Sith Owned

Kylo had finished his dinner later than the rest, as he alternated between eating himself and feeding you from his plate. The other knights tossed their dishes into the dishwasher and headed into the attached living room. Kylo finished up, fed you your last bite of his plate, and had you finish his drink as well. The water tasted the same as all water on starships, metallic with the slightest hint of chlorine. It made you a bit homesick for Star Killer base. Illum might have been a frozen wasteland, but all that ice was deliciously fresh water when thawed and filtered.

Kylo stood up, shifted you to his hip, and walked his dishes to the dishwasher, shifting you ever so gently when he needed to lean down to set his things in the wire racks. He walked you into the attached living room, and you both glanced around the room. Vicrul and Ap’lek were sitting on the couch, only partially watching some cage match on the Holo Sports Net. Ap’lek was also reading something on his Holo Pad, and Vicrul was occasionally glancing over at the game of Sabacc between Trudgen, Ushar, and Cardo. Kuruk was nowhere to be seen.

Kylo walked to the couch and shifted you from his hip to his arms, starting to lower you towards Vicrul, “Watch her-”

You thrashed, kicking out and digging your fingers into Kylo’s arm, a loud chirp of panic leaving you. Kylo immediately stilled, pulling you back to rest against him. You looked up at him, a look of disapproval on your face. “No.”

Kylo fixed you with a firm look. “Omega, I have things to do. Can you sit with Vicrul and be a good omega for me?”

You slowly unclenched your fingers, recognizing an order when it was given, even if it lacked his alpha voice. If your suspicions about him being an apex were correct, you were very grateful he didn’t resort to his alpha voice. Feeling your grip go slack, Kylo again lowered you onto Vicrul’s lap.

Vicrul seemed thrilled, if his scent was any more potently excited you might gag on it. His arms wrapped around you, not tight enough to be uncomfortable, but enough that you could get a taste of how easy it would be for him to secure you there against your will for basically any amount of time. “Hey there, pretty little thing. Have you come to keep me company?”

You glanced over Vicrul’s shoulder to see Kylo disappearing through a doorway back down the hall you had come from.

Ap’lek perked up at seeing you on the couch with him and his more flirty friend, putting his Holo Pad down to look you over. Vicrul was trying to nuzzle his nose into your neck, and you were doing some fairly half hearted maneuvering to prevent that, mostly including ducking your head to the side at the last moment, However, your current strategy was to lean back as far as possible to the point where Vicrul’s arms were barely keeping you upright and you were in real danger of falling off the couch.

“Ten seconds ago you were all cuddly and clingy.” Ap’lek said, a smirk on his lips. “Kylo leaves, so you go back to being a brat?”

You glared at him as Vicrul tried his best to keep your nearly horizontal body still in his lap and not in a pile on the floor.

Ap’lek shook his head at you, chuckling to himself. “Was it the food? Do we need to keep little bags of crackers on us to bribe you into physical affection?”

He practically basked in your deadpan expression. “Or was it just Kylo?”

You steady on Vicrul’s lap, letting him bring you back to your upright position and nuzzle into your neck. “Is that it, doll? You already picked your favorite? Kind of unfair, given I haven’t even had the chance to show you my best qualities.”

His hips gave a subtle thrust against yours, and you gave him a cutting look. “I don’t want to do that.”

Vicrul leaned back into the couch, his arms keeping you pressed to his chest. “Fair enough, doll. But you’ll still help keep my lap warm, won’t ya? It gets awfully cold in wild space.”

You stiffened, “Wild Space? We’re going to- Why are we going into Wild Space!?”

Vicrul returned his nose to your neck, sniffing your scent gland out and giving it a few laps and nips. The stimulation didn’t take away all of your uneasiness about the situation, but it did help you take a few deep breaths. Ap’lek moved closer slowly, to not upset Vicrul, and rested his hand on your thigh, his thumb drawing little circles.

“That’s it, a few more deep breaths for me, doll.” Vicrul cooed.

“Don’t worry about where we’re going.” Ap’lek said softly. “You’ll be staying on the ship the entire time anyways.”

“With supervision, obviously.” Vicrul chimed in. “Kuruk, probably. He usually stays with the ship when we have to park it in hostile territory.”

As you calm down from their joint attention, the game of Sabacc apparently gets personal. Trudgen points a finger across the table to Ushar, growling out accusations of cheating. Ushar leans back in his chair, grinning as he does.

“You’re such a sore loser, Trudgen.” Ushar snickers.

“No. Hell no. You. Cheated.” Trdugen’s hands shoot around the table, yanking everyone’s cards away from them and taking the remains of the deck. “You added at least two cards to this deck and I’m going to prove it!”

When Ushar budges in his chair as if he’s going to get up, Cardo stands, glaring him down. “Don’t you fucking dare. If you’ve cheated today that explains why I’ve always lost to you. Trudgen, keep going.”

Vicrul carefully nudges you off his lap, and walks over to the table too. “Ushar cheats? Oh fucking hell, I’ve lost so many credits to you over Sabacc! Keep looking, Trudgen!”

Even Ap’lek’s attention turns towards the card argument. Glancing around to see everyone occupied, you get off the couch. Sneaking across the floor, and the door and down the hall, you sniff the air repeatedly, trying to catch Kylo’s scent. You’re not too sure why you want to go find Kylo, but you know you do. Or, at least, you thought you did. Because when you try to sniff out Kylo down the long hallway, you catch the scent of something else. Something that smells alpha, to be sure, but so… oddly alpha. Instead of some heavy masculine scent with musk or amber or even sandalwood, you smell something that’s much closer to clean laundry, with a hint of earth. If anything, it reminds you of a trip your highschool once took to Naboo, where groups of your class stayed in little two bedroom cabins and had to do your laundry outside in but wooden pales, and hand the freshly washed clothing over ropes to dry.

Laundry detergent. Crisp, cold mountain water. Endless fields of grass.

For a moment, you can forget that you’re in deep space, headed towards Wild Space for some unknown reason. You close your eyes partially, trying to let your nose guide you as much as you can. It takes you after that fresh, clean scent, down several hauls, up a few ladders, until you’re standing outside what you’re pretty sure, given the layout of most starships you’ve been on, is the cockpit. On bigger vessels, it might be a bridge, with multiple pilots, and gunners (or as pretentious officers called them, aiming system specialists). But this vessel, you suspected, would just have a small cockpit.

You reached up, knocking on the door as it wouldn’t open when you waved your hand over the panel. Your biometrics weren’t added to this ship yet.

A moment passed, and then the door opened, revealing Kuruk, in all his unmasked glory. He looked down at you, his blue eyes going from annoyed and harsh to soft and curious when he saw it was you, and not another Knight. His dirty blonde hair was a bit disheveled, and you wondered if that’s just what it looked like when he removed his helmet, or if he had run his fingers through his own hair, disturbing any neat state he might have combed it into that morning.

It takes you a second to realize you were staring, and you look away from his face, looking straight ahead to his chest.

“Lost?” He asks quietly.

“Uh- well, I mean… kind of? I guess? I mean I meant to walk down here, but I don’t really know where anything is on this ship, like, at all, so I guess I’m technically lost, but I- uh, intended to come down here so-”

His finger finds your chin, angling your face up to force you to look him in the eyes. “Is something wrong?”

You struggle for a moment to try and figure out how to say that you had legitimately scent tracked this man for no other reason than he smelled calm and safe and you would rather be around him than the alphas who you could barely hear still yelling about the card game from several hallways over.

“Kylo told me to- uh, wait with the others, and I did at first but…”

Kuruk cocks his head to the side, seemingly listening, and then sighs, shaking his head with a little smile on his face. “What are they fighting about, now?”

You grinned a little, shrugging. “Ushar cheats at Sabacc, apparently.”

Kuruk gives a little chuckle, “So you ran off when they started arguing? Probably a good thing. If they find out Ushar was cheating, they’re going to beat him bloody. Nothing fit for you to see.”

You stiffen a little, and Kuruk notices, his hand moving slowly from your chin to the top of your head, giving a little pat. “Nothing to worry about, little one. It’s all happened before. So, did you take off down the hall to try and find Kylo? Because I’m afraid you went the opposite way.”

You shook your head, “No, actually. I uh… I kinda smelled you. And… liked it. So I came this way.”

Kuruk seems a bit taken back by your statement, before breaking into a little grin with a slight blush. “Oh? You did?”

You glanced behind him, catching a glimpse of the cockpit. He had the typical pilot’s seat and controls, but a cot was also set up in the corner. On top of the cot was just a foam mattress topper, maybe two inches thick, a sheet, pillow and blanket. But underneath the cot, to your immediate delight and shock, were about six other blankets.

You looked back up at Kuruk, “May I come in?”

Kuruk stood to the side, letting you slip past, and you marched right over to his cot, kneeling down to inspect the blanket hoard beneath it.

“These are yours?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. I like to have some variety. Depending on whatever planet we go to, there’s different temperatures, levels of humidity. I like being comfortable, and there’s nothing worse that freezing outside of bed but sweating under the blanket. So… I’ve-”

He cut himself off, watching you pull out the two thickest ones. “What are you doing?”

You looked up at him, suddenly realizing you had intruded into his personal space and were effectively about to use his things without permission. “Um… nesting?”

His eyes widen almost comically, seemingly able to be blown over with a slight wind. “You’re- you want- here?”

“Yes. Is that okay?” You asked timidly.

“Yes, of course it is!” Kuruk spit out immediately, then growing a bit quieter as he continued. “Do you need anything else? I can go get the blankets from your room? I saw you have a stuffed tooka, I could get that too?”

“No, this is fine.” You said, beginning to unfold the blankets and lay them out on his cot. “Would you sit with me?”

If Kuruk blushed any harder he’d be redder than a tomato. “Sure. Yeah, sure.”

You finish up the nest, making sure that there’s a thick blanket around the edge of the cot against the wall, so anyone on that edge won’t brush against cold metal while laying down. Kuruk fiddles with the controls for a minute, making sure the autopilot was still working and all fluid levels were good before walking over.

You pointed at the cot, telling him to climb in ahead of you. The cot wasn’t quite big enough for two people, but you didn’t mind. That just meant you would have to lay almost entirely on top of him.

Some part of you wonders why you’re being so open with Kuruk. A nest is important, personal to an omega, and you’re nearly shoving this stranger into yours. Maybe it’s the foreign environment, or the bickering alphas down the hall, or being carried around for half an hour by Kylo Ren, the alpha-ist-alpha-to-ever-alpha, or a combination of all of that which leads you to climb into your nest, lay down on top of Kuruk, and wiggle around a bit until you’ve found the perfect place on his chest to rest your head.

You give a happy little chirp, followed by a yawn.

Kuruk is still, very still, for a long time. You’re right on the edge of sleep when you feel him shift ever so slightly to press a kiss to the top of your head.

My mind went through a hundred different possibilities. Any half-logical explanation as to why this man who could not possibly be Ben somehow stood here with his face. Well, not exactly his face. He was older, paler, darkened skin under his eyes. His nose was a little narrower, and longer. His hair, still jet black, was so longer and curlier than the windswept tousled locks I had run my fingers through as a love struck teenage girl. It covered his ears completely, so I couldn’t tell if he had finally grown into them or if they were still a touch too large for his face.

He could be a clone of Ben. Or a completely different man, who surgically changed his face to look exactly like Ben. Maybe some dark side force technique to make him look like Ben temporarily. This just couldn’t be Ben. Ben was sweet, kind, gentle, and all the things that the First Order, and it’s leader, were not. Ben wouldn’t order entire villages, whole cities, bombed because a resistance fighter was hiding among them. Ben wouldn’t erase history to try and brainwash a population’s children into worshipping the First Order. And if Ben was alive, nothing in the galaxy would have kept him from me. Not for this long.

The Supreme Leader stepped closer to me, towering over me in a far too familiar way. Like when Ben had pushed me against walls to lean over and tease me about my height, or pretend to cage me in place with his arms, taunting me that I could only free myself by giving my jailer a kiss.

This wasn’t a lover’s tease. This was a threat.

“Unless, you intend to break the law? I don’t think I could allow a monarch with such blatant disrespect for their own laws to stay on any throne, even one not under the First Order’s rule.” Kylo said.

“Well…” I started, grasping for any handhold in this situation. “I suppose, once you prove that you are indeed, Ben Solo-”

“I need to prove that I am myself?” Kylo asked harshly.

“Ben Solo was reported dead, and I don’t believe you are him.” I said firmly. “We’ll have to do some type of genetic, testing, and-”

Something tugged around my neck, and I glanced down to see the leather cord of my necklace slip out from beneath my dress collar. At the end of it hung the teal kyber crystal, Kylo’s outstretched hand raising to meet it, and balancing it delicately between his pointed finger and thumb. “I remember when I got this for you.”

My breath caught in my throat, as he continued. No one had ever seen the necklace Ben had given me. He had kept it secret from his Uncle, I hadn’t told my parents because that would have required me admitting to sneaking out at night with Ben. I had never worn it unless it was tucked under my clothing, as the rough leather strap was inappropriate court attire. No one even knew I had it. No one but Ben.

“I pulled it out of an ancient Jedi’s tomb. His hands, just bones by then, were still clutching his weapon. I knew there was something special inside of it, something I wanted you to have. When I pulled it out, I knew I had been right all along. Never before had I seen a kyber crystal of that color, and it suited you perfectly.” Kylo finished.

Ben had never told you that part. Just that he had found it while exploring an ancient temple. He said nothing about a tomb or a corpse. Though, I suppose, that would have made it much less romantic.

I turned my head slightly, looking past Kylo Ren and at Duke Narrled. “I’ll need you to uh… start coordinating plans for… for a wedding.”

Lord Emert looked like he'd been shot. “Your highness?!”

I gave him the sternest look I could manage with my stomach doing somersaults. “My betrothed has come to claim his throne. Assist Duke Narrled.”

He still looked torn, but seemed to accept his task. General Hux cleared his throat, “We’ll need the wedding done this evening.”

“This evening!?” Lord Emert asked, bewildered. “A royal wedding takes weeks to prepare for!”

“Tonight.” Hux said firmly.

“Our traditions are sacred to us, and bring great joy to the people.” Lord Emert snapped. “Especially those living in the capitol who profit from the feast. Children get the day off school, factories close-”

“Then you should hurry to send word to the factories.” General Hux snapped.

I dared a glance up at Kylo, Ben, whatever he was called. He returned my gaze, and then turned to look over his shoulder at the dozen or so in the room. “Leave.”

Everyone hesitated, even Hux raised an eyebrow at Kylo. I cleared my throat, daring to speak against him. “They’ll need the holo-terminal to assist in planning the event. Perhaps… we could step outside?”

Kylo clenched his jaw, taking a breath to seemingly calm himself. I had always hated men with tempers, and needing to calm himself just from someone suggesting a different method to achieve the same effect was… a bad sign. However, he tucked his helmet under one arm, turned to the door, and offered me his other arm. I took it, allowing him to escort me out of the throne room, down the hall, and towards the back of the palace. There, we walked out the back entrance and into the garden behind the palace.

We stood in silence for a while. I couldn’t decide if it was an awkward silence or a loaded silence. Finally, I sat down on a stone bench next to some hanging bell flowers. Kylo set next to me, setting his helmet down on the other side of him.

“Tonight?”

“Tonight.” He affirmed.

“Kriff I- I don’t even have a dress.” I said, trying to breath evenly and not cry anymore than I did last night.

“I like the one you’re wearing.” He offered.

“A wedding dress, Ben-”

“That’s not my name anymore.” He said firmly.

I paused. There were so many questions I had, and I didn’t know which one to ask first. Maybe with one answer, a million more questions would come. But what I mostly wanted to know… “What happened?”

It was a whisper, barely. And so desperate sounding I almost wanted to smack myself upside the head.

He hesitated, so I probed deeper. “The last time you called me, you told me that you chose me. That you were coming to marry me, and the next morning, your mother told me you were dead. She said the temple was burned down, destroyed by the sith. What. Happened.”

“That sounds like something she would say.” Kylo said coldly. I leaned back a bit from his tone, and he sighed. “I chose you. I went to bed, knowing that the next day I would have you in my arms, and I would never let you go. When I woke up, Luke Skywalker was trying to kill me.”

I felt myself flinch at the information. Ben had always had a somewhat uneasy relationship with Luke, but it was never violent. They were often frustrated with each other, but Ben practically worshipped his uncle, and Ben was Luke’s best student. None of that made sense.

“I beat him. I fought him off.” Kylo bit out. “He was always afraid of me, of my potential. That’s why he was always holding me back, always trying to weaken me with patience.”

I paled, remembering the rest of Leia’s story. “She… she said the temple was burned. What… Did you-”

“No.” He snapped. “I don’t know how it happened. I think… I think Snoke might have done it, but I didn’t. There was… lightning. A lot of it. And then the fire happened, and an explosion and…”

I reached over, placing my hand on his knee. He stiffed for a moment, like he hadn’t been touched in all the years we’d been apart. It took a moment, a slightly too long moment, for his hand to rest over mine.

“And I found Snoke. Then the Knights. I killed- I killed Hennix. And Voe. The leader of the Knights, Ren, he killed Tai.”

I felt tears prickling my eyes, not just at the loss of some lovely acquaintances of mine, but because I could feel Kylo, through the force. Not as strong as I could feel Ben, years ago, but strong enough. I could feel the pain of him losing Tai. Tai had been his best friend, sometimes closer than even I had been with Ben. Tai was the first friend Ben took on the Millennium Falcon. The one friend he would brag to me about, so happy to bring him along on visits to me if Tai wasn’t busy.

Tai and I had gotten along well, despite some jealousy I had of him initially. Tai had a way of being friends with everyone, and talking to anyone like they had been friends of years. It was nice to have another person my own age who didn’t treat me like royalty.

I wanted to just pull Kylo into my arms, to tell him everything was okay, and that I’d do everything I could to make him happy again. He was keeping most of his mental shields up, not letting me feel or see much of anything, but I didn’t need to use the force to know what he felt. He had no one. His parents were gone, his uncle, his friends, everyone had either abandoned him, betrayed him, or he had been forced to kill them.

“Why didn’t you come to me sooner?” I asked.

Kylo let out a breath, turning to face me head on. His hands came up to either side of my face, holding me, thumbs grazing over my cheeks and wiping away tears I didn’t know I had shed. “Snoke said you were a weakness. If I had tried to pursue you earlier, he would have had me kill you.”

“Snoke has been dead for over a year.” I pointed out.

“I had… things to do.” He said vaguely. “The First Order took priority for a while. Things were in a state of turmoil, and I-”

I put a hand up, gently placing two fingers over his lips. “Forget I asked. It’s- it’s okay. You’re here now.”

I leaned forward, wrapping my arms around his back and resting my head on his shoulder. “I’ve missed you. So, so much.”

His arms circled my form, pulling me closer. One hand rested on top of my head, his fingers trying to run through my hair. I flinched at the tug of several bobby pins, pulling away with a laugh.

Kylo squinted, realizing what he had done. “Sorry. I, uh… you never really wore your hair up like that before.”

“Not when you came to visit, no.” I agreed, reaching up and slowly pulling out the many bobby pins my handmaiden had pushed in this morning. “Mother knew it wasn’t worth it to try and doll me up for your visits. All we would do is run outside and get dirty. You taught me to climb trees, remember?”

Kylo chuckled, glancing towards the edge of the garden. He pointed at the tree he found there, “That one, right?”

I looked over, seeing the same white-barked tree with wide, twisting branches. “Yes, that one. I tore my dress in three different places, came home covered in dirt and scratches. Mother threw a fit about my dress, talking about needing to mend it, and how the grass stains would never come out.”

Kylo was quiet for a moment. “Your mother.”

I had finished pulling all the bobby pins out, and let my hair fall down around my shoulders, my scalp aching in relief. The way he had referred to her made me pause, remembering what she had done.

“She’s a traitor to the First Order.” Kylo said, intent behind his statement.

“No she isn’t.” I said firmly. When Kylo frowned, I continued. “You cannot be a traitor to something you don’t belong to. There was no agreement between Amatia and the First Order.”

“You’re defending her.” Kylo said, his voice raising slightly.

“I’m not.” I said calmly. “She offered asylum to the rebellion without permission from me, and I punished her for it.”

“Where is she?” He asked.

“Locked up in her new rooms.” I said flatly. “She has no titles, no land, she can’t do anything to the First Order anymore.”

“Locked up in a grand set of rooms, three meals fit for a queen a day. Yes, such an awful punishment.” Kylo said bitterly. “She didn’t just go against the First Order, Jay. She went against me. You understand that, don’t you?”

I took a deep breath, trying to remind myself that, yes, I was a queen and would usually never let anyone speak to me like that, but Kylo wasn’t used to having anyone of higher or equal rank than him. This would take time. “Kylo, I don’t think she knew who you were.”

“She must have.” Kylo argued. “My mother would have told her.”

“If she knew who you were, she would have told me.” I reasoned. “She knew the First Order was coming, she never would have left me unaware that my fiancé, who I thought was dead, was going to walk in the door.”

Kylo seemed to consider that. He knew how my mother treated me as a child and teenager, the near obsessive level she would educate me and teach me. She would never leave me in the dark about something like that.

He took a breath, steadying himself before looking into my eyes sternly, unshakable. “If she ever helps the resistance again, ever contacts them, ever contacts General Organa, she will face a traitor’s death.”

“I’ll talk to her.” I promised. “I’ll make her understand, she’ll have to. Once she knows who you are, I mean… She wants me to be happy. She mourned you too.”

Kylo reached out his hand again, tucking your chin between his pointed finger and thumb to look into your eyes again, softer this time. “You don’t need to mourn me. I’m here.”

“Will you… will you stay here?” I asked. “I know the First Order moves around a lot.”

“I can run the First Order from here most of the time.” Kylo said. “On occasions where I’m needed elsewhere, you’ll come with me.”

“I can’t be away from Amatia for too long.” I warned him. “Unlike the First Order, delegation doesn’t do well here.”

Kylo sighed. “We’ll figure things out as we go. I’ve been away from you for too long, and I don’t intend on leaving your side anytime soon.”

We talked a little more, about things like the senate, and how Kylo planned on making Amatia the First Order’s main base, so the First Order would finally be represented in the senate. He talked about how he wanted to abolish the storm trooper program and bring back the clone army, even though General Hux was against it. He pouted a bit when I agreed with Hux, the clone army had been so expensive that poor people on Coruscant had died when resources like water and electricity had been cut off for them to be used on the clones. I wouldn’t stand for anything similar to it happening on Amatia.

I hesitantly mentioned the First Order education programs, and Kylo refused to budge on them. In fact, he changed the subject completely.

“You said you wanted a wedding dress? Right?” He probed.

“Well, I mean, kind of. And I know my mother would want me to have one.” I admitted.

“How long does it take to get one made?” Kylo asked.

“Um, I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Maybe a few days.”

Kylo grunted. “We can get married tomorrow.” He pulled out his com link, calling General Hux and quickly explaining that, “The date will be moved to tomorrow to give the Noble houses time to prepare. My wife will require a dress for the occasion.”

“Her size? Amatia wedding dress styles? Details, Supreme Leader. Please.” Hux stressed. I felt bad for him. He was a General, not a wedding planner. Generals strategized for combat, not for flower arrangements.

I leaned over, smiling in a friendly way. “My handmaidens can help you. They know all the local customs, they’ll practically plan the wedding themselves. Just tell them your timeline, General.”

General Hux paused, looking from me to Kylo. “Supreme leader, has she given up the location of the resistance?”

“Not on Amatia.” I said hastily. “The pocket of resistance fighters found here were transported off the planet last night, under my orders. Amatia has never sided with the resistance, and I had no interest in helping them.”

“And you didn’t think to turn them over to the First Order?” Hux asked angrily.

“Why would I do that?” I asked coyly. “Amatia had no affiliation with the First Order yesterday.”

Kylo turned his com link off quickly, turning to me with a sternness in his eyes I didn’t like. The ‘get your wife under control’ kind of sternness. “Jay… You didn’t know who I was, so I’m not going to hold that against you. But from now on, the resistance is an enemy of Amatia. They are your enemy. The enemy of your husband, your people.”

“Kylo, I know complete domination and control of the galaxy was Snoke’s goal, and maybe you pursue it because you think that’s just… what the dark side demands.” I said carefully. “But, for all his power and control, did Snoke seem happy to you?”

Kylo frowned, raising an eyebrow. “Happy?”

“Yes. Happy. Did Snoke seem happy?” I asked.

“No.” Kylo admitted. “Why does that matter?”

I stood up from the bench, offering Kylo my hand. “Come on, let me show you something.”

He stood, taking my hand and barely remembering to grab his helmet before I kicked my heels off and started running with him in tow. I rushed towards the castle walls, hiking my skirts up as I jogged up the stone steps to reach the peak of the wall, the stockings over my feet ripping as they ground against the rough floor.

We reached the top, and I pointed down towards the market outside of the palace gates. From here one could still make out people’s faces, and a few stood out to me. I pointed to a stall close by the wall, one my mother had marched me to almost twice a week for sourdough bread and secret cookies. Well, we called them secret cookies, but the only person who we kept the secret from was my father. He wouldn’t have cared, most likely, but mother telling me it was our secret made it special.

“See them?” The owner of the stall was a fair skinned man in his late thirties, too young for any grey in his hair, but the slightest tug of wrinkles around his eyes when he smiled. His wife was a short but wide woman with a friendly smile and a motherly voice. She had often winked at me as a child when she handed me a small strawberry cookie, telling me to remember it was a secret as my mother handed her husband the money.

“Yes.” Kylo affirmed.

“Do they look powerful to you?” I asked.

“No.” That was true. They were above the poverty line, as most people on Amatia were, but one bad month of business could send them crashing below it. One bad season for wheat, one sickness that was just slightly too difficult that kept them out of work, anything of the kind was always looming.

“Do they look happy?” I asked.

Kylo glanced down at the couple again as their son, a thin little boy about six, sprinted over to them, holding his head, complaining that his older brother had hit him too hard during their sword fight. Their older son, about eight, came walking over with his head hung low, both of their wooden swords in his hand. You saw the mother kiss her younger son as his father held him, her hand going to her belly as she laughed, hoping they got a girl this time.

Kylo was quiet for a while, before answering. “Yes.”

“What’s more important to you?” I asked. “Being powerful, or being happy?”

Kylo frowned, stepping closer to me and placing his hands on my shoulders. “I can have both. I have the First Order, and tomorrow I’ll have you.”

“Do you think I’ll stay if you’re massacring innocents?” I asked softly.

“If they hide the resistance, they’re not innocent.” Kylo argued. “They’re complicit in treason.”

“It’s not treason if they don’t belong to the First Order.” I said. “Kylo, if the First Order keeps behaving the way it is, the resistance is going to win. Not because they’re stronger, but because you can’t rule over ashes. The only thing left will be you, and people so sick of living in constant fear of you that they won’t care about your threats anymore.”

“You’re trying to turn me back.” Kylo spat out, his fingers digging into my shoulders painfully. I’d have bruises. I don’t care. “Back to the light. I refuse to be weak again!”

“I don’t know enough about either of them to turn you in any way.” I reasoned softly, bringing a hand up to touch his face. I brushed a strand of his dark curls out of his face, looking into his beautiful dark eyes. “I just want you to start thinking about your long term goals. You want to wipe the resistance out, what happens after that?”

Kylo faltered for a moment, questions popping up in his mind as he did so. “I- the First Order would expand to bring every planet in the galaxy under its rule.”

“Then what?” I asked.

“I rule.” He said shortly.

“And people will stay content under the First Order, after witnessing the death it rains down on every single person who dares to breathe a different opinion?” I asked. “Kylo, I don’t think even you want the future you’re pushing yourself towards.”

Kylo released you, turning away to look over the side of the wall, down at the many families gathering in the market to sell and buy for the day.

“What do you want?” Kylo asked.

“I’d love it if every planet prospered the way Amatia does.” I said. “Most planets facing food shortages don’t even have a shortage of food. Something keeps food from traveling it’s usual trade routes. Natural disasters, wars, greed of the upper classes.”

I took Kylo’s hand again, gently pulling him with me back down the stairs and into the castle. I walked him to the second floor, pointing at a long row of paintings on the far walls. “These are my family.”

I took him to the first painting, a family portrait that had somewhat faded with time. The husband wore a sharply pressed military uniform, his wife wearing the uniform of a combat nurse, and their two children dressed in clean, simple clothing. “The first of my lineage, King Troy Casshel. They came to power right after a planet wide civil war. He rose to power through military ranks, and once the dust settled, he was chosen to lead. He came from nothing, so the people felt safe trusting him over the noble born officers.”

I continued down the row of painting, casually pointing out which ones married in and which were of blood relation to me. Finally, I stopped at an extravagant portrait of a man sitting alone on the throne, fine robes and a crown on his head very different from the one I wore. He grinned like a mad man, seemingly in another world as this portrait was painted. “This is King Linol Casshel. He had a wife and three children, but refused to let them be in the portrait at the time. He had no sense of duty to his people. He drank his days away and spent money frivolously while his subjects grew poor and sick. He took money for public services and bought himself luxury spacecraft, and silk robes. And whores. Eventually, the people revolted, stormed the palace gates, and killed him. They hung his head up over the front door, and it stayed there for years, rotting away to bone. That ugly crown still nailed to his fat head. His wife tried to run but she was spotted and killed in the streets. A distant cousin barely managed to smuggle his children out of the city in barrels of oranges.”

I gestured down the line to the three empty picture frames decorating the wall next to his. “The throne was out of my family's grasp for three generations.”

We walked past them, reading the names etched onto the empty frames. Lily Casshel. Richard Casshel. Rindayal Casshel. The next frame actually held a painting. “This is my great grandfather. Rindor Casshel. He led a rebellion against the military that had seized power after the last rebellion, and claimed my family’s throne again.”

I turned to face Kylo, pleading with him to understand. “The only reason I can sit on that throne and wear this crown is because he knew what my father drilled into me every day. A monarch's duty is to their people. They outnumber us ten million to one, and the second they don’t want me on the throne anymore, I won’t be. Neither will you.”

Kylo looked over the long line of portraits I had led him down, then looked back to me. He gave my hand a squeeze, “What do you want me to do?”

“Make the First Order an authority the common man would feel safe living under. One he would be proud to work for, happy to see his children grow up under.” I said softly. “That’s how you make sure you stay in power.”

Kylo looked like a man torn. A man at war with himself and everything he wanted. I stepped closer to him, one hand going to the back of his neck to gently pull him down to my level so I could press a chaste kiss to his forehead. “I’m sorry. I know this is hard for you.”

Kylo nodded, staring at the ground as you wrapped your arms around him. “I don’t… I don’t think you’re wrong, but I don’t know how to do this.”

“I’ll teach you.” I whispered, hugging him tighter. “I’ll be with you every step of the way. I won’t let you fail.”

Kylo relaxed a bit in my arms, and I wanted to cry a little. Through the very thin, mostly broken force bond we had, I could feel how scary this was for him. He had been taught not to love anyone, and yet he had always loved me. He was taught to rule through fear and violence, and though he followed it, he knew it would get him nowhere. And the master he had chosen to follow had obviously not set him up for success, as Kylo had no idea what ruling a galaxy would actually entail. He knew how to fight wars and run a military. That was it.

I had to take this man, worn down, lonely, and violent, and make him into a King.

Kylo pulled back from me slightly, his hands going to cup my face. I felt it coming before I even saw him move. He leaned down, and my eyes fluttered closed right before he kissed me.

Kylo seemed to relax slightly, regarding you with a little less anger in his expression. “I see. And where exactly were you going to meet this friend?”

“The cantina.” You said quietly, noting how his expression immediately looked displeased. “It’s usually empty at this hour.”

“Still a cantina.” Ap’lek piped up. “I’m not exactly a fan of any omega of mine going to a cantina unsupervised. Too many grabby alphas.”

“I’ve never gotten grabbed at before-”

“Let’s keep it that way.” Vicrul interrupted.

“We’ll need to postpone any outings for you until after our next mission.” Kylo said, before turning to the others. “Snoke needs us to check out an abandoned Jedi Temple in the outer rim.”

“Search and destroy, or search and confiscate?” Ushar asked.

“Depends on what we find.” Kylo waved off. “Get the others ready, and you-” He locks eyes with you. “Come.”

He turns to head back into his room, and Vicrul’s arms go slack giving you the freedom to scramble off his lap and reluctantly start walking after Kylo. You hadn’t even taken a full step before you felt someone’s hand smack against your bottom. Gasping and whirling around, you saw Vicrul with a toothy smirk and playful glint in his eye. “Go on, then.”

You scurried out of the living room, following Kylo into what seemed to be his own room. He was tossing a few bundles of black clothing into a suitcase. When he noticed you standing there, he pointed to a door on the other side of the room, “Get your things.”

Confused, you walked to the door, opening it to find it led right into the bedroom you woke up in not even an hour ago. “Wh- our rooms are attached!?”

“Yes.”

“Why!?”

“So I can check in on you.” Kylo said. “Start packing.”

You glared at his back for a moment, mulling over the indignity of it all. Dragged from your room to be passed around by seven horny alphas, and forced into a bedroom attached to their leader who- the more time you spent smelled his ridiculously strong scent -seemed to be an apex. Made sense why the others followed him.

Your duffle bag was still sitting on the floor, unopened. You picked it up, looking back through the open door to Kylo. “I’m not coming on your mission, am I?”

“You are.”

“I’d just get in the way, I’m not a spacecraft mechanic-”

“Your purpose on this mission isn’t to repair the ship.” Kylo said, his tone getting snappy. “It’s to provide… company.”

“I’m not a prostitute either.” You growled.

Kylo stood straight, abandoning his bag to storm over to you and glower down at you. You didn’t move, holding his gaze stubbornly and refusing to cock your head. He wasn’t going to get submission from you this way, you would make sure. His scent might have overwhelmed you earlier, but you were getting more and more used to it.

His hand raised to your chin level and you prepared to get lifted and choked by whatever force nonsense he was going to pull, but instead, one of his leather clad fingers poked at your upper lip, pushing it up into your gum just enough to see a flash of your white teeth. “So, the little kitten found her fangs? Good.” He leaned down, his messy black curls framing his face as his deep voice got softer, more seductive than angry. “You’ll be needing them.”

He turned away from you just as quickly as he had stalked towards you, grabbing your bag out of your arms and his own from his room. “Come.”

You followed him out of the bedrooms, joining with the other knights in the living room. They all had their bags and were in various states of pulling their helmets on. You wondered why they wore them. They knew they were handsome, right? Like, all of them, ridiculously so. Why anyone would ever choose to cover that up when they could instead practically enchant anyone in the area with a pump of pheromones and a well timed smirk was beyond you. Or maybe they just wanted everyone to be terrified of them, and being terrified of someone ridiculously gorgeous was difficult. Horny and nervous could coexist, but horny and terrified? Not as easy.

“Doll.” Came an exasperated voice from Trudgen. “If you keep projecting how much you wanna fuck us in your thoughts, we’re gonna have to pop a knot in you before we even get to the hangar, is that what you want?”

You felt your face getting furiously hot at the vulgarity. You whipped your head around, looking at all the alphas who were all locked eyes on you, scents turning muskier by the moment. ‘Project- can you- can you all hear my thoughts!?”

“Hear isn’t the right word.” Kylo explained. “Feeling your emotions would be a better way to put it.”

“Well stop it! It’s rude.” You snapped.

“We can’t stop.” Ushar growled in warning. “Control yourself and stop blaming us.”

You shut up, trying to focus on very un-horny, boring things. Like paperwork. And gross old officers that demanded their caf in a particular fashion from you, like you were their secretary.

Following the knights out of their living quarters was easy. The hangar was harder. Always busy, crowded, and noisy, you hated the hangar. If it wasn’t for how cool the spaceships were, you’d never come here to annoy Bordi.

What was difficult though, was noticing Bordi doing last minute checks on the Night Buzzard. You didn’t mean to catch his attention, but one stray glance made him lock eyes with you. He looked relieved at first, finally knowing you were alive and safe, but then immediately panicked again seeing you get led onto the Night Buzzard by the Knights and Kylo Ren.

You just barely managed to flash him a grin, hoping that would let him know you probably weren’t going to die.

He didn’t seem to relax at all.

-------------------------------------

Your bedroom on the Night Buzzard was, once again, an adjoining room to Kylo. You huffed a bit, dragging the dresser to sit in front of it out of spite. Kylo must have heard the commotion, because it was quickly moved back to its original place by the force.

You huffed, sprawling out on the bed that you had coated in your blankets, decidedly leaving all of the Knights clothing in a heap on the other side of the room.

The adjoining door opened, Kylo stepping into your room without even knocking. “Stop pouting.”

“Stop holding me hostage.”

Kylo took a deep breath, leaning over the bed to talk down to you like a child. “You work for the First Order. Your job is to obey commands from your superiors, regardless of what those commands are.”

“I signed on to be a maintenance worker.” You protested. “Not- not whatever this is!”

“You’re still a maintenance worker.” Kylo growled. “You just live in different conditions, with increased pay, and more responsibilities.”

“Oh! Increased responsibilities!? Pray tell, are they anything along the lines of being a baby factory!?” You screeched.

Invisible bonds grabbed you, pulling you off the bed and forcing you onto the floor, on your knees once again, and holding you there. Kylo turned away, breathing deeply while stalking into his room. You could hear the clattering of glass being moved, something being poured, and Kylo returned to your room holding a glass of bright blue liquid. Spotchka. Yeah, he seemed like the type.

Kylo sat on the edge of your bed, the force moving you gently to rest between his feet as he sipped from his glass. “That mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble, little omega.”

You stayed silent, glaring at him.

“Did you have a boyfriend?” Kylo asked. “Before yesterday?”

“No.”

“A husband then? Fiance?”

“No, I-”

“Ah, so we didn’t break you and any love interest up? No future mate plans were ruined?”

“No-”

“Tell me, did you have any plans for after your contract with the First Order ended? Even Vague ones?”

“I- I was going to go back home, get another job… use the First Order programs to go back to school and get my engineering degree at my planet’s university.”

“Any family plans?” Kylo probed. “Mate? Pups?”

“Eventually, I guess.” You mumbled.

Kylo leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. “I can get you enrolled in an accelerated holo-course to fast track your engineering degree.”

“... Why?” You asked hesitantly. Fast-tracked degree programs typically cut out all the core classes not related to the degree focal point itself. No mandatory language or history courses, only the maths and sciences you actually needed to do your job as an engineer.

“Because I want you to be happy.” Kylo said plainly, reaching out to stroke the side of your face. “I understand forcing you into this position has disrupted your life somewhat. No more ‘eventually’ tacked onto that vague desire for a mate and pups. You’ll be mated to seven alphas within the next few months, pups within the next two years. I understand that’s jarring. Not having any control over your life is… frightening you. I can feel it.”

His voice got lower as his hand moved to stroke through your hair, fingers dancing over your scalp in such a way you couldn’t help but let out a chirp. He cracked a grin at that. “I know you’re stressed out right now. Would me telling you exactly what’s expected of you help ease your mind? I know omegas like structure and routine. Would that help?”

You nodded, and you felt the invisible hold on you disappear. You just scooted a little closer to Kylo, tilting your head into his touch and he kept playing with your hair.

“The galaxy is short on force users. Especially ones with any high probability of potential. The use of the force is difficult to explain but, imagine that everyone’s connection to the force is like a door. Some people have a door that is closed completely, locked, welded shut, there’s no opening it. Some people are born with their door cracked open a bit. Others are born with the door open a bit wider. It varies. We can’t afford to waste time on collecting any force sensitive child that might not have much potential, which is why we need you. Your door is opened quite a bit. Not as much as the Knights, certainly not as much as me, but fairly wide.”

He tipped his glass back, downing the last of the whiskey, and then continuing. “Producing pups with you is a near guarantee that our offspring will be strong in the force.”

“If that’s true, why are all of you using me?” You asked. “I can only be pregnant about once a year, and that would likely only make one pup a year. Wouldn’t it be faster to have… I don’t know, seven force sensitive omegas?”

“It might.” Kylo agreed. “But you’re the first we’ve found. Force sensitivity isn’t exactly rare in omegas, but it’s almost always just a crack in the door. Enough to sense others emotions a bit, and even years of training don’t produce a force user as strong as what we want in our children. And… sharing an omega… can have another added benefit.”

He leaned down again, nearly pressing his forehead to yours. “It means you’ll always have someone around to take care of you. It means my Knights have to get along with each other, even just a little, to make sure you and our future pups are safe and well taken care of. Less fighting, more teamwork. It makes my job far easier. I just need you to be… pleasant. You don’t need to roll over for ever command, but your previous attitude definitely needs an adjustment.”

He leaned back, placing his empty glass on your nightstand and patting his lap. “Up.”

You scrambled up, straddling his lap quickly and nuzzling your face into his neck to inhale deeply. He laughed at that, patting your back and rewarding you by pumping his scent out a bit more. “A bit touch starved, are we?”

The way his touches had you melting made you agree. It had been a long time since you had any kind of sexual or romantic affection. Even platonic affection from Bordi was limited to half hugs and shoulder bumps. This? This was bliss. You don’t remember adjusting as much as you did but a few moments later, instead of straddling his lap, your legs were wrapped around his waist in a death grip, arms locked around his shoulders, and your face pressed firmly into his neck. Every time you nuzzled into him, your nose bumping against his scent gland just barely coaxing a little extra musk out. You weren’t sure how long you stayed there, but you did notice when Kylo stood up from the bed.

He kept one arm under your bum, supporting most of your weight, the rest taken care of by the strangle hold your limbs had on him. He walked back into his room, setting his empty glass back down on a small liquor cabinet. He paused by his door a moment, his free hand coming up to pat your back gently. “Are you ready to get down?”

“No.” You said shortly.

“Very well.” Kylo relented, walking out his bedroom door, down the hallway, and into a common area that reminded you a lot of the living room and kitchen combo the knights had in their suites back at Star Killer Base. You glanced up at the sound of laughter, barely raising your eyes above his shoulder, to see the knights gathered around a table, plates piled high and mouths half full as they carried on.

“Well, she went from bratty to clingy pretty quick!” Vicrul said, leaning back in his seat and clapping Kuruk on the back as he did.

Ap’lek sucked a breath in too fast with food still in his mouth, running to the sink and coughing up his food while still laughing around the choking.

Kylo walked to the counter, loading a plate for himself. Doing so required he let go of you, but, stubbornly, you clung to him, not moving at all from your perch.

“Allergic to anything?” Kylo asked.

“No.”

He finished gathering his plate, walking back to the table where the rest of the men had calmed down enough to breathe normally and mostly finished eating what had been in their mouths.

Trudgen spoke first as Kylo sat down, adjusting you to fit a bit more comfortably in his lap, which you resisted by tightening your hold. “How’d you get her to calm down that fast?”

“Just laid down some ground rules.” Kylo explained. “Set expectations, that kind of thing.”

“Hm. That worked? I’d figure she’d be the time to try and smack ya.” Vicrul commented.

“She’s more of a cuddler.” Kylo waved off, nudging you in the side. “Hey, open.”

You turned to look at him, seeing a fork with a few pieces of roasted vegetables on it. Your mouth was open before you’d fully processed the situation, but the second the well seasoned root vegetables hit your tongue, you forgot to care. You chirped happily around the food, chewing and swallowing before snuggling right back into his neck. A baby factory might have been a bit of a harsh judgment on your new career path.

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