Cinder was still busy being intimidating when Scarlet returned to the stage. She had set her retina display to be on cue for people's reactions to Kai, and more than once it had flared at her, warning her of the aggressive responses of certain citizens to the Emperor's words. Kai was standing amid the front of the crowd now, even as Cinder tried to usher him back on the stage. But while others backed quickly away from Cinder, all Kai did was distract her with an easy smile before turning back to his people. Her nostrils flared. She could not actually protect anyone, if it came to something. He had too much faith in her gift. He really didn't understand it. All Earthens seemed cowed by the mere suggestion of Lunar powers.

Scarlet came up beside her.

"So?"

"Century Road. In an hour. And he knows I've been glamoured."

"Does anyone else?"

"No, I don't think so. But some of his snotty groupies did hear bits of our conversation."

"All right. Well, we'll just have to make sure that it is really a private audience."

The crowd began filtering away as the serious questions were answered and people simply wanted to talk to their emperor. Cinder hovered, nervously, grumpily, as Kai spoke to any citizen who approached him. Young, old, kind, distrustful, dangerous, possibly homicidal, he insisted on seeing them all. Her retina display picked up on the knife in this one's belt, the anger in that one's eyes, this one's fighter's build. Scarlet gave Cinder a litte shove, rolling her eyes, and walked to Kai, leaning down and whispering in his ear.

Kai, who had felt the words before actually hearing them, blushed a little and turned only to find himself facing Scarlet. "Sorry, what?" The blush spread to his ears as she smirked.

"We need to be at Amul Temkin's house in 20 minutes. We'll be having a private audience in his home over ginger tea."

An odd, sad smile broke across his face when she said that. "Wonderful. I am glad to meet my father's old friend. And can you tell Torin that he will accompany a guest of ours in another carriage? The Khanum would like the chance to continue our conversation."

Scarlet just nodded, hiding her wolfy teeth, and strode towards Torin. Five minutes later, Kai was offering an arm to the Khanum as she stepped into the carriage and requesting that this carriage be given a guard-presence too. Scarlet quickly volunteered, leaving Kai and Cinder to climb into his carriage alone.

Kai could have sworn his carriages were usually bigger than this. Now it felt close, practically intimate. Cinder sat opposite him, their knees almost touching. Kai cleared his throat as the horse started forward, searching for fresh air. He tugged at the microphone, still clipped on both sides of his collar, wires leading to an ear-piece and a battery and switch at his waist. He fumbled, and his ears went pink again. What a stupid reflex that was. The Khanum's assistant must have tied the mike in place instead of just clipping it, because it was somehow impossible to undo, and now it was getting tangled around his buttons and in the royal chains he wore tucked under his shirt.

Cinder finally took pity on Kai and leaned forward, pushing his hands aside and unwinding the knots he had managed to tie. This only increased his embarrassment, and he was acutely aware that the last time they were this close he had been shirtless and spilling his thoughts to her without inhibition. Not that anything he'd said wasn't true, but he would have said them to the old Cinder. Well, no he wouldn't because she wouldn't have wanted him to. He kept needing to remind himself that this was not the girl he'd met, and he didn't know her as well as he thought. Except that she was the same girl, mostly, and he did trust her, mostly—stars even his thoughts were scrambling. He focused back on Cinder as she pulled away with the microphone, noting the discomfort in her own eyes for the first time.

"So."

He should stop acting like an idiot. Now. He flashed a smile at her, and watched the familiar reaction: lips part slightly, brow unknits. He liked that reaction, the same since the first time he had smiled at her. His nerves lessened somewhat.

"My body guards don't usually try to shepherd me in like that." He grinned more mischievously now. "I felt like a wayward sheep."

"You do realize how many people in that crowd were angry with you? Really angry?" Her tone was admonishing. "And you talked to every one of them. Never mind that more than a dozen of those who spoke to you were carrying knives."

"It's not unusual for people in Kashgar to be armed. They've had a long history of thieves, travelers, and conquerors. Never know when an alien princess is going to come in and sweep your feet out from under you, you know," Kai joked, wincing a little at the same time.

"Alien?"

"Um. Well, i-it's what you are right? You're not from earth. The term's not derogatory on Luna is it…?" He trailed off as Cinder looked away.

"I wouldn't know, Kai. Luna isn't my home. But I guess you're right; I'm not from Earth, either." Her voice was bitter.

"Cinder—"

"Wonder where I do belong."

"I—"

"You belong here though, you know," she continued, talking over him. Kai was frustrated. He hadn't meant to offend her. He was just trying to relieve the awkwardness that wrapped him like a blanket. But her statement surprised him.

"You're good at it. At being emperor. You know the people. You understand what they need and what they need to hear, and that those aren't always the same thing. But you're also really honest with them. And you care—so much. Sometimes too much. I was so furious with you when I first found out that you were going to marry Levana. And after all I went through to prevent it, too!"

Cinder shook her head, and they were both momentarily transported to the night of his coronation ball. He searched her face. "But I realize now that it actually makes sense, offering Levana the deal that you did, and working with her – well kind of – for the Commonwealth. She would have taken the country anyway. At least now you have some sort of say. But I could never have seen so clearly. I would have been too angry. Sometimes I think I'll never belong on the throne that way."

"You know," said Kai, "When I was young I started this habit of trying to judge if people would make a better emperor or empress than me, cause I wasn't convinced that I could ever be a good ruler. Hell I'm still not convinced. But I always thought that you would make a good empress, from the first." He laughed then. "It just wasn't Luna that I pictured you ruling."

She cocked her head at him. A beat later Kai realized how that must have sounded. Stars, he hadn't meant— she didn't think he'd meant—? He hadn't meant the Commonwealth. Her ruling beside him. That was a few steps beyond where his still-teenage brain wanted to go. It had just been a general thought. Errant. Ok so maybe he'd pictured kissing her, but… Cinder was staring. Kai was sure his face was a crispy red.

The carriage suddenly jolted backwards hard, one side lurching off the ground for a moment. Cinder was thrown forward into Kai as he crashed against one of the coach doors. He caught her automatically and tensed for a moment, waiting for a second barrage.

"What was that?"

From behind them, he could hear Torin shouting. Scarlet, big and fierce, had gotten out of the second carriage. Kai opened the window on the side of their carriage. There was a crowd of 2 or 3 dozen people, all very angry, some holding stones, pressed up again the side of the coach. Suddenly they loosed the horse, and the carriage tipped forward dangerously. The driver took off running. Cinder and Kai struggled to stay on the back side to balance the weight, unconsciously clutching each other. Some of the mob were near the second coach, but they were avoiding coming to close it as Scarlet swiped at them. They taunted her though, pointing knives in her direction. Tired, hardened faces glared up at the carriage and jostled it more. There were shouts.

"We want to see Emperor Kaito!" "Where is he?" "Come answer for your cowardice, Your Highness!"

Kai's face tightened in worry and confusion, and he made to open the carriage door. When Torin saw what he meant to do, he said, "OK, OK, OK, please back away. Please. The Emperor will see you."

Scarlet approached menacingly and the crowd backed off about 10 feet, giving Kai and Cinder room to step down from the nearly sideways carriage. As soon as Cinder was out, Scarlet went back to guard the Khanum and Torin. Except that it wasn't her defending the carriage; it was Cinder. Her illusion was the only thing that protected them now. She started to panic. The mob was unruly, their emotions high, their consciousnesses slippery. How was she supposed to keep them off? Even Scarlet couldn't fight off this crowd if she failed.

A man started forward, and Kai pushed Cinder behind him, facing the aggressor. He felt a hand on his arm, and glanced back to see a bemused expression on Cinder's face as she stepped in front of him. Oh. Right. She was the guard here. With her glamour not working on Kai, it was hard to let her stare the man down as he walked forward.

Some of the people quailed under Cinder's influence. Would she disperse the crowd the way Levana had? And suddenly, Kai knew that he didn't want that. Despite the danger. He tugged on Cinder's hand. "Let them speak."

The man had halted, but stared hard at Kai around Cinder.

"We heard you were coming out to see old Temkin. You have much to answer for, Your Highness."

Scarlet retorted before Kai could reply. "And why didn't you address him back in the square, instead of ambushing us here like cowards?" She said angrily.

The mob jeered at that and a woman threw a stone at Scarlet's head. Cinders' face twisted in concentration.

"Please. That show? With the Empress's police and spies running around?" He answered Scarlet but addressed Kai. "It's hardly an opportunity to speak when your fingers will be cut off for your true opinions. You speak of support and resilience. Pretty, empty words! You know what pretty, empty words are good for when we are hiding in our houses and shops? Scared every second? Nothing! Nothing, and worse than nothing, because now we know you are mocking us as you sit in your palace. Do you know how it feels to see my father cry because he can't get healing soup for my dying mother—because 1, there is not the food to make the soup, and 2, if he went out with enough money to buy the food, it would be stolen from him by palace soldiers. We are humiliated! What are we supposed to do, Highness, huh? What? When you and your fine, important politics take aware our livelihood? A week ago you cut off our supply and already we run low on provisions! How we will feed our families? With endless rice from the south?" He gave a humorless, menacing laugh. "What good will that do my mother, who needs herbs which we have none of, because YOU have cut us off!"

The crowd rumbled around them. A few stones shattered the coach windows.

The Khanum stepped down then. She addressed the young man. "Arman, what are you thinking? That this violence will help things? You shame yourself and me. You also endanger all of the friends you brought with you today. Stop this foolishness."

Arman had his knife in hand now. He pointed with it. "Please get back inside your coach, Khanum. Our quarrel is not with you, just with the Emperor, and his lackeys." He eyed Cinder and Scarlet.

Kai spoke up, raising his volume so that the crowd could hear him. "Arman, is it? What do you mean, you are humiliated and your money stolen by palace soldiers? There is not a regiment stationed in Kashgar, and the police belong to your own city, not the palace." His mind rebelled against the thoughts already stirring in his mind behind the man's meaning. No, it couldn't be that. Please don't let it be that…

Arman cackled again. "You don't even know? He doesn't know! The whelp doesn't know that his empress's soldiers are here!" Scarlet snarled loudly at his insolence, and even Torin opened his mouth in shock. "What a joke. There are not soldiers stationed in Kashgar, Highness, they are above Kashgar. And when they feel like they need food, or money, or even just a good, violent romp, they come down and avail themselves of the things we pay for in sweat!"

"What?" Kai was horrified (it was becoming a sickeningly familiar emotion). "She— You are harassed by the Lunar men who attacked Earth a month ago? Have they been here that whole time?"

"Yes. Have the other cities you graced with your visits not said anything?" A woman from the crowd jeered. "How are you so out of touch? The crown took our food away, and sent oppressors in its place. And then, even if we had comforted ourselves with the thought that our emperor was not to blame, that eventually he would find the spine to stand up to the Empress, the search for a cure to the plague has been called off. By your decree, not hers. Yours. The plague that has devastated our country for decades. That has destroyed our economy, our culture, families, lives. Our schools sit half empty! Farm lands fallow, because there is no labor to work them all. AND YOU CALLED IT OFF! No more antidotes, no more hope. To protect cyborgs. You have abandoned your people. You are unfit to be emperor." She spat. Arman nodded grimly in approval.

The Khanum gasped. There were yells of agreement and they jumped when someone snapped the wheel off Kai's carriage. Scarlet had her machete out now. One woman made a sudden move towards Torin and Scarlet's knife clashed with hers. The sound rang in the air, though chaos did not break out yet. The mood was odd, violence roiling beneath a thick tension that somehow kept them from action. Kai knew it was Cinder. Cinder shook with effort. She couldn't let them keep speaking much longer while still maintaining her and Scarlet's façade. But Kai seemed to want to let them talk. She wasn't sure what to do. Kai started forward, past Cinder, and she pushed him back, desperate. He turned towards her with the shadow of his smile. Even now, she was distracted. How he could smile at this moment…

"That," Kai spoke to Arman, "is treasonous." Arman lifted his chin, defiant, though Kai saw a little spark of fear there. "Thank you for saying it." Now Arman took a step back, confused. Kai continued, "My greatest fear with Levana here is that she will turn our population to mindless obedience. I am glad to find that contention is alive and well."

The crowd muttered again, and someone shouted, "Stop your flattery."

Arman nodded. "Words do not excuse how you have handled your rule."

"No, it doesn't," Kai agreed. He wondered how obvious his anxiety was. He could feel Cinder tremble behind him. He somehow felt a little better when Arman's knife was not pointed at her though. "So let me explain. My deal with Levana was that she would become ruler of the Commonwealth, while I would take on a more advisory role. I'm not sure if there was a better choice to be made at the time, but please believe me that that was the most terrible decision I have ever made. But it was clear that fighting her outright was no longer an option, and she would not stop before gaining the Commonwealth." Here he lowered his voice. "If you are interested in more subtle measures of fighting back, I suggest you talk to your tea house owners in a few hours.

"My heart truly breaks at what you've said; I didn't know her mutants were raiding Commonwealth towns. About the cyborg draft, I suppose I really ought to give you an answer there." Here Kai drew himself up and his voice had a hint of more authority. "Part of my deal with Levana is that she would bring the cure for letumosis with her to Earth. It will come with her next visit to the Commonwealth. To continue our own search for a cure by experimenting on cyborgs is morally repugnant and unspeakably cruel. Cyborgs are not second class citizens. They are people. They just happened to have had an accident. I am guessing that if your mother were to lose an arm to her sickness, you would not think it better for her to live without an arm when she had an option to get one. It wouldn't make her less human, not in my eyes, and I bet not in yours." His ears turned a bit red as he felt Cinder's eyes on his back. "I realize the relationship will always be complex between cyborgs and non-cyborgs, but we can't afford to divide ourselves by arguing over who is more human. The same arguments had our country split into many nations a few hundred years ago. Especially now—"

"Arman!" A voice rang out over the crowded street. Kai turned to see his father's old friend striding towards them, his face furious. Kai hadn't seen the man up close since he was 5. Even old, fearful, and furious, he brought back comforting memories.

"Amul," Arman said stiffly.

"In Rikan's name, what are you doing? Get these people out of here! The driver you scared off ran for the police!"

At this, the chaos that Cinder had been struggling to control spilled over. It was not violence now, but panic. Men and women ran every direction. Dust kicked up, making Kai cough. Someone threw a rock at Kai, catching him in the forehead. Suddenly the broken carriages burst into flame. No one would even be able to tell whose they had been by the time they were finished. The smoke quickly clouded the air. Kai stumbled as people bumped into him, desperate as they were to escape. Two men came forward to grab Kai, twisting his arms behind his back and bending him forward. Kai thought of Cinder. Was she OK? He called her name. Arman was there suddenly, laying a hand on either man that held Kai. They released him with a questioning look. Arman stared at Kai before disappearing in the smoke. Temkin was by Kai's side then.

"Your majesty, please. These police are loyal to Levana, and if they find out it was you this mob was harassing, people will be killed. He pulled on Kai's wrist, crouching to try to avoid the worst of the smoke. He led Kai over to where Torin, Scarlet, and the Khanum were clustered. Kai was relieved to see Cinder with them. The Khanum looked surprisingly composed.

"I am happy to see you here, Amul. Do you have a place for us to go? A quick journey, I think, would be to our advantage."

"Yes, my lady, but it will require you to run." He looked apologetic.

"Never mind. Let's go."

They stayed close behind Temkin until they got out of the ever increasing cloud of smoke. He quickly turned off the main road and flew down an alley, heading back for the main part of the city. After about 5 minutes, he turned into a tea house. The place was crowded and noisy, warm and close. They slipped in through the kitchen entrance unnoticed. The owner looked a bit shocked. "Amul, what…?"

"Kieu, we need your private room. Please."

The owner eyed the party behind Amul. Her eyes widened upon meeting Kai's. She handed a key to Amul without, eyes burning with curiosity.

"Thank you." He smiled gratefully. "And can you send up some tea, when you get the chance? Be discreet, of course. Some soldiers may come looking for us. It would be best if they did not intrude on our meeting."