Chandrilan Nights // A Reylo AU

Chapter 1

It was an unusually hot summer day in the city of Chandrila when Prince Ben Solo decided to escape his everyday duties in the castle to finally discover what was hidden behind the thick palace walls that concealed his view from the kingdom that should sooner or later be his to rule over.

Once he found a female suitor, of course.

Ben's mother, Queen Leia Organa, had urged Ben to find someone to rule by his side ever since his father, Han Solo, had died ten years ago in a battle against the Sith Lord Sheev Palpatine, whose intentions had been to overthrow the King and Queen of Chandrila and rule as emperor over their kingdom. Yet his foul plans had been foiled by Ben's uncle and mother as they fought Palpatine with all their power and weakening his mother severely after she had defeated him. Yet even though the queen had recovered soon after the fight, with age, she started growing tired and weak, reminding her son that it would be best to find a worthy princess to marry, so the kingdom would not be left leaderless in case something were to happen to her only child.

And now, at the age of 25, Ben Solo felt like he was ready to take on the responsibilities of a king, and he was ready to rule and protect his people with the Jedi training he had nearly completed. But he was not ready to marry someone he didn't love or someone who only cared about the crown and not the people. So he didn't see the need to find someone to rule by his side when he was perfectly capable of protecting his country on his own. Which angered his mother.

Ben and Leia had fought about the same issues every time a princess from a new foreign country had come to introduce herself to him for the past couple of years. Leia would tell him what she thought was best for him, which was getting married and taking on the throne while hiding inside the palace from the people he should be protecting, and he would retort with what he thought was best for him, which was getting to know his people and marrying when he saw fit. But even after all these years after his father's death, his mother wouldn't budge. She insisted on Ben staying encapsulated behind the palace walls even though being amongst his people and protecting them had been his greatest wish. But he could not do that while being locked away from them.

So today, after Leia and Ben had argued heavily over him meeting a princess from Parnassos, the crown prince schemed his escape with his best friend and servant, Poe Dameron. Poe would pretend that Ben was in his room studying some ancient Jedi texts while Ben sneaked out of the palace with the help of the Force and spend the day downtown before he would have to return back home to meet the next princess who would try to seduce him for his throne.

And even though Ben Solo felt slightly anxious at the sight of the Chandrilan market filled with many creatures and people, he knew that if there were to be a threat, he could defend himself. He had taken his lightsaber with him after all.

Walking under the scorching afternoon sun, Ben could feel sweat dampen the hair on the nape of his neck. But even though it was starting to get unbearably hot under Ben's black hood and wraps he used to cover the majority of his face with—although he was sure that many citizens had never seen their prince nor could they remember what he looked like due to the fact that the last time he had been outside the palace had been when he was ten years old and his father had taken him to the docks—Ben still covered himself up in case palace guards roamed the city. After all, he didn't feel like getting into another fight with his mother.

As Ben squeezed himself through the crowd with one hand on the lightsaber hidden under his cloak and the other hand holding onto his hood to keep it from revealing his face, he eyed the different goods the market had to offer, ranging from food like bread, fruits and vegetables to weapons and different kinds of fabrics like silk, wool and cotton, filling the prince with pride for his kingdom.

But Ben's pride soon turned to sorrow when his eyes fell upon a pair of children, clothed in colorless, dirty and torn garments, gazing hungrily at the stand covered with ripe and delicious fruit. The kids in front of Ben were merely four maybe five years old and starving and if Ben didn't do anything soon, who knew how long these children had to live.

And as heir to the throne, there must be something he could do, even if it was only for now.

The prince glimpsed swiftly at his surroundings, checking if anyone was watching him steal some food for the hungry children, and quickly swiped some peaches before kneeling down before the kids to seem less intimidating, as he had been told before by Poe that he can appear very menacing when talking to the many female suitors that visited the castle.

"Here," the prince handed them the peaches and tried to smile under his cowl, hoping that his smile could reach his eyes so the children saw that he had had good intentions and wouldn't trick them in the end. It had been a while since Ben had genuinely smiled and he knew that he probably looked like he needed help, but it seemed to have worked because the kids grinned at him toothlessly and quickly rushed down the alley and turned a corner until they were out of sight.

Sighing with a sense of pride for himself, Ben straightened himself and was about to head further down the market when a rough voice stopped him from doing so. "I hope you have the money to pay for the food you just gave away."

A/N: Hello and welcome to my Reylo AU inspired by "Aladdin"! This was actually a fun idea of mine and so far I am really enjoying writing the story (I have already outlined it and that was also super fun haha). :)
Feel free to let me know what you think!