3/23/2

"I take it you had some excitement yesterday," Ellie says as she joins Rey in her… their… "Oh my… Well, it's certainly not black any longer," room. She's engaging in a very slow twirl as she looks over the newly painted private chamber of Master and Mistress Ren. Her eyes settle on the flower on their table. "Nice. Is that a Rhindra orchid?"

"Yes." Like K'Oanan said, they do seem to thrive in a happy home, and sitting there on the table, it almost glows.

"Gift from Kylo?"

"No."

Rey's watching Ellie go to the flower and gently pet one of its petals. Her fingers glance over the glass-like surface before she looks to Rey and says, "You seem tense."

Rey rolls her eyes a little. "I… am. Yes, yesterday was exciting. I'm sorry I had to break our appointment."

"Things happen. Are you okay?"

Rey sighs at that. "Eventually. Do you want… tea… coffee… That's how this works, right? I invite you and offer snacks."

"That's how this works. Coffee, due to it's cost, is for extremely esteemed guests, but if you want to make people feel special, or decide that we've got quite a bit more in the accounts than we actually do, it's good to offer it."

"Oh. Uh… We usually have it with breakfast, and I know Kylo has a few cups a day."

"Yes. That's been… noted."

Rey catches the way Ellie says noted. "Is that a bad thing?"

"The Master of an empire…" Rey's eyes narrow slightly, this isn't supposed to be an empire, "Organisation… this size is allowed his expensive pleasures. As long as his men aren't starving, no one will blink. Expensive luxuries to the top only matter when the bottom isn't getting by."

"Ah…" Rey waits.

"Right. Tea would be lovely. I never developed a taste for coffee myself." Ellie smiles gently and sips her tea. "So, are we just working on your socializing and small talk skills, or…"

"I suppose… I should be doing more of that, but… That's not today. Kylo and I have talked, and thought, and… researched, I guess, and… We'll be the Handsome Prince and His Lady. Bring on the big sparkly wedding, and the Master and Mistress, and… the… spectacle."

Ellie smiles at that, too, but this time it doesn't quite get to her eyes. She drops her hand to Rey's and gently squeezes it. "Honey, you look like you're being dragged in front of a firing line. What's going on? Do you really want to do this? Because… I mean… I understand, to a degree, you and Kylo are producing an image to make people want to be part of this. The Handsome Prince and his Lady are not, really, you. But the idea isn't to get drug kicking and screaming into something you loathe."

Rey stares at Ellie's hand on hers, not sure what to do with that.

Ellie keeps going, "Unless you can muster at least some genuine enthusiasm, this isn't going to work. We're trying to polish you up some, not transmute you into an entirely new thing."

Rey sighs at that, and pours herself more tea. "I'm… It's not the wedding stuff. I'm not this… flat… on it. Parts of that might be fun, and…" She's not sure if she should tell Ellie about the private, family wedding, so she leaves it out, for now at least. "Jacen was out on his first training run, and Chewie had him plot our planet's orbit, basic math and navi training, and…" She's wary about saying it, but… Not like they're going to be there much longer. "None of us are enjoying winter, but apparently, it won't be spring, real spring, snow stops falling and the plants grow, spring, for another hundred and eighty years."

Ellie winces. She doesn't say, you settled somewhere without a full eco scan, but Rey feels it and rolls her eyes viciously.

"It was a Resistance hideout, and before that a Rebellion one. There was no reason to think it hadn't been scanned. Though, apparently, Threepio tells me that, no, that wasn't standard procedure for anywhere they didn't intend to settle full time on. Apparently, the only thing they were looking for in hideouts was stable enough to not immediately kill anything that landed on it.

"Anyway, winter is just going to get worse. So, we're moving. And… I get it. We've got to go. Staying does not work. But…" Rey looks miserable.

Ellie lays her hand on Rey's, again, giving her a little tug, closer. "Come here."

Rey looks a little confused, but she scoots a bit closer, and then Ellie hugs her.

For a moment, Rey's very stiff. Ellie's hugging her, and petting her hair, and it's almost confusing for a moment, then she relaxes into it. Ellie's comforting her.

"You don't want to go."

It's not a question.

With her forehead on the older woman's shoulder, Rey quietly says, "It doesn't matter if I want to, or not. We've got to go. It's go or freeze, and… So, we're going."

Ellie gives her a little squeeze. "Do you know where you're going next? Here?"

"Not here. And, more or less. We've got an idea of where we're going next, but… Still have to find a place, and start over, and…" She's letting herself feel sad. "Thousands of hours of work, just… abandoned to the cold."

"I'm sorry. If it's any condolence, sometimes, you really do just have to scrap it all and start over. They'll tell you the Captain goes down with the ship, but they're wrong. If the ship is sinking, a wise man gets himself, and his people, off of it. Only a fool doesn't jettison when the alternative is ruin."

"Is that… joining the First Order for you?"

Ellie inclines her head a bit. She's not exactly saying, yes. Rey has the sense that going in after the fall of the Empire, allowing themselves to be captured, and trying to get along with the New Republic was jettisoning the sinking ship. What Ellie says is, "When we left, we got to do it on our own terms and time, but… a lot of what we had just had to be left. People notice if you begin a massive liquidation of funds and property. So, one day, the entirety of Clan Kinear vanished. A lot of the grand kids did not like that."

"Uprooting their entire lives for something that they didn't understand?"

Ellie nods at that, and sips her tea, and then says, "Or did understand, and hated, because it wasn't their fault we'd been on the side of the war that lost. And they couldn't tell their friends what was happening. That was the hardest part. It wasn't likely that the New Republic would go after them to hunt us down, but it also wasn't certain, and that was a risk none of us wanted to take. Your children?"

Rey shrugs a bit. "Freezing to death is a very concrete concept. Our youngest is five or six, and even she gets the idea of, 'it'll get so cold we'll all die.' They understand why we're going. And, since we've got an idea of what we're looking for next, a lot of them are excited by that. Most of the fussing we're getting is going to be over who gets to decide where we go. Who gets to go on the scouting parties? And what sort of things we're going to rebuild with. With a side of, 'And we're not living on the Supremacy, why?"

It's clear Ellie's curious about that, too.

Rey shakes her head. "You didn't put your whole family on Pat's ship when you ran, right?"

Ellie nods.

"Exactly. It'd be one thing if we had to get out tomorrow, but we don't, so…"

Another nod. "I really am sorry to hear about that."

Rey sighs. "Yeah. Anyway, that's coloring everything else right now."

"As well it should. I'm here, so I'm guessing you still want to talk about weddings and whatnot?"

"Might as well distract myself, right?"

"It certainly won't hurt." Ellie sips her tea.

"So…" Rey starts. "Uh… Do we need Kylo for this, he's…" she focuses on the far side of the door. He's reading more reports. "not so busy he can't join us."

Ellie's amused by that. "Grooms aren't exactly superfluous in weddings, but they generally aren't deeply involved beyond the level of showing up. This… Part of this is showing off the Order to the galaxy. Part of this is enticing people to join us. And part of this is a show of feminine power."

"You've talked about that idea, before."

Ellie nods. "Power is eternal. It's also gendered. At least, among human and humanoid societies that have sex."

Rey blinks. She's fairly shocked to see Ellie just lay that out in front of her.

"Sex as a noun, not a verb. Sex is… biological reality. What's between your legs and in your genes. It's… without a lot of medical help, generally immutable. You are male. You are female. You are something in between or none of the above, but whatever it is, that's pretty much it."

Rey's never run into the idea that anyone would, with medical help or not, seek to change their sex, and it's clear on her face.

Ellie offers a bit of a smile at that. "Not everyone's outsides match their insides. Sometimes, you need some help getting them to line up." She pauses. "Kylo couldn't be Ben, no matter how much people tried to shove him into a Ben-shaped mold, and no matter how hard he tried to shove himself into a Ben-shaped mold, it just wasn't going to happen. Some people are like that when it comes to their sex."

"Oh." That's a concrete idea for Rey.

Ellie nods at that. "But that's… not what we're talking about. Sex is not gender. Gender is how, given the way your society works, that sex is expressed. In many ways, it's how you let other people know what sex you are, and what sex you're interested in. It's… usually… highly correlated with what's between your legs and in your genes, but it's not a one to one ratio. And what's male-gendered on one world could be considered female-gendered on another."

Rey's pursing her lips.

Ellie nods at that, too. "If you saw a person in bright colors, tights, high heels, makeup, and jewelry, with fancy, poofy hair would you expect that person to be female?"

"Probably."

"And here, on the Supremacy, in say, nine out of ten cases, you'd be right. But, if we were on Pyrithia, in nine out of ten cases, you'd be wrong, because that's local fashion for men there."

"And fashion is how gender is expressed?"

"Part of it. That's probably the easiest, most readily visible layer."

"Okay, so this is… feminine power? All, fancy and bright and pretty?"

"Something like that. Masculine power is… easy. Big guns, bigger ships, carrying around even bigger armies. 'Do what I say or die.' There's not much finesse there."

"Biggest shaft wins?"

Ellie cracks a smile at that. "Well, the man who knows best how to use it wins, not necessarily the biggest one, but… Again, right general idea."

Rey giggles a little at that. "Finesse comes in how you use it, not just having it?"

Ellie grins. "Exactly. And… they're generally under the impression that they're absolute masters of finesse, but when it comes down to it, there's really only so many maneuvers to be used, and anyone with a slightly above average intelligence can figure out which one gets used when. So, right now, we're, metaphorically, sitting astride the biggest shaft in the galaxy."

Rey's biting her lip, staring at her tea, vibrating with giggles.

"And, just as when one is doing that on a non-metaphorical level, it's the job of a good woman to… guide the action to bring it to a… satisfactory conclusion. Just because he thinks he's got finesse coming out of his... ears... doesn't mean he can't take some help making sure everyone ends up happy."

Rey? Kylo's obviously curious as to what's got her so amused on the other side of the wall.

She's still laughing. I think this is what Rose calls 'girl talk.'

And Kylo's mind retreats from hers.

"All giggles aside. For a very long time, this galaxy has been primarily, and secondarily ruled by examples of masculine power. When the Empire had both the Emperor and the Senate, we had a balanced set of power. The big shaft and a rider to guide it. Under the Republic… well, that was almost all rider and very little shaft."

"So, this… wedding… is us showing off we've got more to offer than a big army."

"Exactly. Kylo appears to be interested in moving in the direction of more balanced power. His idea of markets and places where people can make deals in safety means bringing some level of feminine power into play, and this is a good way to show the galaxy that, with the Order, you can have it all."

"Or at least, hire it?"

"Certainly. Traditionally feminine power comes in the flavor of communication, nuance, status. So, say, back in the days of the Republic, exceptionally ornate clothing, well above and beyond the level of what's fashionable now, was part of the game. It was about showing off status. Kylo's coffee is of a similar vein. The things we do to show off that we have great worth."

Rey winces. "I'm going to be terrible at this."

"No, you're not. You're going to study, learn the tropes, and then we're going to figure out how to bend them to your own strengths. You do not have to parade around in a billion credits worth of the fanciest jewelry ever to be forged in this galaxy to show off feminine power. You just have to understand that that's what the woman you're meeting with is doing when she does it. And then you've got to decide how to manage her expectations, because she's likely going to judge your status by the amount of sparkly things you wear."

"That I can do."

Ellie sips her tea. "I have… a few thoughts in this direction. One of the perks of power is the ability to define status. One king of old, in a very classic feminine power move, set up a court of staggering flamboyance and wealth, and then forced his courtiers to move there. In order for them to 'keep up appearances' and keep abreast of the fashion, they spent money like it was water—" Ellie backtracks on that. Rey's from a desert. Water matters to her. "Spent money like sand. Let it just flow through their fingers, and for a while, they could do that, but money runs out, and it did, so he started loaning them money so they could keep up with the extravagance, and before too long, most of his 'courtiers' were busy coveting each other's tailors, planning expensive outfits and parties, one upping each other in fripperies, and in debt to him.

"In less than ten years, he bound them to him, and neutered their power, more effectively than any war could have, and did it without killing anyone."

"What happened to him?"

"He died old, fairly well-liked, in charge of a united empire, in his own bed, with a mistress who was seventy years his junior. Most men would say he played the game very well. Granted, it didn't last. He loaned money to his lords, and they spent like crazy. That loaned money wasn't enough. They needed more and more gold and jewels and status symbols, but they were broke. So they changed the laws; they could demand goods and services, but they didn't have to pay for them. Eventually, the men and women who made the fripperies that counted in the status game grabbed those courtiers and cut their heads off, but… Assuming you remember to pay your bills, that's a move that can be used quite effectively to neutralize your enemies."

"Ah…" Rey tries to begin to imagine Kylo dripping in silks and 'fripperies.' The image won't form, not the least because she isn't entire sure what 'fripperies' even are.

"That's not likely to be the version of that play that you and Kylo will try. But, eventually, it will be up to you to define status beyond a big army. Think on that, and what matters to you."

Rey nods. "And… a big lavish wedding is a way to do that?"

"Certainly. Though, for this first bit, that's the… summit of the mountain. Yes, fancy, lavish wedding is part of the Handsome Prince and His Lady story, but being out, and about, and seen is a bigger part of it. As you do that, you get to highlight what matters to you. And you get to see what matters to everyone else."

Rey raises an eyebrow. "By meeting a million people and…"

"Yes, that, but it's also traditional, when one is invited to a wedding, to send a gift as well. You'll be able to see what matters to people, and how they esteem you by reading the gifts."

Rey's not sure how she feels about that. Excited at the idea of presents, daunted at the idea of decoding presents. She doesn't exactly shift the topic, but she gets Ellie talking more, "What were your other thoughts about status?"

"I was thinking about the Jedi. I… obviously didn't follow them too closely. And, I realize that, for obvious reasons, this might not be where to go with Kylo, but… Status doesn't just have to be about wealth. It can be about knowledge, or holiness, or… wherever you place it."

Rey thinks about that, and feels what Ellie's telling her. "The Jedi had a very balanced masculine and feminine power structure."

"The saber and the book, exactly. The Empire bound masculine power in the form of the Emperor and his army, to the feminized power of the Senate. In as much as the Republic had a military before Palpatine got his hands into the game, it was the Jedi Knights. They were the blade the senate used to enforce the Senate's will."

"I…" Rey's never thought about the idea of the Jedi and how their power base worked in the Republic.

"Mostly, they didn't need to use a blade. Why fight when you've got the mind trick at your disposal? It doesn't work on everyone, and… as I understand it, advanced negotiating techniques often involved lightsabers."

"Ah."

"But, I'm thinking… There have been states in the past where power balanced between the blade and the book. Between war and holiness. And… Is that something your Maji could do?"

Rey inhales long and slow at that idea. Then sips her tea. Then puts the cup down, still thinking. Her first, immediate, knee jerk reaction could best be summed up as an all over, full body FUCK NO. It just… feels wrong.

A cold, visceral, all over, wrong.

It's a good two breaths before she reaches out with And how closely are you following this conversation? Because, after all, that's a level of reaction that doesn't quite feel like her.

She gets a sheepish thought back of It's a really boring report.

You know, you could just come in here.

A minute later the door slides open.

"Kylo," Ellie says. She nudges the other chair at the table, and sees he's carrying his own cup of coffee in. "Well, on the upside, I'm going to assume you two had a little chat about this, but Rey, it didn't get to your face. I was thinking I'd just hit you very wrong with the Maji idea."

Kylo sits down. "You hit me very wrong with it."

"Oh. You can… listen in?"

"Apparently," Rey says. "Granted, I didn't notice how closely he was listening."

Kylo rolls his eyes a little. "It was a really boring report." He sets his cup down, and kisses his wife's hair before sitting next to her. And you are not boring.

Ellie adds a splash more to her own tea, and then says, "Ah, well, tell me why using the Maji as a status symbol hits you wrong. It's your empire, we might as well tailor it to your liking."

"It's not my empire."

Ellie snorts, delicately, but it is certainly a snort, at that.

"Fine," Kylo's eyes narrow. He's about to leap up and pace, so Rey reaches out and takes his hand. He calms as she touches him. "I was the Jedi who could barely master the status symbols."

"I…" Ellie looks confused. "You… Your title was Master?" He can feel she knows that was his title and she's confused now.

"Yes, but probably not the way you meant it. Back in the Old Jedi, a Master was… on the council and… Yoda or so, right?"

She nods.

"Yeah, well, under Luke it was literal. I had mastered enough skills to pass them on and teach them. I was a Master of enough of the different Jedi skills, but not all of them, and I likely would have embarrassed the shit out of Luke if any of the old school Masters had been around." He doesn't say it, but Rey can feel him thinking, and I had to fight tooth and nail for everything I mastered outside of fighting and empathy.

"Oh," Ellie says. "Well… It was an idea. It doesn't have to be how we do things."

Rey's chewing on her lip, and Ellie notices, because that's a very Kylo gesture.

"Rey?"

She's looking at Kylo. "If it's about balance, this… can't be a status thing. There can't be… Maji Masters. Balance moves and shifts and has to flow to where it's needed. It's a continual discipline that has to adjust as time and circumstance change. Maybe we get better at shifting as needed, but I don't think we master it. It's our master, and we serve it, not the other way around."

Kylo smiles at that, stroking her cheek.

Ellie nods slowly at that. There are things she could say to that, mostly along the lines of the fact that anyone who claims to be in the service of some greater power that cannot be independently verified rapidly ends up lying to themselves about who's calling the shots, but she figures that's not exactly important right now.

She's also rather pleased as she sees how quickly Kylo's attention snaps to her on that one. She's not sure if he's getting better at reading her, or if he's getting more comfortable with her knowing exactly how sensitive he is, either way, it's good to have a map of exactly how much of the unspoken conversation he's getting.

Just to confirm things, Kylo says, "With you, probably just about all of it."

"Ah…"

"So, just say it," Rey adds. She caught Kylo's attention to Ellie more than what Ellie was thinking.

"In my, vast, long, and extremely jaded experience, when someone says that they're acting in the service of something that's uncheckable, they're acting in the service of whatever it is they happen to want."

Rey looks like she just bit into something sour. The image of Cassie's Presbyter comes to mind so quickly and vividly, she winces. "That's not…"

"You, I know," Ellie says. "And, speaking of older and jaded, but where you are now, eager and earnest, that's generally where the people who end up serving their own desires started, too. Believe it or not, back in the day, the Emperor, when he was still a Chancellor, genuinely believed that he was doing the right thing to make the galaxy better, not just empower himself."

"Even better," Rey mutters.

Kylo perks up at that. "Ten years. Did we mention that? Eleven really. We'll stay for the first two election cycles then we're out of here."

Ellie's expression is cool. "You're hellbent on not being the Emperor, aren't you?"

"I think the entirety of the galaxy is better off with me not trying to be the Emperor, but even if it wasn't, I'm… we're better off, so, we're not going there."

Ellie doesn't sigh, but she does think, takes a moment to understand what Kylo isn't saying, and then sip her tea, and then nod. "Okay. The fact that you're not trying to provide one version of the good life that supposedly fits everyone does help to limit the damage you can do with this. The time cap definitely will." Ellie sips her tea thinking further. "I suppose, that could be a status of sorts. Tolerance. Cosmopolitanism. The ability to flow with the mores of those around you. There were a few philosophers back in the day who wrote about the idea of the rights of man… The idea that you are a master who serves his people. That one comes, does his job, and then goes home... That could be part of what makes status for you."

Kylo smirks a bit. "Our idea of status is the ability to offer a warm and generous welcome to anyone, no matter how low status they may be?"

Ellie offers a sharp smile. "Well, anyone who can pay the docking fee."

Rey inclines her head. It's crystallizing for her. "Status comes from being a sentient being. Anything else is the sweet at the end of the meal."

"Exactly. Though, generally speaking, it's the sweet at the end of the meal that people fuss over." Ellie sips her tea again. "It's certainly an idea. I'm wondering how we translate it into… images… for lack of a better word."

"Question for Jon?" Kylo asks.

"Mirina more likely. She's got an even better feel for how things look than he does. Plus, it's a good idea, at least on occasion, for him to do his actual job."

Neither of them miss Ellie thinking that Jon's job is not, in fact, just to lead them around and help them figure out how to look like rulers.

"Okay, so we're not entirely sure what, exactly, it is we're showing off with this, other than a general sense of…" Ellie lets that trail off.

Neither Rey nor Kylo picks it up with their own ideas.

"Grandeur? Opulence? Functionality? Hospitality? Aggressive egalitarianism? What are we doing to make this look like something people want to be part of?" Ellie says.

Rey doesn't roll her eyes. They've been over this, but she understands Ellie's trying to get them to condense the bigger ideas down into smaller, more easily digested ones.

"Tolerance," Kylo finally says.

"And what does that look like to you?" Ellie asks.

Rey tilts her head a bit, looking at Kylo. He bites his lip. He's said it to her, and they've been over the basic idea a bit, but saying it feels odd. "A market. Or a city… A grand floating city, where people can come and find the life they need."

Rey's nodding. "Where people can come and live and trade and… be."

"It's voluntary. That's a big part of it. People come to us. Not the other way around."

Ellie does't say it, but she doesn't stop herself from thinking the unwanted child craves approval. Kylo masters his face and acts like he didn't catch that. "Well, the wedding invites will certain go a ways toward that. We'll invite them, and they'll come. With any luck, the right ones will stay. We've got the space. Setting it up as an open festival, anyone who wants can come. Offer personal invitations to the ceremony and whatever the main after party is. Something for people you want actual one on one contact with."

"But… wander around and meet people the next day, or after… Like the First Year party?" Rey says.

"You actually want to do that?" Kylo asks her.

She shrugs a bit. "It's what were selling, or… trying to encourage, right? Join the Order, we welcome everyone. That's part of wandering around the F-Deck, not cloaked."

He nods a bit at that. "Yeah, but…"

"Maybe," Ellie says, "Set it up as a few days long festival…" She thinks. "Most… again, until you think of a better term for it, I'm calling it an empire. Most empires have some sort of annual celebration. Something to bring people together and give them a reason to have a good time, because they're part of the Empire. There was Empire Day, and of course, Concordance Day, and most planets and countries have something like that, too.

"We invite anyone and everyone to come. We welcome their culture and expression thereof, but we have an over culture, as well. We are the Order, and there has to be markers of that, as well.

"The First Year party, could become an annual thing. Order Day or Days. Some sort of major celebration. When people get their citizen mark, they get the upgrade in status on the day they hit five years, but they get the badge and stripes on Order Day. Huge party, major celebrations to welcome the new citizens, everyone who can be off duty is off duty, and anyone who does have to work that day or days gets major bonuses for it."

"And we do the wedding then? Part of the celebration?" Rey asks.

"That could be it." Ellie's looking at Rey's Order of the Maji pendent. "If we're becoming the Order of the Maji, cementing that earlier rather than later, and doing it on Order Day makes a lot of sense. If the Order of the Maji is a personal thing, it's less of a big deal."

It's clear she's asking where they're going with that.

Kylo and Rey watch each other. Rey shakes her head slightly. "The Maji is personal. People will join when and as they like, and… Honestly, I don't have the people to spread it too far and wide at this point."

Kylo lays his finger on her pendent, the Maji spiral ringed by the Order hexagon. "I have the feeling this mark is something for a very select few people."

Jacen?

He nods at her. Cassie probably, too. Maybe, eventually, Jon.

"If that's the case," Ellie says, attracting their attention back to her, "That mark you wear will become a status symbol, whether you want it to, or not. Something rare, that belongs to people who have power or are favored will automatically become a matter of status."

Rey sighs at that. She doesn't want to stop visibly being Maji. She doesn't want other people making a big deal about it, or seeking it out to gain favor. "Great."

"Well, on the upside, most people seem to think the Maji is some sort of orphanage or school, so you will have some leeway."

"That's good?" Rey asks.

"Until people start pestering you, wanting to teach your children. A lot of people will probably be very happy to offer lessons for the Maji, should they desire to learn from them," Ellie says.

Rey's almost put off by that, then she thinks about it. "Actually… That would be good. Lots of lessons, from lots of perspectives. Find the balance between them…"

"That goes along with the idea of the Order, the place where anyone can come…" Kylo adds. He calls his data pad to hand and jots down a quick note about this being a place teachers can come to offer lessons.

Rey lets him finish his note before saying, "Except that doesn't go well with the location of the Maji staying quiet."

"Classes could be here. Getting them back and forth isn't that big of an issue. Especially if not all the kids sit in on all the lessons."

Ellie can feel that the two of them could probably go planning away with this for quite a while, and it's true that she thinks they'll do a better job of getting the Order set so that they can actually, enthusiastically, jump headlong into being the Handsome Prince and His Lady if they get this stuff worked out, it's also not something she can, or probably should help with. Not this level of it.

"How about back to wedding planning? Do it at the second year festival?"

That gets Kylo and Rey back on her. They glance at each other.

"Will Jon look at me like I've just stabbed him in the back if I suggest doing both at once?" Kylo asks.

"Not if Mirina does most of the heavy lifting. And he's hoping to have diplomacy done in six months, not nine."

Rey squints. "That's cutting it closely, isn't it?"

Ellie shrugs a bit. "We'll make it work."

She and Kylo glance at each other, and also shrug.

"Now for the next bit of this, if we're hoping to do this as way to draw people to us, it also involves both of you being out and about more. I know for a fact that Kylo routinely gets invited to diplomatic sorts of things, and, as best I can tell, right now, the Order sends out polite refusals, indicating you're just vastly too busy for that sort of thing."

Kylo blinks. He didn't know that. He's now wondering if Jon's in charge of that, or if it's being fobbed off on someone below him, and if so, who does that?

"But, if you two were to start to attend them…"

"Wait, is this… different from the Alderaan thing?"

"Good question, Rey. Yes, it is. The 'Alderaan thing,' as you put it, is a formal envoy where we'll offer them a specific treaty. These gatherings are not informal, but the main reason for doing them is to get to know people, see who is out there, and build a stable of allies you can call upon should you need them. When we go to Alderaan, everything will be heavily scripted, and planned. We'll know every beat of the dance before we go, and we'll be in position to take over the tune when and as needed as well. With these sorts of meetings, you're mostly going to be seen and be known. There will be some sort of plan in place, but it will be a list of things one does, not a list of things one intends to accomplish."

Both Rey and Kylo blink at that.

"Alderaan and the like are the sorts of meetings one attends after going to the sorts of parties I'm talking about. You'll begin to get a sense of who is out there, what they want, and how to offer our own skills and services in ways that will bring them into our sphere."

"Parties?" Rey asks.

"Well... Sort of. They'll likely have a name like 'summit' or 'collegium.' And people like Jon won't identify them as parties. But... Situations where you and other powerful people gather together, generally in a relaxed or playful sort of way, and get to know each other better. Important conversations can happen at these things, but generally they exist to get people into place so they can have important conversations, later."

"Dinners?" Kylo asks.

"Yes, much like what we did here. Some of them will be much fancier than others. Many of them will be built around 'fun' things, because the 'fun' thing is the draw, but the real reason to attend is to meet people and be seen. Some of them exist to talk and meet with people about pressing problems in the galaxy and how to solve them. So, you go, sit, listen in on different lectures and presentations, and then talk and mingle. If you're looking to get into the problem-solving business, those are likely the sorts of things you'll want to attend the most of."

Kylo and Rey don't exactly wince, but neither of them look enthusiastic.

Ellie thinks for a moment. "Before, when I was talking about balancing the book with the saber, I was talking about religious books, what about… art, literature, knowledge in general? Could that be part of your ideal of the values of the Order?"

Kylo and Rey glance at each other. Rey nods a bit, and Kylo does, too. "That could be, what's got you thinking in that direction?"

"Well, they're not all pressing problems of the galaxy. We can send you off to summits on art, music, literature, and the like. You can visit libraries and temples to information."

"Cinema?" Rey asks.

"I'm sure there has to be things like that. They have festivals for food, wine… Culture. Is that more the sort of thing you two can go to, be seen, and not look like someone's holding you at blaster point?"

Kylo quirks a bit of smile. "It's significantly more likely."

"That would blend well with the everyone is welcome at the Order idea," Rey says. "We go, soak up other cultures, invite them to come and join ours."

"I like that," Ellie says. "We can arrange for that to be a good deal of you being out and about, but it likely can't be all of it.

"Part of the idea of the Handsome Prince and His Lady is both of you being walking advertisements for the Order. Which means people need to see you. That sort of festival or function can take care of that.

"However, from a straight diplomacy sense…" She sips her tea and back tracks. "Okay, there are several ways to deal with problems. Previous to you taking over, Kylo, the First Order dealt with problems by shooting them. This is effective but not necessarily where you want to go. Since then, we've dealt with all of our problems in house. This can, also, be effective, but it's limiting. The best mind to conquer the job may not be wearing an Order uniform, and if that's the case, right now, we're just out of luck. So, part of why you go to these things is so you can meet people, so when problems arise, or opportunities, you know who to call to see about fixing them."

"Networking?" Kylo remembers his mother talking about that.

"Very much so."

"And this is the sort of thing the Prince's Lady specializes in?" Rey asks. "And… we're selling solutions, or at least a place and security so people can come to their own solutions, so we show up at things like the all the problems in the galaxy meetings and… make it clear that we can… fix things?"

"Often. How are you with languages?"

Kylo winces, but Rey looks pleased.

"She's amazing." That pleases her, too. "I'm…" he rolls his eyes, "okay at reading and understanding a half dozen common languages, but only accomplished in Galactic Standard, and mediocre at speaking anything else."

"Good, Rey. The ability to speak in whatever the native tongue is, and blend into the mode of their cultures, that, too can be a status symbol. A sign of feminine power. Part of tolerance and welcome, is that we'll put the effort in to make ourselves match local mores." Ellie smiles a bit. "And of course, like you did with the K'Aran, you can… offer your own particular twist on the situation."

"Balanced power?" Rey asks. She may have looked like a K'Aran woman, as much as her body could, but she didn't exactly act like one.

"If you so desire. There's nothing that says you have to be a paragon of just feminine power. It's… Well, Kylo's not exactly the image of feminine power, at least not how most of the human societies in this galaxy understand it, and he's done such a good job of burning the ideal of Master Ren, who will come down and personally eviscerate anyone who attempts to hurt him or his into the conscious of the galaxy, I don't think it's ideal to try and temper that by having both of you seek a balanced power position. That said, there's no reason the Order can't or shouldn't be primarily masculine power coded."

"Or that's part of why Jon's got an actual job," Kylo says.

"Or you can fob more of the job of feminine-coded power plays toward Jon. He'll be good at it."

"Except the parts he won't be?" Rey asks. "You said…" Rey remembers Ellie talking about the bits of feminine power that Jon couldn't get into by virtue of his sex and rank.

"Yes. There are parts he's not ideally suited for, but that's nothing we need him to do. And that's not really part of what we're talking about here. This is, how we build an image to give people an idea of what it is we're doing." Ellie taps her cup. "Everyone is welcome, sentients are the only thing in the galaxy that really matter, we're here to provide anyone who wants it a chance at their good life…"

Kylo and Rey are nodding along with that.

"At the rate we're opening them now, just for starters, every single recruiting station should get visited by at least one of you. That's where you get people, so that's where you should be going. Eventually, they'll be spread too far to effectively do that, but right now, that's a bedrock sort of thing.

"You should be regularly visiting the training camps, and your other ships."

"Schiff says that it annoys people to have the Boss on ship," Kylo adds, the idea of touring all of his ships is something he's toyed with in the past, but didn't move on.

"It often does, so you make sure they've got a lot of notice ahead of time so they can spruce everything up. Still, go. Talk to people. Be interested. Don't kill anyone unless you're certain everyone around them wants them gone."

"Visit all of the planets under the Order?" Rey asks.

"You have the idea, but that's not doable. Any new ones joining up, absolutely go to," Ellie adds.

"Why not doable?" Kylo asks.

Ellie blinks slowly, and then it's her turn to rub her lips together, looking embarrassed. "Kylo, do you… know what we've done to probably at least two thirds of the planets we control?"

Both he and Rey wince, hard. Hays Minor. Neither of them knows for sure which of the two of them thought it first.

"C8?" Kylo calls out.

A moment later the droid is in their room. "Yes, sir?"

"I need a report listing the all the planets that have ever been under our control, and what we've done with and to them, and… probably some sort of suggestions for how to… apologize for it, if possible."

Ellie's shaking her head. "Don't even try. Focus on the ones that are still habitable. You killed the person who gave the orders that destroyed the other planets, that's all the apology that needs to happen."

C8 waits patiently. He doesn't take orders from Ellie.

"Just get me the list of planets and what we did to them."

"Yes, sir. I'll put it on your desk when I get it."

"Thank you, C8."

The droid's almost out of their rooms, when Rey's got an idea, "C8…"

"Yes, Lady."

"Make sure that report covers how people are treated there, and if they're part of the Order citizen class…" She looks to Ellie. "You said as long as his men aren't starving, the man at the top is allowed his pleasures. Are the people living on those planets considered part of Kylo's men?"

Ellie's mouth opens, and then closes. "If you'd be willing to copy Pat on that report, C8, I'd appreciate it."

C8 looks to Kylo, who nods.

"Done, Lady Kinear."

Ellie nods, and then turns to Kylo and Rey. "It's likely a good idea to do the research, see what's going on on those planets. We're so… focused on your ships, that they tend to get forgotten. I know they pay taxes, and… I know that the reason why so many of them aren't habitable any longer is that they were mined to their cores for supplies."

"Great," Kylo says quietly. "Mined to their cores for supplies, and then blown to molecules when you and yours took out StarKiller."

Rey shrugs. "Not my fault Snoke let Hux build something big enough to suck all of the power of a star and turn it into a weapon. No sane person could let something like that continue to exist."

He kisses the back of her hand. You aren't wrong.

Ellie adds in, "Visiting the habitable planets, and doing what we can to get them back to functional is another opportunity to show the galaxy how you aren't Snoke. How you and the Order are different from the First Order. It's a way to make people want to be part of this. The First Order came in and ruined things. The Order returns and puts them as close to back to right as possible."

"And somehow, we've got to pay for this. That's the boring report I was reading. Income projections for the free trade lanes." Rey raises an eyebrow, and Kylo shakes his head. "We make more on it than we spend to keep them up, but not as much as I'd like. Schiff tells me that the price we've got is the sweet spot, though. Raise it higher, and it makes running the blockade worth the risk. Which increases the cost of maintaining the blockade. Which means we make less money on it." He sighs, long and loud.

She and Ellie nod. "Yes, paying for all of this is always going to be an issue. So, perhaps, first and foremost, we aim for getting you to as many places where, first of all, they pay the expenses, and secondly, you get to meet people with problems, and offer them ways to fix those problems. For a price."

"How many of these things are there?" Rey asks.

"Smaller local ones, for say individual planets, we could probably hook you up with twenty a day, every day, for the rest of your life. Bigger ones, say for systems, or system alliances, there are likely a good two a month, and we'll see what we can do about getting you to all of them. Galaxy-wide ones are one to three a year, and you will attend them."

"And we…"

"Go to them, look pretty, listen, and offer a place and time to make problems go away. Let them know that you have the biggest sword available, and by hiring yours they can put theirs away. Next year, when our diplomacy wing is fully into play, we'll see what we can do about hosting a few of these." Ellie sips her tea. "Especially if people see you starting to attend things like these, once those wedding invitations go out, people will also consider this an opportunity to see, be seen, network, and seek out alliances new and old. It'll be good."

Kylo and Rey sort of look at each other, and back to Ellie, and back at each other. Finally, Rey says, "Good?"

Ellie nods, certain. "Good. Now, fun stuff, the book to go with the sword, how often do you think you'd like to do things like that?"

"How often could we?" Rey asks.

"I'm sure that we could set it up so that you did nothing but go to things like that. However many you want to attempt, we can get you to."

"Maybe we could… try a few… see if we actually like them, and then figure that out?" Rey asks.

Ellie's expression indicates that she thinks that's wise. "We can set that up. We can also see if we can cross-reference fun gatherings in places where you've got recruiting stations opening, and see if we can mesh that sort of thing together." Ellie taps her comm and records a quick note to make sure that gets taken care of. Then she makes another note to meet with Jon at some point to talk about putting 'fun, art stuff' on the diplomatic floors. She glances back to the two of them. "After all, if we seek it out, we should also offer it. This mammoth pile of metal could be a place of art and science and learning."

Kylo quietly says, "I think I'd like that."

Ellie offers him a gentle smile. Then she says, also quietly, "Was… Ben… a scholar?"

Kylo shrugs a bit. "Maybe. Sometimes. He liked books and plays and poems."

"Calligraphy," Rey says.

That triggers a memory for Ellie. "I haven't thought of this in a long time, but the Shoikan Knights… They were swordsmen and horsemen. Literal metal swords and…" It's clear neither of them know what a horse it. "Large quadrupeds that humans can ride. And, to be a properly accomplished knight, a man had to have mastery of the sword, of non-armed combat, of riding, philosophy, poetry, history, and at least one visual art. Bits of pottery and calligraphy survive, and are considered highly sought after collector's items."

Kylo pulls his datapad over and makes another note for himself to read up on that. "They balanced their fight with… making beautiful things?"

"That was the idea. I think. There was a fairly complicated philosophical grounding about balancing destruction with creation but I don't remember much of that."

"What happened to them?" Rey asks.

Ellie offers a tiny, tight half smile. "Horses and metal swords were no match for Stormtroopers. They fought long and hard and bravely. And they kept the Imperial Army busy for month, but in the end the Empire won. They worshiped a God-King, and he was executed by Imperial decree a decade before either of you were born. There were rumors that his grandchildren got out, and took the heart of their culture with them, but rumor's all that's been found of them. All that's left is ruins, books, a few bits of art, and the stories of survivors."

"Like Alderaan," Kylo says.

Ellie nods.

"Why did the Emperor go after them?" Rey asks.

"Because they would not bend to him. They didn't join the Republic, which wasn't an issue. Not really. They were willing to trade with members of the Republic, and allowed safe passage through their space. Then they wouldn't join the Empire, seeking the same deal. The Emperor was not impressed with that deal. He wanted it to be clear that there was no power above him, certainly not a self-named GodKing."

They're quiet after that, then Kylo says, "I don't want that." He's shaking his head. "I don't want it. I don't need it. That's… the exact opposite of who and what we're going to be. Whatever we need to do to make it clear that that's not us, that's what we're doing."

Ellie nods at that. "I'd say, the easiest way to make that clear is to, just, not do it. Don't conquer." A slow smile spreads across her face. "That said, I suppose, if we really do move into the sword for hire business people will wish to buy our services to conquer for themselves. I suppose it's possible that, for a small but appropriately sized fee, one could buy a contract from us guaranteeing that we won't take a contract from anyone else to engage in conquering for hire."

Rey and Kylo don't even have to check in with each other. That one's a no-go. "I'm pretty sure we don't take contracts to conquer for hire," Rey says.

Ellie's smile is gentle. "Of course not, dear. Trust me, they will never, ever come to us and say, 'We covet our neighbors lands and wealth, we'll pay you well to take it for us.' Any and everyone who comes to us will have good justifications. They always do."

Kylo sighs. "A place to negotiate, the ability to escrow goods, security for meetings, contract enforcement, and defensive military force."

"And as soon as you draw that line, someone will hire us, have us on their borders, attack the hell out of their neighbors, and then retreat behind us. They will find ways to manipulate you, or the situation. Either we take contracts from everyone, highest bidder gets the might, or we might as well not do it, because no one, not even you, have the brains and power to figure out the right side of every, or often, any conflict."

Kylo grits his teeth. "The Qualee."

"Exactly. Every action will ripple well beyond any possible way to see. People can buy our security. They can buy our neutrality. They can buy our forces if you like. But if you start picking and choosing who to work with things are going to get out of hand very quickly. Highest bidder wins may not be the most ethically pleasant situation, but it is clean. It's true that everyone can't get credits, but it's also true that anyone can, and especially if you offer a good price to not take contracts against people, that'll be the easiest way to sort them out. If they need us badly enough, they'll find the credits."

"This is not where I expected our afternoon to go," Rey says.

"I think it was useful, though," Ellie says. "We've all got a somewhat more concrete idea of what the eventual Palace of the Order looks like, so that helps. And we've got more of a plan in place to make sure that when those wedding invitations go out, getting one will be a status symbol, and attending an even bigger one."

"So, what happens next?" Rey asks.

"Next," Ellie replies. "I have a feeling we'll be meeting with Mirina to get more of an idea of how this looks. We'll make sure Jon's got a heads up to start getting you two out and about more. And, of course, you and I, and General Threepio, I think, will be attending Alderaan the week after next, so we'll be getting ready for that."

"And… I'm not part of any of that, right?" Kylo says.

Ellie nods. She also checks her chrono. "I don't mean to rush, but…"

"Go," Rey nods to the door, and Kylo, vaguely remembering something from childhood, stands up and walks her out.

When he's back, he sits next to Rey, and says, "I don't mind not really being involved with the formal wedding stuff."

She rolls her eyes. "Were you just hovering in the back of my head listening to everything?"

"Really boring. And… sort of. You're vastly more interesting to me than income projections, especially ones that aren't as high as I want them to be."

She smiles at that. "What if I want you to be?"

"Then I will, but… I have a feeling Mirina and Ellie will just glare at me for being somewhere I don't belong."

"And you've had enough stern women glare at you for a lifetime?"

"By the time I was seven." He squeezes her hand. "I do want to be part of whatever it is we do for our family. That one matters to me."

She nods at that. "Good." They're both quiet for a beat. "When do you want to do it?"

He opens and closes his mouth. "Uh… Shit. I…" A small, long ago thought wanders into his mind. "It's customary for people to take some time off after a wedding. Go off, do fun stuff. How about we get the monster out of the way, take a few days to collapse and recuperate, and then do the one for us?"

She thinks about that, and then kisses him. "Nope. Let's put ourselves and our loves first, do the fun one when we're fresh and rested and then take a few days, rest up, and go take care of the monster."

He grins at her. "I like that."