5/15/2
Kylo's fairly sure that dinner took seventeen weeks to complete.
And it's not that all of it was bad, or even most of it, or some really, it was just… Long.
On his own, or with Rey, they eat, they talk, they get done eating. Meals take, maybe, twenty-five minutes. They both like food, and eating, but this long, drawn out, bring food, eat food, clear food, bring more food, eat…
The food is good. That's a perk.
And Jon was right, even having eaten all eight courses, he's not feeling like he's gorged himself, so that's good, too. (Though tiny bits of food on each plate looked a little bizarre to him.)
Still, as the server is clearing up the sweet (a light citronen mousse) and drinks, (Not coffee. He opted for tea instead of brandy. He still doesn't understand why everyone is so hung up on tea. It's just… blah… to him. But he can feel the Alderaanians are pleased with what they've got and how it's served. Ellie steered him and Rey correctly. They're impressed when he pours and she serves.) he's glad to be wrapping this up, and finally getting to the first of the 'real' discussions for the evening.
Time to see about getting Heloise and Samanth on their own for an actual conversation where something useful may happen.
The next part of the evening is in the courtyard.
It's designed to be a space for people to linger and talk and mingle, so… Time to break it in.
Once they get down there, Rey's watching the 'politicians.' They're happy. They really seem to enjoy this sort of thing. And for several of the New Alderaan delegation, this is the first space, with it's reflecting pools, white pillars, high arches, and open sky, that they feel truly comfortable.
(She doesn't miss two of the 'entourage' drift over to the planters and just touch the soil. Apparently, some people prefer to keep feet on the earth of their home world.)
Kylo's talking about why this part of the Supremacy looks the way it does. He explains how he had some ideas, but it was really Jon who put them together and turned them into something that actually looks nice.
And Jon… Is being quiet. Really quiet. He's just… blending. He mingles, smiles. Rey's fairly sure he's personally greeted everyone there, but he's not exactly staring in this drama. He's just there, on the edges, making sure everything goes smoothly.
Right now, it's clear that he's doing everything in his power to make people think Threepio actually runs things.
That makes sense. If Threepio is the 'official' diplomatic channel for this endeavor, it makes a statement. One that she's sure they've gamed out into oblivion.
For the moment, Heloise is standing on her own, looking out at the billion stars around them, and the few star destroyers keeping pace. (Rey knows there are more than the visible three of them, but they're behind and above the Supremacy, out of the view of anyone casually looking out a viewport.)
Rey heads over to her. "I didn't think I'd ever get used to it."
Heloise nods. "It's… I suppose I'm literally broadening my horizons."
"Have you been off-world before?" Rey asks.
"A few times, but not like this. Most of our transport would be spent in hyperspace, followed by a brief stop, and then to the ground."
Rey continues to nod. "Very much not like this, then."
Heloise turns away from the view to Rey. "Did you get used to it?"
Rey shrugs a bit. "Sometimes it's just background. Sometimes I stop, and really look, and it takes my breath away." She feels Helene notice the two of them are talking and start to ease over. She's tempted to say something like, 'are you wired for sound' but decides not to. Instead she turns to Helene and smiles, gesturing to the stars beyond. As the older woman comes near, she says, "We don't have much to offer anyone who loves green, living things, not yet and not here, but we do have an amazing view."
Helene nods. "That you do." She looks down at where the containment field meets the floor. "It feels like I could just step off."
"If the containment field were to fail, you could, but I have the feeling if that were to happen, we'd not just be calmly standing here chatting."
Heloise quirks her lip at that. It's clear that she's trying to be amused, but now she's worried.
Rey touches her hand, and lays just a tiny bit of calm on her. "They won't fail." She turns her back to the sky beyond, and then leans against the field. It holds her steady. "You can't step off," Rey says, standing back up.
That's… somewhat comforting.
Kylo sees the two of them chatting, and heads over, with Samanth.
"I suppose we've got something to talk about," he says to Heloise.
She nods. "The view is amazing, but we didn't come all this way just to enjoy it."
He offers her his hand, and she takes, it, and for a moment it looks like it might just be this easy. They just wander off. They take one step.
Helene follows.
Kylo stops. "I understand that it's customary for any sort of even borderline political discussion on New Alderaan to be public and monitored. However, since we are not on New Alderaan, and this particular discussion involves what I consider my extremely private personal life, this discussion will not be monitored." Kylo's tone brooks no argument, and for the moment everyone looks okay with that.
Then he again takes a step, with Heloise and Rey, toward his office, and, again, Helene begins to follow.
He turns to her, brow raised. "Was I unclear about what I was expecting for this meeting?"
Helene is gobsmacked. She literally cannot believe he's even going to try it. For a second she just blinks, staring up at him, and then says, "You must have been. I understand a desire for no recordings, but you can't possibly hope to discuss a marriage pact without witnesses. That would be sheer insanity."
Kylo and Rey's turn to blink. She decides she'll be the one to respond. "I'm… unstudied in your traditions, but a functional marriage pact does require a written contract, no?"
Nodding from Heloise, who looks pleased to let the Rens handle her aunt. "Of course. Fully negotiated and signed by all parties."
"Then there's no need at all for anyone besides the three of us for this first, possible, round of discussions," Kylo says. "Anything we could possibly agree to will be recorded and viewed by everyone, later." He again gestures to the rest of the courtyard, for Helene's benefit. "Please, feel free to refresh yourself, or perhaps amuse yourselves on the F-Deck. I'm certain that if you wanted to explore, General Threepio would be more than happy to personally escort you." And, as if summoned, Threepio does appear behind Helene.
Neither Kylo nor Rey have ever seen him move so fast or silently, but, apparently, when needs must, he can book across a room and not be seen doing it.
Kylo's just about turned back toward his office, with Rey and Heloise when…
Helene is just staring at him. She can't believe he's trying it. He's really going to take their Queen off on her own and completely break tradition by having a completely unmonitored talk between two heads of state. Finally, her brain catches up and sets her mouth going. "It's… unseemly, for a young man to be alone with an unmarried woman in his private quarters." It's a desperate, last ditch attempt at something like an invite, and Helene is unashamedly laying it out.
Heloise is just about glaring daggers, and it's clear that she's about to go full out on her aunt, since both of them know that she's spent more than enough time on her own in Samanth's quarters, and, for that matter, the idea that such actions are unseemly is about a hundred years out of date, but something that Kylo remembered from one of the few novels Luke had in his library springs to mind. "I've been told that all the chaperone a man needs, in any situation, is his wife." Actually, in the book, it was a man saying that all the chaperone a woman ever needs is her husband, but he figures it's got to work both ways, "Since both my actual wife, and someone who is claiming interest in the position is asking for the meeting, you do not need to attend," Kylo says to Helene.
Helene's glare could strip paint. She knows this isn't a good play, but there are no good plays here. She can't be seen to not trust Heloise to be alone with Ren for an hour. But she can't let her be alone with Ren for an hour, either. "It's not…" she looks annoyed. "fitting." It comes out lamely because it's abundantly clear that she desperately wants to get into this meeting, and no one is going to let her.
Rey thinks to Kylo, Let her save some face. Invite Samanth. She still hasn't figured out exactly where his loyalties lay.
Kylo does not, visibly, roll his eyes. That said, even without doing it, he projected the desire to do it so strongly, that absolutely no one, including Threepio, missed it. "I understand that I have something of a… reputation." Though being even remotely concerned with a young woman's virtue in my care indicates you don't know what that reputation is. Rey stifles a snigger at that. "Samanth, would you like to come as well? We'll let no one say I took advantage of the situation or our queen."
Samanth smiles at that, and looks to Heloise. "My queen?"
"Certainly," and with that, and without Helene, the four of them head toward Kylo's office.
Threepio, watching another piece of the puzzle fall into place, takes the initiative. "Come lady, though the details are not yet worked out, there is quite a bit of interest in New Alderaan having an embassy on our capitol ship. I know the location isn't finished yet, but I have a feeling that you'd like a sense of what we're building, and where best to locate the embassy. A place of importance and visibility, something befitting of cousin empires…"
Helene isn't thrilled by that, but she's a political animal, seeing the angles, and though she's not sure about the ramifications of a close relationship with the Order, she's also taken the time to contemplate what Heloise had to say about how Alderaan, to be Alderaan needs a big, strong friend.
And damnably, the girl is right. In order to be peaceful Alderaan, they need a friend, preferably one who will clearly blow anyone out of the sky if they try something. And though they have a close working relationship with the New Republic, the New Republic is not necessarily, now, in the sort of shape where they'd come to Alderaan's aid, if they needed it.
But the Order probably would.
Especially, while it's ruled by these young hotheads.
She nods to Threepio. "Let us."
Kylo walks his 'cousins' to his office. "See, not all black."
"Just, mostly black," Rey adds.
Heloise looks at the vase in the middle of Kylo's conference table. "Are those… the flowers from Alderaan?"
Rey nods. "They're dried now, but, yes. They were pretty, and I wanted to keep them."
That gets a smile from Samanth and Heloise.
C8 steps over. He gestures to the snacks on Kylo's desk, and nods to the private chamber. "Everything was delivered and set up as requested, sir."
"Thank you." He picks up the tray, laden with a few bottles, a coffee pot, glasses, and cookies. "C8, this is Heloise Talmaash, Queen of Alderaan, and you've met Samanth Organa before."
"Greetings, my lady, and lord." He nods to them. "Is there anything else you need from me?"
"Just keep watch at the door. Helene wasn't thrilled about us wandering off unwatched."
"Yes, sir."
Rey gestures to the open door to their bedroom. Both Heloise and Samanth look surprised by that, but they do enter. Once Kylo follows them in, Rey shuts the door.
Heloise and Samanth are looking around at a very not black room. (Though the floor and ceiling are black, and so is a decent amount of the furniture.) The walls are, as mentioned, cream and tan. There are warm desert colors, splashes of blues, and… candles. A lot of candles. There are candles floating in the bath. Candles on the table. Candles on the little seat near the window. The whole room is suffused in warm, creamy candle light.
Heloise is starting to look a little perturbed. It's clear that she's suddenly not sure if Kylo ever got the message that she wasn't serious about the whole marriage part of their marriage pact. Especially since Kylo's laid the tray of goodies down on the table, and is in the process of kicking off his shoes, and about to take his hair down, but Rey stays his hand, and he stops.
He looks up at them. "Make yourselves as comfortable as you like. We're in my home. And" he gestures to the four of them all dressed up. "This is not comfortable at home for me."
Rey touches his hand again. "Still, we will be escorting them out, so you likely shouldn't wander out with your hair down and wild. Let alone changed into a new outfit."
He inclines his head and shrugs, while thinking to Rey, It'd be worth it just to see Helene's face. Rey smiles at that. Then he sits at the table, pours himself a small glass of wine, and points out what's on the tray, making up little plates for everyone.
Once everyone is seated, and has some sort of snack, he says, "I understand that it's customary among the political class of New Alderaan to be continually monitored for sound. Something about ensuring civic virtue by a complete and utter lack of personal privacy."
"We don't generally put it that way, but, yes," Samanth says.
Kylo nods. "Ah… And that's… immutable?"
"Generally speaking. In certain non-state matters some level of privacy are available," Heloise says.
"I'd consider my marital arrangements to be non-state, and since that's what we'll be talking about," and the electronics inside their room go completely dead.
Both he and Rey smirk when they feel a spike of panic from someone, who likely had the job of keeping track of what was going on, on the other side of the door.
And it looks like someone, maybe not Helene, had at least one of the two of them monitored for sound, Rey thinks to Kylo.
He smirks a little more, stretches some, takes another sip, and hands the glass to Rey. "This one is good."
"And we are free to speak," Rey says after she swallows.
"What did you do?" Samanth asks, glancing around the fire-lit room.
"This room already has the best-sound proofing money can buy. That said, it doesn't matter how good the soundproofing is if there's a mic on one of the people in the room. So, when it became clear that we'd be doing this, and that you'd want privacy to actually talk, this room has had an upgrade to it's security system. Anything electronic inside of it just died and will stay that way until I release the static field," Kylo says. He eyes the both of them, but it's clear neither one knows who's got the extra bug on them. "It's good for keeping conversations private, less good for my correspondence, or say the lights, or keeping the pool warm, all of which also died, but we are, for the time being, completely unmonitored and free to talk."
Rey adds, "It's probably worth really checking your outfits later today. Someone out there is very intensely displeased right now at having lost their feed on you."
The two Alderaanians smile. "Good," Heloise says.
"Someone?" Samanth says.
Kylo shrugs. "I don't know which one. I can just feel the wave of displeasure."
"Ah," Samanth replies. "Looks like your Aunt is hedging her bets."
"Or testing your security," Heloise replies. Now that she's sure the candles and flowers and whatnot aren't a seduction tool, she's a bit more relaxed, but, still… "Uh… just to be clear, and to put you and your lady at ease, I genuinely am not interested in a marriage pact with you. I'll likely have to make one eventually, but I know you are not available."
Kylo smirks a bit, as he gently strokes the back of Rey's neck. "I don't know… I was starting to warm up to the idea of two wives. Seems like it might offer some interesting experiences." He glances to the bed.
Both Heloise and Samanth were not expecting that, and it flatfoots them. For a long moment they just stare at Kylo.
"He's joking," Rey says. "Mostly."
"Mostly," Kylo replies with a smile.
Heloise and Samanth exchange nervous grins. This, especially after watching the interview, was not what they were expecting.
"Oh, am I making you somewhat uncomfortable this time around?" Kylo replies, setting a drink in front of Rey, the back of his hand caressing hers.
Heloise just looks at him. Then she smiles. "Rey, I'm sorry for bringing it up that way, but I honestly had no other ideas for how to take advantage of the situation."
Rey nods to her. "So, how long can we possibly stretch out a polite, no-a-marriage-pact-isn't-going-to-happen,-but-how-about-this-instead sort of meeting?"
Samanth and Heloise glance at each other. Heloise shrugs a bit. "Two or three hours would be good for us to just talk with each other, but… Realistically, an hour?"
"Realistically, we can't get this planned in an hour," Rey says. "There's got to be some way for us to get to meet with each other again."
They think for a moment. "Solonift dinner," Samanth says. "Dad hosts, so it's a private affair, family is welcome. She's been to several of them already, so going to more wouldn't be out of the question. Come to a few just the two of you, and bring some of your young Maji to a few more. Teach them about some other cultures."
Rey smiles, that looks like an excellent way to sneak a few more meetings in. "And, of course, you'll come for our wedding, the private, family celebration. That'll get you a few days well off the beaten path, and well away from prying ears and eyes."
Heloise looks pleased at that.
And Kylo decides to start the real conversation. "All right then, we've got the start of an idea of how to get meetings done, I guess it's time to start talking about what it is you actually want to do." He takes a sip of his drink. "How can the Order help?"
Heloise and Samanth look at each other, then Heloise says, "Believe it or not, just this is a start. A place to talk without constant monitoring."
Samanth adds, "The problems are easy to see. The holes. The discontents. Having time and a place and the options to even really talk about potential solutions… that's valuable."
"That's easy," Rey says. "Anyone is welcome here at any time. You get time off, right?"
Heloise rolls her eyes a bit and sips her drink. "In a manner of speaking. I'm rarely allowed off-world though. People get nervous when their monarch wanders off." She sees the look Rey and Kylo share. "Or so I'm told. Do they not… try to keep you close?"
Kylo bites his lip and Rey squirms a bit. "Well, we have to keep a comm handy," she finally says. Mentally, they're both very aware of the fact that if they actually had to travel for hours or days to get back to the Order in an emergency, the 'tours' they intend to go on might be somewhat curtailed.
"And my capitol comes with me," Kylo adds, rapidly jumping on a very mundane reason for why his people would be less fussed about them going abroad. "It won't hover right above, but between the speed this ship can bring to bear, and any transport we may have, we're never more than a day from home."
"So, they don't try to keep you close, then," Heloise says, thinking.
"No. The plan is we'll be out and about all over the galaxy in the nearish future," Rey says.
That gets a look between Samanth and Heloise. They're certainly intrigued by that. Finally, Heloise asks, "Why?"
"Good will, humanizing the Order, helping people see that we're worth working with, finding places to put recruiting centers, looking for people with problems and money, so we can get the money and solve the problems, things like that," Rey says.
"What do you hope to get out of… well… whatever this is going to be, between us?" Kylo asks.
Heloise thinks about that for a moment. "Your population is…fourteen million now?"
"Something like that," Rey says.
"And it was two million three years ago?" Samanth asks.
Kylo nods, not entirely sure exactly when StarKiller blew. Three full years ago now? Close enough, he's sure. "Again, something like that."
"The day Alderaan died, our population went from 2.2 billion, to something like 2.3 million. That was thirty-eight years ago. There are 9.8 million of us now. Two generations. Trippling in two generations isn't bad, but it is stupid. Abysmally stupid in a galaxy so filled with people.
"But we're so mired in keeping New Alderaan Alderaan that we're stagnating—" Heloise says.
"And we're going to start running into real population problems soon, too," Samanth adds. "This is the one line that actually has some weight on it for trying to get new people on world. Every day we get more people, but most of those people are already cousins to many of the rest of our people. Our population grows but our genetic pool gets shallower."
Heloise adds. "That's… that's the poison that seeps into the blood and slowly kills you. The original wound didn't manage to kill us, but the unclean shrapnel in the wound..."
"And you think we can help you… clean the wound and set it to healing?" Kylo says.
Heloise thinks about it. "Maybe. My Aunt isn't completely insane, she's just… wrong."
Rey quirks a brow at Heloise.
"If we don't allow new people in, we die slow from inbreeding. If we allow a lot of new people in, Alderaan may die because our culture will go with it. So, what are we saving? Bloodlines? People? A culture?"
"We… want to see if we can get more people in, but in a controlled sort of way. Not your Order's free for all, but not our current, the only way to immigrate to New Alderaan is by marrying someone who's currently a citizen. There's got to be some sort of middle ground," Samanth says.
"And, to answer your question about can you help. I think the man who used to be His Royal Highness of New Alderaan Ben Solo is in a unique position to offer said help, and not be immediately denounced as an outsider who doesn't or can't understand Alderaan."
And that's why she Helene so happy I didn't know any of the traditions, Kylo thinks to Rey.
Apparently.
"I'm obviously not an insider though," Kylo adds. "Or for that matter, Ben Solo any longer, either. Any claim I had on that… died a long time ago."
"We don't give up on things just because they're supposed to be dead," Samanth adds.
Kylo nods. He's familiar with that.
Smanath cracks a smile. "Whatever is true about your mother, if not even death is stopping her, she truly is Alderaan."
Kylo sighs, and Rey thinks to him, Or, you know, Naboo.
He doesn't laugh, though he does want to. "True." He could be responding to Samanth, or to Rey, either works.
Rey's the one who says, "Obviously, when I got back from Alderaan, I talked to my people about this, and Threepio" Kylo and Rey don't miss both Samanth and Heloise stiffening at that, "had concerns, and a comment. Namely, he's under the impression what you're dealing with is… generational. So, I guess maybe, if we're going to do anything, we need to start here, do you actually have support for any of the changes you want to make?"
Heloise's eye twitches. She's angry at that. "Threepio is part of the problem. I… You maybe didn't pick up all the context, but he was right there with Aunt Helene and the rest of them, showing off Old Alderaan, the image of the world no longer with us."
Rey tilts her head. "It was his home, too. And unlike a lot of the survivors, he remembers it perfectly."
That gets a sigh from Samanth and Heloise, and a look, and a deep ache of being trapped by this horrible past that petrifies anything it touches, and a wave of futility, the feeling that even suggesting changes is desecrating the dead.
Heloise shrugs it off. "Did you wait to see if you had support before you moved to take over?" she asks Kylo.
Kylo stares at Heloise, feeling. There's real steel in this woman, but… Maybe also some niavete.
"Lady—"
"Stuff that, you know my name, use it."
"Fine. Heloise, do you have any idea how many people I had to kill, personally, or on my orders, or outside of my knowledge, but done in my name, to get here?"
She looks uneasy at that. Samanth fidgits a bit.
"Personally, my own two hands and blade, we're at more than a hundred. On my orders, thousands. In my name, we're close to a third of a million people. I, personally, cut my predecessor in half. We," he gestures to Rey, "killed his guards. I killed most of my original high command. I have literally mutilated and decapitated people in front of an audience to keep this position. Now, if that's something you consider… inappropriate… I have a feeling you're going to need some level of broad support to do what you want to do."
"So, do you have support, or is this just you and Samanth, and a few buddies who are getting sick of the powers that be and want them to be the powers that were?" Rey asks.
Samanth settles back a little, eyes unreadable, though his emotions aren't, and says, "Does it matter?"
"Only one of us has a gambler for a father, Samanth. Don't bluff. It doesn't suit you," Kylo says.
Samanth's annoyance reaches his eyes. "Fuck. We… don't know."
"We're not… in a good position to really find out," Heloise says. "And… No. I'm not willing to murder ten people, let alone hundreds of thousands to make this change. It…"
"Will likely happen anyway. The powers that are won't live forever, and you're beyond well-suited to take over, gradually, as time passes," Rey says. "You can… take the time to find like-minded people, and support them in your elections, no?"
Light side politics, Kylo thinks to her. Out loud, he says, "Well, I do know some people who might be well suited for locating themselves in and with New Alderaan and learning things like that. We are talking about setting up an embassy somewhere on your world. There's no reason why I wouldn't be willing to share my own, internal, intelligence reports. My people are good at finding out who wants what, and how, and what they're willing to do to get it."
"Especially if copies of the ones my own people, in the embassy we're planning on setting up here, find their way to your eyes," Heloise says.
"That'd certainly sweeten the deal," Kylo replies.
"And… It's not a massive help, but it's something. We can be… generous… in the number of people stationed at that embassy," Rey says. "Some of them will likely go native. And service in the Order is a five-year term, so if we get recruiting stations on New Alderaan, it's likely at the end of their terms, a decent number of your people will come back with new friends, loves, and families."
"And a decent number won't," Samanth says. He's debating what to say next, carefully.
"Just say it," Rey says.
"Recruiting stations are a bad deal for us. We can't afford to lose people right now."
Kylo and Rey both wince.
"Does it really matter that much?" Heloise asks.
They glance at each other, and Kylo's the one who replies. "On the greater scale, no. On the small scale… We need agronomists and were very much hoping you could help in that direction."
"Oh," Samanth waves that away. "That's a few dozen people. That's not a problem. Your stations would be what, thousands? Tens of thousands?"
Kylo shrugs. "Fewer, probably. After all, how many people on Alderaan want to risk ending up in a combat position?"
Rey taps her fingers on the table… "What if, for every person we got through a recruiting station, we sent one back for training in farming, land management, agronomy, or whatever? Would that… work?"
Samanth and Heloise look at each other. It's clear their immediate response is "Yes, go for it." It's clear their second thoughts can feel that's a part of the deal that would involve a lot of debate in Alderaan's house of representatives.
"It's a thing we can put into a potential contract and let our negotiators hammer out," Heloise says.
"That's a way you can judge how much support you have in the wider world, too. See who thinks that's a good plan. Do you have free trade?" Kylo asks.
"To a degree. We allow our people to sell their things anywhere that will take them. We use standard credits. We allow most goods free entrance to New Alderaan. Fresh produce and plants we're picky about, because the wrong spore on the wrong fruit can blight an entire crop, but most things can just come in…." Heloise replies.
"And… people like your aunt are generally okay with that?" Rey asks.
"Old Alderaan had the same laws," Samanth says.
Rey and Kylo nod. If it was law on Old Alderaan…
"What, besides some agronomists are you hoping to get out of this?" Heloise asks. "You mentioned it earlier, the Order solves problems for pay, and we're not in a position to pay, not credits, for this."
"You brother is with the New Republic?" Kylo asks Samanth.
Samanth looks amused. "Is that a sticking point? Do you want us to cut ties with the New Republic?"
"No," Kylo says.
Rey adds, "Like yourselves we have… big plans, and at some point it might aid those plans to have someone in the New Republic who can… gauge the temperature?"
"Gauge how?" Heloise asks.
"We have information, but maybe not reliable information, that the New Republic would not, on any level, mind if we were to cease to exist, and that, likely at some future point when they feel more secure and we look a bit less imposing, they may decide to attempt to do something about that," Kylo replies.
"And were we to have a way to find that out, before it bites us in the arse," Rey adds. "That would be valuable."
"After all, it's not like our family line has… an aversion… to being part of something like a political body and passing that information along to where it'll do the most good," Kylo adds.
"You want me to ask Daveed to spy for you," Samanth asks.
"Like grandfather…" Kylo says.
"Technically, he's our Great Uncle," Samanth says.
Kylo rolls his eyes. "Right. The main point still stands, you have an ear in a place we want an ear. We have the ability to at least offer you an unofficial place to talk."
"And, more than that, you have the ability to give us what the New Republic, can't, right now. Old Alderaan could be Alderaan because every other system around it knew that if they tried something, the Republic would come and stomp them into dust," Heloise says.
Rey's nodding. "And right now, the New Republic can't, or maybe wouldn't, come to your aid if you needed it."
"I'm sure they'd send some help. But…" Samanth glances to Kylo. "You don't count the death of the Hosnian system among the body count that got you where you are now."
"No. It certainly made my life easier, but I didn't order it, didn't design it, didn't approve it, and killed everyone involved in making it happen. There's a lot of blood on my hands, but that's not part of it."
"Most of the New Republic's military forces were lost along with the Hosnian system. So, what they could send, even if they very much wanted to send help, has been steeply curtailed," Heloise says. "Most of your military might is still online and available."
Kylo inclines his head. That's… true enough. Especially, from the point of view of someone unwilling to use a weapon like StarKiller.
"Will the New Republic allow you to maintain ties if you have visible ones to us?" Rey asks.
"That's a question for Daveed," Samanth says.
"What would you do with the information Daveed could give you?" Heloise asks. "When your grandfather found out what your other grandfather was up to, he had the whole planet destroyed. We're not interested in being the conduit for something like that again."
"No, not like that," Rey says, laying as much convincing magic as she can on top of it. "The actual plan isn't settled yet, but… There may, if things unfold in that direction, be a time when The Order will, assuming it can get the heads up, preemptively offer a non-aggression treaty to the New Republic."
"In order to do that," Kylo says, "we need enough time to show that we're serious about being peaceful, but we also need to get the offer in before the New Republic starts shooting at us. Ideally, someone like Daveed would be able to let us know when talk of doing something like that is starting to get enough traction that people are thinking about putting it on the docket, and then, hopefully, we sweep in and offer a non-aggression treaty before it gets going too much further."
Samanth lets out a long breath. Heloise shoots both of them a 'better you than me' look. Both of them look at each other, and she's the one who says, "And I thought we were being foolishly optimistic."
Samanth nods. "Kylo… Time will tell. But, at least right now, they'd shoot your ambassador out of the sky before he even got within hailing range."
Kylo nods at that. "I'm working on how to do something like that and not get shot down before we get the offer out. It'd be nice to have some sort of public face, someone who is… friendly, but has access to the New Republic, and a private one, who can take the temperature and tell me when to move. And… After all, New Alderaan is peaceful, and how better to do that than to help usher in a non-aggression treaty between the largest military left in the skies and the largest political organization?"
"That's also part of trying to stretch out the time before doing that as long as possible. It'd be nice if we had at least a few years to work on building up a reputation for not being the First Order, so that more people will take the offer seriously when we make it," Rey says.
"But if that offer comes after the New Republic has massed it's guns…" Kylo says.
"It will be too late," Heloise replies. She looks to Samanth. He looks to her.
"Daveed doesn't precisely love you, but… I have off time coming up. He can probably swing something as well. Is there… somewhere, not here, we can meet up?" Samanth asks. "You can use your fancy ship to get in unnoticed."
Kylo smirks a bit. "Something can probably be arranged. Or, let's put it this way, you and Samanth pick a place, and Rey and I will join you, and no one will notice anything other than four people having a nice family supper, or something like that."
Samanth shakes his head a bit, but… "Dad wants to meet you. So… Family supper is a tradition at his place. He closes the bakery for Solonift so Solonift eve we get together there, catch up. Daveed only makes about one out of four of them, but… You could come."
"You mentioned that before, what's Solonift?" Rey asks.
"On Old Alderaan, it was a tradition that went with the cycle of the moon. Every full moon, from moon rise to moon rise, everyone stops working, and spends time with their family."
"It's part of Kehruut, right?" Kylo's got a vague memory of that.
Heloise nods. "Obviously, we're lacking the moon now, but every thirty five-ish days—"
"We're also missing the planet with the solar year that matched up nicely with the lunar cycle. But, we're making do," Samanth says.
"We shut most businesses down, schools close, the government shuts down, and we just… Well, in most cases cook, and eat, and spend time with our loves. The day before and after usually involves a decent amount of traveling, as people go to wherever home is, but the day of is pretty quiet."
Kylo and Rey share a look, and it's abundantly clear that the Maji is stealing that tradition as soon as they can possibly figure out a calendar to slap it on top of.
"Won't they want to have us wired for sound?" Rey asks.
"Want, certainly, but Dad's a private citizen and he's allowed to have his sons and friends visit in the privacy of his own home."
"They'd likely expect you to stay in the Palace, use Leia's suite when you come, but what you do when you aren't in the palace can be as private as you like," Heloise says.
"So… Why don't you just leave the palace?" Rey asks.
"We do, but leave too long, too often, and people start to whisper about why," Heloise responds. "That's actually how the two of us were able to start talking about this. I've been to several of the family dinners, and then we take a nice stroll up to the palace back home."
Kylo nods at that, and then looks at Samanth. "Are we supposed to be… rivals?" he glances to Heloise.
Heloise shakes her head, and Samanth laughs.
"Anyone who's in the know, meaning the kind of people who'd whisper about things like that, also know that…" She delicately sips her wine, "I'm not really… Romance isn't my thing."
Kylo remembers talking with Jon about 'verse and narrow, or all or none. It clicks on in his head like his lightsaber coming to life, a sudden flare of understanding, and then a few seconds later of more glow. Heloise doesn't have any interest in him, or anyone else, when it comes to relationships. "Oh… Uh… But you said you'd likely have to make a marriage pact."
"Well, yes. Which is part of why someone who is already intensely devoted to someone else who also happens to have no interest in my throne, and would not have been even remotely put out by the fact that we'd literally never have sex seemed ideal. If I could design my ideal spouse, it'd likely be you, but… You are, obviously, very married. And 'mostly joking' or not, it doesn't seem like there's room for another lady on your dance card."
Rey thinks about that. "Why would you make a marriage pact?"
Heloise rolls her eyes viciously. "Like I said, I very much like the chance to do real good as Queen of Alderaan. I love the idea that I may make a real difference in the future of my world and people. I'm not so thrilled about the fact that I'm literally the only person on the damn planet more or less required to produce an heir, and well, as your parents proved, Kylo, I don't have to literally be married, but it'd certainly make things look better."
That stops Kylo and Rey dead. There's a moment where neither of them know what to say, and then Kylo finds words, "What do you mean, 'As your parents proved?'"
"Wait… Were they married?" Now Heloise looks confused. "It's not in our records. Granted… We didn't get them up and running until well after you were born, but…"
"I…" And now Kylo's confused. Had either of them ever referred to each other as husband or wife? Han didn't quibble about political spouse, but… "Never asked." Because why would he ask? His mom and dad who… Shit, basically never lived together, didn't have a functional home life, didn't share a name, and stopped seeing each other after he "ran away."
Both he and Rey have a moment of, Oh, that makes sense wash over them all at once.
"It's not in our records, I can tell you that. Your mother only signed away your position and hers, and she pulled the run around of waiting until after you were eighteen. If she just hadn't registered her marriage to Han, that would have also been a work around, kept him in the succession line, too."
"I… wouldn't put that past her," Rey says, though it's clear both she and Kylo are thinking that his parents should have, as well as they know, gotten married well before that was even a cloud on the horizon.
"That's probably what happened. Your mother… Everyone talks about her seeing every possible angle and running every line… She's a political legend, even with how it all worked out," Samanth says.
"Yeah, a legend… All right," Kylo says.
They're quiet for a moment. Samanth nods to the ships outside of the viewport. "There is something that my side would very much like, something that would likely buy a lot of concessions."
"Yes, we understand you're going to want some… technology from us," Kylo says, looking sheepish. Neither he nor Rey missed that comment about the fancy ship.
Heloise nods. "Yes. Your… stealth visit certainly attracted a lot of attention, and my people would be willing to offer generous concessions, or honestly, large piles of credits, since you seem to be interested in them, if we too could partake of this ship."
"And likely even more credits if you'd agree to not let anyone else get their hands on the plans for that ship. And, possibly copies of every report Daveed sends home from the New Republic," Samanth says.
Kylo sighs. "It's not the ship, it's the pilot." He levitates his cup. "I've got… skills… that are non-transferable. If I could offer you a ship that bends the light beams of your sensors, I'd do it, but I literally can't. Such a ship does not exist."
"You do it?" Samanth asks.
"Same way I can make people not see me." He's worked on this to make it look right. He doesn't have an invisibility spell. If someone can manage to point their eyes and attention at Kylo, when he's got the spell up, they'll see him. He just makes it very hard to do that. Kylo stands up, starts to walk across the room, pulls up his do-not-look spell while teleporting a few steps past where they expect him to be. It works, their eyes don't track him because they can't, and for a second they look very startled. Then he ports back to where he was and drops the spell. "It's just… bending the light around me. Your sensors probably show a blip of some sort, and your people likely decided it was just a bit of debris, but… I can't give that away."
"And he'd prefer that skill wasn't broadcast widely. It's…" Rey gestures to the room. "Unlike New Alderaan, we like being able to go out privately and not be The Rens all the time. The ability to slip in and out of tight spaces comes in handy now and again."
Samanth and Heloise can see how that'd be useful. And how that leaves them dangling. "I… understand," Heloise says, "but… I need something to take back to my people. Otherwise, this looks remarkably one-sided."
Rey nods at that. "We've been thinking about that. How much more easily would your archaeologists be able to do their jobs if they had translated works?"
"It'd…" Samanth blinks. "There's no way to describe how much that would improve the field. We'd… It's the key to understanding everything."
Rey nods. "Pick five books. Not too big, and I'll translate them for you. It won't be fast, but I can probably spend an hour or so a day on them."
"How…" Heloise asks.
"The same way he can bend light. I can't do that, but as of this point, I can read anything I lay my eyes on, so… Give me a few things you want translated. I'll read them, write down what I think they are, and then you can use that to break the code on the rest of it."
"The Force lets you… translate dead languages?" Samanth says.
"So far," Rey replies. "Most of the time it's not terribly useful. And I didn't even know that it wasn't normal to just pick anything up and read it until he explained that the languages were all different. It's possible that I just pick whatever it is up, and feel what the author intended. Maybe. I don't know how it works, just that it does."
"Do you do that with spoken language, too?" Samanth asks.
"To a lesser degree. I might not get every word, but I can usually understand the intent. And I can't come up with the words on my own, so I can't speak everyone else's language, but I understand most of what I hear."
"Wow!" Samanth says.
"Maybe… Three books and a few recordings? We have… We guess they're some sort of entertainment. There's music with some of it, there are certainly plays or shows of some sort, and we can sometimes hear an audience laughing, so it's clear some of it's funny, but we don't know what the words mean," Heloise says.
"I could probably translate that. Is that worth a few dozen Agronomists?"
Heloise nods. "I think that is, especially if you're paying their normal wages."
"We of course would, and offer room and board, too," Kylo says.
"Our legislature would likely agree to this deal," Samanth replies. "And say, in a month or so, you and Rey come for Solonift supper at Dad's place."
Rey smiles, "And then, say, next month, you'll come here for a treaty signing. And then a few of the Maji will go and visit you on a good will tour. You'll come here for the wedding. We'll send people there to break ground on our embassy. You'll do something that we'll provide a meeting space for. And we'll use those times to talk, privately, and get a feel for what is going on."
"Pass reports and intelligence back and forth," Kylo says. "Do we have a way to… get information directly to and from you without it being read?"
Samanth nods.
"And, if it looks like we have internal support for more… expansive changes…" Heloise says…
"The Order will happily offer… strategic analysis, and say, personnel, for any ongoing political situations our cousins in New Alderaan may desire," Kylo replies.
"And, of course, we are in the security business. A non-aggression treaty could also include a second strike clause. Something along the lines that anything that attacks New Alderaan is also attacking the Order. That might buy you the image of protection you want, without causing the New Republic to kick Daveed out," Rey says.
Samanth's still thinking about that. "Uncertain. But it's probably worth talking about." Samanth glances around, finds the chrono, and sees they've probably got an extra twenty-minutes or so to talk.
Rey catches it. She stands up and takes Kylo's hand. "Come on. We'll let you two talk. Use the time and privacy as you will."
And she and Kylo exit their room.
In his office, he says, "I think that went well."
Rey nods. "Yeah."
They both feel what's on the far side of the door. "They seem pleased, too," Kylo says.
Rey nods at that, too. "She doesn't want to produce an heir."
"I noticed that when she was talking about it," Kylo replies.
Both of them can feel another level behind Heloise Talmaash's desire to blend her line with Kylo's, especially a well-married to someone else, Kylo.
"Samanth doesn't know that, though, and he's hoping to be the one who fathers that child," Kylo adds.
"I noticed that, too."
"Trouble for us?" Kylo asks.
"I don't know," Rey replies. "I don't think they do, either."
"What happens, now?" Kylo asks.
"I think they finish chatting, we escort them out, and then we're done for the night."
Kylo sags a bit. "Amen!"
Rey kisses him, feeling how much he really wants to pull his hair out of the tail it's in and run his fingers through it.
How about I do that for you?
That gets an even more heartfelt AMEN!