Chapter Text
In the courtyard, boxes of Esmerelda's things were being carefully deposited onto a First Order cargo ship. Crotta was seeing to the final details when Kylo came strolling through the breeze way, his daughter unconscious in the commander's arms. The old captain grimaced at the sight.
"What happened?", Crotta accosted. Kylo paid him no mind and continued onward to his ship. Crotta still persisted and stalked after them. "What have you done?", he asked, more frantic. Kylo haulted and turned slowly to face the old man.
"Captain", Kylo said, drawing infases on the word, "That sounds suspiciously like an underling questioning a superior officer".
"She is my daughter! I have a right to-", Crotta started becoming angry.
"She is my wife. You relinquished all rights to her when you agreed to that arrangement", Kylo drolled, passively. Crotta's anger bubbled to the surface. His pale face began to redden under his grey whiskers. If this was a preliminary insight on how his daughter would be treated, he would go back on his deal with the First Order. A small, strong hand found it's way to the old captain's shoulder. He jerked away in frustration until he met the wise, old eyes of Madori. She knew what he was thinking. To some extent, she was thinking it too. But if he were to break this bond with the First Order, Esme's life would be in more danger. Madori's eyes darted from her charge, still and dozing against the dark knight's chest, back to the old captain. No words were exchanged but they both came to the same thought. Esmerelda may never learn to be happy as Kylo Ren's bride, but she would always be safe. Madori dared to approach Kylo. He was losing his patience, and the dress the girl wore was unnecessarily heavy.
"Allow us our goodbyes, Kylo Ren. Then go", Madori half whispered.
"Get on with it", he huffed out impatiently. Crotta approached, and kissed his daughter's hand, whispering a quiet goodbye. The old nurse brushed a hair away from her lady's forehead.
A warm smile spread across Esme's face, and she reached out for Madori's hand. It nearly brought the old woman to tears, but she kept her composure.
"She will try you, but don't be fooled Kylo Ren. She is much more than she seems". He said nothing and turned towards his personal shuttle. All this emotional blathering was lost on him. More than she seems, he mused to himself. That was obviously a falsehood cooked up in the mind of an ageing woman who had devoted her life to serving a child. The door hissed open, a ramp was produced, and Kylo mounted the ship. It was not a particularly large vessel. There was just enough room for two pilots, a few soldiers, and himself. He did have the luxury of a kind of "captain's quarters" on his ship, and that was where he deposited his bride. Gently, he laid her down atop the black comforter. Upon contact, Esme rolled a little away from him and gave a face of discomfort. For a moment he was afraid she would wake before they lifted off. That would not do. A soft grumble of discontent escaped her and her brow furrowed deeper. Her body shifted to reveal her back, and upon closer inspection, Kylo found the source of the problem. The stays in her corset were laced and bound masterfully. He tugged where the ribbons were tied at the top, only to find that cinched her in more. His fingers fumbled over the contraption. His hands felt large, and awkward over something so small and delicate. Suddenly he was even more grateful for her slumber. Had she been awake, she would have seen clearly, he had no clue how to go about undressing her. The embarrassment at that thought made him scorn himself for such a petty emotion and line of thinking. Impatience rose to meet his frustration. A small blade was quickly pulled from his boot.
A steady hand, and one swift slice later, she was released from her bindings. A sigh of relief passed over her as the pressure left her rib cage. Once the bodice was loose, she kicked away at the skirt until the dress slid over her body and onto the floor. This was a sight Kylo never thought he would behold. A woman's clothing scattered across his quarters, and that same woman, scantily clad, wrapped in his sheets. A warmth rippled through his body, and that put him off very much. Since he had met this girl she elicited strong emotions from him. This was most irregular. He was quite sure he felt nothing so special about her, or for her. Supreme Leader had required him to choose a bride and she was quite aesthetically pleasing. That was all. Still, he had been made uncomfortable by her tears, brought to reason with her words, and amused by her pleasure at his appearance. It brought a fear to him, though he would not name it that. Sleep brought to her a look of serenity, and once again he found a warmth pulsing through his body. He slipped a glove off his hand, and dared to softly touch her face. To his surprise, she did not shudder or groan. Rather, she softly smiled. Then he felt it. Again. The call to the light. Kylo recoiled from her, shoved his hand in his glove, and stormed out of the room. The engines fired up and they began to lift off, with the other shuttles and cargo ships. Kylo seated himself at the copilot's chair, and shut his eyes. He needed to clear his head.
Several hours later, the shuttle approached the Finalizer, the First Order's main star destroyer. As Kylo's shuttle entered the much larger base ship, it began to shake and rattle. The turbulence from the landing jostled all the passengers. Including Esme, who had been resting soundly for the duration of the trip. The last lurch of the ship landing was still not enough to pull her out of sleep. Again, Kylo found himself fine with this. He wrapped her in his cape, and carried her through the halls of the finalizer. The prying eyes of storm troopers and other officers dropped quickly when Kylo Ren passed by, bearing the sleeping girl in his arms. A few droids followed closely behind with a few boxes of her things. They came upon a great metal door, with many more locks and security requirements than the others. Once finally in his suite, Kylo felt more at ease, though he was still reeling from the sentiments this girl aroused in him. He dropped her gently onto his much larger bed and this time, did not linger. He dismissed the droids and immediately escaped to his meditation chamber.
The day past away, and the light from the neighboring moon poured into Kylo's room, finally rousing Esme. "Ughh....my head", Esme whispered, sitting up in the bed. How long had she been out? Was the celebration over? She rubbed her eyes, trying to recall. "Madori?", she called out, still half asleep. "Madori! Help me up! I think I'm going to be sick...". She lay there, and waited. When no response came, she gave a frustrated grunt and rolled on to her tummy. Madori was damnably tidy. The woman was probably cleaning up downstairs. Esme swung her feet over the side of the bed and noticed, finally, the change in scenery and the absence of her dress. "Madori?!", she cried out again, this time panicked. Esme grabbed the cloak she had been wrapped in and hugged it around herself. Her stockings and undergarments were still intact. "Father!", she cried, fumbling around the room. Instinct led her to the large door at the center of the room, but there was a code required to exit. Panic struck her. Had she been taken prisoner after all? Had it all been an elaborate rouse? Pounding on the door with her fists, she cried out in frustration and anguish. The pain in her hands encouraged her to stop after some time. Her eyes scanned the room for anything that could be of use, or used as a means to escape. There were a few other doors. To adjoining rooms or closets, she did not know. Esme opened them all. In her quest, she found the kitchen, pantry, and a very pleasant bathroom, but nothing to aid her in obtaining freedom. She threw open the door at the end of the hall, and was met with the burned, gnarled mask of Darth Vader, sitting on a pedestal in the center of the room.
Kylo Ren had long since abandoned his helmet. He had not moved from that room for hours. His shirt and shoes were off. He draped himself on a small couch against the wall. His Grandfather, as was the custom when Kylo sought his guidance, was silent as the stars. His eyes turned slowly on Esmerelda. Even if he hadn't felt her energy change, her confused and frightened shrieking certainly announced her awakening well enough. The feelings she had awoken still curdled within him, none of which he had any use for. Shame, anger, curiosity, desire. Desire, he supposed was a key part of belonging to the dark side. Were it not, he would still be a Jedi. He wanted more. Desired more. More power. More strength. The ability to surpass his master. He had desired it, and he had taken it. He considered a similar approach with the Lady Esmerelda. It was clear enough to him at this particular moment that he wanted to take her. He chalked it up to physical attraction. If he allowed himself to succumb to deeper feelings for the girl, he would certainly share the fate of his grandfather. Then again, Esmerelda had been raised by an ally of the Empire. Padme was part of the republic. Perhaps, this time, it could be different. She was not opposed to the cause of the First Order, merely to the marriage between them. He supposed he could hardly blame her. He was terrifying. The girl stepped in from the shadows. His eyes could not help wondering over her form. She wore nothing but his cloak over her under clothes. He raised an eyebrow at her. She tightened her grip on the garment.
"Did you do this to me?", she asked him flatly, not sure she wanted the answer.
"I did not violate you, if that's what you mean", he replied.
"Then what would you call undressing a sleeping woman?", she shot back, curtly.
"You slept, you were uncomfortable. I released you from that contraption. That is all", he said standing from his seat on the couch. She attempted not to look at his body, or be intimidated by his large form.
"And my family? My home? Will I ever see them again? I needed to say goodbye", she whispered, beginning to get angry.
"There was no time-", he said.
"No time?", she cut him off, "No time for me to say goodbye to my family?! No time for me to savor my last memories of my home?! You just carried me off? Like a monster in the night?!", she barked angrily.
"I understand you are upset", he said. He turned away from her and crossed the room. Her eyes burned into his surprisingly muscular back.
"UPSET?!", she shouted at him, "UPSET is what I was when I found out we were to be married! PISSED IS WHAT I AM NOW!". Kylo Ren drew in a long breath, knowing he was in for a test of his patience. He opened his mouth to speak, but his delayed reaction just set Esmerelda off further. "No one has sited the resistance in months! We had all the time in the world! What you did, you did purely for your own selfish interests! It has nothing to do with your mission and don't try to deny it!" Esme shouted at him.
Kylo slowly turned his body toward her. He stalked up to her predatorily. His face inches from hers, and her body between him and the wall, a trickle of cold fear ran down her spine.
"I have no wish to deny it. I did everything in my power to leave your antiquated, back water, planet as quickly as possible", he growled cooly. Her eyes narrowed. She knew Kylo Ren's temper to explosive, and hot. But Esme, when she was truly angry, had a colder sort of malice. Her face twisted up in a cruel smirk.
Her eyes fluttered innocently, "Did it make you uncomfortable?", she hissed at him, "To see a father that does not want to send his child away?"
That did it. The words had barely escaped her lips before she was slammed against the metal wall behind her. No restraint was shown. He was choking the life out of her, hatred burning in his eyes. "You....stupid, ignorant bitch. You don't speak of my father! EVER! MY FATHER IS DEAD!", he roared at her. His eyes were burning into her skull, his face inches from hers. He could do it. He could break her neck here and now. No more of her demands, her criticisms, her insufferable attitude. But when her eyes watered, and her pale flesh turned purple, Kylo Ren dropped her on the floor and turned away, attempting to gain control over himself. Esmerelda gasped for air. Her hands found her throat and she continued to fight for her breath. She tried to stand, but found her legs were too weak. She was shaking everywhere. Still, she would not let him intimidate her into silence.
In a rasp, she choked out, "I was talking about my father, Kylo Ren. You're the only one speaking of yours". Again, a wave of the force slammed her against the wall. This time hard enough for her head to tilt back and bang against the cool metal. His lightsaber ignited in the darkness. He wanted to hear her scream. He wanted her to fear for her life. He wanted to feel the panic and horror reaking off of her. But he did not get the satisfaction of any. When he closed into her position on the floor, she lay motionless. A small pool of blood formed around her head, oozing from a gash in the base of her skull. He bent down and grabbed her by the throat. Her hazy eyes watched him.
"Where's your fight now?", he growled at her. Her eyes never left his, until they started to roll back in her head. The anger left him slowly as he watched her bleed out. Her eyes were open, her mouth moved but she said nothing. Kylo attempted to pull her to her feet. It would not do to have her die here. As he positioned her to stand, her slow, shaking fists swatted him away haphazardly, and she collapsed on the floor again. Even slowly losing consciousness, she would not allow him to touch her without some form of resistance, however futile it may have been. He was used to attacking soldiers, fighting men. This felt....different. She had not been there with him one evening before he had allowed her to get the best of him, and he had cracked open her skull. From a small data pad on the wall, he summoned medical droids to his suite. The staff and crew would know the story before it was ever relayed to them. A whole unit of medical droids coming to his room on his wedding night, it hardly needed an explanation. The droids beeped and fussed over her. They checked her vital signs, determined she had not lost enough blood to require a transfusion, and bandaged her head.
"Acceleration can exert rotational forces in the brain, especially the mid brain and diencephalon", the droid chirped at Kylo.
"Which means?", he asked incredulously.
"She has a concussion and will need to be monitored", the droid quipped. Kylo dismissed them with instructions to return every hour. He let his weight fall in the chair opposite of her. He could have killed her. He had wanted to kill her. He was ready to watch her suffer, slowly, agonizingly. Every piece of him yearned to hear her beg for death. For a passive aggressive comment? He was ruthless. He had killed for less. She was just angry to be taken away from her family. Even he could understand that. Had she even been wrong? Did it make him uncomfortable to see such familial bonds and love up close? Her blood remained pooled on the floor. This was hopeless, all of this. He could not be more than what he is. He would always be a monster. He would always be one with the dark side of the force. Yet somehow, that thought did not reconcile the gnawing guilt that settled in his stomach when he took notice of the bruises on Esme's throat, all in the shape of his fingers.