Chapter Four

They'd left Rey alone in Kylo Ren's bedroom. And every time she thought too closely about that fact, she could barely suppress a shudder. At least it was better than the vomit she had to suppress any time she thought about marrying him.

Perhaps he wasn't a complete monster, but even half a monster was still a monster.

The monster who currently held her by the leash. Picking herself up from the edge of the bed where she'd collapsed after his departure, she decided to use this time to her advantage. She had no idea when she'd next be in this room. And even if she did make it back here, there was no telling what she'd be asked to do once she got here.

The thought of his hands on her, of laying her out on the bed, of removing those gloves again and touching parts of her more intimate than her temples, wracked her body with chill-bumps and twisted her stomach in unfamiliar, forbidden ways.

If the next time she came in here was to consummate their marriage, then this was her only chance to learn about Kylo Ren without his knowing it. She couldn't let this moment pass her by, couldn't just sit here and count the flecks of imperfect white in the Obsidian stone of the walls until they came to retrieve her again. No, she was going to snoop until she found some information about this man that she could use to her advantage.

Maybe if she could infiltrate his mind, she could find something in him to help her escape this place.

At first, the search didn't turn up anything useful. Data pads in ancient languages she didn't understand. Battle plans. Artifacts she couldn't place in history. A wardrobe consisting entirely of black robes and thick, black quilted fabrics. Nothing that revealed anything about the man himself.

But then, in the back of the wardrobe dug into the stone, behind the flowing capes that blended into the walls, she found two small chests. Glancing over her shoulder, she checked that no one was coming, and then, she opened them.

She'd started this search looking for answers, but what she found inside only brought up more questions.

For one thing, neither of the chests had any collected dust. They'd both been open recently and, if she were to hazard a guess, they were opened frequently. In one box, contained fragments and broken parts of mechanical devices—comm systems, speeders, lighting rigs, and more rusted-out tools than she'd ever have known what to do with back on Jakku. In the other, there was paper, real paper, and ink-stained pens with delicate hide-bristle brushes.

Kylo Ren, one of the most feared and powerful men in the entire galaxy…was secretly a tinkerer who practiced the ancient art of writing?

There were other things in the boxes, too. A gold metal tied with a brown-green sash. A holo-disk that must have been at least fifteen cycles old, one inscribed in Aurebesh with the word home. A homemade looking stuffed doll of a raggedy brown creature—a Wookie?— with a tiny bowcaster slung across its back.

Her heart clenched. And for the first time, she wondered…The walls and windows of this room were impenetrable. The castle was a fortress surrounded by guards on every side. There was no hope of escape.

Was this place as much a prison for him as it was for her?

Carefully, she returned the two crates back to their positions and closed the wardrobe behind her. Of everything she'd seen during her time with The Empire, it was the contents of those two boxes that disturbed her the most.

Perhaps it was better not to go searching for the truth of Kylo Ren.

A good time later, a single Stormtrooper entered the room, his neat uniform serving as a blinding counterpoint to the darkness of the space. In one arm, he aimed a blaster. In the other, she spotted a strange, black object and a pair of dangling restraints. Her throat tightened.

"Your presence is required in The Grand Atrium," the Stormtrooper said, standing at attention in the doorway.

Rey bristled. Both at the order and the idea of sitting with Kylo Ren for a prolonged dinner. After what she now knew about him, she wasn't sure she could handle it. "I'm not hungry."

"Your presence is required in The Grand Atrium and you will dress for dinner." The Stormtrooper held out the black object. Upon further inspection, she discovered that it was a garment case, one of the impossibly fancy ones she'd sometimes seen in holo-advertisements. . "If you resist, I am to put these restraints on you."

She hesitated. After a moment, he offered her the case again. His voice softened, something she didn't know Stormtroopers were capable of.

"Please, my lady. I don't want to put the restraints on you."

"Fine."

Relieving him of the case, she went into the bathroom in search of the refresher. The quickest cycle wiped the grime and sweat from her skin, leaving her pink and clean for whatever monstrosity of an outfit had been selected for her. Bracing herself for the worst, she opened the case and withdrew the fabric. A sea of black material unfurled down to the floor, revealing itself in all of its glory.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd worn a dress. And she didn't think she'd ever worn black. The temptation to put her own clothes back on was staggering, but she powered through, sliding into the gown that fit like a second skin. She observed herself in the mirror. It was beautiful, with a high neckline and flowing sleeves that left her even more covered than in her clothes from Jakku. It was like she'd collected up the night sky and draped it over her own form, hugging the curves she didn't even know she had.

The shoes were, mercifully, flat, and she slipped those on before returning to the bedroom and following Finn's lead through the castle.

It felt more like a death march than an escorted walk to dinner. But at least she wasn't handcuffed.

"What is your name?" she asked after a long stretch of infuriating silence.

"My…name?"

"Yes, your name. Everyone has a name, don't they?"

"Finn. My name is Finn. My designation is—"

"Finn, I wanted to thank you," she said as they rounded yet another one of the castle's identical black corridors. During their walk, she'd been trying to puzzle out the map of this place, so she could retrace her steps later if need be. But the only thing distinguishing one hall from another was the collection of stolen art from countless cultures across the galaxy splattered across the walls. Planning out an escape would be difficult even with a guide droid.

"F-For what?" Finn stammered.

Something in the air told her that Finn could be trusted. He, unlike many she'd met and seen since leaving Jakku, actually had a conscience. So, she confided in him. "For not putting the restraints on me. I know many in your place would have as soon as I resisted, but you didn't. Thank you. I don't want to feel like a prisoner here."

"You should hurry. Emperor Vader doesn't like to be kept waiting," Finn said, carefully evading her.

But she wasn't going to be evaded. She'd hoped reminding him that she was a prisoner would encourage his empathy, but that hadn't worked. Lowering her voice but speeding her steps, she tried the more direct approach.

"Do you know how to get out of here? How to escape?"

"We aren't supposed to talk."

"But—"

He hesitated outside of a grand set of doors, carved with images of Emperor Vader in triumph. Rey's blood chilled at the sight of his lightsaber piercing his enemies. Finn placed his hand on the door, but did not move to open it. "Please. They won't hurt you, but they would hurt me."

"Okay."

The hope she'd felt only a moment ago, that this person could help her find salvation, dissolved in a puddle of her own morals. She couldn't knowingly put a stranger in danger, especially not one who had been nice to her. Never.

"Do you want some advice, though?"

"Yes. Anything."

"Kylo Ren isn't your enemy."

"But—"

"And don't worry, my lady. You'll make it out of here. The Force is with you."

"What?" she asked, desperate for answers.

But by then, it was too late to hear if he even offered a reply. Because there she was, in The Grand Atrium, staring at a long table, at which sat Kylo Ren and Emperor Darth Vader.

Vader's hissing breath reached her ears, scraping at the back of her skull like the sudden colliding of metal against metal. "Ah, Rey of Jakku. We've been expecting you."

When Kylo Ren was young, in the days before he even was Kylo Ren, his father took him out in his aging Corellian Freighter to the edges of the known galaxy. On their way back, far away from any kind of civilization that could have saved them, their gravity regulator went bust. The boy he had been, Ben Solo, had been sleeping when it happened, and he remembered his eyes flickering open at the exact moment when the world shifted, the fraction of a second when he was caught between dreams and wakefulness, between density and weightlessness.

Sitting at the right hand of Emperor Vader, across from Rey, he couldn't help but feel that same sensation again. Only this time, he was not caught between sleeping and floating, but between lightness and darkness. The chamber hummed with the effort it took to keep himself balanced firmly on The Emperor's side.

This entire exercise was for Vader's benefit, of course. Though Vader didn't eat at meal times, it was clear he wanted to inspect their newest addition when she was vulnerable. Or, at least, when he thought she was vulnerable.

Kylo did his best to guard his thoughts, lest they betray him. He didn't need his master knowing the ways in which his entire being came to life at the sight of Rey in the gown that he'd chosen for her. She may have been made of The Light, but she looked damn good cloaked in darkness.

"I trust that your stay has been comfortable," Emperor Vader said, watching at Rey picked at the overflowing plate before her. Without his mask, Kylo needed to be careful not to let his eyes or expression give him away.

"As comfortable as one can be in a cage," Rey muttered.

Fear gripped him. Kylo glanced up at her from under his eyelashes, silently sending her messages to stop talking. No one questioned The Emperor. After that glance into her mind, he knew she didn't know anything of The Force or her power in it, but perhaps he could get through to her if he focused hard enough. Please don't push him. Don't. If you want to live, you won't continue this any further.

"Many in The Empire would give anything to be in such a cage," Vader countered.

"Then you should have kidnapped one of them instead."

"…You forget yourself."

Vader's voice was dangerous, low. A final warning. Many wouldn't have lived to see a first warning, much less a final one. Kylo watched as his master's hand clenched into a tight fist upon the table. Rey, having heard the warning, didn't back down. She tossed her chin higher and leveled her gaze at the ruler of the entire Galaxy.

He couldn't tell if she had a death wish or if she thought she was invincible, but he would have been impressed if he hadn't been terrified she was about to get cut down with a lightsaber.

His rational mind knew he should be loyal to his master. What offended his master should have offended him. But, in that moment, he found himself more worried about the woman from Jakku than anything else. Something was connecting them, and with every tug she gave on that tether, it drew him closer.

"If I will be Empress one day, then I am only just beginning to learn my power. I don't have anything to forget."

"Rey—" Kylo impulsively interjected, his voice a low plea.

Rey's fiery eyes darted between her two captors; Kylo flinched at the rage in them. "You can have your Empress or you can have me. You cannot have both. I will not serve a regime that murders and kidnaps its way into power."

"Silence," Vader commanded.

Anyone else would have wavered. Rey did not.

"I will not be silenced. I was taken from my home and brought here with no explanation or purpose. You could have any Empress in the galaxy and instead, you stole me. I will not be a victim here and I will not be a pawn."

"You will do as The Force commands."

Vader's hands were shaking. Panic gripped Kylo as it never had before. He could feel it in the air around him, as real and as tangible as the knife he clutched in his fist.

"If you choose to go down that path, then so be it. But you're trying to lead me down a path I can't follow."

Kylo didn't understand why it happened. He didn't understand how. All he knew was that those words, lead me down a path I can't follow, turned Vader's darkness into pure, unbridled rage. Rising from his seat at the head of the table, he raised his arm, used the force to grip Rey's neck, and pulled her up from her own seat with the power of his Force Choke.

She struggled vainly against the invisible hand holding her.

Darth Vader repeated himself. "You…forget…yourself."

Before he knew what he was doing, Kylo was out of his seat.

"Master!"

That one word neutralized the room. Vader dropped Rey. Rey collapsed into her seat, gasping for air and running her hands over her throat to soothe the skin. Kylo's every urge and instinct pushed him to the other side of the room, to check and see if she was okay, but training kept him rooted to the spot. Now, the entire attention of the room was on him. He fought to come up with a plausible explanation for his intervention. His Master would not accept that he'd let the Light tempt him into helping her.

"My betrothed is unfamiliar with the ways of The Force," he managed, deftly. "She needs guidance."

"Then I suggest you give it to her. And quickly."

"I will. I swear it."

Then, Vader turned to Rey. Though he spoke directly to her, Kylo knew that the words were meant for him, as well. "The Force is complicated and its will opaque. Do not trust that it will save you."

With that, his Master left the room. Once the doors hissed closed, Kylo moved to Rey's side to helped her to her feet as clinically as he could. The Light had already tempted him once tonight, he couldn't give into it entirely. Rey shrugged his assistance off, choosing instead to rise to her own two feet.

She might have been out of her wits, challenging The Emperor like that, but he had to admire her grit.

"I don't need your help, thank you," she said, heading for the door without an escort.

Vader's anger hadn't subsided. Kylo could feel it. Rey wandering the halls alone wasn't a good idea. Besides, they needed to speak.

"Are you out of your mind?" he hissed, desperately wishing for the privacy of his helmet.

She scoffed. "Out of my mind?"

"You cannot go against the Emperor and expect there to be no consequences."

"Just because you're too weak to stand up to him doesn't mean that I have to be."

As she blindly stormed down the halls, completely unaware of where she was actually going, Kylo struggled to catch up with her—and to keep his own emotions in check. With every breath, he felt himself ripping at the seams.

The Force wanted her here. The Force wanted them together. The Dark Side wanted him to let her drive herself to ruin. The light side demanded that he help save her. He tried to find the balance between, to obey the will of the Force while remaining steadfast in the principles his Master taught him.

It was proving more difficult than he imagined.

"You have to be careful—"

"If you wanted a quiet wife, you should have left me on Jakku," she spit.

"He could have killed you."

Her flowing dress halted, the short train bundling at her feet from the quick-stop. Kylo halted, too. Too close. Her warm breath danced across his lips. More dangerously tempting than The Light Side of the Force. Her eyes bore all of the accusations she couldn't say aloud.

"But he didn't. You stopped him from hurting me."

"The Force has ordained you as—"

"This is a big galaxy, Kylo Ren. You truly believe that my death could stop the will of The Force?"

The energy around them crackled, just as it had that split second before he'd pressed his fingers to her forehead and searched her mind for any traces of The Force. His body revolted—he wanted to kiss her, to press her to him, to caress her in ways he'd never dared hold another being before.

But he could no more hold her than he could answer her question. The truth was an impossibility, dangled between them like bait over a trap. He hadn't saved her because of the Will of the Force or because he thought she would be the one to save him from the Light, as his master had promised. He saved her because his heart demanded it. Because he couldn't bear to see her in pain.

She spoke again. "I don't believe you are a monster. So, why are you here acting like one?"

She narrowed her eyes slightly, just enough that he could tell she was trying to read him, to see through Kylo Ren to whoever she thought was inside. Remember your training, a dark voice inside of him whispered. He couldn't help but obey. Closing off his every emotion, he straightened his spine and spoke in flat lines.

"Your rooms have been prepared. Tomorrow, we will begin your training."

"Training? For what?"

"For your future as Empress."

"I will not—"

For the second time in a day, he found himself saying that unfamiliar word.

"Please."

"…Alright."

He gave a nod and started to leave, but that tether between them pulled taught and forced him back.

"Will you require anything?"

She blinked. "What?"

"For your neck." Experience told him just how devastating Vader's anger could be. "The choke can be…quite painful. Are you alright?"

The confusion didn't leave her face. "I'm fine."

He swallowed hard and forced himself to say goodbye. No good would come out of staring into those beautiful eyes of hers. "Very well. I'll collect you in the morning. Until then, Lady Rey."

Finn watched from the shadows as the entire exchange played out, right up until the moment that a spooked Rey was escorted to her new quarters by two of his fellow faceless Stormtroopers. Heart pounding in his ears, he ducked into one of the castle's many restricted access bays, pressing himself into the space between two sweating machines so he could pull up the covert communications device hidden inside of his helmet. Removing the tiny silver disk from the cheek protector, he laid it flat in his right palm and activated it.

"Enter Access Code," came the pre-programmed voice as the small holographic welcome in Aurebesh flickered to life, dancing above his hand. He muttered the fourteen-digit code; the voice recognition confirmed his identity. "Access Granted. Secure Comm Link Engaged."

The Aurebesh disappeared and in its place, the three-dimensional image of Poe Dameron, hogging the view port on his end of the line, came into view.

"Finn, what've you got for us, buddy? I don't like the idea of you being there much longer."

A voice, strong and familiar, broke the hum of the comm-device, but he still couldn't see the source of it.

"Poe?"

"Yes, m'am?"

"Do you mind if I run my own mission?" the voice asked.

If Poe weren't in the belly of the beast, in the middle of his most dangerous and important mission yet, he might have smiled at General Leia Organa's dry wit. How she managed a sense of humor in the face of such staggering odds, in the face of all she'd been through, he couldn't even begin to understand. Poe coughed at the gentle rebuke, and dodged out of the communicator's way, giving Finn his first real glimpse of the woman in charge.

"Of course not. I'm sorry, General."

"Finn, report."

Out of habit, he glanced left, glanced right. And then, offered them the first bit of hope the Rebellion had had in a long, long time. "The girl is here. And everything is going as expected."

Chapter Four! And a cliffhanger, to boot! What did you think of this chapter? I can't wait to hear your thoughts in the reviews. Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing! And an extra special thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! It's so much fun to interact with everyone who reads my little story!