There was true evil in this universe.

Cruel, unyielding, soulless evil that had me on my belly in the dirt with my throbbing muscles screaming in full revolt.

And it was called a plank.

"How long was that?" I asked between pants.

"Less than ten seconds." Vicrul said, flatly.

I groaned and rolled over onto my back, stomach aching. "This is it. This is how I die."

"You are not dying." He snorted.

"I can't hear you over the sound of my imminent demise." I said, my lungs burning. We'd been training every day for a week, this should have been easier by now.

He sat on the ground next to me, and put a bottle of water by my hand. "You can't die. You have another training session with Ushar and his….spooky shadow shit that he does."

I turned my head to look at him. "Spooky shadow shit?"

He showed me his palms, still wrapped in white linen. "Say what you want, but that shadow shit is spooky. I'm not entirely convinced that he's not a vampire."

A laugh rasped out of me. "I'll tell him not to dress up for the party, and just revert back to his natural state."

Vicrul's eyebrows pulled together. "Party?"

"Oh," I'd forgotten in the torture he'd put me through earlier. "I'm throwing a Halloween party for Kylo's birthday."

"You're throwing a Halloween party…" he repeated, slowly. "For his birthday."

I pushed myself up on my elbows. "Do you think we should have separate parties?" I asked. "One for Halloween, and then a separate one for his birthday?"

"I think you should have no parties." He told me. "Kylo hates Halloween. He hates parties, and the only thing he hates more than those are birthdays."

"He hates birthdays?"

He nodded. "He hasn't had a birthday party since Mom-"

He stopped abruptly, his mouth closing with an audible snap, and looked away, picking at the dirt and rocks beside him.

"You don't have to talk about her." I said, softly. I wanted him to talk about her. I wanted Kylo to talk about her, about what happened, about what he'd done to keep her from being harmed. I desperately wanted to know everything about the woman who'd raised them, but I would never ask. Not when talking about her was still obviously painful for them.

We finished our training, and from there I went with Ushar, who laughed himself hoarse when I told him that Vicrul said he was a vampire.

I returned to the room I now shared with Kylo, having my things moved over several days ago, and showered, changing into leggings and a cream colored sweater, braiding my hair over onto one shoulder. I was reading a blush-inducing chapter of my novel, a steaming cup of tea on the small end table beside the couch I occupied when Kylo came in.

He was in his head to toe black, and was loosening his tie when he bent down to kiss me. "How was training?"

"Fine." I told him, putting a piece of ribbon in my book to mark the page. "How was your day?" We'd slipped into this new normal so effortlessly in the past week. I'd train with the Knights, and he would go downstairs to handle his duties. But, at the end of the day, we came back to each other.

He was telling me about the trade agreement between the allied kingdoms when he stopped, mid sentence.

I looked up. "The Corellian Trade Spine." I said, repeating the last thing he'd said so that he knew I'd been listening.

The crease between his brows deepened. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I took a long drink of my tea.

"This morning you were...excited." He said. "And now you're...distant." His eyes came up to meet mine. "What changed?"

All the ladies I'd ever spoken to told me that husbands were unobservant. I wondered what that was like.

"Halloween is at the end of the month. And your birthday is two weeks after that." I said.

"I'm aware."

I sighed. "I wanted to throw a Halloween party for your birthday."

He raised an eyebrow. "And you can't decide what couples' costumes to put us in?"

"No, I-" I straightened. "You would wear a couples costume?"

He leaned back in his seat. "I'm wounded you think I wouldn't wear a couples costume."

A smile tugged at my lips, but I blinked, remembering my conversation from earlier. "Vicrul said you hate parties."

He nodded once. "I do."

"And birthdays."

Another nod. "I do."

"And Halloween."

He was silent for a moment. "I actually love Halloween."

That was the first time I'd ever heard him say he loved something. "You do?"

He looked down at his hands in his lap. "It's the one day I get to be someone else. I don't have to be a king, I don't have to be Supreme Leader, I can be…anyone."

"Then why does Vicrul think you hate it?"

"I stopped celebrating holidays, birthdays…" He shook his head. "I stopped celebrating when my mother was killed."

I'd already gathered that much from my earlier conversation. But, just like earlier, I wasn't going to ask.

He was silent for a long moment before looking up at me. "I want to cash in a question."

It took a minute for me to comprehend what he'd said, and I nodded for him to continue.

He paused, taking a moment to choose his words carefully, and my pulse quickened just a bit. Whatever it was, it was big.

"Has anyone….when you were…..younger, did-" He sighed. "Have you ever had a party?"

Though he'd said it so carefully, his question still stung.

"No." I answered. "Palpatine never celebrated anything. He thought that holidays and birthdays were frivolous wastes of time and money. He would've never done that for anyone." I frowned, remembering. "Least of all me."

"Plan the biggest and most vulgar party in the galaxy." Kylo told me.

I looked up, my brows knitted. "What?

You hate parties. You hate birthdays."

"I haven't celebrated anything in seven years." He stood and closed the distance between us. "I haven't wanted to celebrate anything in seven years." He knelt in front of me, his eyes smoldering when they met mine. "My life had no joy, no goodness, no light. I had nothing worth celebrating, so what was the point of pretending? Then you were thrown into my life, and I…" His thumb stroked my cheekbone as his fingers grazed my jaw. "I don't have to pretend anymore." I smiled at him, and he lifted his chin. "So, if you want to have a party, throw a party. Spend what you want, invite who you want, wear what you want." He returned my smile. "And dress me to match."

"You're going to regret that when I bankrupt your treasury and dress you in something embarrassing."

"Do your worst." He challenged, adoration clear in his tone, his eyes.

The next weeks were a blur of training and planning, of preparations and Force lessons. I'd meet with Vicrul most mornings, spend a few hours with Ushar, then spend the rest of my days overseeing decorations, or food, or music.

I commissioned my costume from a seamstress off grounds, and walked with Trugden after a final fitting, bidding him a good night once we were back inside the palace.

I headed toward the ballroom to see the final touches. It was five days until Halloween, and I wanted to make sure everything was done. I was not disappointed, smiling at the orange and purple details amongst the blacks and grays.

"My lady." An unfamiliar voice said, and I whirled, my feet automatically going into their stance, and my arms coming up to block. I found a middle aged man with salt and pepper hair, and relaxed.

He smiled, revealing perfectly straight teeth. "I didn't mean to frighten you." He said, his accent curling around the words.

I shook my head. "It's fine. Are you here for the party?"

A waiter, perhaps? A member of the band? A florist. He did have that 'just dropped carnations off at the morgue' look about him, with his fine, tailored suit.

"No." He answered. "I am here for you."

My face crinkled. "Me?" Then, I looked at him. Really looked at him. He hadn't bowed, nor had he addressed me by my title, and his gray-blue eyes were locked with mine, not lowered in respect.

And a chill slithered up my spine.

"You're the Official." I breathed, pulse quickening.

"Indeed I am." His lips curved up at one corner. "One of them, anyway."

I wasn't going to let him intimidate me, I wasn't going to let him make me nervous. He was just a man.

"What do you want?" I asked, irritation filtering into my tone.

"I'm here to remind you that you have been married to the King for six months, and have not fulfilled your contractual obligations." His eyes swept over me, to my dirty training clothes, and the stray hairs fraying out of this morning's bun. "Is there a problem?"

I didn't so much as blink, refusing to lower my chin as I stared at him. "I'll remind you that Kylo has already spoken to you about our contract." I spat.

"Yes, it's quite a spell you have over him." His gaze roamed over me again, and I fought an urge to cringe. "It makes one wonder what you have that the dozens before you did not, to have enthralled him so completely."

"Do you have a point?" I crossed my arms over my chest. "Or do you just like to hear yourself talk?"

"The contract gave you six months to produce an heir, and you have not." He said. "It makes me question my investment."

His investment in me, in buying me.

I raised an eyebrow. "Gross."

His eyes narrowed on me.

"Don't you have better things to concern yourself with than my fertility?" I demanded.

"Not when your fertility is what will make or break this monarchy." He bit out. "This Kingdom needs an heir. When Kylo took the throne, he was young, only twenty three years old, and he vowed he would never marry. But, he needed a wife to produce a legitimate heir, and all these years, he still refused. He forced my hand." His lip curled. "And now, he is trying my patience."

"You've waited seven years." I said with a shrug. "What's a few more?"

When I moved to walk past him, he caught my wrist, pulling me back.

"It is my name on your contract, it is my signature on your marriage certificate." He leaned closer, his hot breath in my face. "I bought you to produce heirs, and I could buy someone else just as easily."

I did not flinch as I stared him down. "You bought a wife for a king. But, I am Queen Consort to Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. I am Supreme Empress of The First Order, and I have the fealty of the Knights of Ren." My eyebrows rose. "You have your name and your paper, and neither dissolve the vows that Kylo and I made to each other." I snatched free of his grasp. "If you ever touch me again, I'll have you tried for treason against your Queen."

When I moved to walk past him again, he moved in front of me. "You think you can threaten me and just walk away?"

"Yes." I said, stepping around him. "I do."