Chapter summary:
Where Rey starts to find out just how much the plot doth thicken in her husband's absence from the castle.
"The Empress is… gone? She's dead?"
Saying the words out loud don't make them hold any more sense.
Luke watched her in silence, and Rey looked back again at the sleeping form of her husband. Her hands fretted, tugging and pulling at the sleeves of her robe as her nervous habit dictated. Does Kylo even know?
"He said he wanted to go to the coast," she said, her voice wavering with each word. "He wants to be there to see her. That's why we were- oh gods, Luke, does my husband even know that his own mother is dead?"
She turned back to her old master, her eyes widening with panic. That would be so horrible. Kylo's mother dying and no one had the decency to tell him? Why would the world treat him like that? It was so horribly cruel, and now the wretched task would all upon Rey to do so. Excruciating, and she didn't how to even begin to find the words. Kylo deserved so much better.
"He knows," Luke answered. "But scant few others do. Not even those on her ship other than the captain know the truth of the cargo they're carrying. The Resistance has suspicions. They've been looking for a letter that my sister sent to Ben shortly before her death, but so far I've manged to keep the truth hidden from them until I could speak to him myself."
Rey closed her eyes and mentally counted to ten. That bloody letter. Of course it was. She had cursed that wretched thing so many times, but did that mean that the Empress knew she was going to pass away?
"But what about her ship?" she asked. "Kylo had insisted he wanted to be there when she arrived."
A deeper sadness filled Luke's eyes, and he nodded as he let her finish the thought for herself.
"It's her ashes," she said quietly. "He wants to be there when the urn arrives back home."
All this time her husband had been keeping this from her. Because he didn't trust her. That hurt worse than almost anything else. He'd chosen to bear this weight alone all because of some stupid rebellion that Rey had never asked to take a part in but had been thrown into nonetheless.
Then another thought hit her, striking through Rey's mind so fast she nearly gasped.
"If his mother is dead then that means that… he's her only heir. There is no one else."
Master Luke's expression tightened to one of stone-faced determination.
"My nephew is now only a coronation away from becoming one of the most powerful people in the whole continent.," he said. "As Emperor his reach will extend far beyond Alderaan's boundaries. This is why we must keep him alive, Rey. Keep him safe from the Resistance and all those within his own ranks who seek that power for themselves, and they are precisely why I need your cooperation next."
Rey turned and looked down at her resting husband like he was a stranger. Like she had never seen this man who lay half dead before her. What Luke was saying… suddenly so many things started to make sense. The Resistance choosing now of all times to begin to move. The assassination attempt. The mysterious and wraith-like Fel who had been watching them from the distance of night for as long as they had left the palace walls.
One by one the pieces came together. Kylo was about to rise to incredible power. Soon no one would be able to tell him no. Even the principles of common law wouldn't apply to him.
"I don't understand," she finally said. Because she didn't. She didn't understand any of this.
Luke sighed and sat back against the wall. Rey noted that he seemed very reluctant to go any further into the room than he had to. Just what exactly had transpired in the past between her master and husband?
"Rey, there have been developments while you… since Kylo set out into the desert with you. Are you familiar with the army of Alderaan's head general Hux?"
Rey had only been half listening to Luke, her mind thoroughly distracted with trying to lap itself. She couldn't hide her flinch at the mention of that man. Try as she might, she couldn't stop her memory of flashing back to that dreadful scene of him. In the harem. With one of Kylo's karking other wives.
"We've met," she muttered bitterly. "What about him?"
"The Resistance has an infiltrator within the Alderaan court. We believe that the General is looking to take advantage of Ben's absence. My nephew had apparently left quite- hmmm- unexpectedly. The General is skewing his unexplained departure in ways that could prove very problematic."
Rey didn't know what to make of that. She frowned and nodded, however, wondering why her master was choosing to confide this in her.
"Problematic?"
"At this point some manner of attempted coup is inevitable," Luke answered. "The Resistance is worried that, in the light of Ben's disappearance, the General might actually be successful in taking over the Alderaan throne since there will be no clear line of succession left."
There were no words to describe how little Rey wanted either her or Kylo to be involved in this. Or how little Rey regarded the General Hux despite the brevity of their interactions with each other.
"You said Hux was skewing Kylo leaving? How?"
Master Luke hesitated almost imperceptibly before answering.
"He may have reason to believe that Kylo has perished in the desert already."
She looked down at her husband. He was pale, waxen, but breathing. That had very nearly been the case, and her own fate as well.
"Reason?"
Luke cleared his throat and stood up from his perch.
"The Resistance has infiltrators in more than just the Alderaan court, Rey. I believe you have crossed paths with two of ours already. Both were young boys, though one of them may not have been as loyal to our cause as his brother is."
Before she could ponder that further, Luke continued.
"Both the Resistance and the General believe Ben to be dead, Rey. They do not know you are here. Only I and the Fel do. I fear at this point that I cannot say more about their plans until I have had a chance to speak with my nephew and see… and determine his suitability to his new role after Leia's death."
Rey frowned, fighting the urge to retort. Suitability? What would give Luke the right to- No. No, she'll worry about that another time. Now a much more pressing question was begging to be asked.
"This new role that Kylo will have-." Rey finds it impossible to fully say that word of his potential title. "What would that entail?'
Luke's frown deepened before he answered.
"It would be a complicated matter. There would be many aspects to it. If Ben were to accept a similar duty to my sister, than he could negotiate his own duties among other kings and princes. Or he might choose to give himself further control of the other kingdoms."
There was no shortage of disapproval to his tone over that last part. Rey shook her head, finding it exceptionally difficult to process all of this new information.
Kylo… Kylo didn't want that much power? Or did he? He had hardly shown much interest in controlling the lives of his subjects before now, but would his mother's death change that?
"These are things that you will need to ask Ben yourself, Rey, as so will I. " Luke continued. "I have held my hopes in him having changed significantly from the arrogant and fool-headed young man who parted ways with his family. You seem to speak highly of him. Why?'
She didn't have a complete answer to that question. It must have been so obvious to her old master that her feelings regarding her husband had changed over these last few weeks, but since she had only just begun to come to terms with them herself what chance could she have to explain them to another?
"Kylo- Ben- is… he's complicated," she tried to explain. "I've seen that he treats me differently than others, but I also know with certainty that while he may be brash, he hides himself behind that arrogance. He doesn't really mean it."
She took a step closer, dropping her voice in respect to the unconscious man they were rudely speaking in front of.
Luke's expression remained infuriatingly neutral. Whatever he thought of that notion he kept to himself. He took a step around Rey, moving to the foot of Kylo's bed and Rey dimly considered that this might have been the closest he's been to his nephew since whatever happened between them happened.
"How did he get that wound?" he slowly asked.
Rey blanched. Er… that story was going to sound far worse than it really was. Actually it was going to sound like the truth, but she didn't much care for the assumptions that would lead her old master to.
"He made some enemies during our stay on the caravan."
Rey had very much glossed over their ill-fated journey with the Northerners. Luke scratched his chin but didn't comment, not seeming the slightest bit surprised.
"Care to elaborate on that?" he prompted when Rey remained silent.
"He was gambling with some merchants and they were very sore losers," she said flatly. "That, and the Caravan already didn't like us very much left us with no allies when things got out of hand."
Truly the signs of a fine future Emperor. Luke held her gaze for a moment, his brow gradually pulling tighter. Rey pressed her lips together to keep herself from saying any more.
"I see."
Rey lightly caught his elbow when he moved to leave. There was a question that had been burning its way through her mind this whole time since the moment the full weight of the Empress's death had began to dawn on her. In fact, there were several very important matters she would need to discuss with her old Master, but one in particular couldn't wait anymore.
"If Kylo is- if he is to have a position of far greater power, then the current rules and laws may not apply to him, correct? He could… would Kylo be able to divorce? Or annul?"
She tried to keep her voice as unemotive as she could, but even saying those words aloud brought a shift to the weight that had been hanging over her heart for the last week. Divorces were beyond uncommon. So highly frowned upon, especially for someone who requires respect like a prince. But if Kylo had enough power and could be swayed to get rid of all the rest of those wicked tongued harpies of his harem? Or at least even just declaring an annulment with those of them he hadn't bedded? What a difference that would make.
Rey knew she shouldn't get her hopes up. It was such a long shot, and she didn't even know if Kylo would be willing to put his family name through any more scandal.
Luke's expression fell the longer he regarded her. Rey realized that she had been practically bouncing, her whole face lit up at the prospect, but she immediately realized her master must have misunderstood the nature of her question.
"I'd had hopes that your time with my nephew might have changed your opinion of him more," he finally said. "You will have to speak with him about that yourself. The choice would be his alone to make. I'm afraid you wouldn't have a say in it regardless."
He turned to leave then, and this time Rey let him. Her cheeks burned and her voice faded away to nothing. She hadn't meant it like that, but at least her husband was still unconscious for this conversation.
Luke held the door open for her after he crossed it, and Rey looked back at him with a question in her eyes.
"I will prepare a room for you nearby," he explained. "Or further away, if you'd prefer. And I'll see to getting you some proper clothes. The Fel healer will be in here soon to take care of Ben's needs and redress his wound. You won't need to come back in here with him if you don't want to."
Rey had hardly given a thought as to her own accommodations until this moment, and she looked across the small and sparsely furnished room. There was plenty of space for her to make a bedroll for herself on the floor, but apparently Master Luke thought that she truly wanted nothing more to do with Kylo.
"Is the room across the hall open?" she quickly asked.
A beat passed, then Luke nodded. "Please, Rey, stay here. These caves are vast and they belong to the Fel. It would do very poorly for us to impose more on our hosts, and it is dangerous for you to go wandering around with the Resistance so close by."
With that, her old master closed the door behind him and Rey let out the breath she'd been holding before she sat on the edge of the bed next to Kylo and took his hand in her own.
Rey had tried to wait and practice patience, but she was never good at that.
She had sat silently by her ailing husband's side for an indeterminable amount of time before a soft knock had come from the door. It had been followed by silence until Rey stood up and opened it herself.
Outside was a Fel waiting to be let in. The healer, Rey assumed, though she had been quite surprised when the black-swathed being had responded to her request to come in with a softly mumbled 'thank you' of her own.
"You can speak?" Rey had asked.
The healer had nodded, answering Rey's next questions about how many of her kind new the Alderaan tongue with monosyllables of her own. Yes, she could speak. No, only a few Fel could. No, fewer still spoke the same language as Rey.
She couldn't coax the healer's name out of her though and, when the Fel had begun to unwrap Kylo's bandages Rey had stepped outside for the sake of concern about infection.
In truth, Rey had no intention of heeding her former master's warning. She needed to see what the Resistance was up to herself. They were here too, somewhere in these tunnels, and Rey had to find out what was going on. If Luke wanted to speak in vagaries, she wouldn't wait for him to come around any longer.
Rey first crossed the hall to check if the room for her was ready. She had no intention of actually staying there, but it would be good to keep up appearances.
Inside was a small, makeshift bedroll, a pile of mismatched clothes, a few books, and an oil lamp. Rey changed quickly, tossing her blood encrusted robe into the corner to be dealt with later. A bath would be lovely, but that would have to wait until Rey found the bathing chamber or whatever passed for that on her own. She could have asked the healer, but the masked woman had been very unkeen for more than the most basic of conversation.
Then she took the lamp but didn't light it yet. Outside of her room the halls of the cave were silent, lit up only by the occasional glowing brazier which did little to chase out the cold or the damp darkness.
Rey picked the opposite direction to that which she had been first lead and hurried on before anyone saw her.
The cave system went endlessly on in a tangled spiderweb of tunnels.
Master Luke had been right to advise her now to go off on her own, and after the seventh turn down a nearly identical split in the passages Rey had began to be inclined to agree with him.
She tried to keep mental notes as she went, and the few Fel she saw hadn't stopped her movements. Still though, Rey could feel their disapproval at her presence as a palpable force that hang heavily in the surprisingly breathable air. The fact that as dark and often narrow as these caves were and she still had no trouble breathing was a wonder of itself, but it also hinted that there might be hidden ways of escape should that become necessary.
As much as Rey wanted to trust Master Luke, over these last few weeks of her marriage a distinct loyalty had been formed to her husband. If Kylo had good reasons to become estranged- or perhaps more than that- from his own blood then she desperately wanted to believe there had been a good reason for that.
And the Resistance so close? Sheer madness. Kylo was surely in danger with them, and Luke had said so directly himself.
No, what Rey needed was a contingency. If everything went upside-down and the two of them suddenly found themselves all alone again, she would need to have a plan in order.
"Kark."
The passage Rey had been wandering came to another split, and this time both side went down lower. There were distant cracks of light above, but Rey hadn't seen either a torch on the wall or even another of the Fel in several turns now.
Rey crouched, her eyes straining in the dimness to figure out the way. The left handed path seemed slightly more used and there was the distant notes of voices echoing from further along. They sounded quite far away further down these passages, but it seemed like they were speaking in the common Alderaan tongue.
She crept forward, sinking down onto best knees and sweeping her hands in front of her to clear away any debris from the floor that might make a sound. All those years spent scavenging were finally coming to good use after all, and the two voices didn't waver or hush as Rey crept her way silently over to them.
Flickering light showed through a crack in the wall high above her. Whatever tunnel she was in now was running parallel but well below another one, but Rey wasn't tall enough to see who was moving about on the other side of the wall.
The voices were from men, so likely not the Fel. There was a dragging sound as if they were moving something heavy, and Rey strained her hearing to try and make out their words.
"-should never have put her in there."
Definitely a human voice, and one with a local Alderaan tone as well.
"He didn't ask us," another man's voice said. "No one ever did. Even if we'd spoken up they wouldn't have listened."
This was followed by a second loud scrape – what in the gods were they doing in there?- and it completely obliterated the first part of whatever was spoken back in return.
"-did she? None of us did, and now if there's a problem we can't do anything. Not a damned thing."
The voices began to fade and the light from the crack above shifted and grew dimmer.. Rey stood up on her very tip toes to try and hear the rest of the conversation only to catch a hollow sound, then silence.
Door closed, she presumed. And what a strange choice of words. Knew the mistakes, not the dangers. That would have been the logical turn of phrase.
Was this about Rose, then? Truly a leap of a guess, but perhaps? Rey had wondered what had been going on at the Palace in her and her husband's absence. Definitely some future snooping was in order, though right now it might be best to play it as safe as possible until Kylo was recovered enough to move.
With a frown, she turned back the way she came.
Predictably Rey had gotten lost on her way back.
Or not precisely lost, since she had an inkling on where she was in relation to other parts of the tunnels, but more lost in the sense that she had no idea how to return to where she was supposed to have been keeping herself.
The problem had been that the cave tunnels had taken a turn from dim and dull to rather fascinating.
No longer was she strolling through simple, undercoated stone walls. Here in this new section the caves had opened up into several grand chambers. Dust covered sculptures decorated the walls, illuminated by the bright desert sun shining very high above Rey's head. The light spilled straight down, falling a good hundred meters below the edge of a that Rey was now peering over. At the very bottom was a lagoon of dark, frigid looking water. The edges of that deep lagoon were decorated with flowering plants and a very vocal and misguided part of Rey longed to test how deep those inviting looking waters really were.
Curiously, despite the glorious and unexpected beauty of this great room, it was also suspiciously silent. Every step Rey took seemed to echo from one side of the chamber to the other. As beautiful as this place was, it didn't feel right. Not in a sinister sense, but rather that she shouldn't be here. It felt like she had just wandered into a museum or some sacred place, but the scavenger side of her nature refused to allow her to turn back without at least investigating just one more corner.
That instinct had often gotten her into trouble, but Rey moved on through the next arched passage with a wide grin on her face. This place was simply too gorgeous to be ignored. The sculptures that adorned the walls were of people, she noted, and not the distorted forms of the Fel. She didn't recognize enough of the details to be able to place how old these caves must be, but they felt ancient. Likely far older than Alderaan or even the kingdoms that had come and gone before it. Kylo could tell her what they were. She was sure he would know.
"I wish you were here," Rey whispered under her breath.
She came to a stop underneath an ornate and geometrically decorated archway. It reminded her in a sense of some of the details of the Harem back at the palace.
A voice cleared itself behind her and she flinch, a jolt shooting down her spine and breaking her out of her wonder.
It was the healer woman. Now in brighter shadows Rey could get a clearer look at her. The Fel's age was impossible to guess and only her eyes and a bare hand were visible in between the black shrouds that covered her body.
"Come," the woman said, her other gloved hand extending.
Rey tried to hide her hesitation to take it, half afraid that these beings were somehow like a leper and the offered appendage might fall off if gripped too hard. The hand was quite limp, but heat seeped through the fabric in an oddly reassuring way. Rey let herself be lead back, though she tried to remember every twist and turn that she was taken along.
"I'm sorry," she offered after a few minutes. "I hadn't meant to- I had gotten lost. I was curious. It's very beautiful in there, is that your home?"
The healer's eyes slid to meet hers before flicking away.
"No," was her only answer.
They turned another corner and Rey began to think she recognized a few qualities to the shape of the stone walls now.
"What is your name?" she asked. "I'm Rey. That's Kylo, the man you're attending to. Who are you?"
No answer, but after a few more paces Rey's hand was let go and she was allowed to follow on her own. They turned again and she frowned, recognizing the hallway now with both Kylo's and her own doors. Except they were returning from the opposite direction that she had left, meaning that somehow in this maze of tunnels Rey had managed to go in a complete circle without having realized it at all.
"Please."
The healer stopped, gesturing with her bare palm and Rey's door. Rey flushed slightly, feeling more than a little embarrassed at having to be fetched like this, and she obligingly stepped forward, opting to go to Kylo's room instead.
She had only been gone for at most a few hours, but Kylo already looked better.
Rey sat next to him now on the chair that must have been brought for her while she was away. Idly she played with his hair, stroking it through her fingers and untying any knots or tangles she ran through. His color was better, and his breathing deeper. His bandages had been changed and his wound was now covered by a thick paste of herbs that smelled faintly like sage and something else she couldn't identify.
And he was starting to get a beard, too. Just a hint of stubble yet, but Rey smiled as she ran her fingers across his cheek. She had never seen him with a beard. Would she like it? Would he look older? More distinguished? Right now he looked a far cry from the regal prince she had first seen him as, but she supposed she had changed a lot in their short time together as well.
"Do you like my new clothes?" she asked, smoothing the simple tunic down tight across her lap so he could see it better.
He was still sleeping, of course, but even this subtle return to normalcy had done wonders to improve her spirits. Kylo was getting better. He was living. And she owed that to both Luke and herself as much as to the Fel. Her encounter with her old guardian had gone better than she had expected. Not well, by any means, but the longer Rey had to think about it, the less energy she felt to staying angry with Luke.
He had saved her from her old life. He had brought her to her husband. He had told her in not so many words that he thought she could somehow inspire Kylo to be a better ruler.
It was impossible not to feel somewhat humbled by that assessment. Humbled, but also suffocated. No one had asked her what she wanted, but that paled in comparison to the assumptions the whole world seemed to have about Kylo. He had a birthright. A heritage. She could simply go somewhere far away and disappear forever. Now, in the light of all that had passed, Rey was starting to see that was a luxury Kylo might never have again.
She flipped his hand over so his rested on top, then she bent to kiss his knuckles. These caves were so quiet now, it was easy to pretend it was just the two of them all alone.
His thumb swirled against the backside of her hand and Rey looked up in shock.
"Pretty little thing."
Kylo's voice was a scattered rasp. He smiled faintly, his eyes taking in whatever expression Rey knew her face must be making.
The air between them felt thick and sluggish. Emotions welled up with Each breath Rey refused to take.
"Say something else," she finally whispered.
Kylo blinked slowly. His lips parted as if to speak, but no words came out. Instead, little by little, he began to pull at her.
He guided her out of her chair, though truthfully Rey was doing the far greater share of the effort. She let him lead her up then down until she was bent over him, their faces nearly touching.
"Are you real?" he asked.
His breath had a staleness to it, but Rey could hardly have cared any less. Her chest started to constrict as she looked down at him, throat tightening as she nodded.
"Are you?' she asked.
It would be too easy for this all to be a dream, and a particularly cruel one at that.
Kylo lifted his head forward, the effort of it etched clear in the line of his brow, and he brushed the tip of his nose against her own.
"Prove it," he commanded.
Rey didn't hesitate. She was careful, not letting her weight rest against him at all, and she supported herself with a bent elbow against the bed frame as she brought their lips together.
Sweet. Chaste. Over in a matter of seconds. It was absolutely the best kiss of Rey's life.
When she pulled back Kylo smiled. His head fell back against his pillow as the effort to keep it up became to much, but his free hand listlessly reached out to catch the high collar of her tunic and lightly tug it down.
"Want to keep going, Wifey?"
The finger looped under, his cold touch tracing the top of her collarbones. Rey cracked up first. She laughed softly, her breath mingling with Kylo's own as tears of pure relief finally fell across her cheeks.
"Idiot," she murmured softly.
Kylo tried to laugh. The motion didn't appear to agree with his injury too well. Rey flinched, shaking her head at him, and he traced a bent finger along her wet cheeks.
"This bed's plenty big enough for two," he said softly, his eyes starting to fall half-lidded.
It really wasn't. The bed was just a small, narrow cot. Even if Rey were to lay next to his good side-
"Please."
His hand fell away, dropping to rest against his chest. That one word utterly dismantled Rey. She nodded, her vision blurring with warring emotions as she stood up and lightly padded to the opposite side behind him.
So very, very carefully she eased herself onto her side next to him. Kylo let her help him lift up his arm, but he draped it along her hip himself. It was a heavy, limp weight that pinned Rey in place against his side just as well as his singular plea had brought her there to begin with.
Within moments he was asleep, and the steady soothing rumble of breath entering his chest next to her ear brought her along with him shortly afterward.
Author's note:
Our couple needed a sweet moment together, didn't they? I'm also now ready to give it a ROUGH ESTIMATE of a chapter count of 35. I tend to run well over my plans, but now the final outline is saying there's going to be 7 more chapters before the final epilogue. So we're definitely in Act 3 now, though don't be surprised if that 7 chapter ETA increases since I'm such an overwriter. Hell, in my outline the chapter when the finally boink (… coming in around chapter 31-33 ish) is supposed to have more than just them boinking. But they're totally just going to get a full chapter long sex scene. I can see it happening now.
But we're getting there! I want to give everyone who's stuck with this story through my torrential, painful bouts of writing or creativity block my biggest and most sincere THANK YOU! I really couldn't have made it this far without your support, and I hope you all stick with this to the end which is in sight now!Where Rey starts to find out just how much the plot doth thicken in her husband's absence from the castle.
comment replies: (forgive me if these are shorter than my normal reply, I'm about to head out to a concert and I really wanted to get this chapter posted today!)
- kaelmona
Sorry to keep you waiting! Next few chapters should come more regularly now I hope! Thanks for commenting!
- cdknelson
Oh thank you! I'm very glad you're enjoying this story! Thank you very much for commenting!
- Catulla
I'm glad the whole harem concept is working better for you. I wasn't really sure how to approach it at first myself, but I think now that our duo is on their own away from the Castle it really changes the dynamic of their relationship. Thanks for commenting!
- pobrediabla
Yes, Kylo's getting better! And Leia's death and the coverup around it are about to become a big plot point, just wait and see! Thanks so much for commenting!
- PinkSlytherin
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! No, only a very few people know about Leia's death. Pretty soon I think you'll see why! Thanks for commenting!
- lala1224
What was Kylo searching for when he chose Rey? That's the question she's really asking herself right now, but maybe he was just looking for love? Only time will tell! Thanks for commenting!
- Paul Lenzen
Thank you! I'm sorry for taking so long between updates, I'll try to finish this story up more regularly now. Thanks so much for sticking with it and commenting!
- ToughSpirit
Ahhhh, what Kylo knew and didn't know, that is the question! Now that he's conscious and getting better, he'd BETTER start having some good answers right? Thanks for commenting!
- ldsrsc
Well… yes and no. Kylo/Ben knew that as part of his role as the crown prince he would need a head wife, but the fact that he pick ol' scavenger Rey for his LAST wife is something that's been so confusing to her. All will be shown in time, I hope. Thanks for commenting!
- littleMissMarie10
He's just starting to wake up now this chapter, so you know pretty soon he'll be back to driving Rey up the all (or is that against the wall ;)
Thanks for commenting!
- .Feathers
Right now I'm not 100% positive but I do believe they will go back to the palace again before the end of the story. There's a bit of a technical time span and distance issue, but if they don't in this main part of the fic that will definitely be addressed in the epilogue. Thanks so very much for commenting!
