Forever Drawn to You-A Reylo Story

Chapter 9 - Dinner with the Parents

As the Prince was walking towards his bed chambers his mother's steward Threppio advised Ben that his 'Mother and Father' would be pleased to have dinner with him in the main dinning hall. Ben rolled his eyes at the golden-haired steward and responded in a quiet grumble. "Tell them I will be down in a few moments; I need to freshen up after training." Threppio bows and says; "As you wish Your Highness." Threppio then hobbles off to deliver Ben's response to the Princess.

Annoyed by the steward's intrusion Ben shakes his head as he walks into his bedroom. He groans as he undresses and gets into his fresher stall then turns the water temperature as hot as he can get it. Ben stands there for a few minutes and lets the hot water flow over his sore arm muscles and shoulders. He would have much preferred to soak in his cooper tub and eat in his room this night. That idea will have to wait. His mother rarely asks Ben to dine with both of his parents anymore, so it must be important. Even though he is pain, he will indulge his mothers wish this time. After a quick wash, he gets out dry's off his aching body and slowly gets dressed. He picks out a dark maroon leather lace up tunic, black trousers, and a more formal pair of dress boots. His raven locks still drip water onto his tunic as he makes his way downstairs to the main hall.

His mother looks up and smiles as she sees her son approach. His Father rolls his eyes seeing Ben's dripping hair. Thankfully it is just the two of them at the large table. No Uncle, no Advisers. There is a cozy fire burning in the hearth near the table. With a side eye glance Leia notices his wet hair as well. "Good Evening Mother. Father." He says as Ben kisses her on the cheek as a few droplets of water hit her face. She smiles. Ben then walks over to his chair to sit across from his parents. Leia starts the conversation; "Thank you for joining us sweetheart." "How did your first training with the Knights of Ren go today?" Ben grinned at his mother and answered; "It was great, they are great, I am pleased they are here!" "I finally feel optimistic about my future." "I am however very sore from the day and do not wish to stay long as I need to prepare my body for rest and more training come sunrise."

His Mother responds happily; "Non-sense, you will eat dinner with us tonight." "Let us celebrate this milestone towards your manhood together." Leia motions over to a servant to pour Ben a stein of ale and places an array steaming breads on the table in front of them. Ben stares down at the stein with pursed lips as he looks at his mother. Leia states; "I will send a message to Vicrul that you will start training later in the day, they can work with our Elite Guardsmen at sunrise." He rolls his eyes again at her. "Ben, I understand you are excited to get to a more advanced level with your training, and you will." "Just not all in one day." "I want you to rest if you are that sore, so you do not injure yourself pushing too hard, as I know you want to do." "Please remember you are a Prince first, a scholar second, and you will be a warrior third." Ben looks over at his mother with his 'I know your right, but I will not admit it' look. Han then interjects; "Son, we want you to succeed, I hope you know that." "We just want you to be careful, that's all." "I know you feel you are older than you are." "With age comes wisdom." "Just keep that in mind while you train, use that inner wisdom you have to keep you on the right course." Ben responds while stabbing at his roasted pheasant; "I did not join you both to be lectured, is there something important you wish to discuss?" "Even though I am thankful to be training with them, why have the Ren come to Aldera?"

Leia's eyebrows knit together at the response her Son just gave her. She clears her throat still looking affronted. Han sternly says; "Ben, please apologize to your Mother and your Sovereign." Ben replies softly with his head hung low; "Sorry Mother." "May I be excused?" He thinks to himself 'I hate being berated by them. They STILL don't understand me. I did not want to even come down here with them tonight, my body aches, my head hurts, and I just want to be left alone.'

His Father then looks at his wife and says; "That boy is stubborn!" Leia smiles back at Han and responds; "I wonder where he gets that from, huh?" Han smirks back at her and kisses her on top of her head. They both look at Ben and say "NO". Ben rolls his eye again as Leia continues; "Enough with the back and forth banter." "Let us speak as adults, I would like to explain why the Ren have arrived." Ben then leans back in his chair to listen to his mother speak.

Leia starts; "Ben, I think it is time to share with you all that is really going on right now." "We kept it from you so you could keep your focus on your royal studies." "Your education is an important step towards your rule when that time comes." "While you were away at the Royal Junior College in Crouscant, we discovered that the former ruler of Mustafar, Emperor Palpatine is still alive."

His Mother now had Ben's full attention as he raised his eyebrows in disbelief.