You guys!
Thank you for all of your comments, likes and kudos! I am so blessed and it's all because of you! if I could hug you all I totally would. If you wanted a hug that is.
The next couple of chapters are, well not my usual rainbows and fluffy unicorns. Snoke is back and he wants their lands and he's willing to do anything to get them. I just finished writing chapter nine and he's everything you'd imagine a medieval snoke to be. sometimes when I'm writing one story, I'll have another one going too to help balance the angst in another. That story is turning very angsty too. (I have a title for it finally! It's called, All He's Ever Wanted. And the big ah-ha moment came to me a couple of days ago and I can't wait for y'all to read it!)
Anyways…
I hope you like it… let me know please!
He pulls Rey's door shut. The castle is as quiet as a castle can be as he pauses the hallway,
still lit by the lanterns that hang on the wall. It's almost dawn and he can hear people starting the day. Someone walks around downstairs, while the rooster crows outside.
Part of him wants to go back into his wife's chambers… His wife. He has a wife, a bride now… he has to smile as he remembers how she climbed on top of him just hours ago…
The stairs creak as someone climbs them. Not ready to face anyone but Rey, he almost ducks back into Rey's room but goes in the room he was shown when he arrived. The door closes silently just as he hears footsteps that pass his room.
Silently, he walks to the bed and sits down. He's here, may as well lay down for a moment and count the minutes until he can see Rey again. A big part of him wants to go back to her, to see her just one more time, to sleep there instead of here but he tucks the pillow under his head and curls on his side.
He hasn't smiled in years, but tonight he can't seem to stop. When he first approached King Cassian about betraying Snoke, he never thought that the King would offer him his niece's hand in marriage. He just wanted to go home again, to see his family and embrace them again.
Poe had to talk him into at least just meeting the Princess. Fine, he agreed. But when he realizes that the same serving wench who gave him a tankard full of ale and kept it full throughout the supper, is in fact the same one who fought beside him to defeat Snoke with her sword and mount.
But when he sees her leaving the great hall without talking to him- he follows her because he had to speak to her.
At least once.
Then when he spies her shimming out of her bedroom window and landing as soft as an angel on the ground- that's when he begins to wonder just who is this amazing creature?
But once he starts to talk to her- he'll be the first to admit that he decided then, that she would be a worthy wife for the future King of Alderaan. He might even give her the title of Princess instead of just consort to the King. But then she lets it slip that she is indeed the escaping Princess, who will one day be a queen in her own right- and is in fact refusing to marry who she thinks is the Black Knight- he decides that she might be the one he's been waiting his whole life for.
Especially the way she looks at him through a roaring campfire.
Exhaustion claims him with a smile on his face, as he remembers how he made his wife moan his name as she came on his tongue over and over-
"Lord Ren? Sir? Are you awake?"
"I am now," he groans. "Why are you waking me?"
"The King is wondering if you're awake yet."
Ben opens his eyes. He isn't sure who he's expecting, but it's not one of the kitchen boys. "The King?"
"He needs to speak to you. The way his highness is pacing, you need to hurry."
"Tell him that I'm on the way." The boy looks at him like he doesn't believe a word that is coming out of his mouth. "Let me wash and dress. Go on, boy."
"Do ye' want me to call your squire?"
"I don't have one," Ben says as he sits up.
"But you're the Black Knight! You should have the best squire in all the land."
At the boy's words, he's reminded of Snoke. How he would insist that his knights not need squires and the pain he would inflict in the name of training- he shakes his head. No use in thinking about that anymore. Snoke is dead, he's not. And now it's his wedding day when he had his wedding night the night before.
"I can dress myself. Go tell the King that I'll be there shortly."
"Yes, Sir," the boy says as he leaves.
He lingers for a moment, and he can feel his smile return. "I wonder if Rey is awake yet." He jumps up excited to face the day and to see his bride.
"What do you mean, she's not in her room?" Jyn asks Rose.
"She's not in there. Her bed doesn't even look like she slept in it.'' Rose says. She's not sure where her friend could be. "Do you think-"
"No," Jyn interrupts. "She wouldn't do that. Take Finn and go look in her usual places. Maybe she went to the creek?"
"Maybe?" Rose answers as she tries to sound hopeful. She hasn't seen her friend since last night in the great hall. Maybe she should have stopped by her room instead of talking to Hux after supper.
She leaves the Queen and goes to the stables. Even though Finn is a knight now, he always starts his day with his horse, Storm. A huge white stallion, a gift from the King for becoming a knight several years ago.
"Finn."
"Over here," he answers her. She walks over and finds him in Storm's stall. He looks up after adjusting his saddle.
"The queen sent me, I need your help."
Concerned eyes meet hers. "Shall I get Cobalt ready?"
"Please," Rose says. While he readies the horses, Rose grabs some snacks from the kitchen. By the time she returns to the stables, Hux is there. Their heads are together and Hux says something to Finn that she can't hear.
"and what are you two whipering about?" she asks.
Finn smiles and Hux jumps before he asks, "And where is my fair lady off to this morning?"
"I'm not sure if I can tell you," Rose begins. The queen didn't tell her not to tell anyone, but to ask Finn for help. But they might need someone else to help look. "You can come with us since you've already been out this morning."
He looks from her to Finn and back again. "Alright, let's go."
Finn steps forward to help her, but Hux offers her his help into her saddle before her friend can. Finn gives her a questioning smile over the red-head's head. She shrugs as she settles into her saddle. When the men are on their horses, she leads them to the gate.
Before they can go any further, another rider approaches. Rose doesn't recognize him, but Finn does. She pulls Cobalt to a stop, and Finn approaches the stranger.
"Where are all of you riding off to this early morning?" The black curly-haired rider greets.
"Hello Lord Dameron," Finn replies. "I was hoping my friend, Rose would tell me soon."
All three men look to her. She refuses to give into her sudden case of nerves and says instead, "My name is Rose. I am Lady Tico."
Thankfully he gets the hint. "My name is Poe Dameron. A lady as lovely as you may call me Poe."
"Good grief Dameron," Hux grunts and Rose can't help the smile that appears on her face.
But then she remembers why she's searching.
"It's nice to meet you, and welcome to Naboo. Excuse me, but I must be about my business."
"And what business is that?" Hux asks.
"Does this man ride with you?" Rose asks him. He gives her a curt nod. She exhales, while gathering her courage. "You have to promise not to worry." She first meets Finn's eyes then Hux's. "We can't find the Princess."
The men are silent for a full minute before Hux demands, "What do you mean you can't find Lord Ren's bride?"
"Where's Rey?" Finn whispers.
"The Princess?" Poe asks.
"I didn't say we couldn't find her," Rose begins, "just that she's not in her bed. I'm sure she's at the creek washing for the ceremony this evening."
"Well, let's go find her, I don't want to be the one to tell him that his bride has been misplaced," Hux grunts.
Finn finally finds his voice. "I agree with him. Let's go find Rey."
"Alright. Let's go to the creek first, if she's not there, we'll try in town and around the pub. Maybe Kaydel and Phasma have seen her," Rose says. Finn lets his horse naturally take the lead. The rest fall in behind him.
"How far is this creek?" Poe asks.
Rose is unable to answer for she sees Rey's horse, B.B. out in the field with a white horse she's confident she's never seen before. She looks up, and meets Finn's worried stare. He sees B.B. too.
They both know that she wouldn't go to the swimming hole without her horse.
Poe and Hux don't miss the unspoken communication between the two. "Is that the Princess' horse?" Hux asks.
"It is," Finn answers while Rose nods.
"We have to go," she whispers. Then not caring about proper protocols she pulls out ahead of the men and lets her Cobalt run. Just like Rey and B.B., they know this road, too.
She knows that the creek is a matter of minutes from the castle, but today it feels like hours. When she reaches the familiar area, she stops and has to wait for the men to catch up. Poe is the first one there so she says, "Let me look to see if she's washing."
He nods and she slides off her horse. She runs down the short path. But before reaches the water, something catches her eye off the path in the tall grass that grows close to the water.
"What is it, Rose?" Finn asks.
"Look."
Her friend slides off his mount and comes to stand beside her. "Someone was here," he murmurs. That's when Poe and Hux dismount to walk over.
"It was Snoke," Poe chokes out, his voice low and full of anger.
"How?" Finn asks. "We saw-"
"Magic." Hux supplies. "That's how he does many things."
"I don't know about that stuff, but someone was here. Look at the boot prints in the mud and the broken branches. And then if I'm not mistaken, that's ashes from a pipe," Rose says.
"That's not from a pipe, he was casting spells," Poe breathes.
"He can't do that here," Finn says. "Mama and Ben Kenobi fixed that."
"Someone can stand against Snoke?" Hux asks, disbelief make his brows raise.
"Anyone can if they are of pure heart and protecting their home and loved ones." Finn looks towards the creek. "Rey! Are you in there?"
Rose runs the several feet to the shore. Her heart falls when she doesn't see her friend. She looks around for more footprints in the mud, but only sees the familiar animal ones.
"She's not here," Rose breathes as the knights surround her. "She went to the pub. B.B.'s at home, so that's the only place she would be."
Rose blinks away her tears and turns. It's Finn who catches her. "We'll find her."
She meets Hux and Poe's questioning gazes. "I hope so," Poe answers for her. They climb back onto their horses. "Is the pub on the other side of the castle? I think I saw it yesterday when we arrived."
"You probably did." Finn reclaims the lead. "Phasma and Kaydel are old friends. Rey- the Princess likes to visit."
"It sounds like all of you are close," Poe continues the conversation.
"Yeah we all grew up together. Where are you from?"
"Alderaan."
Finn turns to Hux. "And you?"
"Arkanis." Hux answers.
"And I'm from Hays Minor. Now that we all know where we were born, can we please go find the Princess?" Rose huffs. She nudges Cobalt. And her sweet horse who picks up on every mood she has, takes off at a determined canter, out pacing the men.
She doesn't pause as she passes the castle, but continues on to the pub.
It's still relatively early, but there are some wagons about and she can hear the people within. She dismounts, ties the reins to a hitch and rushes in.
"Hey Rose!" Kay's always friendly voice greets her. "What's wrong?"
"Have you seen Rey?"
"She was here last night," Kaydel replies.
"Today? Have you seen her today?" Rose asks, worry making her voice higher than normal.
Phasma calls from the storeroom, "What happened?"
"We can't find Rey," Rose sounds frantic even to her own ears.
"She was in here last night with a very tall, dark haired stranger. They ate dinner and then left to go see the travelers at the edge of the forest." Phasma says as she enters the dining room.
"The travelers?" Finn squeaks.
"Did she introduce you to the man?" Hux demands.
"No but I did hear her call him Ben a couple of times."
"She's with Lord Ren?" Poe asks.
"Ben is Lord Ren?" Rose whispers.
"Yes," Poe answers. "Let's go back to the castle. Ben knows where she is." He chuckles, "Maybe Lord Ren had his wedding-"
"Don't speak about the Princess that way," Rose hisses as her fist connects with his midsection. Finn looks like he wants to hit the man too, while Hux looks impressed. "Thank you, Kay, Phasma." she meets Finn's gaze. "Let's go then."
Relief that someone might know where Rey is eases her worry.
"He's coming," Jyn whispers to Cassian. "Are you sure you want to tell him? What if she's at the pub or at the creek?"
"Something tells me that we need to go ahead and tell the boy."
Ben enters the side room. He looks around, brow furrowed in question. It's sparely decorated but comfortable at the same time. The low couches and the table with chairs around it, suggest that this is a private place for the royal family to gather. "Come in," Jyn bids him walking around him to close the door, a clear signal to the rest of the house that they need privacy. "This is a little room just for the family." She confirms. "Come and sit, please."
He joins them at the table. "Are you hungry?" Cassian asks.
"I can wait," Ben answers. Not sure why he's been summoned unless someone told Rey's aunt and uncle about last night. "If I can be blunt, what is this about?"
"She's been known to do this before-" Jyn starts.
"She's a headstrong young lady she is-" Cassian grumbles.
"She should be back soon-" Jyn sounds like she's trying to reassure someone, but Ben isn't sure if it's him or her.
"Wait-" he starts. "You don't know where Rey is?"
"She's probably at the creek swimming. We sent someone to go look," Jyn offers.
Ben takes a deep breath. He just found her, he'd be damned if he loses her now. The same feeling that he had that last time he went to do Snoke's bidding creeps over him as a cold chill dances down his spine. Should he tell them? Would she want me to? But the only other times he's felt this way was when Snoke was gathering the crystals needed to defeat his Uncle Luke's protection spell. He decides to tell her aunt and uncle just in case he's right.
"Last night I saw the Princess sneaking out of her room."
"Why does this not surprise me," moans Cassian as he rubs his face. "We should have sent her to the nunnery."
"Cassian!" Jyn fusses. "Do not say such things. You know we would have been lost all these years without our girl."
The King brings the Queen's knuckles up to his lips. "You are right, as usual."
"Did you follow her? Talk to her?" Jyn asks Ben.
"I followed her to the pub. There she talked and we ate what they were serving for Midsommar. Then she had this crazy idea to go see the travelers that are camped in the forest." Jyn looks really concerned so he quickly adds, "Don't worry, it's my family from Alderaan."
"Really?" Cassian asks. "I was wondering where they all went to."
"They are exiles from where Snoke destroyed the throne. He just didn't count on you. You know, even I don't quite understand what you did."
"And I blame that on Maz, our healer of sorts and her friend Ben Kenobi. What matters is you get it all back. And then when you and Rey marry, Naboo and Alderaan will become one."
"And my family can go back home."
"Yes, because they won't be hiding from Snoke anymore."
"I wasn't sure if I should tell you, but Rey didn't want to marry me today, that's why she was running away." King Cassian's face turns bright red while the Queen's turns deathly white. "She witnessed one of my knights being very rude last night to one of her ladies, and was mistaken that it was I was acting that way. When I saw her shimming down the wall of the castle, I just knew that I had to follow. Somehow in the course of a couple of hours, I-I-I fell in love with her. My family is traveling as a group of gypsies and currently are camped on the other side of your forest. After we made our way there, we asked my uncle who is also a priest to marry us by handfasting and vows."
He looks up and her uncle is leaning forward listening but strangely quiet while her aunt looks deep in thought.
"What about today? Your parents are coming, aren't they? Will there still be a wedding?" The Queen asks.
"Well at least in the eyes of Naboo and Alderaan, you two are husband and wife, that was set when you two tied your hands together." Cassian mutters.
"Yes, there will still be a wedding."
"Alright-" Jyn starts only for a frantic knock to interrupt. "Come in."
Rose busts through the door. "Your majesties-"
"Come in Rose. Shut the door." Rose comes in and closes the door behind her. The Lady meets his eyes, her own full of worry and concern.
"It's alright, he knows we can't find her," Jyn says. "Did you find her?"
Rose, unable to meet their questioning looks, looks down at her hands. "She wasn't at the creek or with Kaydel. Phasma said that they hadn't seen her since last night. They said that she was with Lord Ren." Rose stares at him and the sudden fear in her eyes spikes his. "You don't know where she is my Lord?"
The dread pooling in his stomach grows.
"Can I examine her room?"
"But why?" Jyn asks.
"When we returned this morning just before dawn, we both climbed into her room. When I left her, she was going straight to bed and I went to my room, even though I wanted to stay with her." Sudden guilt makes his exhale harsh. "Maybe I should have now."
"Rose, can you walk with him? You'd know what was out-of-place or unusual."
"Of course," Rose replies. Ben follows her upstairs. "This is Rey's room." Rose flushes pink.
"Come help me?" He asks as he enters.
"My Lord?" Ben meets her eyes. "I did find something by the creek. There were broken branches and footprints but only in one little area. And then ashes, My Lord."
"Ashes," he murmurs as a cold chill dances down his spine. But he killed him. He felt the creature's blood on his hands after he ran his sword through him.
"What are you looking for?" She asks, reclaiming his attention.
"Anything out of place, anything that shouldn't be here," he says as he starts to search. It was dim when he himself was in here and his bride was the center of his attention, so he didn't look in every dark corner like he should have.
"This is different," Rose says from one of those corners.
"What is it?" He asks as he walks to where she is.
"This-" Rose points at the floor where a clump of dried mud and grass rests. "We sweep the room out every morning."
"That means that dirt there shouldn't be there?"
"There's some more here too." She points her toe at another bit closer to the window that they climbed in.
That dreadful feeling he's been having all morning, then a whisper in his ear, "You'll never find her-" Just like Snoke used to- his breath catches in his chest as he drops to his knees. He looks under the foot of the bed that's closest to the window.
Lying there just within reach is his trademark white handkerchief. Ben pulls out the knife he has tucked in his belt and fishes it out. He catches a whiff of it, and holds it away in disgust. That's the magic he used to sedate people. He turns it just so, and when he sees the red herring sewed onto the corner of the handkerchief, his blood runs cold.
"What is that, my Lord?" Rose whispers.
Ben doesn't say a word but still holding the scrap of fabric, he rushes back downstairs with Rose close on his heels. The king and queen are still waiting when he steps back into the room.
"That little son of a bitch has taken Rey!"