A lifetime spent mostly inside the minds of other people, or else listening to another voice inside his own, has given Ben a philosophically suspicious eye for anything that has been previously deemed impossible – still, he must try very hard not to look surprised while the judge delivers his sentence.
“Kylo Ren,” he says, leaning forward in his stately chair, “it may interest you to know that there are many sane, law-abiding citizens within this republic who’ve told me you should be chained to a pillar and whipped to death. Would you call that justice?”
“Yes, your honor,” Ben answers, although the judge has not addressed him by name yet. Standing beside him, Leia frowns. “I would.”
“But we are not going to exercise justice today, Kylo Ren. I think I’ve seen enough blind justice practiced to fill a lifetime or two already – so in light of General Organa’s eloquent testimony, and your somewhat belated contribution to the First Order’s downfall, this high court has chosen instead to move in favor of mercy. Tell me, what’s the difference between those two ideas?”
Ben swallows to wet his throat. He locks both knees so that they will not give out beneath him, keeps his eyes aimed levelly forward, and he suddenly aches along the still-healing pathways his dead master’s lightning had taken as it scorched through his body.
“Mercy cannot be earned,” he answers.
“No, it cannot.” The judge settles back again, regarding him with the patient, hooded interest of a vulture. “You are living strictly on unmerited and gifted time – never forget that for an instant.”
“Thank you, your honor. I don't intend to.”
The terms of his probation take a full half-hour to read, framed at both ends by the condition that any violation will result in an immediate reinstatement of his capital sentence. Afterwards, Rey hurries him along an empty corridor towards the private upper flight deck – she never walks with her back toward him, a habit for which Ben cannot fault her, and a hum of anticipation surrounds her at every corner they turn – as shouts from the impatient crowd outside reach his ears.
Ben halts before a window to listen.
“How can we possibly expect to have peace while that murderer’s still alive? Don’t they realize what he’s done?” The stranger’s face has gone florid with a bellowing, breathless rage. The courthouse spokesperson looks pale by contrast, and Ben guesses they drew straws to decide who would come deliver this displeasing news. “Butcher him like the animal he is – it’d be a better death than he gave his father.”
"If he were really a changed man, he'd ask the judge to let his death sentence stand. That's my opinion, anyhow."
"Yes, yes, that's right. That's exactly what I was saying before."
“Cut off all his limbs, first,” a woman adds. “If he really wants to emulate Lord Vader so much, I’m sure he’d thank you for it.”
This sets off a wave of laughter that rolls up the tall stone pillars and through all the hollow places inside him. Ben notes that the woman has a young child balanced on her hip, who glances blankly upward and pops one soggy little fist out of its mouth to wave at him.
“I’m rather sorry to have disappointed them,” Ben remarks. “The press could’ve called it the historical event of a generation, for a week or so.”
“Well, now they’ll just have to find something else they can brag about witnessing.” Rey peers down as well, squinting into the afternoon sun, and then points to a large ATS septic tank on the courthouse roof. “If it’s drama they want, though, I can probably make that thing explode if I think about it hard enough – then they can all claim how they were there that one miraculous day when it rained shit. How would they like that, you think?”
“You truly are a consummate disciple of the sacred arts, Master.”
She snorts. The child has gone on waving, so Ben moves to raise his hand in recognition. It seems like the least he can do, for these frustrated spectators who have come out expecting a celebratory execution and have instead been handed some maudlin, wildly implausible explanation about second chances.
(Kylo Ren – they will always call him Kylo Ren, he knows, and so he will always be Kylo Ren, though he might tell them it was a won title rather than an actual name – does not truly believe in this himself, but saying such a thing aloud would be selfish considering the efforts of everyone involved.)
“Poor General Organa, though,” begins another, older man. “Her family deserved so much b – ”
Then Rey snatches his arm and gives it a forceful yank. They keep moving, although the muscles of his left leg become stubbornly unresponsive for a moment and he staggers. Rey’s jaw is clenched, her eyes sparking-sharp, probably in disgust at being forced to touch him.
He cannot fault her for this, either.
("You're a monster.")
“...Don’t look back, all right?” Rey advises, when Ben turns his head to hear whatever the man planned on saying next. “That’s not the way you’re supposed to be going.”
...
End Notes: I've read the additional bonuses, OP, and I'll be sure to include other characters in here as I go (I need to write it in parts because I don't think I can emotionally do it all in one shot, and I felt like I needed the set-up), but I'll admit a strong partiality to Reylo/ReyBen that I'll keep platonic if it's not totally your thing. Let me know what else you want to see, if anything, and if this is somewhat like what you wanted.
Nerd points to anyone who gets the title reference.
The Sword of Prince Hector (1/3)
A lifetime spent mostly inside the minds of other people, or else listening to another voice inside his own, has given Ben a philosophically suspicious eye for anything that has been previously deemed impossible – still, he must try very hard not to look surprised while the judge delivers his sentence.
“Kylo Ren,” he says, leaning forward in his stately chair, “it may interest you to know that there are many sane, law-abiding citizens within this republic who’ve told me you should be chained to a pillar and whipped to death. Would you call that justice?”
“Yes, your honor,” Ben answers, although the judge has not addressed him by name yet. Standing beside him, Leia frowns. “I would.”
“But we are not going to exercise justice today, Kylo Ren. I think I’ve seen enough blind justice practiced to fill a lifetime or two already – so in light of General Organa’s eloquent testimony, and your somewhat belated contribution to the First Order’s downfall, this high court has chosen instead to move in favor of mercy. Tell me, what’s the difference between those two ideas?”
Ben swallows to wet his throat. He locks both knees so that they will not give out beneath him, keeps his eyes aimed levelly forward, and he suddenly aches along the still-healing pathways his dead master’s lightning had taken as it scorched through his body.
“Mercy cannot be earned,” he answers.
“No, it cannot.” The judge settles back again, regarding him with the patient, hooded interest of a vulture. “You are living strictly on unmerited and gifted time – never forget that for an instant.”
“Thank you, your honor. I don't intend to.”
The terms of his probation take a full half-hour to read, framed at both ends by the condition that any violation will result in an immediate reinstatement of his capital sentence. Afterwards, Rey hurries him along an empty corridor towards the private upper flight deck – she never walks with her back toward him, a habit for which Ben cannot fault her, and a hum of anticipation surrounds her at every corner they turn – as shouts from the impatient crowd outside reach his ears.
Ben halts before a window to listen.
“How can we possibly expect to have peace while that murderer’s still alive? Don’t they realize what he’s done?” The stranger’s face has gone florid with a bellowing, breathless rage. The courthouse spokesperson looks pale by contrast, and Ben guesses they drew straws to decide who would come deliver this displeasing news. “Butcher him like the animal he is – it’d be a better death than he gave his father.”
"If he were really a changed man, he'd ask the judge to let his death sentence stand. That's my opinion, anyhow."
"Yes, yes, that's right. That's exactly what I was saying before."
“Cut off all his limbs, first,” a woman adds. “If he really wants to emulate Lord Vader so much, I’m sure he’d thank you for it.”
This sets off a wave of laughter that rolls up the tall stone pillars and through all the hollow places inside him. Ben notes that the woman has a young child balanced on her hip, who glances blankly upward and pops one soggy little fist out of its mouth to wave at him.
“I’m rather sorry to have disappointed them,” Ben remarks. “The press could’ve called it the historical event of a generation, for a week or so.”
“Well, now they’ll just have to find something else they can brag about witnessing.” Rey peers down as well, squinting into the afternoon sun, and then points to a large ATS septic tank on the courthouse roof. “If it’s drama they want, though, I can probably make that thing explode if I think about it hard enough – then they can all claim how they were there that one miraculous day when it rained shit. How would they like that, you think?”
“You truly are a consummate disciple of the sacred arts, Master.”
She snorts. The child has gone on waving, so Ben moves to raise his hand in recognition. It seems like the least he can do, for these frustrated spectators who have come out expecting a celebratory execution and have instead been handed some maudlin, wildly implausible explanation about second chances.
(Kylo Ren – they will always call him Kylo Ren, he knows, and so he will always be Kylo Ren, though he might tell them it was a won title rather than an actual name – does not truly believe in this himself, but saying such a thing aloud would be selfish considering the efforts of everyone involved.)
“Poor General Organa, though,” begins another, older man. “Her family deserved so much b – ”
Then Rey snatches his arm and gives it a forceful yank. They keep moving, although the muscles of his left leg become stubbornly unresponsive for a moment and he staggers. Rey’s jaw is clenched, her eyes sparking-sharp, probably in disgust at being forced to touch him.
He cannot fault her for this, either.
("You're a monster.")
“...Don’t look back, all right?” Rey advises, when Ben turns his head to hear whatever the man planned on saying next. “That’s not the way you’re supposed to be going.”
...
End Notes: I've read the additional bonuses, OP, and I'll be sure to include other characters in here as I go (I need to write it in parts because I don't think I can emotionally do it all in one shot, and I felt like I needed the set-up), but I'll admit a strong partiality to Reylo/ReyBen that I'll keep platonic if it's not totally your thing. Let me know what else you want to see, if anything, and if this is somewhat like what you wanted.
Nerd points to anyone who gets the title reference.