Takes place after Winter and all the trauma is over…A KAIDER FIC

Sick of being the emperor Kai visits his oh-so-beautiful wife…but she lashes out on him. How will they make up? And what if Cinder's life is suddenly in danger? Never judge my fics by their summary!

Guys...it's kinda Medieval because it has swords and all of that...And I haven't read Winter yet so please excuse me because I don't know if Torin dies or not, in my fantasy Kai and Cinder get married. I apologize again, I wasn't able to find a copy of Winter in my school library yet...but of course I had to write something on Kaider. Here goes...

Kai was frustrated…apparently. All his paperwork lay strewn across the tabletop-taxes, official laws, crime statements and prison records, you name it!

In fact, he was tempted to lash his arm and watch all the files tumble down one by one, it seemed extremely satisfying.

No. What was he thinking? This wasn't like his usual calm at ALL. Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair for the millionth time that day.

What was it that was bugging him so much? He had finished two mugs of coffee already, which was way too much for his usual caffeine intake. He looked at the time 8 p.m., it had only been six hours since he had started working. Usually he wouldn't retire this soon but...he HAD to go see Cinder.

Cinder. He was still not over the fact that his life had went well for once...Cinder and princess Selene being the same person had made his life complete. Even if Selene had been another girl, he still wouldn't have been able to be with her willingly. He had been in love with Cinder for a long time, it had just taken him time to realize it.

Maneuvering his way around his messy desk, he made his way to the Empresses's place.

Despite the fact that she was queen, she still hadn't abandoned her life as a mechanic and was as busy as she had been previously. He chuckled to himself as he thought of her shooing him away with a screwdriver yesterday.

Sure enough, her face was set in a frown and her hands tinkering with mechanism when he entered.

She threw a quick glance at him and mumbled "Go away Kai. I'm super busy."

Kai grinned at her words and moved to wrap his arms around her and nuzzle his nose in her neck. He felt her stiffen, but that was called for. It had been a while since they had been able to meet in privacy...

And that was why he jolted in surprise when he felt her hand collide with the back of his head as a dolt slap. Nevertheless, he grinned because that was how he liked his wife - feisty.

'Kaaai" Cinder made sure to drag her voice when he didn't move. "Gooo awaaaayyy" Kai frowned and began to place butterfly kisses on her neck.

Apparently, she softened, "Please Kai...I need to get done with this."

His arms tightened, "But still, can't a have a moment with my wife? Is it really too much to ask for?"

She turned around, her features molded into seriousness "Kai" Her voice was stern and conveyed slight annoyance "You. Need. To. Leave. Now." Each word was followed by a poke to his chest.

Kai brushed the empresses's orders aside with a smirk and leaned in to kiss her. Their lips had only barely touched when she pushed him away.

Her face told him that she was annoyed and...disgusted? His heart plummeted at the look on her face.

"Cinder?" Her expression was beyond livid now, never had she been so angry at his gesture of intimacy.

"Why can't you understand that I need to finish this RIGHT NOW! Can't you wait for a few hours?!" Her words made him flinch, and she regretted saying do but it had to be said, "I'm sure you have to do your work too."

Kai's face dropped, his bangs did a good job of hiding the hurt in his eyes but Cinder could sense it.

Without another word, he left her.

As expected, regret clotted her throat when she saw him leave with heavy footsteps. He probably just wanted to talk...

Why had she done this? Stars why? Kai had only wanted to be with her and it was totally justified. Now that she thought about it, they hadn't seen each other for days...This only made her feel worse and to add up to it Kai's birthday was on the coming Saturday, 7th April!

She wanted to go talk to him...so badly but her paranoia stopped her. What if he was truly mad at her? Would he get over the grudge in time for Ugh

Her thoughts were killing her, maybe a distraction would help...

Trying her best to disperse all theories of Kai and all her insecurities, Cinder went back to the job in front of her. She would think about it later.

**later**

Cinder wanted to scream out in frustration, she had just finished repairing the midsection of the bot and now it's head demanded attention.

Would she ever live or would all her life be spent repairing this piece of junk?!

And the fact that Kai was on bad terms with her was making matters so much more worse.

"Oh Kai!" She said aloud "If only I had listened to you...""

She had so much to do- Go apologize to Kai, finish repairing this bot, finish all her other work before Saturday, fetch new attire for his birthday, order a suitable cake and buy him a present...Those were only a few of them.

Wait...BUY HIM A PRESENT! Why hadn't s done so ALREADY?

Cinder shook her head, mentally adding the job on her in-built to-do-list.

But it wouldn't matter unless she went and talked to Kai...Kai again!

Muttering to herself she slammed the bot down along with her tools. I need a shower...

**later yet again**

She needed Kai NOW. RIGHT NOW. She couldn't take it anymore...

Dressed in blue, (It was Kai's favorite color, she figured it would give her at least a bit benefit.) and equipped with her darts she made her way to Kai. However she quickly decided against it and left them on her dresser.

Upon reaching the end of the hallway, she recognized the guards standing outside his chambers except for one, must be new. She greeted them with a subtle nod

Apparently, despite being new the guard had a lot of courage because he stopped her, "You may not enter, the emperor has given strict orders against the entry of anyone." Giving high emphasis on the word 'anyone'.

"You may not recognize me but I am the king's wife and the title gives me the right to see him in any circumstance." She sidestepped him and made her way, just a few meters away, she thought.

"No Empress you may not enter!" The other guards stared at this one in shock. Apparently, no one else had ever had the guts to deny a direct command from the empress.

Cinder narrowed her eyes, she knew that Kai was not exactly in 'kind' terms with her but this newbie had unsheathed his sword in an attempt to stop her, and this was beyond what she had expected.

"The Emperor does not wish to see anyone, not even his lady." Maintaining a fierce attitude, the guard stepped forward in an attempt to scare her.

Cinder sighed, she had promised herself that she would never use her lunar talent again but she HAD to see Kai and this mundane was making it impossible for her.

She focused on accumulating the sparks at the base of her spine and slowly reached for the bioelectricity surrounding the guard.

The guard's features twisted in concentration, but his hand trembled and released the weapon.

Cinder tried to dismiss the guilt building inside her chest, she had manipulated Kai's appointed servant...And what if Kai really didn't want to see her?

Cinder sighed yet again and glared at the guards staring at her in awe. She held up her skirts and headed towards the frontier of Kai's personal chambers, she was really sorry and more than willing to initiate the apology. She hoped Kai wouldn't hold it against her, it was his birthday the coming weekend and she would really hate it if Kai couldn't celebrate and be happy because of her.

But just before she made it to the door, an arm wrapped around her chest holding her back making her gasp at the suppressive contact and paralyzing her efficiently. Cinder wanted to scream at the assault, do something about it but before she could the sharpness of a sword came in contact with her throat.

Cinder was ready to push back her elbow; she could even feel the man's…Oh Stars! But he whispered in her ear "Don't move or the sword comes down." And he wasn't making empty threats, she could already feel the warm flow on her neck.

If she brought her elbow back then it would cause the guard to fall back but the force would cause her neck to get impaled by the sword.

Every other guard stood frozen around her, unmoving for some reason. They probably couldn't contemplate the fact that this was really happening and neither could she…after defeating Levana and going through all that torture but surviving...Would she really die in the hands of one of Kai's guards?

Cinder was tempted to send a COMM but was sure that nothing would stop this guard…she closed her eyes holding back the traitor tears, suddenly regretting the installation of tear ducts in her eyes.

And that was exactly when Kai walked out. His hair was disheveled, extremely disheveled, it looked like he had recently attempted to rip it out of his scalp and his eyes…Oh his eyes! The emperor's copper irises were rimmed with red, even his clothes were out of order, the cloak was not hanging on his shoulders and the top buttons of his shirt were open. Apparently, the day was also going badly for him.

He was yet to notice the scene in front of him. He seemed unfocused; Cinder realized that he was heading in the direction of her quarters. She wanted to shout but the sword around her would cut through her tonsils.

The guard behind her dropped his hold on her immediately and sheathed his sword. " Wuan ann (Good night), your majesty. I hope you feel better." The guard saluted Kai as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

And suddenly, everything was going on in slow motion…Kai turned around his moving slightly and she watched his eyes widen in bewilderment and horror.

"Kai…" She whispered, a single ear flowing down her cheek.

He was there so quickly that she couldn't comprehend it. "Cinder!" His hands were on her elbows and his face a mixture of agony and anger "Who?"

The words that came out of her mouth were accompanied by sobs and stutters "H-He, the g-g-guard, Kai h-he a-asssssaulted m-me a-and he h-held his s-ssword t-t-to my t-throat. Y-You d-d-didn't w-want to ssseee m-me a-and-"

She was cut short when the emperor pulled out his own sword and placed it over his Adam's apple.

"You!" Kai's shoulders shook with rage as he gripped the collar of the guard's shirt. "How dare you so much as touch MY Cinder!" He couldn't believe the guard had laid a sword on his wife.

The guard trembled under him. "B-But your majesty…I-I was just following orders."

"BY HOLDING A SWORD OVER MY WIFE'S NECK? I'M CERTAIN THAT'S NOT WHAT I TOLD YOU TO DO!" Kai gritted his teeth in an effort to stop himself from murdering the guard instantaneously.

"And what about you all? Is this what you're going to do when I'm in danger? In that case, I don't desire your service."

And that was when Torin arrived.

Kai pushed the guard to the floor, who cried in despair and he was about to kick his side when Cinder grabbed his arm. "I-It's n-not worth i-i-it Kai. H-he'll use it against you." He stopped due to the demand of his wife...But in reality, he was ready to boot this guy until he had no more blood to spurt out of his mouth.

His voice was no louder than a whisper "Cinder…" He turned around and engulfed her in his arms. She gave a cry of protest "K-Kai you'll l get your dress dirty…"

His arms immediately tightened and his chin came to rest on her forehead, he released a weak chuckle, but stopped in his effort to calm her down when he heard her sobs.

"I'm sorry Cinder, I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I shouldn't have been so angry, it was unjustified-" Her sobs only became louder.

Slowly, her palms slid forward on his chest until they were wrapped around his neck and her fingers buried in his hair.

"My f-fault Kaaaai" His name became a moan of pain when she felt the wound on her throat stretch.

He pulled back, his hands on her shoulder "Oh Cinder! I'm sorry, I forgot. Let's get you fixed."

Cinder lay on Kai's chest, her neck very sore from all the stitching.

"Baby I'm very sorry, I should be more careful when I'm appointing palace duties...I'm never letting you out of my sight again"

Cinder wanted to shout in protest at his apology, it had been her fault in the first place...but all she could do was moan and even that caused her unease.

Kai chuckled and his chest rumbled beneath her cheek. "The doctor said you'll be able to talk properly in a few days. Until then I can do what I want..."

Cinder wanted to argue with she knew another moan would cause him to burst into hysterics. Though, she was glad that he had cooled down and was now back to his normal self. Honestly, without she and Torin convincing him otherwise, he would have made good with his promise of slaying the former palace guard.

Looking at the stars, Cinder wondered how she had gotten so lucky with Kai, she turned over so that her she could meet his eyes and despite the fact that it hurt her, she whispered "I'm so fortunate to have you Kai. I wonder what I would have done without you..."

Her eyes tore up when she saw his joyful expression.

Gently, he reached up to kiss her forehead and said,"It's good to know that the feeling is two-sided. Otherwise, I might have had to wager a war with Luna."

Cinder tried not to burst out laughing at his words but failed miserably, however she stopped when the pain burst on her neck. She managed to say, "You would have lost Kaito, pretty badly..." She left the thought hanging and let her mind imagine how Kai would try to threaten her to agree wooing him.

"Then I'm glad you agreed, I wouldn't have liked it if I had to stay bachelor forever and this throne dying out-"

Cinder cut him midsentence "You would have stayed a bachelor if you couldn't get my hand in marriage?!" She was shocked but also very faltered.

Kai shrugged as if it was a simple matter of choosing red over blue.

It was Cinder's turn to kiss him, however she had to retreat when it became too passionate for her wounds. Then she withdrew to her previous position on his chest.

Cinder resisted the yawn that was building up in her throat. Kai stroking her hair and the steady heart beat of his chest was lulling her to sleep.

As if sensing her exhaustion he brushed a curl behind her earl and said "Sleep, Cinder. You need it."

She mumbled a good night and once again, thanked the stars for allowing her destiny to intertwine with Kai's.

Disclaimer- I do not own any of the characters, except for the imaginary guard who was oh-so-stupid... And I also apologize for any spelling or gramatical

Now that's that...Before I say anything else...REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW AND REVIEW. DO NOT FORGET! Please...I'm begging you guys, I can't stand it when I spend soooo long writing a fanfic and you don't bother writing your feedback:(

Believe it or not, but this is why a lot authors stop writing!

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My love is no longer unconditional,
Annabeth-AD

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