What with the virus situation and me being home sick, I figured I would post a little early. This chapter is on the shorter side, but you will be rewarded with some behemoths soon. Please enjoy.

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Snoke's small black eyes followed his knight's receding back as he moved through the revelers, towards the girl in the red dress. He could see that the foundling's eyes were wide with fear as Kylo's shadow fell over her and she was pulled away from the festivities. Fear...and relief. Snoke could feel her small heart flutter. Kylo's own feelings were rolling like a summer storm on the sea — vast and confused. It filled him with satisfaction.

"Should I retrieve them, sire?" Phasma asked softly from where she stood next to the Unseelie monarch.

He watched as Kylo draws them into the deep shadows cast by the columns lining the walls, heading towards the hidden servant's door. Curious that no one had noticed. Had he compelled those around them to ignore the knights as they exited the gathering?

"No," he said, not taking his eyes from his apprentice. "No, leave them. Kylo is fulfilling his part of the bargain."

XXX

When his breathing slowed, she knew he was asleep. His broad chest rose and fells in time. Rey watched him, eyes tracing the scars made silver in the moonlight streaming through the thick window panes. There was hardly an inch bare. The amount of pain he'd been forced to endure in his life was unimaginable to her.

Had Snoke done this? If so, why had Kylo stayed? What power did the Unseelie King have over him?

Rey lay beside her captor for nearly an hour, ensuring he was well and truly unconscious before she crept from the bed, careful not to jostle the mattress too hard. To her surprise, Kylo Ren is a deep sleeper.

Rey reached into the wardrobe that was open ajar, withdrawing a black tunic. It landed just above her knees. Next she pulled a pair of breeches from the floor. They were far too long, but a few quick rolls ensured she would be able to walk. She belted it with a sash she found in one of the wardrobe's drawers — something for formal occasions — then slides on the slippers she'd worn to the feast.

She wished there were some boots that might fit her, but there wasn't time to search. Looking back at Kylo one final time, she slipped the dagger off the table near the door and eased one of the swords off the wall. It was the smallest, but she doesn't need much more. Silently, she prayed she would not need to use it. Her frustration was such that anyone who was on the receiving end would regret crossing paths with the foundling.

The door was locked. Rey rolls her eyes at the memory of him showing off his prowess by unlocking it earlier in the evening. What arrogance. Unlocking things was one of the first things she'd taught herself, long before knowing of her fey heritage. With a soft snap of her fingers, the mechanism yielded and she slipped out.

The hallway was empty. With any luck, most people would still be at the festivities or asleep. She could hear the music as she made her way down one of the narrow servants' stairs. Laughter and someone playing a fiddle out of tune, a bawdy drinking song carrying above the din. The Unseelie Court was certainly dedicated to celebrating the start of the season — no one could say they were not enthusiastic.

Rey was careful to stay in the shadows. She was nearly spotted by a goblin guard who was pacing the doors leading to the practice yards. Testing her abilities in magical persuasion, she convinced him that she was a fellow guard, come to do the rounds. He helpfully gave her directions to the stables, not questioning in his dream-like state why a fellow guardsman wouldn't already know the wall.

It was a blessing that the grooms had seen fit to take the night off. Well, save for the one slumped against a bale of hay, an empty flask on the ground beside him. She stepped carefully over the bottle and his legs, grateful for the slippers and the hay masking the sound of her footfalls. He did not stir when she snagged a bridle off a nearby hook, the metal bits clanking against one another. The terra cotta colored brownie snorted loudly at the sound but did not wake. She bit back a sigh of relief.

Rey wasted no time in selecting her mount — a steel-colored stallion who watched her placidly as she evaluated her options. Though she knew the temperament of the horses that had been in the party that brought her here, Rey had no doubt they were weary. She needed a fresh mount.

Saddling was not the easiest thing to do on her own, but within fifteen minutes she was astride. The last challenge was set before her. The gates.

The stout faerie who was on watch that evening took more than a little convincing. Rey knew that her magic was sloppy — it might not last more than a few minutes, and there was no doubt there would be traces left for Kylo to find. But it would buy her a little time.

"I cannot let you through," he grunted, hand going to the mace beside him. Rey was more worried about the alarm bell just behind him. One ring and no doubt any number of guards would appear.

"You want to let me through," she said, voice steady, almost soothing. "It is for the best. Come now."

The faerie hesitated. He was no fool. She pushed with conviction, pressing her magic down upon him. A vein bulged in the faerie's wrinkled brow. Soon the gate swung open soundlessly and she led the steel-colored stallion through.

When the torchlight no longer cast her in shadow, Rey pulled herself up on the beast. Adjusting her grips on the reigns, she nudged forward, drawing the horse into a steady canter. The lights of the Unseelie palace were at her back and the dark of the night lay before, strangely welcoming in its thick embrace.

XXX

As soon as the young fey knight was out of sight, the groom sat stalk upright. Biting his thick orange lips, he considered. Queen Leia had told him to alert her of Rey's status, and an escape would certainly fall under that order. He tapped the side of his empty flask thoughtfully. Sending a raven this late would perhaps be a risk in and of itself at this hour. But the rookery should be empty….

Smeltworth decided to take a chance. If the young knight's escape was successful (and he hoped it was), she'd need all the help she could get.

Quickly and quietly, the brownie climbed the stone stairs to the rook's tower. He woke his favorite raven, a sharp-eyed female named Anise. The bird preened when he offered her a handful of dried fruits and allowed a message to be tied to her foot.

"Fast as you can," he whispered. "To the Seelie Queen, before dawn."

Offering a click and a snap of her shiny beak, Anise flew out of the window that overlooked the gates and out into the moonlight.

Smeltworth uttered a small phrase of luck and slumped against the rookery's door. With any luck, Leia would know that Rey was on her way home and would be able to offer the girl support soon.

He jumped up at the sound of the alarm bell, followed by shouting. It had been noticed that the girl was gone. Smeltworth, raised his eyes to the heavens and hoped that she made it.

XXX

He writhed before his master. Screaming wouldn't help. If anything, screaming would make Snoke enjoy it all the more, and Kylo would be here, on the floor, for another hour. He did not have an hour. Any longer and the trail would likely go could. So he kept his jaw set as waves of pain coursed through him.

Snoke lifted his hand, disinterested in the pile of quivering knight on the floor before him. "It seems you underestimated the girl. She's clearly gotten a better grasp of herself than you expected. You did not take the necessary precautions."

Kylo had already berated himself for the mistake. Of course, she'd known how to unlock a damn door. It was beginner magic. She had been clever too, in leaving that night while everyone was too busy getting drunk off their asses during the equinox celebration.

Another wave of pain crashed into him. Kylo arched his back, teeth grinding as he rode it out. Snoke couldn't keep this up forever. He had to come up with a contingency plan.

"Your majesty," Hux pipped up from where he stood, just outside the inlaid circle of marble where Kylo suffered. "I would be honored to retrieve the girl for you. She can't have gone far, she was asleep during most of our ride. She doesn't know the way back. I would be happy —"

"Silence," Snoke spits. He turns his gaze back to Kylo. "I should gut you. This is no mere indiscretion, Kylo Ren. You've failed me."

A jolt of bone-shattering pain struck him. His eyes flew open, growing wide. The blood vessels began to weep, giving his whites a scarlet color. When Snoke finally released him, he collapsed against the cool stone in relief.

"She must be caught before she reaches the Seelie Lands," the king said, stroking his crooked, malformed chin. "Your second mistake was agreeing to a contract that would abolish our rights to justice if the girl set a foot off of Unseelie Land. If we gather her in the Wild Lands, they'll be none the wiser. But if she reaches Leia's domain, she is lost to us."

He kicks Kylo's side for good measure. The knight chokes.

"I will take a company out this very hour," Hux said eagerly. "We will track her down."

Snoke settles back into his throne, considering his ambitious captain. "How do you propose you and all of your men, none of who possess an ounce of magic, capture the apprentice of Luke Skywalker?"

Hux began to babble, describing some overly-thought-out strategy. Something to do with a trap, using ravens to patrol the skies, an iron net. Snoke appeared as engaged as Kylo Ren — which is to say, bored.

Kylo struggled to sit up, propping himself with one elbow. He spits out a mouthful of blood, which lands on the white marble beside him. "No. I will find her."

Snoke eyes his right hand but said nothing.

Wobbly but determined, Kylo rose, wiping his mouth of blood as he stared dead-on at his master. "She is drawn to me. None of her friends, none of Leia's court understand her. The closest she's gotten to another mage is my uncle, doddering old fool. If I seek her out, she will come with me."

"And if she doesn't?" Hux hissed from behind him. "You think because you share some parlor tricks she'll simply fall at your feet? From what I heard, Kylo, she fled straight from your bed."

Without looking back Kylo half-turned, hand aloft, and with a flex of his gloved fingers, crushed Hux's windpipe. The redheaded captain was lifted off his feet from the force of Kylo's rage and was pushed across the room so that he slammed against the double oak doors, straining and gasping by the time he'd slid to sit against the wood. Hux's head lolled forward, eyes unfocused.

Kylo spoke as though he had not been interrupted. "And if she will not come with me, if I cannot convince her to follow me back to court in time, then we have another option. Leia would do nearly anything to avoid another war. I believe she'd been more than willing to broker an alliance. She's shown that she's willing to let Rey walk into our midst for just the mere hint of a battle. What would she do if we promised her peace and more?"

Snoke leaned forward, thin white lips pursed. "I am listening…."