secrets and she would never go back on her word.
The firm massaging pressure of bunty washing her hair dissolved the pounding in her head and by the time Bunty announced her done, Rey felt mostly normal again.
But she was also very, very late, as the runner from her father kept repeating as she hurriedly threw her clothes on, ignoring Bunty when she insisted the dress wasn't formal enough and her hair needed styling.
This would have to do.
It wasn't an unusual sight to see Princess Aureya running around the palace, she was typically late to everything except exercises with her guards and sometimes her brothers.
Nakaar and Bryjar, her oldest and youngest siblings, were the only two she got on with, there was no love lost between she and her six sisters.
As she skidded down corridors and ducked around servants, guards and whomever else was in her way, she thought she'd made it, but as she rushed into the receiving room, she found that she was still late. Kriff it all.
Thankfully her father turned it into a joke and she kept her head down, catching her breath and trying to calm her stomach which was upset about all the sudden movement and its continued emptiness.
When her father introduced her, she dipped a perfunctory curtsy and offered her hand. The size of the foreign Prince's hand surprised her, as did the heat of it and the surprisingly soft brush of his lips on her skin.
Finally she looked up… and she got the shock of her life.
The man before her had been at Korso's Tavern the night before, the ridiculously tall patronising man, along with his equally tall and patronising brother.
"Kriff."
This was not going to end well, while her father indulged her somewhat, if he found out about her nighttime excursions… well, it didn't bear thinking about.
His eyes indicated he remembered her, yet he said nothing, neither did his brother who kissed her hand after him.
Rey's head buzzed and she wondered if she could sneak out before they were seated, and was sidling over to one of the large windows when her wrist was caught gently but firmly by Nakaar.
"You can't fly away quite yet, little bird," he murmured as he dragged her to an empty space to sit down.
Rey huffed, but settled on the cushions anyway, "I don't know why I even need to be here," she muttered back, "They won't miss one out of seven."
A disdainful look crossed her brothers dark features but was quickly erased, "No, I doubt they would, but I think the queen would and it may be seen as an insult."
Master Skywalker, the queen's brother, sat on Nakaar's opposite side and drew him into conversation so Rey picked at her food and silently counted down the seconds till it was over.
Bryjar was seated with her father and Queen Leia, though he looked as bored as she felt, there was no way for him to come and join her without being obvious about it.
"Ah, Princess Aureya," her head snapped to Master Skywalker who was sitting forward so he could see her clearly, "Are you betrothed?"
Rey blinked and cut her eyes at Nakaar who shrugged slightly, "Um, no? I am not."
His pleasant expression became a little confused, "Oh, I assumed, as you were not sitting with your sisters…?" he trailed off in an obvious question.
Rey kept herself from grimacing, just. "I am sure the Princes are quite overwhelmed as it is."
Nakaar smiled diplomatically at the man, "My youngest sister is quite shy," he explained.
Shy? Rey resisted rolling her eyes, if it worked she'd take it.
"Oh, well, I will make sure she gets to talk with Benjamin and Kyloren later, Ben can be a little shy himself," he gave her an encouraging look, as if he was helping her out.
Nakaar's lips twitched and Rey carefully clenched her hands in her lap, "You are too kind."
"Oh, no, not at all," still smiling, still completely oblivious, still assuming all women wanted was a man.
It was shortly after that, when the main dishes were being cleared away and shisha pipes and sweets were being set out, that Rey tried to slip away again.
This time she was intercepted by her younger brother, "Father says if you leave now you're not allowed out to ride for a week."
Rey glared at Bryjar, who flipped his sandy brown hair out of his eyes and shrugged, "Don't shoot the messenger, he said the same to me too."
"If we both leave, we can do something else together instead of riding?"
"He'd think of something else, you know he would," he grinned, "Even if we are his favourites."
"Shh!" Rey hissed, "You can't say things like that."
Bryjar looked entirely unrepentant, "It's true, well if you add in Nakaar, then it is. That's why the harpies hate you."
"And you shouldn't say things like that either, leastways, not where they may hear you. Last time you called them that Therava blew pepper in your eyes."
"And you gave her a black one," Bryjar countered, "It was totally worth the pain to see that."
With a long suffering sigh, Rey started back towards the table, "Sit with me at least?"
Grinning, her youngest brother nodded, "Father never said I had to return to him."
They passed the rest of the time playing stones and sniggering quietly into their hands when one of princes couldn't handle smoking and kept coughing.
'~~#~~'
"So did any of the princesses catch your eye?" Leia asked as they joined her in her sitting room after lunch was over.
"Let me see," Kylo raised six fingers, "No," he dropped one down, "No," he dropped another, then, "No, no, no and no."
"That's only six," Han remarked as he settled on a low seat and undid the top of his green tunic.
Ben shrugged, "We didn't get a chance to speak to Princess Aureya."
Luke perked up, "I did, at first I assumed she was already betrothed but it appears she is just very shy. A sweet girl, you should try and talk to her, Ben."
Kylo smirked at Ben and shook his head, "Are you sure the word shy is the one you mean, Luke?" (He never used Luke's honorific, though if Luke noticed, he didn't care.)
Ben covered a disbelieving smirk of his own, the girl they'd met at the tavern was definitely not shy.
"Oh, yes, well she certainly seemed to be," Luke answered blithely.
Leia pursed her lips, "And what was wrong with the princesses you did talk to?"
"There were too many of them," Kylo answered immediately, "They were basically the same person, just with different packaging, vapid, vain, and very high pitched."
Han let out an amused chuckle, but stifled it when Leia glared at him.
"He's not wrong," Ben added, "They were quite, err, single minded in their attempts to get our attention and were really rather nasty to each other at the same time."
"I imagine most of them like the idea of leaving this hellish wasteland, can't blame them for trying," Han commented.
Leia shook her head, "Perhaps, but if they're nasty to each other they could be nasty to servants or subjects. Still, first impressions aren't always everything. We are here for a week, make the most of it, and there will be a dance too."
"Aureya and her brothers are going riding tomorrow," Luke offered, "Perhaps you could join them?"
"They ride out for pleasure in this heat?" Kylo asked incredulously.
Luke shrugged, "They're probably used to it."
Ben sighed, "Well, I'll go," he didn't say that he wanted to speak to Aureya or should he call her Rey? But it was probably obvious.
"Yeah, me too," Kylo added, for the same reason.
"Excellent, I think I will join you," Luke smiled, oblivious to his nephew's twin glares, "I've always wanted to ride a fathier."
'~~#~~'
As soon as Rey could get away, she tracked down Finn and Poe. She found them in the guard common room and gestured for them to join her outside.
"What's up, Rey?" Finn asked win a grin.
Poe followed straight after with, "You married yet?" and a matching grin.
Scowling, Rey shook her head, "We have a BIG problem," she took a breath and glanced around to make sure no one could hear her, "You remember those outlander twins in Korso's Tavern last night?"
They frowned, "The stupidly tall, pale ones?" Poe asked.
"Yes. Well, those are the kriffing princes!"
Finn chuckled, "Sure they are, pull the other one, Rey, maybe with a better joke."
Letting out a furious "Urgh!" Rey grabbed him by the lapels, "I am not kidding around! They recognised me, I'm sure of it!" when they still looked skeptical, she tried another tack, "Go and look at them, if you don't believe me or ask one of the palace guards, they could give you a description!"
Frowning, Poe called over a palace guard who was passing through the courtyard. He confirmed the descriptions, looking slightly confused while he did and even more so when he was then dismissed.
"Well, kriff," Poe finally said.
"What in the hells were two Princes doing hanging out at Korso's?" Finn asked, still sounding incredulous.
"Well," Poe started, sounding irritatingly reasonable, "Maybe the same thing the Princess was doing?"
"That is besides the point! They're bound to tell father, or worse, let it slip to one of the harpies!"
"That would be bad for all of us," Finn said slowly, "If your father finds out we help you get out, we'll be reposted to some border hut and never be seen again."
"That's if he doesn't kill us," Poe added, "Or Nakaar may kill us if the King doesn't."
Only Bunty knew of their night time escapades, Bryjar probably wouldn't tell on her but he may let something slip, - if you really wanted something kept secret you just didn't tell people. And Nakaar would definitely protest if he ever found out.
"Did you ask them not to tell anyone?" Finn asked hopefully.
Rey shook her head, "Couldn't get near them, they were mobbed by the harpies.
"Well, it'll look weird if one of us tries to talk to them, but we need to do something," Poe said, distractedly rubbing his stubbly chin.
Rey sighed, "I'll work something out," she gave them a weak grin, "But if it goes sideways, we may be better just running away."
"You know they'd just find you again, Rey, the last time you didn't even make it a day out before Nakaar caught you."
Shrugging, Rey replied, "That was a few years ago now and they've stopped watching so close. Plus, if you were with me, you could help and I thought this time, I let all the other fathiers loose, then no one could follow easily."
"Wouldn't work," Poe shook his head, "There are other corrals of fathiers all over the city and if you did let loose the palace ones, it would be like a big sign saying Aureya's run away again."
"Okay, so you think of ways to get out without being noticed and I'll try and talk to the princes and try to convince them to keep quiet."
Finn nodded, "Good luck, and let's maybe not go out tonight, seems like it'd be tempting fate."
It was a good point, nodding moodily, Rey took her leave.
'
Before the evening meal, Bunty forced Rey to dress 'properly' which included having her hair piled on top of her head and wearing a dress that was entirely too low cut.
"It's just dinner!" Rey growled as Bunty fussed over how the dress fitted, "And I am not wearing my circlet."
The dress in question was a soft grey blue with a subtle shimmer to it, it's scoop neck was loose on her shoulders and while the front was plain the back was a lattice, showing little hints of skin all the way down to her lower back.
"Fine, no circlet, but you will absolutely wear it for the dance, no arguments!" Bunty stepped away from Rey and nodded, "You'll do, I suppose. Though if your father complains I will truss you up like a chicken!"
Rey glared, but it didn't last long, "You know the others don't like it when I try to look nice," she muttered quietly.
Bunty sighed and patted her shoulder, "I know, poppet, but since you've had your own room, things have been better and you know I keep the door locked when you're out."
'
Rey's sisters never let her forget that her mother had been of low birth, it disgusted them and they went out of their way to make Rey's life as miserable as possible. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if Rey didn't fight back, but it wasn't in her nature to be passive. She could only restrain herself for so long before she snapped and bit back, yet it was always her who got in trouble for it. The last time had been her most successful and most infamous, she had managed to procure a honey badger and after feeding it with wine soaked dates, she had planted it in the wing of the palace where all her sisters rooms were, then sat back and watched the chaos.
It had been beautiful and utterly worth her father's fury, she hadn't even tried to deny it, it was perhaps and rather sadly, one of her proudest ever moments.
"Oh, stars preserve us, you'll late!" Bunty cried, "Just one day, it would be nice if you could be on time! Off with you now, and don't forget to try and talk to the princes! I hear they are quite handsome!"
Her only reply was a disgusted snort as Rey disappeared out of the door.
'~~#~~'
The evening meal was a larger and more formal affair, there were other guests, lords and ladies and higher ranking military officers.
Ben and Kylo were once again sat apart but this time, a seat was empty beside Ben. Everyone was almost seated when Aureya arrived in the grand hall and was steered by a servant to sit beside him.
Ben watched as she tried to surreptitiously protest before the servant informed her that she was ordered by the king, and with a sigh, she slipped into the chair next to him.
"Good evening, your highness," she murmured quietly.
With her hair up and away from her face, her neck looked so delicate, swanlike. Once more, unlike her sisters, she was fairly modestly dressed, not as simply as last time, but not gaudy or overdone.
"Good evening, your highness," he smiled slightly even though she wasn't looking at him, "I hope you are well?"
"Oh, the scavenger is fine, don't worry about her, your highness, I would love to hear all about the waterfalls in Naboo."
He frowned as he noticed Aureya's hands clench in her lap briefly, he turned to look at her sister, whose name he had already forgotten, "Scavenger?"
The dark haired princess gave a tinkling laugh she probably thought was attractive, "Oh, that's just our pet name for her, because her mother was just a scavenger, but tell me, are there really waterfalls higher than a house? Why does the water not float away?"
If he had to listen to this all evening, he was going to strangle someone.
The princess on the other side of Rey, hissed quietly, "Swap seats with me. He's not interested in you, scavenger."
Ben knew he wasn't meant to hear, but he couldn't think how to blonde woman thought he wouldn't be able to.
With as sultry a smile as he could, and loudly enough for both of the women to hear, he leaned a little closer and said, "You really do look beautiful, Princess Aureya, I'm glad I am finally able to talk with you."
A deep blush spread up her neck and coloured her cheeks as she finally turned to look at him, her pretty hazel eyes wide and… angry?
"Thank you, your highness, you are too kind. I, like Tiiona, would be pleased to hear about waterfalls."
On cue, Tiiona started gushing about all things watery, but Ben paid more attention to the exchange with Aureya and the other princess.
"Father said I have to sit here, I tried not to, Therava, by all means take it up with him."
"You always get your way, you little brat," Therava hissed, "You better not ruin this for us, stay out of my way and away from the Princes, or I swear you'll regret it."
Ben considered telling Therava she had absolutely no chance with either he or Kylo, but after Rey's strange reaction to his attempt to help, he decided he'd leave it.
'
Kylo looked as happy as he felt, even after Leia twitched her hands at them with the secret sign to 'be nice and behave'.
Rey deflected any attempt at conversing with her alone, always harping back to one of her sisters. She barely even looked at him, which had the irritating result of him becoming increasingly interested in her.
Remembering that they would be riding together tomorrow and being pretty sure her sisters would not be joining them, he gave up trying and instead attempted to answer her sisters questions and not roll his eyes and bang his head on the table.
By the end of the meal, Kylo's cheek was twitching and his face, while not looking angry, was suspiciously blank.
When they moved to a sitting room for smoking and after dinner drinks, Rey managed to sidestep his offered arm and her hissy sister took it with a smug smile.
He watched as Rey joined her brothers, Nakaar quickly taking her arm and as she looked away, the Prince caught Ben's eye and smirked slightly.
Apparently none of her siblings wanted Rey to talk to he and Kylo.
Which made Ben even more determined to do so.
'~~#~~'
"I'm going to need another honey badger," Rey muttered as soon as she was with her brothers, "Therava is on the warpath and father paved the way."
"Want me to talk to him?" Nakaar offered, with a smile.
Rey squeezed his arm, "Yes, please, he knows I'm not… marriage material, I don't know why he's bothering."
Bryjar rolled his eyes, "You're not princess material, you should have been born a boy."
Shaking her head, Rey smiled, "No, I should have been born a wild fathier or somesuch, being human is overrated."
Nakaar took a seat in the evening room and gestured to a servant to bring over a shisha pipe, "Being human has its perks, little ones," he leaned closer and lowered his voice, "Hashish?"
With wide eyes, Bryjar emphatically nodded his head, "Yes!" he looked at Rey, "You need to relax."
Frowning, Rey shook her head, "Not with so many people about, I'll say something wrong and get crucified for it."
"That is a good point," Bryjar nodded, deflating a little, "Maybe not while the outlanders are here."
Nakaar shrugged, "Your loss," he drew off the pipe and sighed with a smile, blowing the smoke towards the ceiling which was made of mosaic tiles and slivers of mirror, twinkling as they caught the lamplight.
They spent the rest of the evening talking, Nakaar occasionally would go and chat with other people but he always came back.
Their father shot she and Bryjar disapproving looks periodically, but he hadn't given any express rules for after dinner, so she and her youngest brother played stones or argued about where to ride out to the next day.
Their sisters didn't come anywhere near them and although the outlander princes glanced their way a few times, neither did they. There were too many people around for her to speak to them privately and without her sisters interrupting, so Rey came up with a plan B.
A/N: So, the world has gone crazy right now, hope you are all safe and well and that this update makes you smile a bit. Thank you for reading and reviewing :)