Blue Butterflies and Black Roses

by midwinterspring

Summary:

Someone was bending the light around them so they were invisible. Phosphoromancy, the manipulation of light, was a truly rare Discipline, even rarer than her own skotomancy, manipulating shadows. There was one person she knew who practiced it. Ben Solo, whom she hadn't seen in ten years.

Oh no. Why now?

 

A Dark Rey/Smuggler Ben Witcher/Fantasy AU, written for the theme of Phototropism (plants bending toward light).

Now complete!

Notes:

Thank you to tmwillson3 for brainstorming this with me, and then for betaing it (and suggesting the title)!

Thank you to RFFA Mods aionimica and Viv for editing this!

Thank you to Viv for the moodboard!

The only Witcher media I'm familiar with is the Netflix show, so that's my inspiration here. (Hopefully this will make sense even if you've never seen the show.) I've played a bit fast and loose with the geography and placenames. Tor Lara is what I'm calling Aretuza, which is a mixed-gender mage academy in this world.

I also drew some inspiration from The Magicians (especially the TV show) and a bit from Adaptation. Again, this should make sense if you haven't seen any of the above!

Chapter 1: Prologue

"That's… distracting..." said Ben, turning his head to look at Rey's illusion. Nearly all the Rectors and Rectoresses appeared standing together in their finery on one side of the room, like an impromptu and impossibly lit convocation had been called in a dusty, disused storeroom in the basement of the Mage Academy of Tor Lara.

"Then look at me instead," Rey purred. She ran a finger under his chin and gently lifted it as she bent down to kiss him.

He did. He looked at her as she rode him, her gasp of pleasure echoing in the empty room as she came with his fingers on her clit. He came shortly thereafter, arching his back and neck under her. The Rectors and Rectoresses in Rey's illusion applauded.

She rolled off of him, and cuddled up against him on the blanket they had spread out on the cold stone. 

He laughed, still panting and sweaty. "Remind me why I agreed to help you with illusion practice again?'

Rey shrugged, her arm draped across his chest languidly. "It sounded fun?"

"It was more than fun," said Ben. "Although I'm glad you didn't include my uncle in the group."

"You're the one who just mentioned him!"

They both laughed. Ben's uncle, Luke, had been teaching at Tor Lara for longer than they both had been there. Ben was one of his Apprentices, learning to manipulate light and other kinds of Physical magic.

Rey breathed, not quite ready to go back to her room, and the normal world of her training in magic, where she was apprenticed to Andraea Snoke, a Rectoress known for her mastery of illusion. Rey's Discipline had been revealed to be manipulation of shadows, which could have been considered Physical magic just like Ben's. But Snoke had taken an interest in Rey since she had found her as a little girl, scavenging for a man named Unkar Plutt in the desert far to the south of Tor Lara and Rey had stayed as her apprentice.

Rey didn’t remember anything before she lived with Plutt. Sometimes she dreamt of two shadows walking away from her, deeper into the desert, but she didn’t know if that had really happened. Otherwise, she had no memory of her parents. She didn’t remember how she ended up with Plutt. She was small and could climb into spaces where Plutt and other adults couldn’t and find things that could be valuable. If Plutt didn’t think she’d worked hard enough, or found things that were valuable enough, he wouldn’t give her meals or would only give her a small portion. She did remember hunger from the time before Snoke found her.

When Snoke had stepped out of a portal in front of her, Rey thought she’d been out in the sun too long. What she said sounded too good to be true: that Rey was special, had special powers, and the Rectoress was going to take her somewhere where she would learn how to use them. Rey had asked if there was food there, and Snoke had smiled sadly and assured her that yes, there would be plenty to eat. That was enough to convince Rey. The woman had thrown a purse of coins at Plutt, then pulled her through the portal. She had never asked how much Snoke had paid him.

Rey tried to bring her mind back to the present, and to simply let herself bask in how sated she felt and how warm Ben’s chest was as she curled up against him.

Thinking of Snoke reminded her of something unpleasant though, and she shifted against Ben.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Oh, something I meant to tell you earlier. Snoke wants me to find out things about you.”

“What does she want to know?” asked Ben, stretching on the blanket next to Rey. "Luke's been training me to see through illusions–she'll love that.”

"I can tell her that. She's looking for anything, really."

"Luke… was wondering about you, too. Not prying, just curious."

Rey sighed. "So, this isn't remotely secret."

"Not from those two at least." Ben shifted onto his side to face her. "How is your training going, anyway?"

Rey shook her head. "It's been fine, generally. Hard, but you knew that. We've been practicing mind reading. We're working on seeing each other's fears.”

“Fears? How boring!" He grinned and played with one of her tendrils of hair that had come loose earlier. "Snoke doesn't have any more imagination than that?”

She scrunched up her nose. “What would you want to see? Or show?”

He let go of her hair and stared deeply into her eyes. “Better things. How's it going?”

Rolling her eyes, she groaned, “Ugh. Not well. I said that Kaydel was afraid of spiders.”

“She wasn't?”

“No," she said with a dark chuckle. "Turns out, she has two pet tarantulas.”

“So she does have feelings about spiders, just not negative,” he said, clearly trying to make her smile.

“Snoke was not amused.”

His eyes lit up as he lifted himself up. “We could practice.”

She sat up a bit, and looked at him in the torchlight. His eyes were utterly sincere. “Okay.”

“Let me show you something. Something good.”

 She nodded and closed her eyes, reaching out her mind towards his. There was a sense of something opening and then–

She was standing in a forest at twilight, completely surrounded by glowing blue butterflies. They fluttered around her, occasionally landing on her head or her shoulders. As they flew, tiny bits of glowing blue dust fell from their wings. She looked up in wonder as they flew away, higher and higher, and blue sparkles fell around her like snow.

“Beautiful,” she said, when the image faded.

“That's probably my earliest memory,” said Ben. “I stowed away on my dad's ship, the Falcon, when he and his crew went on a smuggling run. They were trying to collect the gem dust that falls from the butterflies' wings. Another gang of outlaws got there first, collected the butterflies, and ambushed Han and the crew. While they were fighting, I opened the butterflies' cages with my mind. The outlaws were also smuggling some wine casks, and I threw one of them at their leader and distracted him. It was the first time my magic manifested.”

Rey smiled, still feeling the wonder and peace that accompanied the memory in Ben's mind.

“Why don't you show me something?” he asked.

“Okay,” she said. “This is — this is something good that happened recently.”

She called up the mental image. When she felt his mind gently brush up against hers, she dropped her shields and showed him—

Snoke and her apprentices were in the highest tower of Tor Lara, rumored to be the most magically powerful place on the entire Continent. It was open to the sky, and they stood around the edges of the uppermost room as a storm raged above them. Each apprentice held a jar, and one by one they attempted to catch lightning in it.

Rey was terrified, but didn't show it. She held up her jar, and focused — Something hit her hand, and everything was bright around her, then dark again. Dark except for the jar, glowing with stored blue-white energy.

“Well done,” said Snoke, smiling. It was the first time she had ever smiled at Rey. Rey wanted to imprint the memory and the feeling of power into her bones.

“Amazing,” said Ben, and she felt his awe as the memory ended and he gently disconnected from her mind and lay back.

“Thank you,” she said. “I was the only one to succeed on the first try.”

"Well done."

Rey smiled, and put her head back down on his chest. They had been friends for a long time, since they came to Tor Lara as children. This part of their relationship, this intimacy, was very new, only starting a few months ago.

Ben ran his fingers up the inside of her arm, then paused. “Did that come from the lightning?”

Rey was puzzled, but then saw that Ben was looking at her arm. His fingers had found the healing burns that ran up the inside of her wrist, halfway to the elbow. They were hard to see in the dim light of the storeroom, but the difference in skin texture was more obvious. He called a soft ball of light from the torches and hovered it near her arm to take a look.

“No,” said Rey, feeling an urge to yank her arm away from him. She didn't, though. “That was from when we were practicing pyromancy last week.”

“What happened?”

“I messed up. We were working with a huge bonfire,” she said. “I need to be more careful.”

“Is that what Snoke told you?”

Rey nodded.

“I see,” said Ben. “So you and your fellow Apprentices need to be more careful with lightning storms and bonfires that you yourself called huge, but Snoke doesn't need to be more careful in making sure that her apprentices are ready to work with these things?” He dismissed the ball of light.

“This is how magic has always been taught. This is how she learned. With pain.”

“Should it be, though? Is it, really?” asked Ben, an edge of anger in his voice. For her, not at her. She remembered that despite his easygoing charm and smuggling stories, he also had almost as much of a temper as hers, when he thought something wasn't right. “She's not the only one teaching pyromancy and weather-working. Her Discipline is illusion–it doesn't even fall under Physical magic! Do you know how many of Luke's students have gotten burned learning pyromancy this year?”

Rey glared at him. “One or two?”

“None, Rey. None.”

“The other students are jealous of Snoke's apprentices.”

Ben raised his eyebrow. “Really? Who tells you this? Apprentices to other Rectors?”

Rey looked away. “Snoke says so. You know I don't usually see other Rectors' apprentices.” When they were younger, all the students who had started their training at the same time took their meals together, but once she discovered her Discipline and started training with Snoke, it was rare that she saw anyone else. Anyone other than Ben.

Ben sighed. “Some of the other rectors don't keep their apprentices this isolated.” He was angry and sad–for her.

“Snoke is the most senior. Her apprentices get the best Court postings," insisted Rey.

Ben sighed. “Snoke is using you for her own power and status. She'll chew you up and spit you out–she and the other rectors like her.”

“And Luke is so different?”

His voice changed, new certainty within it. “Yes, he is. It's not just him — Amilyn Holdo is almost as senior as Snoke, but her apprentices are happy and not isolated.” Ben sighed. “There's still so much competition, especially for Court postings. You're right about that. It's not worth it.”

“What are you saying?”

“Rey, I — I talked to Luke, and I'm leaving. In a couple of days. I'm going back to Refuge.”

Growing up in the desert, Rey hadn’t heard a lot of stories, and she didn’t know much about the rest of the Continent until she came to Tora Lara. But even she had heard the story of Leia, the Princess of Mustafar. When she was still a child, couriers had helped Leia and her twin brother Luke escape the cruelty of her father, Anakin, and his mage advisor, Palpatine. Leia ended up in the neighboring kingdom of Alderaan, where she was adopted by its rulers, and her twin brother Luke went to Tor Lara to learn magic. When Anakin’s army brutally destroyed Alderaan, she escaped again and met up with an outlaw band. Their numbers grew over the years. Eventually, with help from her brother and a privateer named Han Solo, she and her supporters snuck into the palace, defeated Anakin’s guards, and killed Palpatine. Anakin died as well, and some stories even suggested that in the end he regretted his past actions and turned on Palpatine to save his children.

That was where the songs and stories Rey heard as a child ended. When she came to Tor Lara, she heard the rest, some of it from Ben himself.

Leia married Han, and settled down in Mustafar. The city and its surroundings were renamed Refuge, and Leia and others worked to make sure the name was reality. Leia became Lady Mayor, and Luke had gone back to Tor Lara and eventually became a Rector. Rey teased Ben about being a prince until he said that Leia’s successor would be elected. She still teased him sometimes anyway.

“You're–why? To do what?”

“To be a smuggler. A privateer, I mean. Like my father. It’s what I wanted before anyone knew I could do magic. Luke has said he can still teach me, too, so I'm not giving up on that completely. I’m just getting tired of how competitive it is here, and I realized I don’t want to be a mage at a Court. Plus, I’ve heard from Uncle Lando that there is quite a market for magical items, but the average smuggler doesn’t have the ability to evaluate their quality. Sounds like a good niche.”

Rey looked down.

“You could come with me,” said Ben, his voice quiet and intense. “You'd be welcome in Refuge. Anyone would. There'd be work for you.”

“Doing what, exactly? Cleaning stables?”

“The Courts aren't the only ones who need magic. Luke could teach you, too, and you wouldn't be isolated or getting hurt during training. You could do charms and cures; you could make artifacts...”

“That's easy for you to say!” Rey hissed. “Of course you have a place there. I didn't grow up in a palace like you. My parents aren't living legends. I never knew my parents!”

“The Lady Mayor's house is scarcely a palace...”

“That's not the point ! Say what you like about Snoke, but she saved me! Staying here, finishing my training, and going to a Court is my best chance at belonging somewhere.” She didn’t say the rest - that if she stayed here, and became as powerful as she could, she’d never be helpless again like she was when she lived with Unkar. She’d be worthy, she’d be enough if she learned as much as she could, if she trained as hard as she could, if she used the Gift Snoke told her she had to its full potential...

Ben frowned. “I'll miss you.”

Rey sighed, shoulders slumping. “I'll miss you, too.” She sat up, and started putting her smallclothes and apprentices' robes back on. He sat up and started getting dressed, too.

When they were both presentable again, Ben looked at her. “If you ever change your mind...come to Refuge. Whether or not you're with me, you'll be welcome.”

Rey nodded. She leaned in close to him, and kissed him once gently. “Goodbye,” she said. She began to pull the shadows around her to hide herself for the walk back to her quarters.

He took his torch, turned to look back at her, then slowly left the room.

Notes:

I'm on Twitter as @midwintersprin1. Please let me know in a DM, on Discord, or by leaving a comment if there's anything I should have tagged.

Chapter 2: Chapter 1

Summary:

She sensed him scanning her wards. She stepped forward, unfurling from the shadows. “Ben? What are you doing here?” she hissed.

 

She heard a gasp, and then suddenly Ben was standing there, no longer hiding behind the light.

Notes:

Thank you to everyone who has read and commented so far!

10 Years Later

 

Someone was approaching Rey's tower. They passed between two of the rowan trees that were widely spaced around the perimeter of her land. There was no spike of danger yet from the wards. If they were a mage and came here with malicious intent, they would find their magic greatly weakened. If they were not a mage and had malicious intent–there were other wards for that.

She looked at the field in front of her gate, while hidden in the shadows of the ancient yew at the corner of her tower. No one was there. No... that wasn't quite it. The grass was moving a bit strangely. The light was wrong in one patch of the field.

Something was very familiar about this.

With her magic, she pulled a bit of the shadows under the tall grass, and moved them to where the light looked wrong. Sure enough, they didn't move the way they would have if there was nothing there.

So. Someone was bending the light around them so they were invisible. Phosphoromancy, the manipulation of light, was a truly rare Discipline, even rarer than her own skotomancy, manipulating shadows. There was one person she knew who practiced it. Ben Solo, whom she hadn't seen in ten years.

Oh no. Why now? She hadn’t expected him to come back to Tor Lara while she was finishing training, certainly, or even to show up in Court in Chandrila, although she was sure he could have charmed his way in. But after...As angry and abandoned as she had felt when he left the Mage Academy, she would have been glad to see him in those first lonely months when she had left the Court and her dreams of a life as a King’s Mage behind. She was sure the gossip would have reached Refuge, or wherever he was. After all, she had learned an astounding amount about what was happening on the Continent from listening in taverns and buying the right people drinks, and listening to what they didn’t say. It wasn’t that different from Snoke’s training in how to navigate and manipulate her way around Courts. She would be so proud, Rey thought bitterly.

She pulled the shadows around her and watched, careful not to step on the fritillaria and hellebores that grew in the shade. Her old anger at Ben twisted her stomach and narrowed her eyes into a glare. But there was longing too. She realized she wanted to see him again. Something in her yearned for him and reached for him, like one of her plants reaching for the light.

She wasn’t sure if it made her more or less angry with him that she had ended up doing what he suggested after all. She did magic outside of the Courts, away from Tor Lara’s network. She made charms and cures, and sold them for high prices to those who could afford them. She cultivated a mysterious reputation enhanced by the ruined tower she had found and fixed up to live in, and her extensive garden full of rare plants, many of which were poisonous.

The odd distortion of the light stopped in front of her gate. She sensed him scanning her wards. She stepped forward, unfurling from the shadows. “Ben? What are you doing here?” she hissed.

She heard a gasp, and then suddenly Ben was standing there, no longer hiding behind the light. It was her turn to be startled. She hadn't seen him in so long. He somehow became more attractive in the past 10 years - or maybe she simply forgot the intensity of his gaze, and the way the black waves of his hair framed his expressive face. His well-fitted tan leather jerkin and cuffed knee-high boots were certainly more appealing than the apprentice's robes he had been wearing the last time she had seen him. The light refracted around him a bit oddly in the lingering signature of his Discipline, making him almost glow against the landscape.

“Rey. The Lady of the Black Roses. Your reputation precedes you,” he said, smiling. He was trying to be charming. It only made her angrier.

“What have you heard?” The courtly language she had been trained in came back to her, even though it had been years since she had needed it. She took a step closer to him.“That I bend the shadows? Of course I do. That I can call the lightning? You know I can. You've seen it. That I am fueled by my rage? Yes. And so should everyone be, if they were paying attention. That I have killed, with my hands and with my herbs? Yes. I have.” 

He didn't say anything, just stood there listening and watching as she continued. “But did they tell you that I treat the ones that no courtly mage would treat? Did they tell you that I give tincture of hellebore to those who need it, and ask no fee? That I heal those who have nowhere else to go? Sometimes the difference between poison and medicine is the dose.” The shadows around her writhed —the signature of her magic, and more pronounced when she was upset.

“I know,” said Ben mildly. “I've sent people to you before.”

That brought her up short. “You have?”

“Yes. People I met, in my travels. If they needed something I couldn't get, or if they couldn't pay, I told them about you.”

“You knew about me, and my work?” she asked, shocked. She hadn’t forgotten what it was like to grow up in poverty, or to need help getting out of a bad situation, so she did what she could for others who needed help, with the tools she had - plants, magic, stealth, and careful observation of people.

“Of course.”

“Then why didn't you come sooner?” Rey couldn't help the desperation that squeezed out into her voice.

“When you got the posting to the Court at Chandrila, I was so glad for you. It was what you had always wanted, and I didn't want to disturb you or get in the way.”

“You couldn't have messed anything up as badly as the King of Chandrila did,” Rey said dismissively.

“I know. The whole continent knew, after you set his throne room on fire.” She had done it in a sudden burst of temper, a long time in coming. The King had paid far more attention to her body than her advice, and after he had belittled and humiliated her in front of his Cabinet again, disregarded her recommendations, and expected her to clean up the resulting mess—That had been that, and she didn’t regret it.

“That was the least that he deserved, but I made my point. But after that—” 

“After that, things were busy for me. I'm sorry. Then you seemed to be getting established here… Again, I didn't want to get in the way.” He sighed. “Why didn't you come find me?

“You're harder to find than me. You've kept a lower profile.” It was a flimsy excuse and she knew it. While his exact location at any given time was hard to pin down, stories about him circulated throughout taverns and village squares. Her ears would always prick up when she heard his name mentioned, and she always felt nervous, hoping whatever the story was would end well for him.

“Still. You can't tell me that you, the most powerful — or at least most blatant — magic user outside Tor Lara's network, can't find someone in the magical underground?”

“Fine,” she spat. “Yes, I tried to find out how you were doing. I just… didn't want to disturb you, either. From what I heard, it sounded like you were doing what you wanted to be doing. And besides,” she added more quietly, “I didn't want to hear you say I told you so!” She felt ashamed of that part.

“I wouldn't have,” he said, very softly. “I really hoped your Court posting would go well. I wanted you to be happy.”

She thought her heart would break at the sheer stupidity of it — that they stayed away from each other for so long for no reason at all. It was easier to be annoyed with him than feel sad, so she held onto that. It had to be enough.

“So, the Continent's second-most-famous smuggler turns up at my gate because… he wants me to be happy?” 

“Oh… Well… I — I took a contract to get a Ghost Orchid for a client. And I heard you had one." He looked at her with a hopeful expression.

“What?”

Ben looked down and ran one hand through his thick black hair. “I thought – I didn't really think it through. I just wanted to see you. I thought I could come here, and ask you… for a cutting of the orchid.”

Rey raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously. Look, I can show you. In my memory. If you want.” He looked so uncertain now — a lot like the last time she had seen him.

Rey sighed. She was well-warded against mental manipulation, as she had been every day she had been away from Snoke. Peeking into his mind wouldn't hurt her. “All right,” she said, and closed her eyes.

His shields dropped, allowing her to view  the scene as he had seen it. Touching Ben mind-to-mind felt good. She had forgotten that. She tried to hide that emotion from him, probably futilely, as she watched the scene that he showed her.

He had plenty of contracts, he was thinking, even as he inspected the coins the man had laid out on the table. In the background, he could hear a raucous conversation and someone playing a lute on the other side of the tavern.

“This would be half your payment upfront, and the other half on delivery of the Ghost Orchid. They grow in the swamps to the south… and there are rumors that the Lady of the Black Roses has them in her greenhouses.”

Rey, Ben thought. He did have enough contracts to keep him busy, to be sure, but it would be good to see her again. It had been so long… 

He looked up at the man sitting across the table, with his neat black hair and pale, clean-shaven face. “Sure. I'll do it.”

Rey pulled back from Ben’s mind, startled. “That was Mitaka!”

“Who?” The connection hadn't quite broken, and she felt genuine puzzlement from him.

“He works for Rectoress Snoke. Dopheld Mitaka. You wouldn't have seen him around the Academy unless you spent a lot of time with her and her apprentices.”

“This isn't good, is it?” asked Ben. Her disturbed expression and their lingering connection must have given that away.

“No! No, it is not. How far did you go with your botany classes?”

Ben shrugged. “Not very far, honestly. I'm pretty sure we never covered Ghost Orchids.”

“A skilled mage can prepare a poison from the Ghost Orchid that is tremendously poisonous to magic users. It's unpleasant but rarely fatal to people without magical talent. I could make that poison.”

“And let me guess… so could Snoke?”

“I'm sure of it.” Rey sighed. “I knew I would have to confront her at some point – I wasn't expecting it to be quite so soon.”

Ben's eyes narrowed. “You think the poison is for you?”

“I saw Mitaka a few months ago. When I went into town to meet a client. He said I was drawing too much attention to myself as a mage outside of the Academy's network. And a few months before that, the Mayor of Endor suddenly forbid mages not officially connected to Tor Lara operating in her village, when she had never cared before. Something about the whole thing just smelled like Snoke.”  She shrugged. “I haven't stopped what I'm doing, that's for sure.”

“I'm away from the Academy, too.”

“I don't think she would hire you to get poison for yourself. Besides, she wouldn't risk angering your mother and uncle. Refuge has many allies at the moment.” Something else occurred to Rey. “As far as she knows, I hate you.”

“Do you?”

Rey shook her head slowly. “No, not anymore. I told her I did when you left though, and she believed it. Because I believed it, then.”

“Maybe she thought we'd fight, if I came here. If things escalated, and you happened to get hurt, well…”

“Convenient for her," she muttered. Easier than trying to get to Rey when she left her tower to meet with a client.

“Well, we haven't killed each other yet.”

“No, somehow we have not.” Now, looking at him, still feeling a slight hint of his presence where their mental connection hadn't quite broken; killing him was not at all what she wanted. It never had been. She could barely even maintain her anger at him.

“How–- how has it been at the Academy lately? Has Luke said anything?”

“I haven't seen him for a few months. Last time though… he didn't seem happy about how some of the apprentices were being treated." Ben made a face. Clearly he wasn't happy about it, either.

“Still?”

“There are more Rectors who think like him, but Snoke still has supporters, too. Fewer and fewer of them.”

Rey grew more agitated. “So she's moving to get rid of me so she has fewer things to worry about?”

“Could be. Having someone who slipped out of her grasp makes her look bad, too. It reminds others that it's possible. That they could succeed without her.”

Rey sighed. “I have to deal with this.”

Ben stepped forward. "Maybe I could help, if you want me to."

Rey looked at him. “You don't have to get involved. I can take care of this.”

“I know. But I am involved. I have been since I met with Mitaka.”

Rey observed him carefully. He could be a good ally. Having someone with a smuggler's skills around for this would be very helpful. And she really had missed him terribly. She wasn't completely sure how fully she could trust him, but she could look out for herself. She always had.

“So, do you have any brilliant plans?” she asked.

Ben shrugged, his arms spread wide. “Get to the Academy, get in somehow, confront Snoke?”

“How are you such a good smuggler when this is the level of your planning?” Her voice was exasperated, but she couldn't hide the affection in it as well.

“I improvise better on the fly, honestly.”

Rey shook her head. "How did you get here anyway? You don't look like you walked from Refuge." It would have been a day's journey by foot.

"I rode. I left Grimtaash outside your rowans."

"Grimtaash?"

Ben smiled. "My horse. She really doesn't like people who aren't me, if you're wondering whether she'll get stolen."

"Ah. And you did notice the rowans."

He noded ruefully. "I did pay attention in the one botany class I took, yes."

"So why did you make yourself invisible, then, if you knew it was warded?"

"So you'd know it was me."

Rey shook her head, laughing in spite of herself. "Ben. I can't believe you. Except, well, I can. I hope that's a good thing."

"I hope so, too."

"Well. If we are going up against Snoke, we need to be protected against her illusions.” She remembered some startlingly lifelike demonstrations of her power. There was the illusory feast Snoke had conjured soon after Rey had come to Tor Lara, seemingly real in smell and even taste, but simply vanishing on her tongue when she had tried to eat some food. It wasn’t until much later that Rey understood how knowingly cruel Snoke had been. She had also seen Snoke conjure illusions of her students’ fears when they were least expecting it. Rey tried not to shudder, and continued, “Do I remember correctly that you can see through them? How easy is that for you?"

"I can," said Ben, "because of my Discipline. It's almost automatic."

"I have an ointment I can put in my eyes, and I can bring some for backup in case something goes wrong with your 'almost'. We'll need to counter other sensory illusions as well. I have a tincture for that. It's exceptionally foul tasting - that's how you know it's working."

"Sounds… good."

She grimaced. "In countering illusion magic, the most unpleasant thing is usually the real one, alas. Unless you're a phosphoromancer, apparently."

"You assume phosphoromancy is pleasant. And I didn't realize skotomancy involved so many bad tastes - or plants."

"Oh," said Rey, with a little grin. "Well, I mean, I can grow plants with unusual shade requirements, or change their properties by changing the amount of light they get or don't get. Plus, I've gotten some interesting results from normally night blooming things."

"That's interesting...if we–" He stopped.

She smiled. "If we worked together, we could do some interesting things? Grow plants with truly unusual day and night cycles? Be as stealthy or as noticeable as we want?"

Ben nodded.

"Yes, I think so too. I hope one of those interesting things is successfully confronting Snoke." She sighed. "Oh, and if you don’t normally ward yourself against mental manipulation, do that.”

“I generally do,” said Ben.

“Good. So, how were you supposed to get in touch with Mitaka once you got this plant?" asked Rey.

"Leave a message with the barkeep at The Furious Ferret, in Naboo. Mitaka will be checking in there once a day, starting three days from now."

"Hmm," said Rey. "That doesn't sound like a good option for figuring out a way into the Academy. Got any secret smuggler routes in?"

"The sewers are traditional," said Ben with a smirk. "But no, I don't think we need to go through that. The town around the Academy has grown since you were there, and the Academy itself isn't as closed to visitors, at least not in some of the outer chambers. From there, I can easily get us further inside. Luke let me in on some less well-known routes, and I’ve been back in a few times since I left officially. If we scout in the town, we might even find a student who would let us back in."

"Really?" she asked in surprise. "I rarely got breaks to go into town when I was an apprentice. We tended to stay in the Academy."

Ben looked at her sadly. “I’m sorry our experiences there were so different. I wanted something better for you. I still do.”

Rey sighed. "I know. I’ve learned. Let's do this."

Notes:

The name "phosphoromancy" for magical manipulation of light, and the idea of making something invisible by bending the light around it come from the show The Magicians (and possibly from the books? It's been a while.) Grouping manipulation of light and shadows under Physical magic also comes from the show/books.

The Plants!
(Nothing I write in fics or notes should be considered medical advice!)

Rowan Here's an introduction to the folklore of rowan that mentions it as a protection against hostile magic. The rowan perimeter is a reference to an Irish practice of flanking the front and back doors of houses with rowan trees

Frittilaria It's a pretty shade plant that was blooming when I started writing this fic.

Hellebore A very poisonous plant. Rey is referring to its past use as an abortifacient.

Ghost Orchid The ghost orchid mention in this fic is inspired by the movie Adaptation, which is inspired by the book The Orchid Thief. Here's a cool article with photos about ghost orchids being pollinated by moths. Mothlo AU of this AU?!

Chapter 3: Chapter 2

Summary:

"I shouldn't have left you behind at the Academy."

"You were right to leave."

"I'm not — that's not the point. I abandoned you, and I won't abandon you again."

Notes:

Happy Halloween!

It took time for them to get ready. Rey changed into her worn brown and tan traveling clothes and a dark green cowl to hide her face. Hopefully anyone looking for her would expect her normal, dramatic black and jewel-toned clothing, and not something simpler, meant to blend into the natural world. She had the ointment and tincture ready, and packed them into her belt pouch. She renewed her spells against manipulation, feeling the magical energy soak into her skin.

She went out to the pasture where her horse, Daisy, grazed, protected by distance, a stone wall, and magic from the spread of her most poisonous plants. She saddled her and loaded her saddlebags with food and waterskins.

Be safe. Take care, she whispered to her wards and her land as she rode out to where Ben was waiting. She went regularly to the nearest villages, but this would be the furthest she’d traveled in a while. And she’d never been back to Tor Lara after she had gotten her Court posting.

When she passed through the rowans, she saw him as he had promised. She was alert to the possibility of an ambush, but no, he really was alone, sitting against a tree holding his horse's reins. It was a cool day for early summer, especially in the shade, and he was wearing a dark grey cloak, hiding his fine leather jerkin. His boots still seemed a bit conspicuous, with their brass buttons and embroidered folded cuffs. Then again, he was probably used to simply bending the light to not be seen.

She thought of something. "Can you bend the light around something the size of a horse?"

"I can," Ben said, standing up. "Two horses and two riders would be harder. Grimtaash would have to be okay with your horse being very close to her."

"Her name is Daisy." The two mares eyed each other, but stayed still. So far, so good, but she didn't want to push it. "I normally could do a simple illusion to keep us inconspicuous, but doing illusion magic while also having anti-illusion magic active is… truly difficult."

"Honestly, most of the time I just act like what I'm doing is perfectly normal and I have every right to be where I am," he said with a small shrug. "Tends to work."

"Sounds like something a prince would say," said Rey, but without any real anger. They seemed to be falling back into their old banter. Another thing she had missed. She and Ben used to talk for hours at the Academy, sometimes keeping up a constant stream of friendly teasing. After he’d left, she kept thinking of things she wanted to tell him as she went about her day, until she remembered she wouldn’t be sneaking into the storerooms to see him anymore. She had almost forgotten what it was like not to feel lonely.

"Or a smuggler, you know,” said Ben. “Most of the time, I'm not doing it in my mother's house. Seriously, it works.”

Rey nodded. "I know. Also, I have the anti-illusion materials we need. You'll want to have the tincture with food and water. It doesn't make it pleasant, but it helps. I’ll need to show you how to use the ointment too, just in case. We'll apply them now, then renew the dose somewhere safe before we get to the Academy."

"Sounds good," said Ben.

Rey looked at him again. "Why are you doing this? You could just go back to Refuge. Return the deposit to Mitaka, if you wanted. You don't like it when I say it, but you effectively are a prince. No one wants a war with your mother, or her allies in Naboo, or Coruscant... Just go back. I'll figure out something. You don't need to be pulled into this."

"Rey," Ben said, very quietly. "You know I won't do that." He took a half step toward her.

"Why not?" She stepped back out of reflex.

His face was so sad, and his eyes were pleading. "I shouldn't have left you behind at the Academy."

"You were right to leave."

"I'm not — that's not the point. I abandoned you, and I won't abandon you again."

She huffed in exasperation. "You had no responsibility for me then. You have none now."

"Rey… I know. But I loved you. I loved you then, and I love you now. If you don't feel the same, that's fine. When this is done, I'll go away, and I'll leave you alone."

Hope bubbled within her, and she tamped it down, afraid. Hope had been used against her too many times. She had hoped for her parents to come back, then hoped that Plutt would treat her well if she scavenged well enough. She had hoped her life would be much better with Snoke and hoped most of all to be a Court mage, that it would make everything that came before worth it. It became harder to breathe as Ben continued.

“But let me help you now,” he pleaded. “Let me help make this right.” He looked away, and fidgeted with a strap on Grimtaash’s saddlebags.

Even knowing that he had taken the contract to see her, even after feeling his emotions from his own memory, she hadn’t dared to hope. Now, hearing him admit his feelings, she let hope blossom anew.

"Ben..." she said.

He looked up at her, and she walked closer, deciding to take a chance.

"I love you," Rey said. "I loved you at the Academy, and I love you now. I never believed you would feel the same. I thought we were just… friends then. Just amusing ourselves." She reached for him. "May I kiss you?"

"Oh yes," he rasped.

She gently pulled his head down to meet his. She missed this. He melted into the kiss, and for a few moments his mouth against hers, his hand gently cupping the back of her head, was all that mattered.

Eventually, she let go of him. "If you want to help me with this, we should get going."

He nodded.

She took out the ointment and applied a small dab to each of her eyes, blinking as her vision blurred, then settled back to normal. She glanced around. Nothing seemed different.

She packed bread, cheese, and sausages for the road, and it looked like Ben had some provisions, too. They both ate and drank a little, and then she showed Ben how to place a drop of the tincture under his tongue. It was terribly bitter, as she had said it would be, and the aftertaste lingered. Ben made a face at her.

"I know," she said. "One last thing… would you be willing to set up a mind-to-mind link, so we can communicate secretly if necessary?"

"Sure," he said.

She held eye contact with him and dropped her shields, then felt him do the same. The connection between them clicked into place, solid and strong. 

Is this working? she thought.

Definitely, his mental reply came back. Out loud Ben said, "It's always been easy, connecting with you. Did you notice that? I never was much good at mind magic otherwise."

"Me either," said Rey. "Yes, I noticed." 

*

It was midmorning as they set off, and in the heat of the day they rode through the forests between the nearest town and Refuge. Before they reached the coast, they turned north and rode toward Tor Lara. The countryside was open and dotted with small farms and villages, but no one stopped them or caused them any trouble. They stopped in a willow grove by a small stream for a meal, and to apply the ointment and tincture again.

"So," said Rey, trying to keep her voice casual as they got ready to leave the grove. "Since you left Tor Lara, has there… been anyone?" She realized quickly that with their mental link open, it was impossible for her to hide that she cared about the answer. But considering their conversation before setting off, she really didn't need to.

"Anyone I've been sleeping with, you mean?" asked Ben, his voice warm and amused. "No, no one else."

Rey stared at him. "Surely, people have been interested? You have quite the reputation as a dashing smuggler. I mean, I’ve heard three different versions of how you stole the Sacred Texts of Ahch-to from the Overlord of Korriban –  I have to say returning them to their rightful owner wasn’t the ending I expected. Or the dragon hunt where you saved the dragon, or the time you beat your father’s speed record sailing the Kessel Run..."

Ben looked down and laughed. “I was able to take a bit of a shortcut. I sailed at high tide - there was a channel that was navigable for me that wasn’t for him.”

Rey laughed too. “Okay, but I’m just saying—most of the people telling these stories mention something about your appearance they find pleasing.”

"Oh, they've been interested, sure. But I haven't been interested in them. What about you?"

"I've had to build up a reputation, too. Intimidating and mysterious — I know you've heard. It's… kept people away." She looked away, then continued, voice quieter. "There's been no one else, either."

He looked surprised, too. Once again, she was struck with regret for the time they had wasted in stubbornness.

If we survive this — no, when we survive this, I want to make up for lost time, she thought, still a bit shy about saying it out loud.

Ben apparently wasn't shy in the same way. "Good," he said aloud. "I do, too."

*

Ben was right. The town around Tor Lara had grown up quite a lot since she was there last. There were more houses, a couple of taverns, a tea house, and stables. Market stalls filled an open area in the center of the town. 

The Keep of Tor Lara was located across a small river from the town, where the river bent in a semicircle around an area of land. An ornate, wooden footbridge provided access to the main gates of the Keep, which were open, just as Ben had said. Rey knew enough about wards to know that someone would know about their arrival if they went through those gates.

People will pay less attention to the gates by the stables, thought Ben. We'd have to find someone to let us in.

Let's see, then, said Rey. We'll need to leave the horses somewhere anyway.

The stablemaster didn't seem particularly interested in them, just took their coins and gestured to one of the stablehands. The stables were clean, and the stablehand was careful and professional with their horses. It seemed like Grimtaash and Daisy would be fine for however long they were in town.

As they were leaving, they saw a boy in apprentice’s robes sweeping the yard; he looked a little older than they had been when they had first come to Tor Lara. He didn't notice them watching, but was making a broom stand up and wobble without touching it. He stopped and grabbed the broom when he saw them, turning away like he was afraid he would be punished.

"It's all right," said Ben quietly, crouching down by the boy. "It's okay. We won't hurt you."

"I need to get back to work!" he said.

"Why are you working here?" asked Rey, quietly.

"Snoke said I was bad. Needed to learn discipline."

It took everything Rey had to keep her face calm, to stay still and not to express all the rage she felt. She remembered seeing her fellow apprentices punished like this boy, and occasionally she’d had to sweep or spend hours in a closet by herself when Snoke didn’t think she was working hard enough at her studies. It had been a long time before she knew that wasn’t supposed to be part of learning magic.

"How long are you supposed to be working here?" asked Ben.

"All day today, and tomorrow, too. But at least I'm not an eel! I've heard some students are turned into eels."

"Eels?" asked Rey. She remembered some of Snoke's apprentices disappearing, and rumors that they left, or hurt themselves trying advanced magic. It seemed like every year they lost one or two, and the remaining students rarely commented. After all, there were only so many positions in Courts to go around...

"In the river," said the boy, and turned back to his sweeping.

With the boy unwilling to speak to them any longer, Ben and Rey made their way to the nearby river. A smaller bridge led to a less ornate gate like Ben  mentioned. Rey walked over to the riverbank and looked down.

She wasn't sure why she hadn't seen it earlier, or found the creatures in the river worthy of notice, and then of course she knew. Illusion. The keep, the bridges and the gates all looked the same, but the river...

The river itself was also the same, but she noticed the eels now. They were long and sleek and yellow, and there was something very strange about each one. The Discipline a mage specialized in left its mark on them. Rey noticed that water rippled around one of the eels in a way that didn't match the currents in the river. One of them had subtle iridescence moving under their scales. A light breeze brushed by Rey as one of them swam by, and she was almost certain it wasn't a coincidence.

He's right, thought Rey, stricken. The eels were mages. She thought she had fully plumbed the depths of her anger and disgust at Snoke, but no, more was possible. She fought back nausea as she turned away from the river. She felt Ben's horror, too. He didn't show it as she walked back to him and the boy, though.

"We need to get in through this gate," said Ben. "Can you help us?"

"I don't want to get in trouble," the boy said.

"We'll make sure you won't," said Rey.

The boy looked at them, and then back at the main stable building. No one had come out. He gestured at the gate. "Cross the bridge," he said. "I unlocked the gate." He turned back to his broom.

"Thank you," said Rey, a steady rage burning in her. Good. It would make it easier for her to access Chaos, and she would need all of her power for what was to come.

They crossed the bridge and opened the small gate. It opened onto a deserted yard between the wall that encircled the whole Tor Lara compound and the Keep proper. Once they were inside the yard, Ben walked along the keep’s wall, muttering, “Luke said there was an entrance here somewhere.” They finally found it and slipped inside before anyone saw them.

They found themselves in a deserted storage room, surrounded by dusty furniture. Ben recognized where they were, and after that, it was easy to get to the upper floors of the Keep and to find Snoke's chambers. They opened an ornate door, and stepped into her anteroom.

Rey had been in this space a few times while an Apprentice, and not a lot seemed to have changed. Mitaka sat at his desk by one of the windows. 

When he noticed them, Mitaka's sudden startled and terrified look told Rey everything she needed to know, not that she had doubted Ben. He looked guilty. He was guilty. "You said a few months back Snoke wanted to see me," said Rey, in the sweetest voice she could manage. "Well, I'm here now."

"And I'm here to discuss our contract," said Ben, taking out the pouch of money.

Mitaka looked between the two of them.

"It's a bit rude to hire one of my old friends to help you poison me," she said.

"But — I—” he glanced toward the other door, which led further into Snoke's rooms.

"If you alert her, I will kill you," said Rey pleasantly, drawing her dagger.

"You didn't think I would talk to Rey, did you?" asked Ben.

Mitaka glanced back and forth, sweating. "I — I didn't know what it was for."

"I don't believe that for a second," said Rey. "Snoke sent you to me with a warning, after all."

Ben stepped closer to Mitaka, unfolding and standing straighter so it was suddenly clear just how big he was. The smaller man cringed away from Ben, and closer to Rey.

"You're dangerous and out of control!" cried Mitaka. “You needed to be stopped!”

“I’m not the one who needs to be stopped here,” said Rey.

"By the way," said Ben mildly. "I'm ending our contract and returning your deposit." He hit Mitaka across the temple with the money pouch, and the man collapsed in a heap.

Ben dropped the pouch next to the unconscious man. He and Rey crossed the room and opened the second door.

Notes:

This might be my favorite Reylo kiss I've written so far!

Rey's illusion-dispelling ointment is inspired by "fairy ointment" in folktales like "The Fairy Nurse".

A magical item that changes taste to indicate whether or not it is working is taken from "The Magicians".

Emotional inspiration for this story, and especially for this chapter, came from this ReyloCats cartoon.

Chapter 4: Chapter 3

Summary:

Snoke looked much like Rey remembered her. She had barely aged in the past ten years, if at all — whatever magic did that, it wasn't an illusion. Her gold robes were elegant, and her chambers were beautifully furnished. She sat at a table piled high with books, like her cushioned, wooden chair was a throne. But there was still something diminished about her. Instead of a glowing apparition of power, fearsome and awe-inspiring, she was just a human.

Notes:

I added a couple of tags I had forgotten - "minor character death" and "brief mention of blood".

Snoke looked much like Rey remembered her. She had barely aged in the past ten years, if at all — whatever magic did that, it wasn't an illusion. Her gold robes were elegant, and her chambers were beautifully furnished. She sat at a table piled high with books, like her cushioned, wooden chair was a throne. But there was still something diminished about her. Instead of a glowing apparition of power, fearsome and awe-inspiring, she was just a human.

Snoke was so small. She had always been so small. Not physically, not even in terms of her power, but as a person. How had Rey not known earlier? She felt shame at her younger self's fear.

No, no, said Ben in her mind. His mental voice was steady and gentle. That's her influence, too, that shame. That's how she trained you. You couldn't have known. She always wanted to appear more than she was. Magical talent doesn't mean you know everything, no matter what anyone says.

Her voice was the same, though, and poisonously soft as Rey and Ben came into the room. "Welcome back, Rey. I have been looking forward to your return for a long time. And Ben Organa." She inclined her head the tiniest amount. "It is an honor to welcome you back to the Academy."

Rey knew all about poison, though. "You were seeking to kill me. With Ghost Orchid poison. You sent Mitaka to hire Ben."

There was a tiny flicker of something, perhaps concern, over Snoke's face, gone in an instant, and then her face turned disapproving. "Oh, Rey. Do you think you are the only powerful magic user on this Continent? Did you assume this world is all about you?"

Rey could tell Snoke was using magic to back her words, but she was well-shielded. "Mitaka confessed that the poison was meant for me."

"He did?" Now Snoke did look shaken, but she quickly regained her composure. "He would never."

"He did," said Ben. "We know about how you've been treating your Apprentices, too. We know about the eels."

"The Apprentices need to be more careful. Transformation is dangerous magic. So is pyromancy." She gestured toward Rey's arm, which still bore faint scars from her long-healed burn.

"It’s not their fault. It was never their fault," growled Rey. "Or mine. You want your Apprentices to grovel for your approval. You want them to compete with each other, to push themselves so they'll get the best Court positions and you will get power. If they fail, they get burned. Literally. If they can't keep up, they disappear. They get turned into eels. So sad, you'll say. Magic is so hard. So dangerous. So important that you'll keep sacrificing Apprentices, and isolate them so they'll never learn differently. And if they survive long enough to have Apprentices of their own, they'll pass it on. You don't care. You don't care about them. You just care about your own status."

"How dare you! You don't know what I've sacrificed!"

"I have some idea of who you've sacrificed," spat Rey. “How long will it be, exactly, before the river has more eels?"

“How ungrateful!” Snoke hissed, the false kindness gone from her voice. “I saved you! Without me, you would still be just a scavenger.”

“No. I saved myself. I survived then, and I survive now. You only wanted me to succeed if you had a hand in it."

“How dare you!”

Her connection with Ben was still solid, and she could sense him sending her strength and appreciation. Gusts of telekinetic force whipped around them, seeking a hold but not finding one. It would probably be terrifying–Snoke would probably be casting some horrifying illusions–except that Rey and Ben could see through it.

Snoke lashed out again with magic. Rey could tell she was trying to freeze them in place.

"No," said Rey, drawing on all her anger to resist, and feeding some to Ben, struggling next to her. Hold on. Hold on, my love. I won't let her hurt you.

Snoke lunged out of her chair, reaching for something on the table. Whatever it was, whether a physical or magical weapon, it wouldn't be good.

Ben pulled light from the candles in the room and threw a ball of light at Snoke. The most basic trick in phosphoromancy.

“Pathetic,” she sneered. “You cannot hurt me with that.”

In the secret channel between Ben's and her minds, Rey saw his intent. The light cast new, deeper shadows near Snoke. Rey pulled on them, willing them into solid form and sharpening them into a blade. Snoke was watching Ben, gloating, and didn't see it coming. It lashed out like a striking snake, cutting Snoke's throat deeply.

“You were wrong. I still am a scavenger,” said Rey. “I use everything I can find.”

Snoke gasped and gurgled, and fell forward with blood pouring from her neck. Then, she was silent, and still.

There was a sense of something rippling, like Snoke's death had made a fundamental, yet subtle change to the Academy itself. 

Rey heard footsteps. She glanced at Ben. Guards?

Probably. His mental voice was tired, but she sensed determination as well as he drew his sword. She held a dagger in her left hand and tugged on the nearby shadows with her right. They stood side by side, waiting.

The door opened, and instead of Snoke's guards, Amilyn Holdo stepped through. The second-most senior (no, now most senior) Rectoress was a portrait of calm dignity in her long, mauve dress, with her pink hair in an elegant updo. Rey had a distant memory of Ben saying that Holdo disagreed with Snoke’s methods. She hoped she remembered that correctly. Then again, verbal arguments and finding your fellow Rectoress’s dead body were two different things.

Holdo looked at Ben and Rey, and then at Snoke's body, collapsed in her chair. “Well,” she said, finally. “That's a relief. The way things were going, I would have done something truly desperate myself very soon.”

Rey raised her eyebrow. “I don't understand.”

“You have done the Academy a favor. Both of you. Snoke had far too much influence for far too long.”

Ben did a double take. “You're thanking us? You're relieved?”

"I thought Snoke still had followers," Rey said.

"Very few," said Holdo. "She was getting desperate herself. Apparently, they're not terribly loyal, either.Mitaka told me about her scheme, and the others appear to have fled."

"We met one of her Apprentices in the town. Sweeping the stableyard, in fact. What will you do for them? Why couldn't you have done something sooner?"

"The past is on me and my fellow Rectors," said Holdo, sadness and shame in her voice. "We bear the burden of what happened to all of Snoke’s students, current and past. We did too little, and now as we move forward, we will work to rectify those mistakes. As for the future… have you ever considered teaching here?"

"Me?" asked Rey, in utter surprise. She felt the same from Ben through their connection.

"Yes," said Holdo. "Both of you. We need to do something different here, for Snoke's apprentices, and all of our future students. We need your healing rage, Rey. We need to remember that magic doesn't just belong to the Courts. And Ben, I know we could do much better with teaching about magical items, and magical creatures.”

Rey blinked. It was so much, all at once. "I don't… I need time to think about this," she said.

"I do too," said Ben, his voice shaken.

"Take what time you need," said Holdo. "We have our own work to do."

Notes:

Rey seeing Snoke as "small" comes from Kiya Nicoll's thoughtful discussion of The Last Jedi.

When I was writing this, I realized that Snoke very much wants her Apprentices to be "insecure overachievers". (I like that article because it talks about how *not* to perpetuate that kind of culture - relevant!)

Chapter 5: Chapter 4

Summary:

He smelled like leather and linen. He felt like home.

Notes:

Last chapter before the epilogue! Thank you to everyone who's been reading!

This chapter has amazing art by miztooka. The plants in the foreground are, left to right, hellebore, deadly nightshade, foxglove, and yew, and there are manchineel trees behind Rey and Ben.

 

When she was starting her garden, Rey had planted butterfly bushes near the entrance. Daytime pollinators were helpful – that's what she told herself. That was the only reason, not that after Ben’s story of rescuing butterflies, she wanted to plant something that would attract them, in case he ever visited.

She looked at them. A few of the flowers on the huge, purple stalks had opened, and even more were almost ready to bloom, reaching toward the bright summer sun.

She looked around the plants. There was some mugwort springing up, far from the raised beds she had planted it in. It was a useful plant, but if let go, it would spread everywhere and choke out the plants she was trying to grow here. It could still be useful to her, though. She focused on the plants in front of her, the butterfly bush and the mugwort. She drained the life from the mugwort sprouts and fed it to the butterfly bushes, gently encouraging them to bloom. They did — what should have taken a couple of days happened in a minute or two.

She remembered something that Snoke said once, from early in Rey's apprenticeship. “Sometimes the best thing a flower can do for us is to die.” Yes, Rey thought. Snoke would never have meant for it to apply to herself, but it did. With Snoke dead, something new could grow at Tor Lara, no longer held back by her or her supporters.

Rey redirected a nearby bit of wind to spread the sweet scent of the flowers and then stepped back to let what would happen, happen.

The day before, as they were leaving Tor Lara, Ben said that he had some things to take care of in Refuge, and then he could visit her at her tower for a few days. He said he would come by sunset. The sun was still high overhead. She had no reason to believe he was lying; their thoughts had still been somewhat connected when he said it.

She changed out of her gardening clothes into her favorite dress. It was black with beaded and lace accents, and sleeveless with a plunging neckline. Over it, she wore a black leather capelet with a short, straight collar. It draped her shoulders in looping strands of leather.

She wrapped a soft silk shawl around her, dark red with a pattern of black roses. She'd bought the outfit after she had discreetly cured a rich client of an infection. Afterwards, she'd checked on his favorite brothel and cured all the workers he'd spread it to there for free.

She put on a garnet and black spinel choker, and pinned up her hair with a silver comb that had been a gift from another client. She looked worthy of a Court. Better even, she hoped. She scented herself with a perfume she had distilled and infused  — night-blooming jasmine and aloeswood with a hint of vanilla and amber.

Then she waited.

It wasn't too long until she sensed someone crossing between the rowan trees.

She came out to meet him, visible this time. Her heart caught as she saw him walking in the meadow as the afternoon light was becoming golden. He stopped at the gate to her garden.

Just as she hoped, the kind of blue-winged butterflies from the memory he had shown her had been attracted to the butterfly bushes. He was watching them as she came to the gate. She opened it, and he walked through.

He paused by the bushes like she hoped he would. He looked up in awe as the butterflies flew around him. A faint sparkle of gem dust shone blue on his tan, leather doublet.

“You remembered,” he said.

“Of course!”

“And I never forgot the woman with the lightning.”

Rey reached for him, and he embraced her under the butterflies, among her garden. He smelled like leather and linen. He felt like home.

He stroked her cheek. "You look amazing." His eyes were filled with such awe.

"So do you."

She led him through the garden to her door, flanked by the blooming true black roses that were the source of her epithet. The door led into the great hall, partially ruined from a past war when Rey had found the place. She hired craftspeople to repair the roof with glass, much of it scavenged from other ruins, and made it into a greenhouse.

"If you need to leave at any time, you'll be safe to go," said Rey, after they had left the greenhouse and come into the dining hall, with a kitchen off to the side. "Just stay on the path and don't touch any plants."

"Why would I want to go?" he asked. "Rey, truly, there's no place I'd rather be right now, than here. With you."

"Really? You really want me?" she asked, with tears in her eyes.

"Yes, I do," he said.

"Oh good. It's mutual then," she said and kissed him hard. She already wanted him so badly it hurt.

They stopped kissing and let go of each other long enough to go up the stairs to her bedroom, up a level in the tower. 

"Just think — there's even a bed this time. Not a cold, stone floor," he said.

"The cold, stone floor was worth it, to be with you," she said. She carefully removed her jewelry, shawl, and capelet, and they both clumsily removed their boots.

She paused. "So you know — I keep the brothels in three neighboring towns supplied with contraceptive remedies, and cure whatever needs curing. I won't be getting pregnant, and you're safe with me. And, you know there's been no one else."

"I figured," said Ben. "But thank you for telling me."

In reply, she pulled him even closer to her, kissing him and pushing him over to her bed. He didn't resist when she pushed him backwards onto it. She climbed on top of him, already grinding onto him through all the layers of their clothing.

He reached up and pulled the comb out of her hair, setting it aside. He ran his large, gentle hands through the tendrils as they came down. With just the brush of his fingertips on the back of her neck, she moaned softly. "Oh, it's been too long," she whispered.

"I know," he said. "Let me make it up to you. I've had a long time to think about what I'd want to do, if I ever got the chance."

She moaned again, hearing his words. He slowly rolled her onto her side, then ran his hands over her breasts. Even through the fabric, his touch felt amazing. He cupped one of her breasts and slowly kissed up the side of her neck, pausing to inhale.

"You smell… really good."

"It's a perfume I made. One of the parts of my work that is both genuine and pleasant."

"Mmmm, I'll say."

She ran her fingers through his hair, relishing how soft it was, then leaned over to lick his ear. His eyes fluttered closed as he moaned. She loved seeing him like this. She brushed a hand down past his belt and found he was already hard, which aroused her even more. His mouth parted a little, and she smiled, seeing that he was just as undone as she was from just a few touches.

"Let's make this easier," he said, reaching around her to unlace her dress.

"Mmm," she said, arching her back so he could reach the laces better. It put her mouth right by his neck, so she took the opportunity to kiss and lick it, then bite gently. His little gasp of pleasure was so gratifying.

"Fair's fair," she said, and unlaced his jerkin, then undid the ties on his shirt. He wriggled out of them.

By then, he had her dress unlaced, and she took it off, then removed her stockings and smallclothes. She lay next to Ben completely naked. "You look amazing," he breathed.

"You are still far too clothed," she retorted. 

"I am far too distracted," he said with a little grin. She gasped as he ran a finger across her nipple, then gave it the lightest lick with his tongue.

"More," she breathed. Her voice came out more high-pitched than she was used to hearing it.

"Of course," he said, and captured one nipple in his mouth, sucking on it. He flicked the other one with his finger. She arched her back and panted under him. She could tell she was already so wet, and he hadn't even touched her cunt. 

He pulled away from her chest, and she moaned in frustration .

"Why did you stop?"

Ben smirked. "I believe you wanted to finish undressing me?"

"Scoundrel!" Rey said with a laugh.

"Yes, yes I am," he said, and laughed too. "Sometimes."

She undid his belt and pulled off his pants and socks. "There," she said, and stopped to admire him. The afternoon light slanting through her diamond-paned windows shone on the broad planes of his chest, his muscular legs, and his very erect cock.

He was looking at her, too. "You're perfect. So, so, beautiful. And so strong. You did so well yesterday."

"You think so?" she asked in a small voice.

"I do," said Ben, gently caressing her cheek. "I think you deserve joy, and pleasure, and safety."

She felt like she was going to cry. "You do too," she said.

"My life is already more joyful with you back in it," he said, and kissed her forehead. "Let me show you."

He gently rolled her onto her back, kissing and licking his way down her neck. She stroked his back as he found her nipples again. He remembered just how she liked them to be touched.

"Mm," she moaned, rapidly losing words. Slowly, he stroked lower and lower on her belly, finally cupping her cunt and lightly running a thumb over her clit. She gasped and arched up into his hand.

This — this was like coming home. She felt so much pleasure, and so much relief.

He laughed, a much deeper sound than it had been just a few minutes ago. "You're already soaking my hand. You feel so, so good."

"I bet the inside of my cunt feels even better than the outside," she said. She didn't know where she found it in herself to say things like that.

"Not sure if I would take that bet," he said. "I know you'd win."

She grinned, and then arched her back and was beyond words again as he put a finger inside her. He found her favorite spot inside her as he kept his thumb on her clit and his other hand on her nipple.

"That good?" he asked as he slid another finger into her.

"Yes," she sighed.

He grinned up at her. "Do you want my mouth?"

"Very, very much."

She clutched the sheets in one hand and ran her fingers through his hair with the other, holding on to the silky sensation as his tongue found her clit. She ground her hips against his mouth, feeling submerged in pleasure that built and built. Her breath came out in little pants, her toes curled ─ it was so much, so very much─

She almost roared as she came, clenching on Ben's fingers over and over. He kept licking her, pushing her through the aftershocks until she brought her hips back down to the bed with a breathy sigh. She wasn't sure she could move just yet. He crawled back up to her and kissed her deeply.  She could taste herself on his mouth, and it was intoxicating.

"You're amazing," he whispered.

"Thank you," she said just as quietly. "And now, I really want to touch you."

"Mm," he said, smiling and rolling onto his side so she could do just that.

She reached between her thighs, coating her fingers with some of the slippery wetness there, then gripped his cock. Her juices and his precum mixed as she stroked him. He was so hard already.

"You liked pleasuring me, didn't you?" she asked.

"I did. I do." He reached between her legs again and gently circled her clit with a finger.

"Again?" she asked. She still felt like she was floating after her last orgasm.

"If you like. We have time now. There's no rush."

In answer, she moaned and pushed her hips into his hand, never letting go of his cock. She saw his eyes slip closed and his breathing become faster and harsher.

She gently rolled him onto his back and climbed on top of him. He looked at her with such intensity and love as she positioned his cock at her dripping slit.

Slowly, she lowered herself onto him, enveloping him. He groaned appreciatively. She realized how much she had missed him filling her like this, but they were here now. Safe. She couldn't think, couldn't worry about anything else as she rode him and he worked his fingers against her. Warmth and sensation were building in her again. She bent down and kissed him, using the position to get more leverage and a longer stroke.

"Rey…” he moaned against her mouth. He threw his head back and gasped as she rode him harder. His fingers on her clit brought her over the edge, and she came even harder this time, squeezing his cock. That was all it took, and then his back arched as well. He came in her, moaning as she rocked down again and again, and he thrust up into her.

 

*

 

Rey opened her eyes slowly the next morning, sprawled out luxuriously in her bed. The light leaking through her curtains cast rainbows from the crystals hanging in her windows. Slowly, she rolled over, almost afraid of what she would see.

Ben was still there, looking at her with a smile on his face and his tousled hair hanging over his eyes. In the rainbow light of the prisms and the signature of his magic, he looked oddly ethereal. She ran a hand down his arm lightly, to reassure herself he was really there. "You stayed," she breathed.

"Of course," he said. "I meant it, when I said there was nowhere else I wanted to be." He pulled her to him gently. She rested her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around him. She still felt content and sated from the night before. After their first go-around, they had eaten some of the food they had packed for the previous day and some fresh mulberries from her food garden, then returned to the bedroom for another round. They collapsed afterwards, boneless and completely spent, and she had slept better than she had in a very long time. He looked well rested, too.

She wrapped a leg around his.

"Mm, like one of the vines in your greenhouse," he said, and kissed the top of her head.

She smiled against him. "That's fitting, you know. Those vines, and most plants, grow toward the light. I know how they feel, being drawn to you." She brushed his hair back from his forehead and kissed it.

"Hmm," he said, and ran his fingers through her hair and down her back. "But are there any who seek out the shadows?"

"Some of the vines do, too. As they grow upward, they also send out shoots that seek out where it's darkest, to find a sturdy tree to grow on. The darker the shade, the bigger the tree, and the more vines grow on it. Plant roots may also grow toward darkness."

He ran his hand over her belly, and then further down toward her slit. "I can think of some dark places I would like to root into."

Rey laughed. "That's good, because I would enjoy that. I would enjoy a lot more of that, in fact."

"I have nowhere else I have to be for the next few days," he said contentedly.

"I'll need to take care of the plants," she said.

"All day?" He raised an eyebrow.

"No. You can help too, if you want." She rested a hand on top of his, reassuring him that she wanted him around. "I'll show you how to work with some of the safer ones."

"Sure," he said. "That would be good for me to learn."

Then his tongue found a nipple and his finger found her clit and that was the end of words for a while.

They spent the rest of the day, and the next several, enjoying themselves together in bed and in the gardens. It felt good and natural to have Ben around, and from his many smiles and murmured endearments, she knew he felt the same.

Notes:

Rey planting a garden to attract blue butterflies for Ben is an idea from bittersnake, used with permission.

This chapter is actually the first smut scene I've ever written.

Butterfly bushes
Mugwort

Rey's perfume is inspired by Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab's scent Mare Vaporum.

Dark Rey with poisonous plants and black roses was an image I thought of after writing "In Secret, Between the Shadow and the Soul", and decided to use as inspiration for a fantasy AU. The initial inspiration probably came from this artwork by saturnine stardust.

Chapter 6: Epilogue

Summary:

Are you sure about this?" asked Ben quietly, as they approached.

"Absolutely," said Rey.

It was almost a month before they went back to Tor Lara to take Amilyn up on her invitation. Rey needed to find people to take care of her garden and greenhouse during the times she would be staying there. She started teaching some women from the nearest village about taking care of plants and making charms and medicines. Not all of them could channel Chaos and make magic, but they all could use the intrinsic properties of the plants.

She had helped several of them out of bad situations. One of them needed a new home for herself and her daughter, so she would be staying in the tower indefinitely. There was plenty of space - Rey had renovated some guest rooms in addition to her bedroom.

Besides, Ben had been insistent that she was welcome to stay at his place in Refuge. He wanted to introduce her to his parents, too. She wasn't sure if she was ready for that quite yet, but someday she would be. He didn't push.

They both met with Luke and Amilyn in Refuge, and reviewed the changes the Rectors were making at Tor Lara. They seemed to be sincere so far. They'd also gone and talked to the students. Snoke's former Apprentices, including the boy they had met at the stables, were now mingling with the others, and seemed to be adjusting. Rey knew that it could take a long time to heal. Ultimately, that was one of the reasons she decided to become a Rectoress. If she could help others who had been where she was, and be a better example for a new generation of Apprentices, then it would be worth it.

Amilyn hadn't looked a bit surprised when they had requested to share quarters. That was going to be something new for them, too, and Rey was excited.

Luke and Amilyn met them at the bridge across the river, ready to formally welcome them to the Academy and introduce them magically to the wards. 

There were no more eels in the river, or at least no more eels that had once been human. Those enchantments had broken when Snoke died. Mages from Tor Lara were taking care of the apprentices who had been restored to human form, and by all accounts they were doing as well as they could be, given the circumstances.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Ben quietly, as they approached.

"Absolutely," said Rey. "I'm not sure Tor Lara knows what it's getting into, but I want to be here. With you." She kissed him warmly.

"Me too. To both parts," said Ben.

He grinned at her, and they walked across the bridge.

Notes:

If you liked this, toss a kudos or comment to your writer (oh valley of plenty)!

If you like Dark Rey, check out "As Certain Dark Things" (series - two one-shots so far) and "Not Without Your Darkness". For more witchy/occult vibes, check out "To Love Shadows and Marvels".

I'm on Twitter as @midwintersprin1. Please let me know in a DM, on Discord, or by leaving a comment if there's anything I should have tagged.