Winter

Seventy-Eight

Kai barreled down the hallway, glad no one was around to see him sprinting in his coronation finery, though his thoughts were too full to worry about appearances. Cinder was alive. Thorne was captured. Cinder was going to invade Artemisia.

Today. Now.

He still felt guilty for leaving Cress alone. He should have done more. He shouldn’t have cared how late he was to this coronation, a ceremony he had no desire to be a part of to begin with. He should have taken more pleasure in making Levana wait. He should have faked another kidnapping.

He cursed inside, wishing he would have thought of that sooner.

But, no—his going missing would set off alarms and the last thing Cress and the others needed were alarms. The best thing he could do to quell Levana’s suspicions was to go forward as if nothing had changed.

The best thing he could do was crown her empress of his country.

It made him sick to think it, but he would stick to the plan. He would play his part.

He spun around a corner, nearly toppling a statue of some chisel-muscled moon god. Kai grabbed the statue, righting it while his heart launched into his throat. When both he and the statue had calmed, he shoved his way through the double doors that led into a series of private waiting chambers.

Two guards flanked the doorway into the great hall. Torin was seated on a cushioned bench beside a woman with gold, poufed hair, who gasped with such fervor Kai thought she might pass out.

“Oh, thank you, Artemis!” she said, pressing a cloth to her brow. “Where have you been?”

“I told you he was on his way,” said Torin.

The woman ignored him, already speaking into a device attached to her wrist. “The emperor has arrived. Ceremony to commence in thirty seconds.” She shoved the port onto her belt and focused on Kai, scanning him with a mix of anxiety and disgust. “Earthens,” she muttered, straightening his sash and brushing his hair away from his face. “You never take any pride in your appearance.”

He gulped back a quick retort involving gold hair and accepted a glass of water from a servant.

Torin stood from the bench and slipped his hands into his pockets. He looked alarmingly casual without a jacket, and Kai wondered if he, too, had already been criticized by this woman, whoever she was. “Is everything all right, Your Majesty?”

The words were said with calm indifference, but Kai could see tense curiosity beneath Torin’s expression.

Although he didn’t know whether it was true, he nodded. “Everything’s fine.”

Beyond the double doors he could hear the chatter of hundreds of voices and he wondered what rumors were already circulating as to the ceremony’s delay. “I’m ready.”

“So is Her Majesty,” said the woman. She shoved Torin toward another entrance. “You—go take your seat! Your Majesty, follow me.”

Kai followed her between the guards, through the double doors, into a short hallway lined with ornamental pillars.

Levana was waiting, outfitted in a dress that matched Kai’s sash—the colors of the Eastern Commonwealth. She looked like a giant walking flag, with a row of stars along the base of her gown’s hem and a white lotus blossoming across her side. She, too, wore a sash, this in burnt orange—on Earth, the color of the rising sun.

The sight of her showing so much fake patriotism for the Commonwealth made him want to tear off that sash and strangle her with it.

She held her hands toward him as he approached. Though he bristled, he had no choice but to take them. Her fingers were icy cold.

“My dear husband,” she cooed. “I feel we were parted for too long.”

He scowled. “How long are you planning on keeping up this charade, exactly?”

“‘Charade’?” Levana tittered. “Surely a wife is allowed to long for her husband without her emotions being considered suspect?”

“Unless you want me to be physically ill during these proceedings, I suggest we change the topic.”

Her expression hardened. “Our marriage union is final and binding. It is your choice how you react to the situation.”

“You’re giving me a choice about something?” Kai flashed his most diplomatic smile. “How generous of you.”

Levana matched the look. “There. That wasn’t so difficult, was it?” She turned so they were facing the great hall, arm in arm. Kai caught a glimpse of the scratch on her forearm where he had cut her with the scissors during their wedding.

The sight strengthened him as the horns blared.

The doors were pulled back, revealing masses of onlookers. Kai found it a strain on his eyes to look at the vibrant colors and sparkling lights and flouncy materials spilling out of the audience and into the aisle.

“All rise for Her Royal Majesty, Queen Levana Blackburn of Luna, direct descendant of First King Cyprus Blackburn, and His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Kaito of the Eastern Commonwealth of Earth.”

The Lunar anthem began to play. Kai and Levana paced down the aisle. If it weren’t for the gaudy clothing in the pews, the mood would have felt somber.

“I was given an interesting piece of information before you arrived,” said Levana, keeping her expression pleasant for the crowd, “involving a traitor that was recently detained in our underground holding cells.”

Kai’s stomach tightened. “Do go on.”

“It seems they found one of Linh Cinder’s accomplices prowling around our palace. That Earthen criminal—Carswell Thorne, I believe is his name.”

“That is interesting.”

“I don’t suppose you know what he was attempting to accomplish here?”

“Perhaps he felt slighted at not receiving an invitation.”

Levana nodded to the crowd. “No matter. We caught him before he could cause too much trouble.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“I thought, as you will soon be Luna’s king consort and he was your prisoner before he was mine, I might allow you to decide how best to execute him.”

He set his jaw. “How my wife does honor me.”

Though in reality, while Levana was trying to goad his temper, she’d given him a gift. It was a relief to hear that Thorne wasn’t already dead.

As they neared the end of the aisle, he spotted his Earthen peers near the front. Torin was already there—they must have sneaked him in through some other entrance—along with dozens of representatives from the Commonwealth and the other nations. He even saw, with some surprise, Linh Adri and Linh Pearl standing beside an American representative. They both wore frozen smiles, and though Kai had a particular kind of hatred for those two women, he also felt a sting of sympathy. Levana had been toying with them like a cat toys with a mouse before devouring it. Offering favors, then punishing them, then offering favors again. No wonder they both looked stricken with fear, afraid to make any sudden movements.

A dozen people stood on the raised dais, a mix of thaumaturges and royal guards and one bioengineered soldier dressed up in a pretty uniform that was at odds with his malformed face and body.

Kai grimaced, wondering what Levana was thinking to bring one of those creatures to the coronation. Their presence hadn’t worked out for either side at the wedding feast.

Then the light caught on the creature’s eyes, blazing green, and Kai frowned. If he didn’t know better—

He jolted, his feet stumbling on the first step. He caught himself, successfully navigating the rest of the steps without falling on his face. His heart continued to thump inside his chest and he remembered Cress telling him they’d taken Wolf, but she didn’t know what had become of him.

Now he knew.

This creature was Wolf, but not. His eyes were turbulent and dark, boring into Kai, hinting at the ferocity that simmered beneath the surface.

With a snarl, Wolf looked away first.

“You recognize my prized soldier?” said Levana as they reached the altar full of regalia. “I should think he’s changed a great deal since last you saw him.”

Kai’s fury writhed inside him. She only wanted a reaction. She only wanted him to know that she was in control—of his fate, of the fate of his country, of the fate of his friends.

Kai braced himself as he and Levana turned to face the audience. This was the moment in which he would be handing Levana half his power. This was when he would tell his country that, should he die, this woman would become their sole ruler.

His body throbbed with refusal, but he knew there were no more options left to him.

Please let Cinder come, a voice repeated in the back of his head. Please let her come.

“People of Luna and of Earth,” said Levana, holding her hands toward the crowd. “You are here to witness a momentous event in our history. Today, we shall crown an Earthen as our king—my husband, Emperor Kaito of the Eastern Commonwealth. And today, I shall be crowned an empress, the first of our royal bloodline to form a binding alliance with our Earthen brethren.”

The people cheered.

Well, the Lunars cheered. The Earthens clapped sort of politely.

“I ask that you be seated,” said Levana.

As the people took their seats, Kai and Levana paced to the two bejeweled cases set upon the altar. Kai released a slow breath and undid the latch on the case.

Inside, settled on a bed of silk, was the empress crown, molded into the shape of a phoenix and studded with flaming jewels.

His heart caught, overwhelming him with emotion he hadn’t been prepared for. The last time he’d seen this crown it had been worn by his mother. She had worn it during the annual ball celebrating world peace every year. She had always been so beautiful.

He shivered at the memory, and at the blasphemy he was about to commit.

On the other side of the altar, Levana emerged with her own crown. In comparison to the Earthen jewels, the crown for Luna’s king was simple. Seven spindly tines carved of moon rock, the white stone shimmering in the candlelight. It was ancient. The monarchy of Luna had been formed long before the Fourth World War had led to the formation of the Eastern Commonwealth and its own royal family.

Steeling himself, Kai lifted his mother’s crown from its protective box, and together, he and Levana faced the crowd again, holding their symbolic crowns overhead. Kai found Torin and saw sadness mirrored in his expression. Perhaps he, too, was thinking of Kai’s mother.

Before Levana could launch into her speech about the symbolic importance of this crown and how it symbolized the sovereign’s power and so on and so forth, the doors at the back of the room crashed open.

The gold-haired woman marched down the aisle, and though her expression was horrified, her movements were robotic, keeping her heading toward the queen.

Kai lowered the crown, his palms growing warm. Hope expanded in his chest. As the crowd turned to watch the woman’s approach, a titter spread through them. Something was happening. Kai did not sense fear from the crowd so much as excitement, like this was nothing but a fictional drama to them.

The woman arrived at the stairs and dropped to one knee. “Forgive me, My Queen,” she stammered. “We have received notice that there is a disturbance in several nearby sectors, including the outlying domes of Artemisia City.”

Kai risked a glance at Wolf, but Wolf was still twitching and snarling. He looked ready to snap his enormous jaws around the first throat that passed too close.

“What sort of disturbance?” Levana growled.

“We don’t know how, but the barricades around the rebellious sectors have been lifted, and the people are … they are coming here. Swarming the maglev tunnels. There is word that … that Princess Winter is among them.”

Levana’s face reddened. “That is not possible.”

“I … I do not know, My Queen. That’s only what I was told. And … and also, supposedly, the cyborg is with them as well.”

Kai grinned. He couldn’t help it, and he did nothing to hide it when Levana turned a scowl on him. With a shrug, he told her, “She did warn you.”

Levana’s jaw clenched. She turned back to the woman. “The cyborg is dead and I will not tolerate any rumors to the contrary.”

The woman’s mouth hung.

“Are the barricades holding around Artemisia?”

“Y-yes, My Queen. To my knowledge they’ve been unable to breach—”

“Then we are not under any immediate threat, are we?”

“I … I suppose not, My Queen.”

“Then why are you interrupting this ceremony?” Levana flicked her wrist. “Guards, escort this woman to a prison cell. I will suffer no more interruptions.”

Her eyes were flaming, merciless, as the woman stood and stumbled back. Two of the guards caught her.

The crowd was trying to stifle their enthusiasm, but was failing. Kai saw a number of mocking looks cast toward the woman as she was dragged away, even though surely it had not been her idea to bring news of the insurrection to Levana.

Kai’s own thoughts were teeming. He bit down hard on the inside of his cheek, while Levana’s face untwisted, transforming back into pleasant serenity.

“Now then,” she said, raising the Lunar crown over her head. “Let us proceed.”