Bound To The Ren - Formerly(SlaveToTheRen)

TETH

 "You were a slave?" I stare at Master Ap'lek as he sits on the end of Master Trudgen's bed and nods slowly.

"Yup, for most of my life until the Knights found me," Master Ap'lek pauses and sighs as he looks over to Master Trudgen, who is leaning against his tall dresser on the other side of the room. "I was young when I was sold off. I only vaguely remember my mother's face as she fought to get out of the hold my father had on her. She tried to stop them from taking me. When I close my eyes, I can picture her face and body perfectly, but I don't remember my father at all."

"Your parents sold you?" I feel tears coming to my eyes as I imagine this large man when he was a small child and how he must have felt to know that his parents sold him. I've always been grateful that I have no recollection of where I came from. And as I imagine Master Ap'lek's horrors, I'm even more grateful for my lack of memories.

"Yes, well, my father was the one who sold me. Times were hard, and the Empire was making everything worse with sanctions and taxes. I remember having no credits to buy food, so my mother started a garden to try to feed us."

"Were you their only kid?"

"No, I had two sisters and a brother." Master Ap'lek sighs and sits back on the bed until his shoulders press against the metal wall. I feel the weight of what he is about to say as it fills the room. "I was the youngest. My oldest sister married off and was gone by the time it happened. My brother was a field worker and helped bring in money, so he was safe from my father's cruelty. I guess I was a burden, too young to work the fields yet, so I was sold when the Imperial officers came to collect the taxes they wanted."

"That's horrible." I keep my eyes on Master Ap'lek as I scoot slightly closer to him and pull away from the wall. "What about your other sister."

"She was my twin. She was sold, too."

My heart breaks in half as I imagine what Master Ap'lek had just told me. Somehow, though, I know that he put up a good fight for himself and his sister. I slide completely over and lean into Master Ap'lek's side gently. His arm lifts before he places it around me and pulls me into his side.

"Look, pet. We don't know your full story, but you don't know ours either. The only one who sees you as a slave is Ren and maybe Cardo. But Cardo will never touch you, even though he's a giant fucking dickhead. He's got a thing for Twi'lek woman."

"And Master Ren?" I ask quietly as I look over at Master Trudgen.

Master Trudgen stands straight from where he is leaning and crosses the room to sit on my other side against the wall. "Ren is a difficult issue, but I'm working on it."

"Because he's in charge?" I frown at the large man next to me.

"Sort of. Ren's not our leader per se, but he's in charge just enough that we can't tell him what to do."

"Why?" I ask as I hang my head and fidget with the blanket underneath me.

Master Ap'lek sighs, and his chest lifts as I lean against him. "We're the Knights of Ren. We follow the Ren. And Ren holds the Ren if that makes sense."

I smile as I look up at Master Ap'lek, and I can tell he is trying to lighten the mood. "It makes no sense at all."

"I figured." Master Ap'lek chuckles lightly, and I instantly feel safer and calmer in the presence of these two massive men who are my new Masters. "The Ren is the kyber crystal that is inside Ren's lightsaber. Ren wields that crystal, so we follow him as he follows the kyber."

"So what if Ren no longer holds that crystal? Then who do you follow?"

"Then we'll follow whoever takes the crystal from him," Master Trudgen answers my question as his hand rests on my knee.