It was harder than I cared to admit to drag myself out of bed, leaving his room for my own. I soaked in a hot bath until the nearly scalding water was well past room temperature, hugging my knees to my chest as I watched the water swirl down the drain. I blindly reached into my closet and pulled down the first garment I grabbed, tugging it over my head, not caring what it looked like.

I'd fallen asleep last night without dinner, my growling stomach reminding me of that fact as I made my way to the dining hall.

When I saw Gavriel, I stopped, and turned on my heel to go back to my room. I was hungry, but if I had to be near him for any amount of time, I was going to punch out his stupidly white teeth.

"Rey!" He called, jumping up so quickly, his chair scraped along the floor in protest. "Rey, please." He caught up to me in the hallway, and I stopped, clenching my fists so tightly my nails bit into my palms.

"I'm sorry."

I turned away from him. I didn't want his apology. I didn't want to listen to his bull shit reasoning.

But, of course, of course he followed. "Just listen to me, ok?" He begged. "Two minutes."

I turned to face him, crossing my arms over my chest as I waited.

"You have to know that I did what I did out of genuine concern for you." He said. "So, I'm sorry, I'm truly sorry. I overstepped my bounds, and I was wrong. But, my intentions were good."

"And what about when you sent your wife to fuck my husband?" I demanded. "Were your intentions good then, too?"

"Rey, Mayea and I have an agreement, and whatever she does with Kylo I know is consensual. I assumed, given the circumstances, that what you do with him was not." He explained. "And, I have an arranged marriage with Mayea, but it's not a royal marriage contract. She wasn't bought for me like a breeding mare."

I narrowed my eyes, my blood simmering. "Go fuck yourself."

He recoiled as if I'd slapped him, looking as if he didn't know if he should be offended or impressed. "No one has ever spoken to me like that."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, turning away from him and walking down the hall, toward the kitchen. I grabbed some toast there, and went to a nearby sitting room, drinking my tea as I looked out at the city below.

When I was finished, I went back to Kylo's room, and found him sprawled on his stomach, his left arm and leg hanging halfway off the bed, and his mouth open as he snored. He was unclothed, his backside barely covered by the sheet his right leg was tangled in.

I slammed the door behind me as hard as I could, and he jumped awake, squinting at the light as he looked at me through the mess of ebony hair that hung in his eyes.

"Take me home."

He reached down and grabbed the sheet to pull it over his hips as he pushed himself up, groaning with what I could only assume was a headache. "What-"

"You wanted me to come here to see where Gavriel stood, and I have. So, take me home."

He'd swung his legs over the side of the mattress, holding the sheet to cover himself, and was sitting up, rubbing his face. "Could you...backup and then come at me again because I am so confused." His voice was groggy, still thick with sleep.

"Gavriel is not your ally. He's not planning on rebelling or starting a war, but he's not going to start an alliance with you." I told him. "I did what you asked me to do, ok? And now I want to go home."

He sighed, rubbing his face again. "Ok, i'll tell the Knights we're leaving, and give Gavriel and Mayea our goodbyes while you get packed."

"I'm sure you've already given Mayea a lot more than your goodbye." I said, my voice dripping with venom.

Genuine confusion crinkled the lines around his eyes. "What?"

"Gavriel told me that you and her are lovers." I seethed.

He looked down, closing his eyes as he sighed heavily. "Rey-"

"And I'm so stupid, waiting here hoping that you would come back to me, that you would chose me over her, and you didn't!"

He frowned. "You waited for me?"

"Yes, I waited for you!" I yelled.

He sighed again. "Im sor-"

"Don't" I snarled. "Don't you dare tell me you're sorry. Have a little bit more respect for me than that."

"I didn't know that you were here." He countered. "I didn't know you were waiting for me."

I huffed at his audacity. "So you go and fuck someone else?"

He straightened, his brow pulling together, and he stared at me, his mouth open. "You think I fucked her?"

"Didnt you?" I demanded.

"Of course I didn't."

I stilled, still panting.

He went on. "Yes, we spent the day together, but it was because Gavriel asked if he could show you Cloud City, and suggested that Mayea and I catch up, since it's been months since I've seen her. We went for dinner, we had a few drinks, I walked her to her room, and didn't so much as kiss her before I went to the game room and played cards with Ushar and Ap'lek. Who, by the way, took me for everything I'm worth."

"All night?" I asked, in a small voice.

He nodded. "I came back this morning but the maids must have already cleaned because I didn't see anything that would make me think you'd slept here."

I looked down. "But you and her are lovers."

"We were." He corrected and held a hand out to me. "Take my hand."

My brow furrowed. "Why?"

"Do you want to know what happened?" He asked. "I'll show you."

I stepped forward, and as soon as I put my hand in his, I was thrown into his mind, or an antechamber of his mind, at least, and I was seeing through his eyes, hearing through his ears.

Soft and seductive darkness flowed through me, echoing up from an abyss of power so great it had no beginning and no end. Not in me, in him. I was feeling his power.

I -he- saw her, smiling at him, her green eyes sparkling. He walked with her to her door, and when she opened her door to walk in, he stopped at the threshold. "Good night." He said, turning to go back the way he'd come.

She put her hand on his shoulder, and he stopped, looking down at her, watching her hand drift down his chest, to his stomach.

"I'm married, Mayea." He reminded her.

She giggled. "Yeah, so am I." Her hand drifted lower, to the waistband of his pants. He grabbed her wrist, and not gently.

She smiled, licking her tongue along her top lip, her eyes going to the front of his pants. But, he pushed her away, "I said I'm married." He growled, letting her go.

Hurt shown in her green eyes. "And, so this, you and me-"

"There is no 'you and me', Mayea." He said. "There never was. There's a you and him, and now there's a me and her."

"You and her?" She spat. "You've known me for ten years, you've known her for two months."

"She's my wife, Mayea." He said, his voice near guttural.

"So?"

"So, good night." He repeated caustically and turned away.

It was late, and he hadn't heard that I was back, but he found himself at my closed door. He wanted to see me. Not to know how the day had gone with Gavriel, but because he...missed me. He found being with Mayea draining, and he wanted to laugh with me, play with me, flirt with me because it was...easy. As natural as breathing. And, he was just as confused by this as he was terrified.

He'd knocked, gently, not loud enough to wake me if I was asleep, as he assumed, but loud enough for me to hear if I were awake. He waited, and when the knock went unanswered, he met up with Ap'lek and Ushar.

The rest of the night was a blur of cards and chips and crude jokes until he realized what time it was and went to his room and fell into bed, after stripping off the clothes that smelled of cigar smoke and brandy.

I blinked, my eyes focusing on him as he closed that part of his mind to me.

"I've already told you that I will never do anything without your consent." He said, taking his hand away. "Fucking someone else is something you would have to consent to."

"I'm sorry." I told him, and meant it.

He raked his fingers through his hair again. "What part of my behavior has led you to believe that I would betray you?" I'd never heard his voice so icy. His face was flushed, his breathing a bit uneven.

"We're not sleeping together, and men have needs."

His eyebrows shot up. "'Men have needs'? Where did you hear that?"

"The ladies on naboo."

His face darkened. "The same ones that told you I would hold you down and rape you?"

I nodded tightly.

He took a breath. "Ok, from here on out, let's just assume that everything they told you is incorrect."

"Ok."

"'Men have needs' is a bullshit excuse man-babies use when they get caught with their dicks out, or rapists use when they don't want to take no for an answer. I am neither one of those, so please do not ever say that to me again."

"I'm sorry." I repeated.

"What have I done or said to you in the past two months that would make you think I would jump into bed with someone else at the first given opportunity?"

"Nothing."

"Then how about ask next time instead of barreling in here like a-"

"Like a what?" I demanded, crossing my arms across my chest. "Like a wife whose husband didn't come home after spending the day with his lover?"

His jaw went white as he clenched it.

"Which one is it, Kylo?" I asked. "Do I not know you, or should I know you better than to think you'd fuck someone else? Because it doesn't work both ways."

His eyes widened just a bit, but he composed himself immediately. "You're right. We don't know each other. And, that was unfair of me, I'm sorry."

I blinked, taken aback. He lifted his hand to me, and I took it, not knowing what else to do. "Im sorry that I worried or upset you. That was not my intention, and it never will be."

"I'm sorry, too. It was unfair of me to assume."

"It'll take alot for us to make this work, to get to know each other, to make this a marriage." He said, his eyes searching mine. "But, I'm willing….if you are."

I gave him a soft smile. "I've already told you I'm not going anywhere."

He smiled, his eyes sparkling like the might sky. "Good, because I kind of like you."

I pursed my lips. "You like me or you like me, like me?"

He let go of my hand. "Whoa, slow down, I'm not ready for like you like you just yet. We just got married."

I grabbed a pillow off the bed and playfully swatted him with it. His eyes cut over to me, the playfulness replaced by something darker, something predatory. "You want to have naked pillow fights?" He asked, his voice like a soft carress. "Say the word."

My traitorous eyes drifted to the sheet covering him, to the powerful thighs peeking out from under it, remembering that he was, in fact naked under, and I gently put the pillow back down.

He chuckled. "If you'll go get your bags ready, I'll go wake up my Knights, and make our goodbyes."

My brow creased. "Goodbye?"

"You said you wanted to go home."

"You don't care why?"

"Oh, I care." He insisted. "But, I told you one word, and we would leave. You said the one word, so we're leaving."

I turned toward the door. "Are you going to put pants on first?"

He looked down, and then back up. "Didnt you hear? It's toga Tuesday. I'm just gonna tie this on. Maybe get some olive leaves."

I nodded, pressing my lips together to keep from smiling. "Today is Wednesday."

"Damnit!" He fell back onto the bed. "Guess I gotta wear pants."