The General's Wife

1. The Match

Cara stared blankly out the window onto the rain-soaked metropolis she called home. Droplets streaked down the windows which made up the entire east-facing wall of the room she was standing in -- relegated to waiting for the men deciding her future to come to her at their leisure.

The youngest daughter of a Lord from a noble house in the Tapani sector, she was expected to make an advantageous match as had her sisters and brothers before her. Under normal circumstances, she would have been paired off with another nobleman of good breeding, but with the tentative situation unfolding across the galaxy under the even-tightening grip of the First Order, her father had seen fit to buy their family extra protection against any coming onslaught. His last, and most beautiful daughter, could be the chess piece with which he secured his position and that of his family further. A union between Cara and a high-ranking official of the First Order was just the way to achieve this.

It would have been inappropriate to ask outright, indeed the nobles in the Tapani sector were much too proud especially when they daughters were concerned to go around asking for offers of husbands. No, matches like this first began in whispers which carried across the galaxy to listening and interested ears, hopefully earning a response. Cara's father had done as such, leaning heavily on his many connections and waiting expectantly for a grand overture from the one to whom the whispers were intended.

An emissary at last came to their front door one morning, a letter in hand from a Brendol Hux acting on behalf of his son. The letter was brief and to the point, merely stating that he had heard it rumoured Aemos Barnaba had an eligible daughter and they were accepting potential suitors. There had not been a need to explain who he or his son was. The surname of Hux had quickly become synonymous with power following the Battle of Endor and eventual rise of the First Order. The father was accomplished yes, an Admiral now, but his son was currently the general in charge of the First Order's prize warship, the Finalizer. It was to him the whispers had been directed, and Cara's father had clapped his hands at the breakfast table upon reading it, smiling from ear to ear.

The letter stated that upon hearing confirmation Cara was still eligible the Admiral and his son would arrive to meet her and the family for themselves before determining a wedding date. Lord Barnaba's hasty reply was sent with the afternoon post and a response came the next morning that they would arrive in 3 days' time.

Overjoyed, her father had sent the grand house into a tizzy trying to ready themselves and prepare. There had been no shortage of pomp displayed for the matches of all her other siblings, but Cara had seen the trembling in her father's hands as he rested by the fire at night, clutching his glass of whiskey shakily. To be allied with the wrong family at such a perilous time as this could be disastrous for everyone, but to be aligned with the right family... well, that was something else entirely.

Their visit from the Huxs had been brief and perfunctory. The two men had arrived on a dark shuttle, both dressed in black and striding down the airstrip of Cara's family home high up in the air above the city below. Her role was minuscule, she was to stand there silently and look pretty while her father worked his charms and the father and son could admire what they were essentially looking to purchase.

The idea grated on her nerves that she was only an object for possession in their eyes -- a vessel to be used and bred whenever her husband felt the inclination, however gently or violently he pleased.

When she first saw him he was taller than she'd expected. Very tall in fact, and she breathed a sigh of relief. One of her biggest fears about her new husband was that he would be short like her and their future children would be dwarfs. The fiery red hair was a surprise though. She had not met many redheads in her life and she found the colour fascinating. His father stood next to him, almost equal in stature but not quite, and his bright hair had faded to orange and was now tinged with gray. She could not deny that her intended was handsome, however every time she glanced at his face to try and read him his expression was so severe she wondered if he had not been dragged along in this unwillingly.