Behind her, someone keyed the blast doors open and ran into the throne room, a blur of arms and legs and ginger. 'Supreme Leader,' he yelled. 'Supreme Leader.'

He got just close enough to determine that Snoke was, in fact, doubly dead and then span in her direction, a blaster appearing from beneath his coat.

'You,' he spat. 'The scavenger scum. You did this. And now you will die. Ren, why are you holding her hand?'

Ben dropped it quickly, then raised a finger and jerked the gun out of the man's hand, hurtling it against the wall.

'Rey, he said. 'This is General Hux.'

Another blaster appeared in the man's other hand and he snarled at her. 'You will suffer for what you've done.'

'Me?' She gestured at the brooding, black clad, homicidal megalomaniac next to her. 'Why don't you think it was him who killed Snoke?'

The muzzle of the blaster waved at Ben. 'Because he is scum.' Then it settled on her heart. 'But you are rebel scum.'

She concentrated quickly, succeeded in hauling the weapon out of his hand but failed to monitor its course properly and had to duck as it whizzed towards her face.

'You need to practise that,' remarked Ben in her mind.

She knew it was possible to use the Force to communicate telepathically with anyone with the skills to hear but she'd never actually tried it before. 'Why does he think you wouldn't kill Snoke?' she replied silently.

'Snoke thought I wouldn't kill Snoke. You're shouting, by the way.'

'Sorry. But why do they think that?'

He shrugged, without actually moving. 'I'm known for my fanatical loyalty and devotion.'

'To people who make you kneel, or to anyone?'

'To anyone who deserves it,' he answered.

'Then I should take the blame for Snoke. You'll need the loyalty and devotion of your army if you're going to rule.'

'I don't need their loyalty and devotion.' His contempt was clear. 'I just need their fear.'

'Am I interrupting something?' Hux interrupted, glancing rapidly from one to the other.

Rey stepped forward. 'I killed Snoke.' She called her lightsaber, ignited it and took the next few paces towards Hux at a run, swinging it at his head. 'And I will kill you too, unless you obey me.'

He pulled a third blaster from a back pocket, and this time she didn't hesitate, wrenching it from his hand with the power of her mind. It whistled past Ben's left ear with millimetres to spare and in her head, she heard a disapproving sniff.

'I will never obey you, Jedi scum. ' yelled Hux. 'I am the Supreme Leader.'

He dropped to his knees instantly, clutching at his throat and emitting a collection of phlegmy gagging noises.

'You are not the Supreme Leader.' Ben's voice held a lash of old anger. 'I am the Supreme Leader. And,' there was a brief hesitation. 'She is also the Supreme Leader.'

Rey pivoted, wide eyed. There was an expression on Ben's face which, if she'd had more than two conversations with him that didn't involve threats or shouting, she might have described as embarrassment.

'Join me,' he reminded her quietly. 'And we can rule the galaxy as…'

'Your girlfriend?' Hux was back on his feet again, choking no longer although his eyes still boggled. 'You're putting your girlfriend on the throne?'

'I'm not his girlfriend.' Rey wielded the lightsaber with a touch more menace.

'She's not my girlfriend,' Ben said, at exactly the same time.

Hux frowned. 'Wife?'

'Of course not,' she shot back.

'Concubine?'

'No.' Ben's tone was sharp.

'Sister?'

Rey glanced at Ben. 'Not as far as I know.'

'Whore?' Hux collapsed to his knees again, clutching at this throat.

'Our - ' there was another slight pause, and Rey had the sense that Ben was doing some very quick thinking. 'Relationship is no concern of yours. You will obey her, in the same way that you will obey me. Immediately, and without question.'

The general's face had gone blue, but Ben's had a reddish tinge, and the way he bent forward, with one hand curled in front of him, twisting, led Rey to believe that his attraction to the light side might be wavering. She could feel the threads of his control pulsing though her awareness of the Force and she reached out swiftly, and broke them.

Hux sprawled backwards, and she switched the lightsaber off and knelt by his side. 'My colleague and I have a very straightforward relationship.'

Hux's bloodshot eyes searched hers.

'One of us is always nice, and the other one is always a homicidal megalomaniac.' She gestured with a thumb. 'He's the nice one. Now tell me the location of the rest of the First Order fleet.'

She attempted to pull the information from his mind, then sat back on her heels, considering. 'This is harder than it looks.' She glanced up at Ben. 'You're good at this sort of thing. How does interrogation usually work?'

He folded his arms. 'It's all in the tone of voice. And the lighting. Or you could try this.'

Into her mind came a selection of Force-based interrogation techniques, along with helpful suggestions on how and when they should be used and some case studies to demonstrate efficiency.

She swallowed, stretched out her hand towards Hux and invaded his mind. 'Tell me the location of the rest of the First Order fleet,' she demanded.

'Why do you want to know?' There was a suspicious cast to Ben's tone that she didn't care for and she shot him a warning look.

'Because it makes a change from 'tell me the location of Skywalker' or 'give me the droid' or any of the other things that mad, desperate interrogators usually ask me.'

She straightened, walked back to his side. 'Alright, I've tried fear, and I don't think it works. He's afraid of you, but not afraid enough not to want to kill you. He's tried four times already that I can see, and there's another blaster in a hidden pocket in his coat which he had specifically designed because he thinks you won't spot it. He came here the minute he suspected Snoke was dead to kill you and take charge. Are you sure you wouldn't prefer to try loyalty and devotion?'

Ben glared at her, and then at Hux, as if he couldn't decide which one to hit first.

She bent over Hux again. 'Now, General. What's your first name, by the way?'

'No.' Ben grated in her head. 'Call him Hux or pick your favourite expletive and call him that but please don't be nice to him.'

She patted the fallen general's hand instead. 'General. If you attempt to kill me, or, for that matter, my fellow Supreme Leader, I will take this lightsaber, and I will make it do to you, exactly what it did to the old Supreme Leader on the floor over there. But I'd rather we found a less violent way to work together. If you help me, I can promise that he,' she flicked a glance at Ben's rapidly darkening face. 'Will never touch you again.'

She rose, and offered him her hand. 'Now tell me the location of the rest of the First Order fleet.'

Hux reached out, and she helped him up. 'The closest Star Destroyer is less than a parsec away and there are two more at two hundred and then four fifty parsecs out, but we'll need more capacity, because the Supremacy is eight times the size of a Star Destroyer, and the next Dreadnaught is already three months overdue from Kuat.'

Leather creaked as Ben clenched his fists. 'I asked why you want to know. I didn't get an answer.'

She swung to face him with a mild smile. 'Unless I'm much mistaken, the 'rebel scum' have destroyed this ship and it's disintegrating. I was hoping you had another one somewhere without such a big hole in it. Have you given the order to evacuate, General?'

'No. I needed to check with the Supreme Leader before...' His eyes drifted in the direction of Snoke.

'You've checked. Give the order. I doubt there's enough transports for everyone, so you'll need to contact that destroyer and get it to send help. Focus on the people, leave the equipment – we can always get someone to salvage it later, believe me. Now go.'

A calculating light flashed through his eyes before he lowered his head, and clicked his heels. 'Yes, Supreme Leader.'

'Thank you, General.'

He left the room at a quick march, flinging a grin over his shoulder which wasn't meant for Rey.

'Thank you? What do you mean 'thank you'?'

Ben was angry, she could hear that, and feel it, coming at her in waves across the room, but he wasn't breaking things and he hadn't reached for a weapon, so she shrugged. 'I thought I'd do things my way.'

'Your way involves destroying my authority.'

'No. It involves offering you an alternative to your way. Isn't that what you wanted me here for?' She followed Hux towards the exit. 'Shouldn't we be leaving?'

He called her back. 'You take the Supreme Leader's escape shuttle. It's just behind the throne, the controls are easy enough to operate.'

Annoyance spiked at his assumption about her piloting skills, but she pushed it aside. 'Aren't you coming?'

'It only seats one. There's only supposed to be a single Supreme Leader. You're something new.' She nearly smiled at that.

'My ship is much faster anyway. Don't stray too far from the rest of the fighters and don't answer any communications until I've made an announcement that you've joined us. I don't want you shot down before we've even started.'

That was probably his way of saying a fond farewell, Rey reflected, as she strapped herself into Snoke's vacant chair. The controls were indeed easy to operate, in fact, all she'd have to do was press the 'on' button and the ship would fly itself, since all its functions were set in slave mode to a command shuttle, wherever that was.

She fingered the communications switch as the ship took off. What would he say in this 'announcement?' How would he explain their relationship to an audience of millions, if she couldn't even explain it to herself? She toggled the button, opening a channel to the ship that hers was tied to following.

He acknowledged immediately.

'What was the end of the sentence, Ben - I kept cutting you off? You said, join me, and we can rule the galaxy as – as what?'

'I would have thought that was obvious by now. You've got an inordinate amount to learn. Join me, and we can rule the galaxy as master and apprentice.'

The Car Crash Bride and The Postman's Daughter by Sally Anne Palmer are available now on Amazon. Advert over. As you were.