Ʀey made her way to the royal tailor's shop, just as the king and queen had told her to. As she entered the room, she found that the tailor and his seamstresses had already begun working on a flowing white gown.

They all turned to look at the girl in her servants' dress, it was dirty from picking wildflowers for the castle.

One of the seamstresses moved to pull the wedding gown over Rey's head. Over her dirty dress, but the tailor shook his head. "Not with those filthy clothes on." He tossed a plain white dress to her. "Put that on," he told her, gesturing towards a small dressing room across the floor.

Rey went into the dressing room to change into the clean white dress. She felt slightly embarrassed, she should have changed into a clean dress before she came here. She never really paid attention to how she looked, she never really cared. But she supposed that she would have to start caring. Soon she would become the princess of Alderaan and everyone would be looking at her.

Once she was back, the seamstresses pulled the wedding gown over her head. It wasn't easy as the dress hadn't been sewn together yet. It was nearly falling apart, the only thing holding it together was the pins. The seamstresses adjusted the gown so that it would fit her perfectly once it was sewn together.

Rey was quickly growing annoyed with having to hold still for so long. She liked to read sometimes, but she wasn't the type of person that enjoyed standing perfectly still. She wanted to move around.

"Hold still," the tailor snapped slightly as he rearranged the pins.

Rey froze, she hadn't even realized that she had moved. She hoped that she wouldn't be expected to have fittings very often once she married the prince. Or to wear fancy gowns, she wouldn't mind wearing something a little nice but nothing uncomfortable that she couldn't move around in.

She looked down at the elegant layers of lace and silk. It was a beautiful gown, but she couldn't help but feel slightly unworthy of such an elegant dress. She looked into the long mirror, in the gown she looked like a princess. But she knew that no amount of fancy gowns or jewels would change who she truly was: an orphan, a dirty scavenger of the streets.

She was no one, and no title would ever change that. She felt like she was wearing a mask. But what was worse was once she was married to the prince....would she ever be free to be who she truly was again? Would she ever be free to be herself? Or would she be forced to live a lie and act like the wealthy people who didn't seem to care about anyone but themselves?

The prince was a monster and she could never love such a man. But she was just an orphan. Could a prince ever love a girl from the streets? What reason would he have to love her, when he had everything and she had nothing? Would he love her for who she truly was on the inside?

Rey realized that she was asking him to do the very things that she could not do. She couldn't look beyond what he was, so why would he look past what she was?

But the prince was cruel. She knew that he would most likely expect her to obey him since he was royalty and she was a servant. Not that she would do anything of the kind. She wasn't going to let him push her around. She was going to stand up to him and hold her ground.

Just then, Queen Leia entered the room and went over to Rey.

"You look beautiful, darling," Leia said.

"Thank you," Rey whispered, blushing slightly from the compliment.

"I wanted to see how your dress was coming. And... I know that I'm not your mother, but I thought that you might want to have someone with you now. " Leia said.

"Thank you for being here for me," Rey replied sincerely.

Leia smiled sadly at her for a moment before she spoke. "Are you nervous?"

Rey wanted to be strong and say no, but she couldn't lie to her. "Yes."

"If it makes you feel better, so was I. But I understand that it must be even harder for you since you've never met him. Would you like to meet him before the wedding?"

Rey felt her heart freeze, she wasn't ready to meet him. She was so angry with him right now that if she saw him she probably wouldn't be able to resist the urge to punch him in the face. She needed time to calm down and prepare, this had all happened so suddenly. She needed some time alone. She needed to gather the strength to face him...she didn't need the strength to fight him...she needed the strength not to.

She imagined meeting him face to face, what would she say to him? Nothing that came to mind sounded right, it was either too obviously scornful, too falsely happy, or too awkward.

"I... I don't think I'm ready, I wouldn't know what to say to him." Rey wanted to tell her the truth, that she couldn't marry the man who had killed her father. But she remembered that it was her son that she spoke of. She knew that Leia loved him just as she loved her, the truth would only hurt her.

Leia nodded understandingly. "I'm sure that you could think of something, though I must warn you he's a quiet person, he doesn't talk much."

Rey nodded, then she was quiet for a while. She tried to think of something to talk about. She didn't want the silence to become awkward, but it was difficult. Normally Rey loved talking to Queen Leia as she helped her get ready in the mornings. But now she wasn't just a queen who Rey admired, she was her future mother-in-law.

Rey would have been overjoyed to learn that King Han and Queen Leia were going to become her father-in-law and mother-in-law. But like a storm cloud on a sunny day, the fact that she would have to marry Prince Ben destroyed the joy she might have otherwise felt.

"Is your son nervous?" Rey asked. She didn't care how he felt, but she would feel better to know that she wasn't alone in her dread. And it was something to break the silence.

Leia smiled slightly. "Yes, very much so."

Rey could hardly believe that he was truly nervous, he wasn't afraid of anything. He would rush into battle against a thousand men without blinking an eye. Why would he be nervous about their betrothal?

"I'm sure he's also excited to meet you," she continued.

Rey nodded, not knowing what to say.

They were silent for several moments before Leia spoke again. "Are you excited to get married?"

She didn't know what to say. "I haven't really had time to let it sink in. It doesn't seem real, it feels like I'm only dreaming." Having a nightmare more like, she added silently.

Leia nodded. "Yes, I'm sure that it must be a big adjustment."

Rey took a deep breath. "Do you think he'll accept me? I'm just a servant...an orphan, he's a prince."

The queen looked at her for a moment. "Rey, he would love you. Han and I do."

"Thank you," Rey whispered, though she didn't believe that he was capable of love.

꧁❀꧂

Rey came to her room, exhausted from having to plan a wedding that she didn't even want to attend...her own. She'd never been to a wedding and she had no idea how much planning went into it. She had been busy all day, trying on her wedding gown. Speaking to the chef about what food to have and a dozen more things. Queen Leia wanted her to have the wedding of her dreams. But a wedding wasn't something she'd ever really dreamed about or even thought about.

She never really wanted to get married. It was hard enough losing her father she couldn't imagine the thought of losing her husband. She'd seen her father grieve over her mother. The only way to prevent feeling that grief or causing it was not to get married or have a romantic relationship. But she had to do this and she would never grieve for Kylo Ren anyway. She doubted that he would grieve for her either.

She sighed. Tomorrow would most likely be the same as today, and she wanted to get a good night's sleep.

She'd managed to avoid coming in contact with the prince all day. She had soon came to realize that he was avoiding her as well. If they were going to be stuck with one another from now on; they might as well enjoy these three days of freedom from one another.

She knew that most young women would want to get to know the man they were about to marry. But she knew enough about him to know that she wanted to spend as little time with him as possible.

꧁❀꧂

As she'd expected the next two days had been just as busy with preparations as the last.

She sat on her bed, looking around her room. This would be the last night she would sleep here. Today had been her last day of freedom.

She was supposed to meet her future husband at dinner that evening, but she'd had to excuse herself from attending because she didn't feel well. She couldn't eat a single thing on her nervous stomach. Even the thought of food made her feel slightly nauseous. It would seem that she would have to meet her husband on their wedding day. She dreaded meeting him face to face just as much as she dreaded marrying him.

But what she dreaded most was their wedding night. She doubted that Kylo Ren would respect her wishes or ask her permission before he touched her. The thought made her already nauseous stomach churn. She was strong enough to protect herself, but he was far stronger than her. She'd heard the tales, he could face a dozen men alone with ease. How could she protect herself from someone so strong?

She knew she would probably not be looking forward to this no matter the circumstances. Marrying someone she didn't know would be enough to make her dread the wedding. But she did know him from a distance...she knew enough about him to hate him.

"God please give me strength, give me the strength to face him," she begged.