Surrendering to the Dark

Intertwined

I sat in a chair beside the fireplace warming myself while Ren paced in my room. The vision had left me chilled, the kind that seeped into your bone marrow. Vicrul had been dismissed by Ren and returned to the Knights' ship. The animosity Ren held for him seemed to have dissipated for now.

After showing Ren my mother's box and contents, he treated the Jedi sabers like they were poisonous, but was fascinated by the Sith saber. "The insignia on the box and medallion looks familiar, but I can't remember from where or why. In your vision, you were not yourself, you were seeing through someone else's eyes—someone male and very powerful. I got glimpses of it from you, but not enough to place your surroundings." Ren wasn't really talking to me, he was reasoning out loud. I just nodded every now and then.

A rigor overtook my body for a few moments and I shook so hard my teeth chattered. Hearing the noise, Ren looked up and frowned. Disappearing into my refresher, I heard water running. When he returned, he scooped me up out of the chair and carried me to the fresher. Peeling me out of my clothes, another tremor racked my body and my knees buckled in protest. Ren steadied me by slipping a muscular arm around my waist, then assisted my trembling body into the soaking tub. The water was scalding hot and felt amazing to my icy skin as I sat down. It wasn't long before Ren joined me. Sitting behind me, he pulled me to his chest. Allowing the tub to fill to maximum capacity, only my head stuck out of the water.

As tender as Ren had been at the Falls, this surpassed that. He held me in his strong arms while my tremors abated and my body warmed a small fraction from the inside out.

"Why didn't you tell me about the box?" His deep voice broke the silence and I sighed knowing he would not like my answer.

"You're the Dark Prince of the First Order—the Jedi Killer. I came into possession of two Jedi sabers. I was afraid of what you would do."

"You think I would kill you for simply having them?" he asked.

"I think if I posed a danger to the First Order by having them, you would eliminate me. I know I'm just a distraction for you and when you tire of me, you will leave in your ship and I will never see you again. The product is finished and the First Order has taken delivery of it in entirety. There is nothing else here for you."

I felt him flinch at my harsh words, but knew they had to be said. No matter what my heart was feeling, he was still who he was and I couldn't change that.

"You think you know everything about me, Princess?" His voice sounded far away in the past. "You call me a Dark Prince in jest, but don't know how right you are. I am an actual prince—the prince of a now non-existent planet."

I didn't know what to say so I just listened; hoping he would open up more.

"I have the blood of both Jedi and Sith running through my veins—an amalgamation of the light and dark, yet I am neither." His voice trailed off, lost in thought. He didn't speak again about himself or the past. Instead, we sat in silence until the water began to cool.

Getting out first, he quickly dried himself off before retrieving a large towel for me. When I stood, he wrapped my body up and carried me to the bed. I laid there limp, feeling myself cooling down again. Still nude, Ren tore a piece of fabric from my sheets and ripped it into two strips. Before I could ask what he was doing, a tremor went through me.

In answer to my unasked question, he climbed onto the bed and straddled my legs. Where our skin touched, heat poured from his body. Raising my right arm above my head using the Force, he tied my wrist to the headboard. Moving to the other arm, he worked methodically. Although parts of my body remained frigid, a scalding heat had flared between my thighs.