A/N: A big thanks to SirenBanshee. You are one amazing beta!
xXxXxXx
The rest of the morning meeting proceeded without a hitch. Kylo informed Hux that Rey would teach the trainees how to meditate and ordered him to make sure everything was in order for her to do so, including informing the trainees that they were expected for their training. They also arranged for a moment in the afternoon where they would properly introduce Rey to the rest of the Base's staff.
Hux didn't entirely manage to keep the annoyed frown from his face and Ember kept hold of his hand the entire time but, overall, Kylo was relieved with the outcome. He didn't think Hux would be foolish enough to try anything.
Rey stayed with him the entire morning, tapping away on a tablet Derek had procured for her. When Kylo asked her what she was doing, she shrugged.
"I don't really know the First Order," she answered. "I should."
Kylo frowned. "At the beginning, you knew more than me," he said, alluding to his own ignorance of recruitment methods and the value of a kyber crystal when they'd first started talking again after the disaster that was Crait.
"I know some of what affects the people," she said, "but I don't know how the First Order actually works."
"The tablet contains information about operational procedures, ranks, ship management and so on," Derek provided. "I assume there's no restriction on the information I'm allowed to provide our Supreme Duchess?"
"There indeed isn't," Kylo muttered to Derek before looking at Rey again. "Isn't that horribly boring?"
"It is, but I need to know, don't you think? How can I stand next to you if I don't even know what you represent?"
"I guess," he allowed.
Still, as their lunch hour neared, he could feel Rey's trepidation mounting. After lunch, he pulled her aside and gave her a gentle kiss hoping it would calm and reassure her.
"Stop being so nervous, Rey," he said. "You'll do great."
"You keep telling me that," she muttered against his chest.
"Because I know it to be true."
Rey huffed a small laugh. "So confident," she said, pulling back and looking at him. "Care to give me some of that confidence?"
He kissed her again. "Where's the brave little sandrat that fought me without any training, letting the Force guide her?" he asked against her lips. "How can she be scared of teaching a few trainees?"
"I'm not scared," Rey protested.
"Prove it then," he provoked.
"Fine," she exclaimed, pulling away from him. "Fine," she said again before turning and marching off towards the second building. "Don't think I don't know what you did there," she added once she was out of sight.
Kylo laughed, delighted, and went to meditate with the Knights, intent on teaching them in the Force afterwards.
As expected, Rey's class went without a hitch. Kylo held back on telling her 'I told you so' and merely basked in Rey's happiness, listening to her talk about how a few of the trainees seemed to have an innate talent for mediation while others were total disasters that couldn't even properly sit still.
"It's only their first lesson though," Rey ended her enthused recount of the lesson in the privacy of their rooms. "I'm sure they'll all get the hang of it sooner rather than later. They're all so earnest."
"I'm happy it went so well," was all Kylo eventually said to her.
He meant it with all his heart though. They went to bed not long after.
The next morning, after he'd sparred with Rey and they'd had their breakfast, Ember did not show up at the morning meeting. Kylo frowned and looked at Hux.
"She didn't tell me anything, sir," Hux offered.
Kylo turned to ask Phasma what she knew but she made that small head-movement that signalled she was listening to a rather long message through her comm.
"Sir," she said after a moment. "The Knights are requesting your presence at the hangar."
"The Knights?" he echoed. "All of them?"
"Yes, sir."
"Ember is with them?" Hux asked.
"She is."
"Do you know what's going on?" Kylo asked, already moving to the door. "Is there a threat?"
"No, sir," Phasma answered. "Nothing is wrong."
Her tone made Kylo momentarily halt. "You know what's going on, don't you?" he asked.
"I do, sir."
"And you're not telling me?"
"No, sir."
"Why not?"
"You'll see. In fact, everybody should come along."
Rey walked up to him and took his hand. "You really don't know what this is about?" she asked.
"No. Do you?"
"No."
Confused but somewhat more at ease knowing there wasn't an emergency, Kylo made his way to the hangar, Rey by his side and Phasma, Hux and Derek behind them. The first thing he noticed when he arrived was the majority of the Guard standing to one side, all in uniform. Kylo threw Phasma a suspicious look before stepping further into the hangar. Opposite of the Guard was the Base staff that wasn't needed in the communication center but, most importantly, in the middle, right in front of him, were all the Knights.
The Knights stood in a row in full battle-gear. Ember stood somewhat to the side but obviously still part of the group. Behind him, Phasma murmured something to the others before taking her place with the Guard.
"I think you should go forward alone, Ben," Rey said. "I'll go stand with the others."
He took her hand and shook his head. "No. You belong next to me."
"I don't think this has anything to do with me," Rey countered.
"Stay," he merely said.
Rey sighed. "I'll stay at your shoulder then," she gave in, "but not equal to you, not here, not now, not if this is what I think it is."
"Which is what?" he asked.
"Go face your Knights," she merely said in return, smiling at him.
Kylo momentarily glared at her before continuing on to do as she'd suggested. Ember gave him a small smile before turning serious again.
"Present," she commanded.
All six Knights slammed their hands against their chests in perfect unison, the sound startlingly loud in the otherwise silent hangar. Kylo blinked at them and bowed his head lightly to accept the greeting. He still wasn't sure what was happening though. One by one, the Knights stated their names, adding 'present by free will' after it.
"Kneel," Ember said in that same commanding tone, once they'd all announced their presence.
Kylo stared, shocked, as the Knights all went down on one knee, heads bent, again in perfect unison.
"Declare oath."
Kylo's eyes snapped towards Ember, then back at the Knights. Their voices rang through the hangar.
"For the change you have brought and are bringing. For the trust and honour given. For accomplishing the impossible, we declare our oath today. Our allegiances lie with you, Supreme Leader. For you we shall fight and lay down our lives. Command us and we shall follow."
"You all…"
Kylo was momentarily taken aback by the gesture, overwhelmed. It was only Rey's gentle nudge over the bond that snapped him into action. He didn't miss the sheer amount of pride that was flowing towards him through their bond.
"Knights of Ren," Kylo stated, frantically wondering if he should address them all personally but then deciding it didn't really matter. "Your fealty is accepted and will be honoured." He was inordinately happy that he could fall back on those traditional words. He wouldn't have been able to improvise even if he wanted to. "Now rise."
The Knights all stood.
"An oath has been given and accepted," Ember declared. "Let this moment be remembered and honoured."
The Guard fisted their hands over their hearts, the sound intimidating by their sheer number, and a smattering of applause came from the Base's staff. Rey happily joined the clapping, her exuberance more than present over the bond.
Slowly, the Knights relaxed back into their usual posture. Kylo stepped forward to truly join them.
"I am honoured, truly honoured, that you all would offer me your oath," he said.
"You see, sir," Shadow started, "it came up really early, when we were just here, and Ember told us she'd given you her oath. We were still dubious about you, sir, sorry about that, but we talked about it a bit then. That was even before Rogue joined us." She laughed lightly. "The topic came up again when you announced we'd go to Base Z to sack it. And then we realised we would all be honoured to give you our oath. That was, if you kept your promise and reconnected Rogue, which you did."
"Shadow," Ember hissed.
"What?" she said. "It's true." She looked back at Kylo. "Either way, we're completely and a hundred percent sure of you now."
Kylo couldn't help but laugh as he looked at his Knights, at Shadow's playful honesty, Ember's embarrassed and exasperated look, at Burman grinning widely, Daze being as dazed as ever, Dot acting like she didn't care, Quicksilver being his usual inexpressive self, and Rogue's self-assured stance.
He felt a sort of belonging, a sense of kinship he'd never felt before but which felt right. These were his Knights. Not in that he owned them but in that they formed a tight-knit group upon which he could depend.
"Brothers, sisters," he said, slamming his own fist against his heart.
It was the highest honour one could get from the Supreme Leader, but that was not why he did it. He hoped the Knights would understand.
"Sir," Dot exclaimed at the gesture, promptly dropping her act of nonchalance.
"Sir," the others echoed, their tone accepting.
They all answered his greeting and they simply stood there for a while. Behind him, the Guard and the staff filed out.
Eventually, Kylo sighed. "Paperwork," he muttered.
Rogue laughed and Ember snorted. Kylo looked over his shoulder to find only Rey and Phasma waiting for him. He frowned lightly.
"Derek and Hux have already returned to the office," Rey said.
"You let them go alone? Those two? Is that wise?"
"No idea," Rey answered with a shrug. "If one disappears now, at least we know who did it."
Kylo chuckled and turned his attention back to the Knights. "I am truly honoured," he said again, still feeling like he wasn't expressing himself enough. "We will see each other at lunch."
They all nodded and Kylo turned to join Rey and Phasma.
"How long have they been planning this?" he asked Phasma.
"They put everything in motion after you reconnected Rogue, sir. They wished to surprise you."
"Well," he said, "they sure did."
The rest of their morning continued as it usually did, albeit with a small delay and a slightly distracted Kylo. During lunch, the Knights seemed more relaxed than usual, their oath seemingly having settled them instead of causing another layer of formality. Kylo was immensely grateful for it.
In the afternoon, Rey joined the Knights and him during Force training and was absolutely delighted about the ball-throwing droid, despite having seen it more than once in Kylo's memories already. She promptly decided to try it out and happily started dodging balls until, out of nowhere, she redirected one and threw it at an unsuspecting Kylo who was instructing Shadow in mind control.
Without so much as batting an eye, the only indication he'd momentarily shifted his concentration a short hesitation in his speech, Kylo turned the ball around mid-air and shot it back. For good measure, he picked up a stray ball with the Force and threw it at Rey as well. She cursed as she suddenly had to dodge three balls, the two thrown by Kylo and the one the droid had just sent her way.
Not long after, he heard the beep of the droid going into collection mode and another beep signaling it had been turned off. Curious, he turned to regard Rey, who stood amidst a field of balls, grinning at him.
"Rey, no," he said, recognising that grin. "Don't disturb training."
"Oh, by all means," Rogue said, standing from where he'd been trying to summon a pillow and moving to the side of the room. "Disturb the training."
"Rey…"
Her grin turned from teasing to wicked and a ball shot at Kylo with surprising speed. He halted it in front of him. Then, all the balls around her rose in the air.
"You know you can't win this," Kylo said, taking her up on the challenge. When another ball flew his way, he sighed. "Try not to hit the others."
"They can dodge," she merely answered before sending a full volley of balls his way.
Soon, the entire room was filled with flying balls, the Knights batting away or side-stepping the stray ones coming their way. Both Kylo and Rey were moving around, never staying in one place and becoming an easy target, but their bond made sure they always knew where the other was, making the entire mock-fight eerily accurate.
Eventually, instead of Kylo throwing balls at Rey, he summoned her to him. She squealed as she was dragged across the room.
"Ben!" she complained. "Not fair!"
He wrapped an arm around her as she bumped against his chest. Rogue laughed while Shadow giggled and even Dot snorted once. Burman, much to Kylo's surprise, started clapping.
"That was quite a show," he said.
"Are you done disrupting our training?" Kylo asked, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"Admit it, you had fun."
"I did." He huffed a laugh and let go of her. "Get the droid on collecting balls," he said, "and let's get back to proper training."
