Copper for the Charlatan

Snake Oil

The next afternoon he sent out for her.

"The General's bitch- tell her it is time she answered for her display on the bridge. Bring her to me."

The troopers came upon her and Hux walking together down one of the corridors and stopped them awkwardly.

"Um, General, the Supreme Leader has requested her presence, uh, now. He said it's about something that happened on the bridge today."

"And he called her a bitch" the second trooper chimed in.

Hux & Ichara narrowed their eyes and tilted their head to the side in unison.

The first trooper elbowed him "Shut up! Er, he's right though sir, he did. Um, she needs to come with us though, I know we're supposed to be on patrol but he ordered us himself, so, we need to get her and get back. Phasma will punish us for abandoning our post."

His heart sank to his stomach. Ren wasn't particularly sadistic, but he was volatile and unpredictable. The General feared for her in his hands.

"Where exactly are you two imbeciles taking her?"

"His quarters, sir."

He turned to her, face pale "I will send two members of my guard to stand watch to ensure he doesn't go too far."

"General, I'm not afraid of him."

"I know, dear, but you should be." He hadn't meant for the term of endearment to slip out, and now he felt foolish above all else.

She reached down and squeezed his hand, "I'll let you know how it goes... dear."

"Oh alright." he huffed at her as she left with the troopers, unsure if she was actually returning the kindness or mocking him.
-

His quarters were larger and darker than she expected- saber gouges were scattered across the walls, making the room even more ominous. She continued on, stepping carefully and gently setting her helmet on a chair. The room was empty, and hallways lead off in 3 different directions. The left was his bedroom, which she quickly closed the door to. The second was a much longer hallway with a door at the end. She crept silently down, the hiss of doors opening revealed a half circle shaped room. It was lined with memory banks and ancient books, and the outer wall was transparisteel from ceiling to floor, as if you could fall out into the stars. It was beautiful.

Books were incredibly rare- no one had bothered making them in centuries. Her eyes scanned the titles, stopping when she reached a shelf in High Sith. I can't decide what would be worse, throwing him across a room or stealing a book. She mused. One spine in particular made her heart stop. Stars, is it...?

"Fuck it, I'm already this far." she muttered, too engrossed to feel the shadow creeping behind her. She pulled the novel down and started quickly flipping through the pages, still gritty with the sands of Korriban after all this time. "Yessssss" she whispered as she found the page she was looking for. Drain Life... I know the beginning but not.... Yes! This is the complete text!

Kylo crept up from behind and watched her with amusement- this was completely unexpected. It did, though, confirm his suspicions that she was lying about more than she admitted to on their first meeting. He had decided to use her own preachings against her, and manipulate through respect than fear. It might be a long game, but he hoped to sharpen Hux's own blade against him.

"The Grimoire of Naga Sadow"

She slammed the book and clutched it to her chest as she spun around.

"Yes, I, ah, suppose it is. I've never seen this many books in one place, it's impressive."

"What would you want with that? Does Sith lore interest you?"