Her mouth tasted like it was full of cotton, eyes heavy from sleep.

There was a bit of light slipping through the cracks of her tent, enough that she could see the canopy stretched above her head. Rey tried to ask if anyone was nearby, but the sound came out as a feeble croak.

In an instant, there was a rustle and Ren's face came into view. "You're awake. Thank God."

"Water?" she managed.

"One moment," he said, disappearing immediately. Before long, he was back and Jessika's worried gaze joined him in Rey's view. He tipped a flask to her lips and Rey gulped at it, some of the cool water slipping down her chin.

Relaxing back against the pillow, she closed her eyes and let the water travel to her stomach, easing her parched throat.

When she opened her eyes again, Ren was gone. Stepping forward, Jessika helped her get propped up against the cushions. "We've all been very worried about you, your Grace," she said, moving to collect Rey's clothes and lay them out.

The room was coming into greater clarity even in the dim light. "What do you mean?"

"You slept for three days."

That wasn't possible. "Three days?"

"His Grace has been agitated and on edge for the whole time. We're all very relieved that you're awake." Jessica produced some bread and cheese from a tray, and Rey suddenly realised that she was ravenous.

Easing past the ache in her stiff muscles, Rey gradually worked herself awake. Ren returned once Jessika had helped her dress, hovering over her like a large guard dog as she ate. He had pinned the tent flap open when he came in, finally allowing a proper measure of light inside; it threw the scar across his face into clear relief, red and raw in an arc from brow to chin. It dashed any vague hope in the back of Rey's head that the whole incident just had been a terrible nightmare.

"Does it hurt?" Rey asked, touching her own face reflexively.

"Not at all," Ren said immediately, sitting down beside her on the bed. "It seems that it will take its usual progression in scarring, but I'm in no pain."

"And your chest?"

He lifted his tunic to reveal a red gash where the knife had broken the skin. Like the scar across his face, it still looked fresh. But when she put her fingers to it softly, he didn't react.

"Truly," he said. "It feels like the rest of my skin. It's incredible." He was looking at her with something akin to awe now, muted behind the obvious worry. "Were you aware that you could do that? It clearly exhausts you."

Rey shook her head wordlessly, remembering the flow of her gift. The driving fear had given her a push quite unlike anything that she had ever felt before, even in the heat of battle.

"Such power," he said, taking her hand and examining her fingertips like he could see something in them. "I still don't fully understand why you saved me," he added, frowning.

She took her hand back. "It was the right thing to do. And you saved me, did you not?"

"I did," he agreed, brow furrowing. "Which is also unaccountable."

He certainly knew how to romance a woman. She snorted and narrowed her eyes at him, edging back against the bed and pulling her knees up to her chest, the covers bunching over her legs. "That's not very reassuring, I have to tell you."

With a long sigh, he stared into space. "I haven't known many in my life with… Talents like ours. There was Snoke, obviously, and Luke. And my Mother."

Rey blinked in surprise. "Lady Leia has the gift?"

"Yes, though she never developed it beyond a few small tricks." Something of a sneer tugged at his mouth. "It was how she was able to slip me poisoned soup in the uprising, I would've seen it had it been prepared by anyone else."

His was a strange family, Rey thought quietly.

"Snoke's gift was about manipulation. Mine is… About death. Luke's is ascetic, driven by discipline and a sense of duty. But you…" He tilted his head and turned it towards her. "It's like you are life itself. I've never seen anything like it. When you first bested me in the tiltyard and I felt the touch of it, it was the closest I've ever come to seeing a genuine vision." His gaze drifted back to his feet. "It would be against God's order to let such a thing disappear."

"It's all to do with my gift, then," she said. The thought clenched at her chest for some reason. "Nothing to do with me."

He seemed confused by her words. "Do you consider them separate?"

Perhaps, sometime, she would be able to articulate why it bothered her. "I suppose not."

While she had slept, the camp had firmly settled itself in the open field. Rey learned later that it had been suggested that they simply carry her while she slept, but Ren had flat-out forbidden it. When some of the generals argued with him about it, he ended the incident by breaking a man's nose.

Finn, in contrast, had done an admirable job of managing the peace while Ren frothed at the mouth. The men had been properly distracted with hunting and gathering firewood. The other positive news was that the river had receded enough that they were likely to have no trouble when they decided to proceed.

Sitting on a stool, Finn explained all of this and assured her that they could wait as long as necessary for her recovery. Rey, on the other hand, wanted to get moving as soon as possible. Eventually, he conceded that it would be wise to start riding the next day if she still felt well.

He also delivered the pile of messages from Luke that had been sent to Lady Kanata's in preparation for their arrival. After the assassination attempt, he'd sent a rider to go ahead and explain the situation to Lady Kanata, as well as sending another messenger to alert the capital to the assassination attempt. It would be best if Luke and Lady Leia were also on their guard.

"I would have allowed Prince Ren to direct these things," Finn said, a bit gruffly. "But he was in no state."

"You did the right thing," Rey assured him, patting him on the hand.

Once he was gone, she lit the lamp next to her bed, taking the letters and settling into the covers. No time like the present. Even though it was beginning to grow dark outside, the candles would give her at least enough light to read.

There was a rustle and Ren came into the tent with a frown. "I think you should be resting, not attending to that."

"It's a simple thing," she insisted, matching his frown with one of her own. "I'm not an invalid."

"You exhausted yourself. We ride tomorrow- at your own insistence- and you should be well."

"I will be. Besides, I should think that you need just as much rest as me," she said, reaching for her knife. "You were the one who nearly died."

"You seem determined to not believe me," he said, the wood squeaking in protest as he perched on the edge of the bed beside her. "But I feel better than I have in years."

Sliding her knife under the wax seal, she slit the first letter open and unfolded the crisp parchment. Luke's neat writing lined the page. "Years? How old are you, exactly?"

"Thirty one."

She looked up at him in surprise. "So old!"

That earned her one slowly raised eyebrow. "Not so very old, I should think. How old are you?"

"Somewhere around my twentieth year." She scanned the words, following the spidery ink across the page. This message was relatively old. Nothing of note- London was quiet, the council was arguing about the application of bonds as a measure of punishment, and Luke was easily resolving petty disputes and simple problems. "I can't say for certain. The parish that held my birth records was razed to the ground around the same time my parents perished, and I was too young to hold onto that knowledge when they left me. No one who might know appears to be alive to remember."

"Ah."

Her hands stilled as she moved to the next envelope in the pile, nudged by an uncomfortable thought. "Did you ever fight in Lancashire?"

"No. Snoke tended to keep me no further than two or three days travel from the capital." The look he gave her was knowing.

Small mercies, Rey thought grimly. She'd never have to wonder if her husband's blade was the one that made her an orphan. Returning her attention to her task, she broke the next royal seal.

She was a few lines into the letter when Ren leaned over and plucked it from her fingers. "This is ridiculous. I insist on you resting. You can at least wait until daylight."

Huffing, she snatched it back. "I know what I'm doing, thank you."

"You need to recover your strength."

"Nonsense." She smoothed the parchment from where it had become crumpled by her grip. "Perhaps you just can't keep up with me, old man."

She barely saw the movement. In a flash, her hands were empty and the rest of the messages were cascading to the floor, her back flat against the mattress as he easily slid her down. He loomed over her on his elbows, tracing a thumb along her jawline. "I guess we'll find out, little hellion."

"I thought I was supposed to be sleeping," she said, trying to ignore the hot clench of want that ignited in her lower stomach. It was a ridiculous moniker, but it made her flush all the same.

He stopped, eyebrows arching. "Will you?"

She twisted her mouth. "No," she finally admitted, a bit sheepishly.

"Then are you truly telling me that letters from my uncle are more interesting than I am?"

It took a moment for her to see past the offended pout to the ever so slight crinkle at the corner of his eyes. "Are you- are you teasing me?"

"Not possible," he said. "Prince Kylo Ren does not tease."

God's teeth. "You are much more ridiculous than I ever realized."

He responded by leaning down with a soft kiss. "Stop talking," he murmured, lips moving against her own. She closed her eyes and relaxed into the kiss with a sigh, trying to match the way he was moving his mouth. She'd almost forgotten that they were kissing, now. Another change that she didn't fully understand. But oh, it was nice, and he groaned when she slid her hand up to tangle it in his long hair.

Drawing away, Ren pressed his forehead to her own. "Truly, I would prefer if you rested."

"Oh no," she retorted, grinning at him. This, at the very least, was something about being married that she knew she enjoyed. This wasn't complicated. "I absolutely refuse now, and it's your fault."

He lowered his head to her neck and she shivered as she felt his tongue lave little circles. "Do you promise to rest after?"

His head was lowered, so she could openly roll her eyes at the ceiling. "Very well."

She wriggled as he lifted the hem of her shift, pulling it over her head. Moving back to kiss her properly again, his hands stroked down her body, tracing and skimming in a warm and soft touch.

Rey's gift was springing to life, rippling along her skin. But rather than the heady and rushing pulse of before, it was just a gentle thing, thrumming wherever they touched. Perhaps it was because she had so recently expended all of her energy, she thought, but she wasn't able to follow the thought as Ren's fingers reached the cleft of her legs and her mind went blank.

He was just stroking, teasing, thumb swirling expertly while his fingers only traced where she could feel that she was already damp. After what was probably nothing but felt like an eternity, she found herself letting out a whine, trying to writhe her way into getting what she wanted.

"Shh," he whispered, pressing a finger to her lips. "I'm assuming you don't want the whole camp listening."

She was too far gone to care. "Just- please-"

His fingers slipped inside her easily and she bit back a gasp, scrunching her eyes closed to try and stop her reaction from tumbling out. It was easy to rock against them, inching closer and closer as he crooked his fingers, stroking and twisting his wrist. Right when the cresting pleasure that she now recognized was growing into a pulsing rhythm, though, he drew away.

She nearly kicked him in displeasure. "Why-"

"Patience, little hellion," he said, grinning wickedly. "Patience." His tunic came off easily, tossed aside onto the floor, and he was working on the lacing of his breeches when she abruptly wrapped her legs around his waist and rolled them over.

He barely managed a surprised noise before she wiggled down his front. She'd been vaguely thinking about this for a while, following the logic that if he could use his mouth, surely she could too. It seemed a reasonable assumption. The musky scent was a bit stronger when her face was this close, and she tugged the fabric down past his hips. He seemed to have descended into a stunned silence, but it broke into a groan when she pressed a delicate kiss to the tip of the shaft, tasting a little bit of slick moisture.

"Is this nice?" she asked, looking up.

"Is it-" he repeated, sounding a bit strangled. "Yes, it's nice."

She tried a few more kisses and followed it with a lick, which made him jerk his hips into the air. That seemed encouraging, so she let her tongue be a bit more involved, swirling and flicking. He tasted a bit odd, sort of salty, but it wasn't unpleasant.

"Jesus," he breathed, tangling his hand in her hair. "Rey, it- guh," he said, abruptly letting go like he was afraid that he'd hurt her, awkwardly patting the top of her head in a jerky movement.

"It's fine," she said, taking his hand and putting it back in her hair. It was rather nice, actually, the firm grip giving her tingles that shot straight to her hips. Sliding her lips open, she bobbed her head over the tip, experimenting with the movement as he sucked in a ragged breath. That seemed a good sign, so she took in a bit more, running her tongue along the thick vein that she could feel on the underside.

This was hardly dignified behaviour for a Queen, she found herself thinking, as he shuddered and twitched under her. But his reaction- and his ebbing pleasure that she could somehow feel through her gift- made her not particularly care.

She was about to try and take in a little more when he released her hair and reached for her armpits, tugging at her to move upwards. Oh well, there would always be more time to explore that later, and she certainly felt eager enough herself to move on. She crawled over him, splaying his hands over her chest and aligning them together. Leaning down, she gave him a long kiss, feeling a touch of surprise from him when she slid her tongue out between her lips. The bliss of being joined in two places as she gradually took him inside was immeasurable, the skittering pleasure curling up her spine.

She broke the kiss to press a peck to his nose. "This is a far cry from sleeping. You're a terrible caregiver."

"If you listened to anything I said," he retorted, "this would be a very different relationship." She was giggling when he pulled her back down to his mouth, coaxing her to repeat the movement with her tongue, beginning to move his hips in a slow grind.

The swirling tendrils of her gift were mostly making her feel connected to everything around her, to the cool evening air and the ground beneath. It was oddly reassuring to feel him so firmly alive, heartbeat thumping stubbornly, the huff of his breath against her face as they kissed. For possibly the first time, she could truly feel the way that his own gift was flaring, tangling together with her own, merging beautifully.

As he moved, she found that this new way of doing things made for an entirely different sensation, making her breath hitch each time he pushed inside. His hands found her hips and traced inwards until he was stroking just above where they were joined, and all of the sudden, she felt the promised release come rushing back on her- and oh, there was nothing quite like it-

He hummed in pleasure as she succumbed to it, arching away and digging her nails into his shoulders. Her legs tightly clenched against his thighs, where she could still feel his breeches shoved halfway down his legs. It felt vaguely as if she could do this forever, rocking back and forth, riding wave after wave of rolling desire, tightly biting down on her lip to stop herself from wailing.

"I think that would get boring after a while," he said with a chuckle.

Rey snapped her gaze down to him in shock. Had she said it out loud?

The question was chased from her mind as he began to speed up a little, clearly more ready to focus on himself now that he felt she was satisfied. Gripping her hips tightly, he bent his knees and thrust up over and over until she thought she was going to melt, boneless and senseless. She lost herself in the feeling of not knowing where he ended and she began, her consciousness tentatively twining with his, their shared pleasure a heady and addictive song.

It also meant that she could sense it when his own peak suddenly drew close. Fearing the potential for noise, she pushed herself down to kiss him firmly as she felt it thunder through him, swallowing his groans as he gave a final few thrusts.

Kissing was pleasant, Rey decided. She could get quite used to this.

She kept him trapped there for a bit longer as he shuddered, fingers clenching tightly at her hips. With one last bite against his lower lip, she climbed off him and flopped onto her side, sighing happily into the fabric. The trickle of dampness between her thighs was... Strangely pleasing.

With his own sigh, he rolled himself up on his elbow and brushed her hair out of her eyes. "I told you once that ruling means making difficult decisions."

She blinked at him sleepily.

"It corrupts you, in a way," he said quietly. "It changes you. Hardens you. It's happened to me already, if I wasn't like that to begin with. It's happened to most everyone around me." His finger moved to the corner of her mouth, ghosting and soft in his touch. "You're different. I don't want it to happen to you."

"It won't," she murmured. "I've been told I'm incorrigibly hopeful."

Even though she could barely see him, it was like she felt his gaze darken. "I'll make sure that it won't."

Author's Notes:

Help me I can't stop writing Kylo as being secretly sassy. D:

Onto Lady Kanata's next! Where we meet an... Unexpected guest.

The medieval Church SO disapproved of oral sex and hahahaha IDGAF. The medieval church also wanted people to, you know, attend, and they had to make approximately a million edicts insisting that people received communion at least once a year so I'm getting the vibe that a lot of people weren't picking up what they were putting down in any case.

P.S. Like many writers, I live for feedback. -rattles comments cup hopefully-