Rey yawned sleepily before turning on the side in her bed. It was the strong light that poured through the window that made her wake up, against her will.

All she wanted to do was sleep the whole day. And do nothing else. She was so drowsy, when she tried to open her eyes, her lashes fluttered back almost in an instant.

She wanted to go to sleep again, when she felt a gentle caress against her cheek. Then, she forgot about all the tiredness as she came to her senses when she saw his face coming into view. He was standing on the edge of her bed, looking at her. And she remembered that she didn't get to poison him last night. I wasn't strong enough.

"Rey, what happened? Couldn't you sleep?" Ben asked, his voice full of concern. "It's well past midday."

Hearing those words, Rey almost jumped from the bed. Sne snapped Ben's hand away from her face, squirmed away to the opposite side from him and swung her legs over the edge.

Ben left the chamber as her handmaids came to help pull her dress on her and lace her into it.

Rey knew she had to attend a new meeting of the council. She was happy that at least the king did not insist again with anything anymore.

That afternoon, she sneaked off her room and walked for the library. Leia had told her that there she could find books about anything she wanted to know. Her father had taught her to read when she was only five. Poor as they were, he had spared his time to make her know more. The only books they had, were the ones about Robert's Rebellion and about Aegon's Conquest. And those were stories for little children, with heroes and villains. But she liked them all the same. And she wanted to know more. She had never had such a rich library to display of, and she wanted to take advantage as much as she could.

Ben needed at least to see her before the meeting. Somehow, in a very strange way, she gave him the courage and strenght he needed at every moment. He felt like he was stronger when he was around her and wondered whether she felt the same when she was with him.

He hadn't seen her since the morning. And worries began to take over him. But he sensed she was safe.
Maybe she has gone to visit her friends, maybe she is in the garden, he thought. Yet he has just realized he was in dire need of her.

And his feet led him across the corridor and down the stairs to the throne room, and then another corridor and finally to the library.
He pushed the door open and closed it behind him. As he had descended to this place, he had become more and more convinced that was the place where she had to be. And now he was sure about that.

He felt strange, so strange. And even more strange when he spotted her among the shelves that reached the top of the room, sitting on a large cushioned chair, leaned on one crimson comfortable armrest, with her legs tucked beneath her. He stood there for a moment, taking her in and smiling affectionately.

He did know she was the best swordswoman he had ever seen but he did not know she could read, since she had been a slave. He did not know much about her, and knew that those beautiful but sad eyes told a different story. One worth listening to.

He approached her carefully. He did not want her to know he was there for he feared she would get angry all over again.
But as if she had sensed his presence, her eyes snapped at him. And there he saw it again, that burning anger.

"What are you doing here?" her voice was accusing, blaming him for everything.

"I wanted to see you." he said honestly. "Rey, I-" he began in a low and gentle voice, but she cut him off.

"Leave me alone! Please!" and he searched her eyes but she wouldn't look at him.

It was so frustrating that he wanted to help her but he did not know how, and she wouldn't let him.

"What are you reading?"

"The end of the Targaryens and the beginning of the Skywalkers."

He asked that not only because of pure curiosity, but because he wanted to get to something else, too. He wanted to know what she thought about him.

"Rey," he began and his words caught in his throat as he looked at her eyes. "Do you believe in redemption? Do you believe that a man who has lied and did terrible things can be changed?"

And she stopped from reading to consider his question for a moment. "I don't know." she said honestly.

He bit his lip and tugged at the pocket of his brown leather tunic. That was the place where he was keeping a necklace, the necklace his grandfather had once given to his grandmother. But now it was his. And he had promised he would give it to the one he loved the most, if he ever came to love someone that way.
It was not very much, just a green painted stone medallion on a leather cord, but it had a lot of meaning.
He was woken up from his thoughts when she sat up briskly, as if his presence embarrassed her.

    She smoothed her skirts with her hands, going to put the book back on the shelf. But he paced toward her and lightly touched her elbow.

   She turned brusquely, her shoulder-length hair snapping at her face. He let his hand fall. She had that frightened look in her eyes, the one she had had just a few nights ago, after their wedding.

    "What do you want?" she snapped, teeth gritted, as if she could barely contain her anger.

    "Rey, I... I have something for you."

   And this time she watched patiently as he pulled the necklace from his pocket.
  
    "It had belonged to my grandmother. My grandfather gave it to her as a sign of true love for the rest of his life. And I wanted to give it to the one I'd come to love as he had loved her. I want to give it to you, Rey." his voice was trembling with emotion.

    Rey stared at the small object in his palm outstretched to her. She couldn't understand her own feelings. Part of her still hated him and part of her wanted him to give her love. But she was not ready to admit that. At least not yet.

"Of course you want to give it to me." she said coldly, still avoiding his eyes. "Now you're stuck with me."

  And after she has just realized what she said, part of her hoped that it was not true, and that he truly loved her.

   Rey needed it. Rey wanted it. Rey craved it.

    And she was sad when he let his eyes fall to the red carpeted floor. Her eyes found his face. She realized suddenly that she felt a desire to reach out and touch his hand, his face, his hair.

    His hair, did it feel as soft as it looked? she wondered for a moment.

   "Rey," he said again. "Would you come with me at the council? I... I need you by my side, you give me strength to go on."

   "Yes, Your Grace." She said in a cool voice.

   "Please, call me-"

    "Sure, Kylo!" she snapped angrily.

   And hearing that name on her lips felt like a burning knife twisted in an open wound.

He led her out of the great library hall and they never spoke a word until they reached the council room in the one of the western towers.
  
    Rey sat quietly on the chair set beside his and took in all the attendants. The queen and the king sat at the ends of the table, Lord Kevan Lannister sat across from Ben, the master of coin and the master of whispers sat on their side, the High Sparrow and the Grand Maester sat on the other.

    "We needed to meet you for discussing some problems concerning the wars to come." Leia began. "We have been at peace for a long while, but now a new enemy appears at the horizon. Snoke's power is ever rising. And we can't stop it."
 
   But then Lord Willas Tyrell, the Master of coin stood up and spoke. "Yet you still believe your son, who had just come from the enemy's side. What if he betrays us?" he stared accusingly at Ben.

   Rey felt Ben tense beside her. And for a brief moment, she feared he would explode into Kylo Ren once again, blasting everything around him.

   But he stood calm. She felt a sudden and reckless urge to take his hand and squeeze it, to let him know she was there for him, as he had wanted. But resisted it.

    "He won't." Leia said, convinced.

   "If I would have in mind to betray you, I would not have come back, in the first place. You don't know that it is no easy task to get out of Snoke's walls. What I did back then, when I joined him, was a great mistake, but I did it for a purpose." he said and his eyes turned to his mother.

   And then, he continued.
 
   "And I would tell you anything you want to know about his next move. I'll tell you all I know. Though he wouldn't share much with me about his plans. "

   " See!? "Lord Mace snapped, pointing at him." I told you! The bloody traitor doesn't want to tell us! "
 
   " Enough! " Han's voice thundered across the room."Let's keep a decent respect among ourselves."

   And Lord Mace sat down, cursing and muttering under his breath.

   "The Wall has fallen." Leia's voice was solemn. "I have received a letter from the new Maester just a few days ago." And Ben could tell something was wrong, for she let her eyes down. He wanted to rush to his mother and spare her of that.

    "And Master Luke, the Lord Commander, is gone."

   Ben's heart caught in his throat. How can he be gone!? He wanted to ask his mother more, but was afraid no one knew exactly what happened.

    That meant only one thing: he would never get to see his uncle again and have a chance to apologize for all the pain he had caused him. And he felt terrible, for he had never thought he would want to see him again.

   "When I left, Snoke was scheming to siege Winterfell, and then Moat Cailin. I don't know how far he had made it, but I don't think he has much left. We need to send inforcements." he said finally.

   "What!? You knew it and you told us now?" the Hand said.

   "He didn't get to say it earlier." the Grand Maester defended him. Ben knew the old man was fond of him. He had known him since he had been born, and had always seen the good in him. As a little child, he would go and spend his time with the Maester  when no one else wanted him around.

   " If we act now, we could still keep the attack off for a while." The Commander of the Golden Company spoke. "For now, we don't need to sent very much men, they only need to make it to Winterfell as fast as they can. We can come with more for the upcoming attacks."

   "You're right. That could do." Lord Mace said.

   "Yet what about the Black Brothers?" Lord Kevan Lannister brought the topic back. "Have they been killed? Do we know if there's any of them alive?"

   "The Maester wrote me from the Eastwatch by the Sea. There are some who escaped."

   "But not master Luke." Han said.

   "Yet I know he can't be dead. He's still alive somewhere." Leia said.

   "Then when we're done with the Winterfell problem, we can send a patrol to search for him."

   "We could."

   "Look what has happened because of him!" Mace Tyrell yelled, looking at Ben. "First he had betrayed us and his uncle, the realm was finally at peace until he had torn the family apart, and a new so called king arose. Listen to me, he does not deserve to live, for he is a monster!"
  
   And Rey pondered everything about him. But there was only one thing that decided.

   "Yes, he is." She said angrily as the memory of Kylo Ren slashing his father with his sword and burning down her vilage played before her eyes. And she got carried away. But regretted it almost immediately, for everyone gasped in disbelief.

   "See? Even his wife hates him! I told you!" Mace Tyrell said.

   "Who knows what he has done to the poor girl!" Lady Selyse said in a worried, fretful voice as she drove her hand to her mouth.

   "No, you got me wrong-" Rey blurted out.

    She did not mean it, she had never expected it would go that way. All she had done, was make everyone believe he did things he didn't actually do.

   "Now I'm glad I didn't marry my daughter to him!" Lord Mace spoke again. "If she sais he is a monster, then I don't care about anything else!"

   "Yet who is she to speak?" Ned Westerling spoke. "Just a slave girl with no place here! Let him do with her whatever he pleases! Is it not her duty here?" he sneered at Rey. "Who cares about her?"

   "I do!" Ben shouted.

   And Rey felt him taking her hand under the table. She couldn't explain how she felt now. She had called him a monster, and he only reacted with kindness, in spite of her harsh behavior toward him.

   "You may call yourselves nobles, you may be wealthy. But she has something no one of you has. While your hearts are as cold as stones, frozen as those of the White Walkers, hers is of gold and warmth and love."

   And Rey could not keep her tears at bay. She felt terrible, she did not deserve any of this. After what she'd said...

   Then she felt his arm wrap around her shoulders." Do you want to leave?" he asked.

   She nodded. She was done with the meetings for today. And she couldn't let everyone see her crying like that.

   He led her out onto a large balcony with the view to the west. The setting sun poured a golden light on them as a rain. And, as they stood there, alone, he pulled her closer to him. And to her surprise, she did not pull back, but ran straight into his arms. She leaned her head on his chest, seeking his comfort. And she let her tears spill.

   "It's alright, don't listen to them. Don't believe what they say, it's not true." Ben soothed her.

   He began to rub her back as he kissed her hair tenderly. And she sighed with relief. She realized that she actually enjoied it, and did not want him to stop.

   But Rey slowly pulled away to look at him.

   "It's not them I'm sad about. I called you a monster, yet you answered only with kindness. You could have called me anything you wanted, a filthy child of the streets, a slave. Yet you did not. Why?"

   And he remained silent for a moment. "Because I... I love you, Rey."

   And she buried her head in his chest again with no hesitation, her tears wetting his tunic. "Forgive me, please." She whispered. "I'm so sorry about it."

   "It's alright. I'd forgive you a thousand times. You're right about everything. And... You're not alone." he said as he rested his chin on top of her head and stroked her back and shoulders.

   " Neither are you. " Rey found herself saying.

   Thanks for your read!