Three days. That's how long it took us to get to Kadavo. Three days of panic on the edge of paranoid hysteria. Three days of sweating, of shaking, of headaches. Three days of vomiting, though I couldn't eat.

The clearer my head became, the sharper I felt what I'd desperately been trying to drown, the hollow ache in my chest awakening into absolute agony that shredded me with its talons. I was slowly bleeding out, barely breathing, unable to move, to speak, to think.

What got me to my feet, what had me charging onto that planet as soon as we landed, was the belief that the pain would stop as soon as I found Rey.

The smog burned my nose, my lungs blazing with every inhale, and I squinted against the sting as I weathered the cold.

Kadavo was known as a slave processing port, and had been partially destroyed by the Republic a number of years ago.

Shadows slithered up and down the halls, coming to whisper into Ushar's ear as he listened, his mouth set into a hard line.

"The last ship left this morning." He said.

"They knew we were coming." I murmured, my booted footsteps sounding on the concrete as I moved forward. I could feel Rey's power, nearly identical to my own, calling me, beckoning me. I followed that thrum of power, through the empty rooms littered with garbage and discarded clothing. They'd left in a hurry, and only taken what was necessary, from the looks of things.

We went into a large room with three lines of mattresses from wall to wall, the stale smell of sweat and day old death still clinging to the sheer curtains that hung from ropes stretched overhead. The windows had been boarded up, specks of ash and dust dancing in the streams of sunlight that shone through.

As I moved through the room, the smell grew, and the buzzing of flies told me what we would find before I turned a corner into an open door. I immediately recognized the room I'd seen Rey in, and her blast of power still lingered on the walls, the ceiling, but every thought went out of my head when I saw the dead man on the floor, his pants open, the frozen look of terror still recognizable despite the three day bloat of decomposition.

"Maker above." Ap'lek breathed, his face looking a bit green as he brought a hand up to cover his nose and mouth.

"Do a lifeform scan." I said, holding my breath as I looked around for something, anything that could lead me to Rey.

The scanner buzzed as Cardo obeyed, "No one other than this guy, here." He said, after a moment. Then, a beep, and we all stopped, our heads turning toward him. He looked up at me, his unshielded mind telling me what he hadn't said aloud.

One heartbeat, so weak it hadn't shown up on the initial scan.

My stomach dropped, and I launched myself down the hall, my Knights closing in behind me as we weaved in and out of the corridors. Ushar jumped into the room first, and I skidded to a stop at the threshold, my chest heaving. I looked around, my heart jumping into my throat when I saw her, laying on her side on the cold tile floor, her chestnut hair matted to her head with wet and dried blood.

I lunged for her, and strong arms gripped me around my waist, holding me back. It was Ap'lek, his blue eyes lit with caution and resolve.

"Let me go!" I screamed, thrashing against him. He knew better. Knew what would happen if he did.

Ushar knelt down beside her, and sighed, unclasping his cloak and draping it over her. "It's not her." He said.

It took a minute for those words to sink in.

Aplek released me, and I ran to Ushar's side, kneeling down to look at her.

No, she wasn't Rey, though her features were lost under the blood and swelling of her injuries. I didnt know how long she'd been exposed to the cold, though her slow and shallow breathing and weak pulse told me she needed medical attention. Now. "Get her on the ship." I told him.

He gathered her limp body into his arms, and I adjusted his cloak so that she was covered. He vanished without another word.

"Do another scan." I said to Cardo, and he obeyed, then shook his head when he found nothing.

I muttered a curse and pulled out my commlink, requesting to speak with the King of Dantooine. It was the closest planet to us, and after I explained the situation, he agreed to let us bring her to his infirmary.

Once the medics had her, I went to his office where, mercifully, he poured me a drink, which I immediately downed.

Seyi was young, only twenty-two years old, and had only been on the throne a number of months.

"Of course you and your Knights are welcome to stay as long as you need." He said, sitting in a cushioned chair and crossing his legs. "Though, I am curious as to why you were even on Kadavo."

"There's a cartel King named Zaugustus." I told him, helping myself to another knuckles length. "He's using Kadavo as a port in his trafficking ring."

Seyi's face fell. "You're certain?"

I threw my drink back and nodded, then poured another. He obviously had others. And, I was lost again, with no direction, no hope of finding Rey.

He leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. "How has he been able to keep this from getting out?"

"He's been under the protection of Armitage Hux." I said, spitting out his name as if it were acid on my tongue.

Seyi sighed, his brown-black eyes searching as he considered. "There are rumors-"

"That I killed him?" I finished for him, and drank.

He raised his eyebrows. "Did you?"

I poured another. "Yes."

He stilled, his throat moving as he swallowed, looking down at his hands.

"Is that a problem?" I asked, fully prepared for his next words to be an order for me to leave. I'd go, if he asked. I had no interest in causing more tension throughout the galaxy, I just wanted to find Rey.

He shook his head, his black hair swaying against his shoulders. "If what you say is true, if he was aiding in this trafficking ring, he deserved whatever you did to him."

"He deserved worse." I said, as his memories of what he'd done invaded my head. I ground my teeth together, letting a long sigh out of my nose. I'd thought that this was over, that I'd go to Kadavo and I'd be able to bring Rey home. Who she'd seen, who had ripped her away from me, they'd somehow vanished with her in the three days it'd taken us to get there.

"I've had rooms prepared for you." Seyi said, undeniable concern laced into his voice. I couldn't imagine what I must've looked like, after days of space travel and withdrawal, quickly emptying his decanter of...what was this? It didn't matter. I filled my glass, and thanked him, turning back toward the hangar.

Kuruk and Cardo didn't speak when I returned to the Buzzard, whether it was because of how volatile I'd been since leaving Mustafar, or they saw the liquors effect on me, I didn't know. I didn't care enough to ask. Ushar had gone back to Kadavo to see what his shadows could find, and he hadn't gotten back.

I found Ap'lek in the main hold, on a call that ended as soon as I walked in. I gave him a questioning look.

"That was Trugden." He said.

I nodded in understanding. He'd stayed behind, acting as King while we were gone. Something in me sparked, something knowing that it should have been me that Trugden reported to, that I should have cared, even in the slightest, as to what was going on in my Kingdom.

But, I didn't.

Ap'lek studied his hands on the table in front of him. "Vic was released from the medical ward." He said, carefully.

I felt a stab of guilt that I hadn't spoken to Vicrul since he'd woken up. I lied and said that I didn't have time, but the truth was that I was too angry to see him, and I had the sense to know how unfair that was.

"He's….moving into the townhouse."

All of my Knights had rooms in my palace. Cardo chose to maintain a permanent residence at the townhouse, and we'd all stayed there at one time or another in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

"Why?" I asked.

"He needs time, Ky." Ap'lek said. "Being a warrior is all he's ever known, his life is his Knighthood, and now he's told that he'll never wield a saber again. It's a lot."

I laughed once without humor. "Liar."

His face hardened, darkening with anger. I'd seen that look a few times, but rarely directed at me.

"He's moving into the townhouse because he's too guilty about what happened to face me." I said. Vicrul knew what he'd done. He knew what he'd cost me.

"What he cost you?" Ap'lek demanded, hearing me through the Bond. "Ky, that's bullshit, and you know it!"

"Do I?" I sneered. "I've lost everything because he couldn't do the only thing I've ever asked him to do!"

Ap'lek shot up, the table flipping into a summersault and breaking into splinters as it crashed to the floor. He was inches from my face in an instant, his face white with fury. "I know it isn't you who said that, it was the booze," He seethed, his lips pulling away from his teeth. "But if booze ever speaks that way about my brother again, I'm going to punch booze in its fucking mouth."

Cardo and Kuruk jumped up, though neither of them were foolish enough to get between us.

My limbs were heavy, growing heavier by the minute, my mind darkening with the mercy of oblivion that I hadn't had in three days. I took a step back, conceding, because I know he was right. I knew I'd crossed a line.

I stumbled back to my quarters on the Buzzard, and fell backwards onto the bed, throwing an arm over my eyes and begged sleep to take me.