Gentleman - Kylo Ren AU

29 - Things We Shouldn't Say

Leia was not expecting to find her son blind and stuck in a perpetual loop. Rey told her that he stayed silent most of the time, the only thing he seemed to know with surety was that you were gone and it would be best to keep his mouth shut on the fact. The only time he got Rey's identity mixed was when she helped him to bed and he would reach for her, thinking it was you.

"I'll make sure he gets to bed tonight." Leia told Rey as they walked quietly around the estate, away from prying ears, beneath the hot June sun.

"Would you really?" Rey sighed in relief.

"Of course. He's practically been a child for the past week. I'm his mother, perhaps I can think of something."

Rey whispered her thanks and they fell in step once more as they walked along the edge of the forest. Leia had quietly arrived earlier that morning, snuck through the house until she found Rey and Eleanor cross stitching in the drawing room with bored expressions. The pair of them instantly perked up, wondering how on earth she had snuck in. No longer having a butler was inconvenient and Burton, Snokes valet was known for lurking around.

Apparently Kylo, Snoke and Pryde had been tightly locked up in Pryde's office since Sunday. Leia knew why. She read the paper on Monday morning on the train as she rode to Alsakan.

ASSASSINATION MAY LEAD TO WAR
AUSTRIAN ARCHDUKE IS KILLED; GIGANTIC MURDER PLOT IS FEARED

At least she knew they would be busy for sometime as their plot proved successful. She liked to think 'they' were just Snoke and Pryde. But she knew Kylo had something to do with it, unwillingly or not.

So she walked with Rey around the estate as she told Leia about all that was wrong with her son, and Leia told her about you, Fin and Poe. Not where you were of course, but that you were safe and on the mend.

"Snoke keeps telling me to use my head and think. But that's all I've been doing." Rey sighed as they approached a bench along the treeline.

Leia sat down next to her in the shade, their eyes looking out at the beautiful gardens. "He likes to play his games, believe me. I was subject to them for many years. Is there anything he has done repeatedly or keeps hinting at?"

"Not that I can think of." Rey replied after a moment of thought. "He kept grabbing my hands, but he stopped a few days ago."

"Hmm. Sounds to me like he was giving you the antidote." Leia supposed. "He likes to manipulate people into hopelessness. Perhaps he decided he preferred you both feeling your worst so he stopped putting it on your hands."

"That's horrible." Rey whispered.

"You best get used to it if he is to be your father in law."

Rey wiped her hands on her skirt a few times, her palms wouldn't stop sweating every time she thought about how she would be bound to Snoke once she married Kylo.

They talked some more about the future, Leia informed Rey that there would in fact, be a war. Rey wondered what would become of Eleanor, and Leia offered to take her to Crait Manor to wait out her pregnancy. She would be safe and away from Snoke and Pryde there. If only she could get her son there as well, but that would prove difficult with his debilitating control.

Leia could feel her heart rate spike as she made her way to dinner. It had been years since she had seen Snoke, for good reason. But she either needed to get Kylo out, or get Snoke to leave.

To her surprise, dinner was very uneventful. Snoke kissed her cheeks and played the loving husband while Leia imagined grabbing a butter knife and driving it into his chest. Then everyone sat in uncomfortable silence and tried to enjoy their meal.