Chapter One
Get up! Why aren't you ready for breakfast yet?
Cinder woke up the next morning, after receiving a comm from Scarlet. This had happened yesterday, too, she thought. As soon as she was fully awake, she finally realized why she'd woken up so late.
Last night, after Scarlet and Wolf's impromptu wedding, she and Kai had walked around the fields, seeing where she had been kept for eight years, and finally going to the creek, looking at the stars, when Kai had proposed to her. Of course, she'd said yes, and they had stayed outside until sunrise had approached. They had talked and talked until Cinder had fallen asleep.
Cinder tapped Kai on the shoulder. "Wake up, sleepyhead. Scarlet's wondering where we are."
"This is too much like yesterday. What time is is?" he groaned sleepily.
"Past nine. We'd better get ready and join them for breakfast," Cinder said with a yawn.
"I call dibs on shower!" Kai stood up, now fully awake. "Besides, we also have to tell them about my brand-new engagement to my 'ex-wife's' niece," he smirked.
Cinder smiled. "Well, nothing new there. We all know my 'dear' Aunt Levana. What a monster."
Surprisingly, Thorne and Cress hadn't been ready yet. Not surprisingly, Throne was yet flirting with Cress. It suddenly made sense why they were still inside the Rampion. "Are you two ready yet?" Cinder asked. "Scarlet will be in here any moment demanding us to go eat breakfast."
"Will be soon. I hope. That is, if I can find my shoes," Thorne said, with a frown.
Scarlet came in, just like Cinder predicted. "You guys better get a move on if you'd like to leave today. Besides, the journalists are out again. Scram and come in for breakfast, now!" she ordered.
"Coming" was Kai's response. They all made their way down to Scarlet and Wolf's farm, taking the route with less journalists. Besides, no one knew about Kai and Cinder's engagement yet. Not even Scarlet, Wolf, Thorne, Cress, and Iko.
"Grab a plate and load up on some food. It's be quite a trip back to where you're going," Scarlet said.
Like the day before, it had been too crowded to be in the kitchen, so they crowded around in the sitting room, talking and chatting. "Cinder and I have something to tell you," Kai said, as soon as everyone was seated.
"What? I love surprises," Iko declared.
Cinder smiled her mischievous smile. "We're engaged."
A lovely round of 'Congratulations' and 'when's' were supplied, and Cinder continued, "Last night, by the creek."
Cress asked, "Can we see your ring?"
"Sure," Cinder replied. A chorus of 'oohs' from the girls had made Thorne roll his eyes.
"It's amazing! And I got all of the ring's history downloaded on my port!" Iko bubbled with happiness.
"That's what I got at first, too," Cinder said. "Its history just took my breath away." Kai smirked. "Your face said so, too." he replied.
"This also means I'm not going straight back to Luna. I'm going to the Commonwealth first," she told the group. "And Iko, you're coming along. Captain, do you not mind having to go to Luna?"
"Not at all. I'll just stop by the Commonwealth with the antidote, so can we visit too?" Thorne begged.
"Sure, sure. Besides, I might need to ask you two a few things," Kai said.
"About what?" Cress asked.
"Wedding stuff, of course. What else? asking Thorne how to charm a girl?" Kai asked.
After lots of hugs from Scarlet and Wolf, Thorne, Cress, Kai, and Cinder had boarded the Rampion. They set off for the docking ports by the palace. Kai had asked Cress to provide Torin a secure portscreen long ago, so he commed him along the way.
I officially have a fiancée by choice!
Torin replied a few moments later:
Great! Looking forward to meeting you at the docks!
Kai typed his final response:
We'll be there by noon.
He snapped the portscreen shut. He spotted Cinder by the galley. "When do you think the wedding should be? After the ball, maybe?" he asked.
"Possibly. We could just extend the leaders' visits," she replied. We'll have to work around a lot of stuff, though. I thought maybe would could take this slowly."
"That's also an option. Let's discuss this with Torin once we get there, too. He'll has some good ideas," Kai said.
The Rampion crew reached the palace, indeed, by noon. As Torin had said, he did meet them there. Cress and Thorne went off to deliver their antidote, arranging for a meeting time later in the day.
"Welcome back, Your Majesty. And you too, Ambassador Linh. Let's go inside. I heard someone is engaged, Your Majesty," he said slyly.
"We'll talk about this later," Kai whispered to Torin. "The journalists don't know yet. I have yet to hold a press conference."
Torin ushered Kai and Cinder into the palace meeting room, slowly, with all of the adoring fans waving and screaming, the paparazzi snapping their crazy photos. "Make way, make way! His Majesty and Ambassador Linh are coming through!" he said, the entire way.
Once they made it to the conference room, they all heaved a sigh and sat down. "I'll say congratulations to you two. You've had your share of struggles, I'll say," Torin said.
"Yeah. That one time you married my tyrannical aunt," Cinder said with a smile.
"I've had two weddings already. The first one you kidnapped me from remember?" he replied.
"Does Your Majesty or Cinder have any thoughts on when the wedding should be?" Torin asked.
"After the ball, perhaps?" Kai supplied.
"That should be possible. We'll extent the leaders' visits. We have enough time, too. in a little more than half a year. A bit of time, some would say too much, but we'll be good." Torin shrugged. "It'll be a nice change from those two crazy weddings Levana wanted."
"Yes. Definitely," Kai said, smiling at Cinder.