#ptap

Long ago and far away, in a village high on a mountaintop, two identical baby boys were born.

One was born a prince, and the king and queen were overjoyed to finally have a son of their own. Prince Kylo Ren would have only the finest.

The second child was named Clyde Logan. His parents loved him just as much as the king and queen loved their son, but they were worried. Clyde already had a brother and they were becoming poorer by the second. They had no idea how they were going to care for their growing family.

Many years had passed and soon enough both boys grew into the men their parents dreamed of. Kylo became a respectable prince, while Clyde worked long and hard as a tailor for the spiteful Madame Grayson.

With lives so different, it’s not surprising the prince and the pauper never met. But fate always rules otherwise in stories like these.

It began at the royal mines where miners had told the widowed Queen the horrible news — the kingdom’s gold was all gone. The small kingdom was now bankrupt, indebted to the larger countries surrounding it.

She had little choice. Her most trusted advisor Snoke had been away on business and something had to be done right away.

It came to her immediately, as if it weren’t her own thought at all. She had heard of a nearby royal family searching a husband for their princess.

——————

“We are late!!” Fast faced footsteps seemed to always be accompanied by sounds of frustration when it came to Phasma.

“You have 20 minutes — 22 maximum — to finish your fitting,” she flicked her thumb through the small list in her hand. “Then you have your lessons with your tutor from two to six. And then..”

Her voice always tuned itself out in the Prince’s mind. He was always so preoccupied with his thoughts that it wasn’t sure that he had even heard Phasma’s rant to begin with.

His mind always followed the same line in one way or another — to have one day just to himself. No one to tell him what to do or when to do it or how. Kylo wondered what is was like to be free, away from the castle, away from Phasma, and most of all, away from the idea of the upcoming wedding.

The wedding. He dreaded the very thought.

It’s not that he didn’t like the neighboring princess. It was the opposite actually, he found her very sweet and pleasant, and she certainly was pleasing to the eye, just not his. Another girl caught his gaze.

If he could just lift his head up ever so slightly, he could see out to the garden from his place up on top of the tailor’s box. And there you were, standing near a blooming rosebush with a book placed firmly in your grasp. Your brows were furrowed as you eagerly penciled in what seemed like a description of the rose.

To any outsider you were nothing more than the Prince’s tutor. But to Kylo?

You were his whole world and all the riches in it.

And how he wished you were the one he was marrying instead of the neighboring princess.

You were everything he loved. Intelligent, beautiful, eloquent; you treated him like a person. He was Ben first to you, like it should have been. Just Ben.

“Ben, are you even listening?” Kylo’s turned his head slowly. His mother? When did his mother walk in?

Leia hid her sigh behind a smile. “You look so handsome in your coat! Are you planning to take all the attention away from your bride?”

The prince looked into the tailor’s mirror, his lips taut. His mother smoothed the bloated white sleeves with her hands before adjusting the ruffles of his necktie.

“You have to marry her, Ben. It’s for the kingdom.”

“I know Mother, it is my duty.”

His voice was naturally baritone and he was never more grateful that it hid how he really felt.

Kylo was beginning to think every good thing came with a set of strings attached.

———————

The prince was beyond grateful when two o’clock finally rolled around. Stripping himself of the stiff and stuffy white and gold trim finery was just about the most satisfying feeling in the world.

He took a deep breath, now that he was finally able to, and walked into his small office with his new prize.

Through the castle didn’t own many books on it, Kylo had a fascination with crystals and stones. He had a small collection all kept in a little box in his room; his own little wonders within four wooden walls.

In his hand he held his newest addition — a flaming red crystal still partially encased in the rock it was found in. Holding the translucent stone up to sun made it shine a deep orange, his favorite color. Kylo held it as he flipped through the pages in his index, finger stopping when he found what he was looking for.

“Ben?”

He recognized the voice and couldn’t bite back his smile.

“(Y/N.)”

Kylo turned and held the crystal out to you with a sense of pride.

“Mother found it as she sailed back from Hosneia. It’s a ‘kyber crystal,’ according to the books.”

“It’s beautiful, your highness.”

The prince’s hand, along with his smile, dropped in worry. He placed the crystal down on the desk in front of him, alongside the textbook.

“What’s with the sudden formality, (Y/N)?”

Your eyes met his and it filled Kylo with a badly timed sense of adoration that made his heart ache. He sat down in a nearby chair and pulled a second one out for you.

“I will not be your tutor anymore after you get married, you know.” You paused, looking down at the stone, “I am just trying to get used to the transition.”

“You say that as if we will not be allowed to even be friends anymore. My marriage is not a goodbye.” Kylo looked at you, brows furrowed and lips pursed. He was incredibly troubled by the thought of leaving you as it was, let alone thinking of the wedding.

“You will not be living in this castle after you marry-“

“I’ll take you with me.”

“You will not need a tutor there, Ben. As much as I would love to, I can’t follow you.”

The prince frowned, lowering his head in temporary defeat.

“Then,” he pouted and shrugged as he spoke in an attempt to seem casual, “we should celebrate the last week we have together. Come into town with me?”

Kylo silently prayed you’d say yes. Going into town with you would mean going without castle guards, Phasma, his mom, or the idea of the wedding. It would mean being alone with you. Just you.

“Just me?”

You pat down your dress and with a gentle, demure smile said, “Of course, Ben.”

Kylo felt his pride swell up in his chest once more. To hell with Phasma’s schedule.

———————

Alderaan’s economy was suffering and it had never been more obvious. From the carriage he could see so many things he never realized about his kingdom. So many people lived on the streets, and so many were struggling to survive.

“What was it like when you lived here?”

Kylo turned to look down at you.

“Well,” you began. “Not well, but not as bad as this.”

The carriage stopped in the town’s main square. Banners and ribbons in fanciful colors were tied around the gaslit lampposts, making the square look lively and happy. Kylo knew that it was just a facade, something meant to just boost morale and make it look better than it actually was. The people looked desolate and weak as ever.

“It’s one thing hearing about how bad it is, but it’s another thing seeing it.”

He reached a hand up to help you down the steps.

“And it’s another thing experiencing it.” You sighed, accepted his hand, and trotted down off the carriage.

“Why don’t we change the topic though?” Your arm looped around Kylo’s as you two walked, the same way you had for years now, and it would have been a perfect moment for him if it weren’t for your next sentence: “Let’s talk about your future wife.”

He shook his head and let a slight eye roll slip through, “I barely know her aside from seeing her in picture. You know I’ve never met her.”

You followed your tuts with a chuckle. “You speak of her as if you hate her. I am sure she is not so bad.”

“The only reason I am marrying her is because Mother wants me to.”

You both paused for a moment as you looked up at him. “I am sure you will grow to love her. I heard she has an entire library in the castle, one much bigger than ours. She must have books you have not read on stones and other subjects you like.”

He sighed a soft “I doubt it.”

You unlocked your arm from his and glanced up at him. “You are so pessimistic, Ben! I will be right back, okay?”

You pointed at a market stand with sacks of a dark brown powder. Kylo followed your finger and he let out a silent ‘ooh!’ Kylo was absolutely obsessed with coffee, right down to even smelling like it.

The prince only nodded at you before going stay put in an area that wouldn’t be bothersome to others on their way to the market. He decided to plop himself down on the rim of a fountain, finding it a comfortable place for a temporary break.

He let his mind dose off. He let himself think of what it’d be like if he had the freedom to make his own choices. He wondered if he would have been able to properly court you, even if it were in secret. He wondered if he could get out of this wedding and still save his kingdom. He wondered the whole time, until his ears tuned into the family behind him.

“Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet.”

Behind Kylo, on the other side of the fountain, a man read to a little girl who seemed about 7 or 8. Kylo turned around, inching closer to hear more of the story.

Beside that man was another, fast asleep along the fountain’s perimeter with a wide-rimmed straw hat placed expertly to cover his eyes. The other man seemed to pay no attention.

“Now Mellie,” his accent ran deep; Kylo didn’t recognize it as Alderaanian. “You read the next part.”

Mellie looked up at the man, then back down at the page, squinted her eyes, then slowly and carefully read aloud, “'Tis but.. thy name.. that is... my en-ah-mee.”

Kylo couldn’t help but smile at how she read “enemy.” The man was teaching her how to read.

“Thow.. are-t,” she made a strong ‘T’ sound, “thai-self, tho’ not a Mon-tag-eu.”

“‘Montague.’” The man corrected.

“Mon-tag-eu.”

“Alright, Mellie.”

She beamed up at him, missing teeth and all, “Keep readin’, Clyde!”

The man, Clyde, flipped the page and continued, “What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part-“

“What’s that mean, Clyde?” Mellie spoke soft as ever, almost like she didn’t want him to hear and stop reading. He opened his mouth to respond when a shrill voice interrupted. “What exactly are you three doing?”

A woman angrily stomped over to the three with an air of intimidation surrounding her entire being. She had stopped in front of Mellie towering so far over the little girl that she casted a shadow that completely covered her. None of the three had answered her question; Mellie seemed scared, Clyde was indifferent toward the yelling, and the other man had done all but stop snoring.

“And what is this?” The woman snatched the small book out of Clyde’s hand, placing its cover under scrutiny. “You shouldn’t be wasting your time with stories and tales. You three should be working off that debt.”

She slammed the book hard on the ground near Clyde’s feet with a hard thud, then turned on her heels and walked away, her shoes clacking against the stone brick road. That was the blow loud enough to wake up the sleeping man next to them. He lazily raised his arm and lifted the hat off his nose.

“Whadda’bitch.” He cleared his throat and spoke with the same accent Clyde had. Definitely not from Alderaan.

“Look Jim, if I had a dime for ev’ry time that woman was a demon towards any one’a us, I’d have enough to pay off that darn debt and buy us a house bigger than the castle itself.” Clyde grumbled, leant over and grabbed the book off the ground. He dusted it off with care, hurt that it even touched the floor to begin with.

“Momma would’a never let that happen.”

“That was rude of her.” Kylo made his way around to face the three. “Why do you let her talk to you like that?”

Jim, still in a half-asleep haze, glanced over at Kylo, and stopped, and stared.

Clyde answered, “It’s not like we got any’other choice. That woman owns our whole ass’na’half bec’use of some two-bit debt she ‘olds against us.” He longingly held the book against his chest.

Mellie at this point had noticed the same thing Jim did. She stopped and stared, just like him, only more wide-eyed and awake to tell this wasn’t a dream.

“Some debt shouldn’t be the reason for her to treat you like you’re second class,” Kylo stood up a little straighter as he spoke. He walked closer to Clyde, offering him a hand.

“That’s mighty kind of you, Mister..”

“Kylo.”

Clyde finally turned around, almost dramatically. “Like the prince?”

And then they both finally stopped, and then they both stared.

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