Disclaimer: I still don't own the characters...
Author's Note: Sorry if this one is a bit rough around the edges. It's pretty much hot off the press. More to follow soon. Enjoy!
The Lunar Chronicles:
Bryony-Rose
Chapter Three
Kai's expression was grave.
"Why didn't you come to me soon?" he asked.
The queen smiled thinly. "Fear," she said honestly. "Fear to show weakness to a fellow Union leader. Fear of the repercussions. Fear for –" She cut herself short, not wanting to voice her greatest fear of all.
"Fear for Rose," Kai guessed. His tone softened. "Of course. I didn't mean to be harsh, Your Majesty. It's just a lot to take in."
Mistress Mallorie – a third order Thaumaturge from Levana's Court – was the last of the renegade group who had fled to earth in Cinder's first year of reign. The other five who had escaped had since been captured or killed, but Mallorie had remained at large. Kai had read every brief, every memo, every intelligence report he could lay his hands on trying to track her down. And she had been here, in the very heart of the United Kingdom for five long years. It angered him more than he was letting on that she had kept quiet for so long.
"Do you know where she is?" Kai asked, his usual diplomatic demeanour returning.
"I did," Camilla replied. "But since my surveillance team was compromised, she's been on the move. It has set us back months."
"Don't worry," Kai said. "I can help there. Between the resources I can count on from Luna and the combined skills aboard the Rampion, we can flush her out inside a week." He knew his bravado was a bit much, but he hoped Camilla appreciated the sentiment.
As it happened, she did seem to find a little confidence.
"There's still the matter of getting word to the rest of my team," she said.
"And you have no way to contact them?"
"Not anymore. Mallorie destroyed the D-Comm chips the team had to communicate with base. I don't even know if the rest of the team are even alive. She could be using the whole thing as an excuse to make her move."
Kai nodded in agreement. "That does seem likely. What are your security measures for the party?"
Queen Camilla took a deep breath. "My entire security division has been fitted with the latest model of the Linh-Device."
Kai rolled his eyes. This was the less-than-imaginative name that Linh Adri had given to the microchip that could regulate a person's biochemical output and neutralise the effects of a Lunar's gift. When given to a human, it meant they could not be controlled and that a Lunar glamour was entirely useless.
It was a good start, security wise.
"Smart," Kai said. "What about entrances?"
"All entry to the palace is strictly through the main gate. All other entrances will be locked and sealed ahead of the guests arriving." She paused for a moment. "Even so," she continued. "If you friends would look over the security set up to plug any remaining weaknesses, I would feel happier."
Kai smiled with a little pride. No doubt the fact that Cinder, Thorne, Cress, Scarlet and Wolf had managed to breach the entire New Beijing security system and kidnap him before most of them were old enough to vote – no doubt this had a bearing on the Queen's trust in their skillset.
"I'm sure that can be arranged."
Kai paused to think.
"How much does Rose know about all of this?"
Queen Camilla's face fell. "Nothing," she replied. "She has enough to worry about right now without this."
Kai nodded in sympathy. He remembered a time when his own father tried to shield him from the more unpleasant issues in the empire. Even Torin, when he had first been crowned as Emperor, had tried not to burden him to some extent. Even so, the painful, uncomfortable truth always seemed to find its way into the light.
It would be the same for Rose.
"It may be time, Your Majesty," he said.
Camilla shook her head. "No," she said defiantly. "Not yet. Not until after the party if we can help it. She deserves that at least."
Reluctantly, Kai agreed. It was not his secret to share, after all.
The control room was a welcome, peaceful reprieve from the rest of the ship, which all of a sudden felt very crowded. With Cinder and Iko clanking about, repairing things left, right and centre; and Hanna and Gregg getting under everyone's feet; and of course Scarlet and Wolf had stuck around to hitch a ride to London with them for the ball; and Cress…
Thorne let out a breath he had not realised he was holding. He reminded himself that it was not their fault that he was so angry. It was no-one's fault, not even his.
No. Scratch that. It was Cinder's fault. It was always her fault. Everything for the last nine years. If she had just left him in that prison… It wasn't so bad there. Three meals a day, a bed. But no sky. That was the one drawback.
And now she wanted to leave!
He sighed again, and loosened his grip on the manual controls. Something bleeped loudly, shaking him from his thoughts.
"Oh, spades," he muttered and hastily pulled up from his current nose dive of a trajectory. "Well done, Captain. Kill everyone on board. Good plan."
He closed his eyes and tried to re-focus on the task at hand – landing on the palace lawn.
A hand came to rest on his shoulder and then slid across his chest as she leaned in to hug him. Her hair brushed the side of his face as she kissed his cheek. She lingered there for a moment and he breathed in the simple scent of soap and the warmth of her lips.
"You're distracted," she said.
Throne took a beat to steady his breath. "Yeah," he said. "Just a bit."
Cress shifted around him and came to sit on the arm of his chair. He looped his arm around her waist, thankful for the comforting contact she provided. They were silent for a while.
"So… Cinder's leaving," he said eventually.
"I heard," Cress replied.
"She wasn't all that good, anyway," Thorne tried to sound lighter than he was feeling. Usually, it was easier to pull off.
"Sure," Cress replied, humouring him. But there was something else gnawing at her. He could tell.
"We're OK, aren't we?" she asked.
Throne felt his heart stop for a beat. With practiced accuracy, he engaged the autopilot for the final run and pulled Cress onto his knee. She turned to face him, her hands resting at the back of his neck. He could see that she had been crying and a pang of guilt wracked him.
"Of course we're OK," he assured her. "We're better than OK. We're amazing." He kissed her, firmly and passionately. He felt her back arch in his embrace. When the kiss broke, he rested his forehead against hers.
"You don't ever have to worry about us," he said. "The fifth world war could break out tomorrow and still nothing would pull us apart. I love you, Cress."
A smile mingled with tears on her cheeks – he couldn't tell if they were tears of sorrow or happiness.
Another round of bleeping tore both of them away from another kiss. Thorne cursed under his breath seeing the ground rushing up to greet them through the window. His hands flew over the controls as the brakes slammed into gear and the ship came to a halting stop two feet from the ground. He could hear the others yelp and complain in the rest of the ship and he shot a grin to Cress.
"Oops," he said.
She returned the grin and led the way out of the control room to the cargo bay to join the others. Thorne took a moment to muster up his usual light hearted, care-free persona. Lunars had their glamours, he thought. He had his smile. Once he was sure there was not a trace of anger or pain on his face, he followed Cress to the cargo bay.
The door was already open when he got there. Cinder had disembarked and had flung herself into Kai's waiting arms, leaving the others with the rest of the luggage. Scarlet was about to heft a rather large looking duffle bag onto her shoulder. Without hesitation, Thorne stepped up to her side and swiped the bag away from her.
"Don't even think of it, Madame," he said, trying (and failing) to mimic her accent.
Scarlet smiled with appreciation as she headed down the ramp. Thorne realised it was the first thing he had said to her since her announcement. But he tried not to think on that now. He settled the bag on his shoulder and followed her off the ship.
"Captain," Kai greeted him, his arm still around Cinder's waist.
"Your Majesticness," Thorne replied with a deep, jester-like bow. "You're finally stealing her back, then?"
Kai's eyes shifted to Cinder. "Looks like I am," he said.
"Thorne reckons he can replace me in a heartbeat," Cinder said.
"Of course I can." Thorne's light tone was convincing even himself by now. "Because you'll get bored that fast and realise you can't go a day without seeing my handsome face."
Cinder snorted.
"You try to deny it," he continued. "You know deep down it's me you're secretly in love with."
He swaggered off and caught up with Cress. He draped his arm across her shoulders and her arm naturally came to rest around his waist.
"So this party," he said to her casually. "There's going to be alcohol, right?"
"Stars, I hope so," she replied.
Thorne raised an eyebrow at her. It was one thing for him to use drink as a relief for stress. But Cress… It was unheard of. Ever since Winter and Jacin's wedding six years ago, if anyone even mentioned the word champagne, her face turned a little green. Now that had been a party to remember. Or not in Cress' case. Since then, her alcohol consumption had been conservative at the best of times.
Thorne pulled her tighter into his side and gently kissed the top of her head.
"We'll get through this," he said, reassuringly. He only hoped he could believe it himself.
Rose watched excitedly from the window as the Rampion landed and the crew made their way through the grounds into the palace. Checking herself in the mirror one last time, she ran from her quarters to greet them at the top of the stairs. Her smile spread wide across her face. She came to a stop just as the crew rounded the corner into the lobby. Her eyes quickly sought out Gregg. He returned the gaze, but his eyes were more bashful than hers, as if he thought he shouldn't be caught looking at her like that. His broad shoulders straightened when he saw her and he drew himself to his full height, a full five inches taller than his sister. She too noticed the difference in his stature and followed his gaze up the stairs to Rose. A knowing grin spread across her face and she gave him a sisterly nudge. Rose smiled at the annoyed, awkward glare he gave his sister.
As she descended the stairs towards them, Rose resisted the urge to slide down the bannister. Not because she thought that they would not find that sort of behaviour inappropriate, but because the last time she had done that, her grandmother had installed pressure sensors into the bannisters so she could be alerted the next time she tried it. The scolding was not worth the effort, so she walked instead.
"Hey there, birthday girl," Captain Throne said with a wink.
Rose blushed ever so slightly. Last year, she has spent a week on board the Rampion, helping to distribute the letumosis vaccine. It had been a chance for her to see the sorts of troubles that faced her people. In that week, she had grown to love each and every one of them. Some more than others. She was old enough to recognise the schoolgirl crush she had on Thorne. He seemed used to that sort of thing and probably would have been offended if she hadn't been just a little bit taken with him.
But then there was Gregg. Rose had not been able to stop thinking about him ever since that week. He was the only boy of her own age she had met that had not instantly fawned over her, tripped over himself to try to impress her. He was real and kind and…
She realised she was staring at him. She realised he was staring back. And the rest of them were trying hard to act as if they had not noticed.
Gregg coughed. "Your Highness," he said bowing his head slightly.
Rose was taken aback for a moment. He had never addressed her so formally before. Then she realised who was standing behind her. Her grandmother. Gregg looked like a deer caught in headlights as the queen stepped forward.
"Welcome, friends," the queen said as she came to stand by Rose.
Rose shifted awkwardly, hoping her grandmother had not seen the glances between her and Gregg. If she had, she did not make comment.
"I trust your journey was pleasant," Rose said, trying to address the group and not just Gregg.
"Mostly," Cinder replied. "The landing could have been a bit smoother."
Throne pulled a face of mock guilt. "Not one of my best," he admitted.
Rose stifled a giggle. She had seen the landing from her chambers. It had been anything but smooth.
The queen cleared her throat. Rose noticed a worried glance that passed between her and Emperor Kaito.
"You guest quarters have been arranged," the queen said. "But I wonder if Ms Linh and Ms Darnel would join me in my office first? A matter has arisen that I would like to discuss with you."
Rose's brow creased. What matter? She didn't press for details, though. She had learned quickly after her father died that it did not do to press her grandmother when she was stressed. Clearly she was right now.
Looking equally concerned, Cinder and Cress nodded and followed the queen to her office. Emperor Kaito followed in their wake.
"What's that about?" Throne asked when they were out of earshot.
"I have no idea," Rose replied, staring after them.
As the door to her grandmother's office, Throne shrugged his shoulders. Rose admired his ability to shrug off worry at the drop of a hat.
"Oh well," he said. "No good standing around here all day. We've got a party to get ready for."
"The party's tomorrow," Rose pointed out.
"Yeah, I know." Thorne replied. "But it takes a lot to look this handsome all of the time."
With that, he sauntered past her as if he was a model on a catwalk. The distraction was enough to make her forget the meeting she was not currently privy to. Letting out a laugh, she bounced ahead of him up the stairs, ready to act as the dutiful hostess and show them to their quarters.
On this occasion, her curiosity could wait.
