King and Queen

When Rey awoke, she could not tell if hours or days had passed, so deep was her slumber. At first, she did not open her eyes, but instead spent long minutes luxuriating in the hammock’s swaying comfort. Never in her life had she felt so truly rested.

In the end, hunger **** her from the hammock. She opened her eyes to yellow gloom. Rey swung her feet over the finely woven netting, felt stone instead of mud.

With that simple motion, she found her aches and pains had faded. The bandages on her hand had been replaced. The oils rubbed into her skin and hair smelled like flowers and fruit, so rare on her home world. She attempted to peel back the darkness with the ****, but failed.

She recalled something Zildrog had said the other day. Something about the Ysalamir and the drums. What was it again?

Rey sat thinking in comfortable nudity, watching her toes while clues clicked into place inside her head, like pieces of a puzzle. Whenever the drums beat, Zildrog and the **** return. The other day, Zildrog had said that 'the Ysalamir run from the drums.' So, the Ysalamir block the ****?

It felt right. Then what are the Ysalamir? What do they look like? How do I find—No. Wait. The Ysalamir don’t actually matter. If I find the drums, I find the ****.

And with the ****, escape.

There were other mysteries to unravel. If the Ysalamir could block even Zildrog, then there were limits to the creatures power... But first, she must focus on escape.

Unbound, Rey’s oiled hair fell to just below her shoulders. She enjoyed the feel of it tickling her bare skin. With her fingers, she tucked unruly wisps of hair behind her ears.

She stood, and a shadow in the corner rose with her, continued rising to his full height. The shadow stepped forward, revealing the tall man that had captured her, his muscled body as clean and oiled as she.

Rey felt her cheeks warming, but lifted her chin and boldly met his eyes, mostly hidden in the gloom. The next thing he did dropped her jaw in dumbfounded disbelief.

“I am Dakar,” he gestured toward himself, then her. “You are to be my Queen. And our people need your help.”

His words were understandable, though heavily accented. Queen? What? she thought. Then shook the line of thought away. Deal with that later.

“You speak Galactic Standard?”

Dakar tilted his head, shrugged. “I don’t know about this standard. But come, I am here to show you something.”

How odd had her life become, that she was more unsettled at the sound of her own language than by the nudity she shared with this strange man. He dwarfed her hand as he took it, leading her out of the small room where she had slept. Rey recalled a time when Finn had tried to do the same and she had pulled her hand away. She wondered why she allowed Dakar to guide her now.

They navigated a dark corridor. Damp earth dirtied their bare feet.

Rey spotted another lizard clinging to a root.

“The Ysalamir,” Dakar said, when Rey stopped to study it.

Rey snapped her eyes to his in shock. “What did you say?”

“The Ysalamir. They have lived on this world long before our people. They will be here long after we are gone. Come, I will show you.”

He pulled Rey onward, but she took note of the Ysalamir’s brownish color and peculiar lanky shape. The thick white hairs running down it's spine.

They took a turn, and at the far end, daylight. As they got closer, a channel of water crossed their path.

“To wash our feet,” Dakar said, stepping into the narrow stream. "We must respect the Hall of Memory."

Rey followed his example. The water felt warm and soothing.

On the other side of the water, stone instead of mud. Feet clean, they entered a long rectangular hall. All around, stone. From floor to walls to ceiling. Every inch etched and painted. The bright colors and odd shapes made it difficult to judge the Hall's dimensions. Two men, naked as Dakar and herself, hunched over a section of floor not far away.

"They paint again what has faded."

It was wondrous. But a distraction. "I have to get back home, Dakar. The Galaxy needs me."

"Come," he said, as if she hadn't spoken.

The calm brought on by a night of rest crumbled in frustration. A deep breath to master the emotion, then she followed. It took minutes of steady walking to reach the far wall.

"There, you see," Dakar said, pointing to the etching of a planet, twice as tall as Dakar, filled with thousands of tiny trees and lizards. "The Ysalamir and the trees. That is all that once existed here."

He pointed again. "And there. Two suns, not three."

Ripples of muscle beneath dark skin distracted Rey. This man was so much larger and leaner than Kylo Ren. Rey shook her head. _What's the matter with you? _But a plan had taken shape.

Dakar seemed not to notice. "Look here," he said. "Long ago, a star ship fell from the sky," he tapped his chest. "It carried our people in it. More of us than I have the words to tell you."

"We lost much. But it was fine. Because in that time, we lived up above."

In that moment, Rey made a critical decision. Zildrog could not be counted on here, where the Ysalamir limited the creature's power. Zildrog may not be able to jump her off this planet at all. But he wouldn't have sent her here if there wasn't a way off.

You want me as your Queen? Rey thought._ _She put her hand on Dakar's. He turned and looked her in the eyes.

_Your sex is not a weakness, _she repeated in her mind.

Still holding his hand with one of hers, she reached up with the other, placed it on his neck and pulled him down. Their lips touched.

But a weapon, she finished.