Breeder ~ A Kylo Ren Fanfiction

20

At first, I thought we were eating in a different room from the other banquet Kylo Ren brought me to, but then I realized they'd somehow removed the wall separating this room from the execution hall, making it double-sized. I'd never been in such a massive space in my life. Even when farming, we were surrounded on all sides including overhead by big, marshy trees. The fact that I could see so far in every direction, the right side of the room disappearing into darkness, boggled my mind. 

It was so distracting, it took me a good few seconds before I noticed Egon, the obese chief diplomat, had his Breeder with him: Anika. If there wasn't a Stormtrooper on my right and Major Olga on my left, I would've sprinted to my friend; onlookers be damned.

She looked paler than usual, even greenish in the hollows of her cheeks. They'd put her in a loose-fitting lavender gown, but I could still see how frail she'd become while being fed intravenously. Not even such a flattering color and generously applied rouge could mask how sickly she appeared. And Egon had the audacity to put his arm around her narrow shoulders while he schmoozed up the Zamo-Lanians made me want to snap his fat neck.

"Sit," Olga hissed in my ear, snapping me out of my murderous rage. I hadn't realized we'd reached my seat next to Commander Ren.

I did as I was told, clenching my hands in my lap to conceal their shaking. 

"Nice dress," Ren said, quiet tone almost getting swallowed up by the din of over a hundred people chatting around the impossibly long table. When I didn't respond, he asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Anika, my friend, I- I just didn't know she was going to be here."

"Unless they're unsightly, all Breeders of important people attend," he said flatly, sipping on some dark red liquid. "There's Hux with his Vigilax."

I looked where he was pointing as saw Lynx standing next to the red-haired General, smiling nauseatingly, touching her belly, even though I couldn't make out the slightest indication of a baby bump, she'd only been pregnant for a couple of weeks after all. There were, however, three or four women who were much farther along. "Don't you get a new Breeder when one becomes pregnant?" I asked.

He shook his head, eyes dark and intense. "No, just one. We would never be able to house and properly take care of all the Breeders if we did that."

"So you just do nothing for nine months why we gestate?" I asked, shocked.

"We have a lot of other important duties to attend to," he said coldly. 

Strangely, I'd never even considered what he did outside of our sessions. Obviously, he must have a lot of responsibilities to warrant the title of Commander, same with General Hux and Cheif Diplomat Egon. It would be odd not to see him for weeks on end until it was time to parade around at one of these stupid dinners. "Well, it will be good to have time to attend to your duties then," I said carefully. "Once I'm off your hands, I mean. It's probably pretty inconvenient to have to make time in your busy schedule to meet with me."

After a few seconds of unnerving pause where he examined my face, possibly trying to see if I was being sarcastic, he finally said, "Yes, it will be."

The Zamo-Lanians made the rounds a bit, but didn't come around to see us until the third course of the meal, and when they did, it was clear they felt intimidated by the young Commander.

"Master Ren," the tallest one said, bowing low as appeared to be their custom, though I found it performative and off-putting. "I am Gavor-ya, and I am here as a representative of Zamo-La, and the men behind me are the sons of the King. Thank you for hosting us." The way he spoke was so formal and stiff, and I couldn't tell if that was an effect of them not speaking in their native language or just another aspect of their strange customs.