Winter

Forty-Three

In Winter’s dream, she was standing in the kitchen of a little farmhouse on Earth, or what her imagination thought a farmhouse on Earth must be like. She knew it was Scarlet’s home, though she’d never been there. She stood at a sink overflowing with dirty dishes. It was vital that she get them all clean before everyone came home, but every time she lifted a plate from the suds it shattered in her hands. Her fingers were bleeding from all the shards, turning the bubbles red.

When the seventh plate cracked in her hands, she stepped back from the sink with an overwhelming sense of failure. Why could she never do anything right? Even this simple task turned to disaster at her touch.

She fell to her knees and began to weep. The blood and soap puddled in her lap.

A shadow fell across her and she looked up. Her stepmother stood in the doorway, acres of fields and Earth’s blue, blue sky laid out behind her. She was holding a bejeweled comb in her hand, and though she was beautiful, her smile was cruel.

“They love you,” said Levana, as if they’d been in the middle of a conversation. She came into the kitchen. The hem of her regal gown trailed through the soapy water on the floor. “They protect you. And what have you ever done to deserve that?”

“They love me,” Winter agreed, though she wasn’t sure who they were talking about. The people of Luna? Cinder and her allies? Jacin?

“And they will all pay the price for their adoration.” Coming around behind her, Levana began brushing the comb through Winter’s curls. The touch was gentle. Motherly, even. Winter wanted to weep with longing—how she had yearned for a mother’s touch—but there was fear in her too. Levana had never been so kind. “They will come to know all your weaknesses. They will learn how flawed you truly are. Then they will see how you never deserved any of this.”

A sharp pain stitched into her skull as one of the comb’s tines dug into Winter’s scalp. She gasped. Her head started to throb.

A growl drew her attention back to the door. Ryu was standing with his paws spread in defense, his teeth bared.

Levana stopped brushing. “And what do you care? She betrayed you too. She allowed that guard to sacrifice your life for hers. You cannot ignore her selfishness.”

Ryu prowled closer. His yellow eyes flashed.

Levana dropped the comb and stepped back. “You are an animal. A killer. A predator. What do you know of loyalty or love?”

Ryu hushed and lowered his head as if chastised. Winter’s heart opened to him. She could tell he missed her. He wanted to play fetch, not be berated by the queen’s cruel words.

Winter raised her hand to her stinging scalp. Her hair was damp. She looked down at the fallen comb and saw that the pool of dishwater had become thick with blood.

“You are wrong,” she said, turning her face up to the queen. “You are the killer. You are the predator. You know nothing of loyalty or love.” She held her hand out to Ryu, who sniffed it, before settling his warm head down on her knee. “We may be animals, but we will never again live in your cage.”

* * *

When she opened her eyes, the farmhouse was gone, replaced with shabby walls and furniture and window curtains covered in regolith dust. Her eyelids flickered as she tried to ward off the heavy drowsiness and a throbbing headache. She could still smell the pool of blood, and her scalp still ached from where the comb had punctured it.

No, from where she had hit the corner of the table.

Someone had laid her out on the sofa. Her feet dangled off the edge.

“Hey, crazy.”

Winter pushed her hair out of her face and found a towel wrapped around her head. She looked up at Scarlet, who had brought a dining chair into the front room and was sitting on it backward with her arms settled on its back. She was wearing her hooded sweatshirt again. Most of the stains were gone but it still looked worn and ragged. So did she, actually. Her eyes were rimmed with red, her face blotchy and flushed. Her usual ferocity had dulled to bitter exhaustion.

“Iko told us what happened,” she said, her voice withered and cracked. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here, but I’m glad she was.”

Winter sat up. Iko sat cross-legged on the floor, picking at a thread of skin fiber that had been torn open in her chest. Thorne was standing with his back against the main door. He was wearing the partial uniform of a Lunar guard and she had to look twice to be sure it was him. She listened, but the house was otherwise silent.

Winter felt a flush of dread. “Where are the others?”

“The sector was attacked,” said Thorne. “They took Wolf and Cinder and they … they killed Maha.”

Scarlet wrapped her arms tighter around the back of the chair. “We can’t stay here. We moved the bodies of that guard and thaumaturge into the back bedroom, but I bet someone will come for them.”

“The guard who helped us,” said Iko, “told me to take Her Highness into hiding. I know he meant to take her out of this sector, but where else can we go? I’ve been reviewing the maps of Luna and the only places that seem like they might offer more security are underground. At least we would be away from people, and surveillance isn’t as strict in the tunnels and mines, but it doesn’t seem like a perfect solution, either.”

“There is no perfect solution,” said Winter, sinking against the sofa’s lumpy cushion. “The queen will find me anywhere I go. She finds me even in my dreams.”

“You’re not the only one having nightmares,” Thorne muttered. “But there’s still a chance that a lot of angry civilians are going to show up in Artemisia four days from now, demanding a new regime. Is there any chance Cinder will still be alive by then?”

They traded glances, but there was not much optimism.

“Official executions take place in Artemisia Palace,” said Winter. “That’s where they’ll take her.”

“Why not just kill her here?” asked Scarlet. “Why go through the trouble?”

Thorne shook his head. “Levana wants to execute her in a way that will show the futility of this uprising.”

“You think she plans on broadcasting it?” said Iko.

“I guarantee she does,” said Winter. “The queen is fond of public executions. They are an effective way to break the will of any citizens who might be feeling rebellious.”

Thorne rubbed his brow. “She’ll kill her soon, then. Tonight, maybe, or tomorrow. Nothing like an execution on your wedding day.”

Winter drew her knees to her chest, squeezing them tight. The day had started so hopeful for her companions. The broadcast had gone as planned, the people had been answering her call. But now it was over. Levana was still the queen, dear Selene would soon be dead, and Jacin too, if he wasn’t already.

“Stop it.”

She lifted her head—not so much at Thorne’s command, but at the hardened tone beneath it. Scarlet and Iko, too, looked up.

“Stop acting discouraged, all of you. We don’t have time for it.”

“You are not discouraged?” Winter asked.

“It’s not in my vocabulary.” Thorne pushed himself off the door. “Iko, did we break into that guardhouse and broadcast Cinder’s message across all of Luna?”

“Yes, Captain.”

“And, Scarlet, did I rescue you and Wolf when the entire city of Paris was under siege?”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Actually, I’m pretty sure Cinder—”

“Yes, I did.” He pointed at Iko. “Did I rescue you and Cinder from that prison cell and fly us all to safety aboard the Rampion?”

“Well, at the time, I wasn’t exactly—”

“Aces, Iko, just answer the question.”

Scarlet drummed her fingers. “What’s your point?”

“My point is that I am going to figure this out, like I always do. First, we’re going to find a way to get into Artemisia. We’re going to find Cress and rescue Cinder and Wolf. We’re going to overthrow Levana, and by the stars above, we are going to make Cinder a queen so she can pay us a lot of money from her royal coffers and we can all retire very rich and very alive, got it?”

Winter started to clap. “Brilliant speech. Such gumption and bravado.”

“And yet strangely lacking in any sort of actual strategy,” said Scarlet.

“Oh, good, I’m glad you noticed that too,” said Iko. “I was worried my processor might be glitching.” She felt for the back of her head.

“I’m working on that part,” Thorne growled. “For now, we need to get out of this sector. I’ll think better once I’m not worried about more thaumaturges surrounding us. Besides, if we’re going by maglev tunnel, it’s a long walk back to Artemisia.”

“One flaw in this not-really-a-plan?” said Scarlet, jutting her thumb toward Winter. “We’re not taking her back there. That’s the opposite of keeping her hidden.”

Winter untied the towel around her head. There was a spot of blood, but not much. She wondered if her headache would ever ease. “You’re right. I will go underground, as Scarlet suggested.”

“You’re not a mole,” said Scarlet. “You can’t just go underground. Where will you go? What will you do? Are there people down there? Do you need to take supplies? What if—”

“Ryu was in my dream too.” Winter folded the towel on her knee. “He was trying to protect me from the queen. I think he’s forgiven me for what happened.”

Scarlet guffawed, a harsh and delirious sound. “Are you even listening? Don’t you get it? Cinder and Wolf are gone! Levana has them. She’s going to torture them and kill them and…” Sobbing, Scarlet lowered her head between her trembling shoulders. “No one cares about your stupid dreams and your stupid delusions. They’re gone.” She wiped her nose with the back of her hand. She was not pretty when she cried, and Winter liked this about her.

Tipping forward, she rested her hand on Scarlet’s shoulder. Scarlet didn’t shake her away.

“I do understand,” she said. “It would not be safe for me to return to Artemisia, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help Selene and my people. I, too, have a not-really-a-plan.”

Scarlet peered up at her with bloodshot eyes. “I’m afraid to ask.”

“Thorne and Iko will go to Artemisia and try to save Selene and Wolf and Jacin and Cress, while you and I disappear underground, into the lava tubes and the shadows, and there we shall raise an army of our own.”

“Oh, we’re going to go underground and raise an army, are we?” Scarlet sniffed and threw her hands into the air. “Why do I even bother talking to you? You are not helping. You are the capital U of Unhelpful.”

“I am serious. There are killers and there are animals and there are predators yearning to be free. You know this, Scarlet-friend. You have already freed one.” Winter stood and placed a hand on the wall for balance, then skirted around the small table.

Scarlet rolled her eyes, but it was Iko who spoke. “The barracks,” she said. “The barracks where Levana keeps her soldiers are in the lava tubes.”

Thorne’s gaze swiveled from Iko to Winter. “Her soldiers? You mean, her mutant wolf soldiers? Are you insane?”

Winter started to giggle. “I might as well be,” she said, placing a hand on Thorne’s cheek. “For everyone tells me so.”