Breeder ~ A Kylo Ren Fanfiction

47

I was having a dream when the door to my room opened, a good dream, where Shawn and I were playing in a field of white flowers. He'd whittled a pipe from a thick reed, and played a melody so light and sweet, it made me giddy. The creaking of metal hinges ripped my brother away from me, making his disappear like a puff of smoke in a strong breeze. I rolled over grumpily, annoyed that the harpies interrupted my slumber and ruined my dream.

Then another body flopped into my bed, a hand clapping over my mouth to keep me from screaming. It was Anika, her eyes wild, a small patch of hair missing from her browline as though it had been ripped out.

"Please, be still, I don't have much time," she said. "The First Order took me and my sister from Naharia when our people refused to give in to their demands. She already had a son, so they made her a Breeder, and me a concubine, until she- until they killed her." Anika took a long, shuddering breath. "Her name was Cyrene, and she would have been a great queen if she'd lived. She was kind and just and compassionate, everything the the Order isn't."

"Ladies," a voice said over the scratchy intercom. "You know the rules; out of her bed, Anika."

But my friend didn't leave, hand still covering my mouth. "When I first got here, I was so strong, so full of fire, and I let them take that from me, I let them win, but no more. I remember who I am: I'm a princess and warrior and a sister. You are a mother and farmer and the best friend I've ever known. Don't let them take that from you."

I wish she'd let me speak, I would've told her not to worry. If they'd allowed her to live after what she'd done at the banquet, there wasn't much else she could do to get herself killed. But I never got the chance. 

The doors slid open again, and Anika scrambled out of my bed. "Alright, alright, I'm going to sleep."

"No, you aren't." 

I sat up straight to see a broad-shouldered man in a black uniform standing in the entryway to our room. "Male guards aren't supposed to be in here," I said flatly.

He turned to me, smirking. "Today we're making an exception. Get dressed."

I hadn't been out of bed this late since Kylo Ren came to the Breeder Barracks to steal me away to have sex with him. That seemed so crazy, not just because of how much our relationship had changed, but because of how lax the rules were back then, any high ranking official able to barge in and take his woman whenever he wanted.

The guards didn't get all of the breeders out of bed, only a select few. Only the girls present at the Nahari banquet, I realized. 

They led us into the dining hall, but it had been redecorated, not into the glamorous style they chose when hosting important diplomats, but in a harsh, militaristic arrangement. That's when it clicked, the last time I saw this arrangement was when Ren brought me to see that old man's execution, but instead of standing up in the rafters with him, safe, we'd been brought to the lowest level, Hux waiting for us with a malicious sneer.

My feet stopped in their tracks, a guard walking into my back. "Keep moving."

"No," I whispered. "No please, they can't kill me."

"Don't be stupid, no one is going to kill you." He shoved me forwards. "Stand up there."

We were corralled onto a small stage and pushed onto our knees. I wondered if any of the other girls had ever been to an excecution- if they knew what was coming to us.

"As you all know, last week, we hosted ambassadors from Nahari on the planet, and it ended... poorly." He stalked back and forth in the open space, less calculated than his usual performances in front of his podium, but no less terrifying, more so, actually. He seemed unhinged. "I don't blame B-3018, or any of the Breeders, I blame the woman who corrupted them."

He gestured to a pair of Stormtroopers, and they dragged in a half-conscious body: Olga. I sighed with relief at the same time everyone else snapped to attention, making me shudder with guilt. How dare I gain solace from another's death? 

"This woman dressed the girls before every banquet, during which she allowed them to engage in prohibited and even treacherous conversations. and for that, she must be severly punished."

A severe punishment? Is that what you're calling it, Hux?

Executioners marched forward. If you didn't know what they were, I suppose they'd looked like regular troopers save for a black patch on their shoulder and a metal staff instead of a blaster. There was no ceremony, no preamble. They shoved Olga over, no awareness in her dark eyes, not even as her skull connected with the floor painfully. The trooper on the left lifted up his staff, a small switch turning on the plasma-like blade, and brought it down on Olga's neck, severing her head from her body cleanly.

A piercing whistled cut through the air, sharp and unyielding. It wasn't till the noise broke into a sob that I realized it was Voss wailing. 

"Silence yourself, girl," a guard hissed at us.

But Voss didn't let up, and other girls joined in, most of them girls I didn't know from the Breeder Baraks, but not all. A woman I'd never spoken to, about seven months along, screamed bloody murder, face redder than a ripe berry. I tried to catch Anika's eye, but they were cloudly with tears, two finally spilling over, one in each.

Commander Orion came forward and snatched Voss off the stage, dragging her away as she thrashed and bawled. The room filled with murmurs of confusion as more and more high ranking officers came and claimed their Breeders, separating us from each other while the troopers stood around, useless.

When hands wrapped around my waist, I tried to free myself, until a familiar voice whispered in my ear, "It's me, come on."

Ren helped me to my feet, leading me away from the crowd, holding me in such a way that prevented me from craning my head around for a final look at Olga's severed head. He only released me when we'd left the room, turning me around to hug me tightly. "Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not."

He didn't respond, pulling me tighter to his chest, stroking my hair. After a moment, the shock eased, my arms wrapped his waist, nuzzling my face into his chest, inhaling his scent. 

"I'm going to help you," Ren said finally.

"Help me with what?"

"Help you escape." He pulled back, tucking a curl behind my ear. "You're right, you aren't safe here."

My heart stilled in my chest, before pounding at an alarming rate. I swayed slightly, the blood draining from my brain, leaving me lightheaded. He was going to help me escape, help me leave Starkiller Base, get back to Greyson and Klint and Farrow. I'd be with them when I had my child and be able to raise him as part of a family, not as a weapon for the First Order. All the fear and sadness and pain over the last five months won't have been for nothing.

I touched his cheek, my thumb brushing the corner of his mouth, standing on my tiptoes to kiss him softly. "Thank you, Ben."