Cinder
After Kai had escorted her to her room, she immediately plopped onto the bed. Iko stopped for a moment to stare at her, putting down her needlework. Currently, she was sewing Cinder's new dress for the next news update. A news update without Scarlet. Cinder shrugged off the thought, ignoring the slight pang in her heart.
"Would you like me to get your bath ready, miss?" Iko asked, standing up and inching towards the bathroom. Cinder shook her head into her pillow, voice muffled by the cloth.
"No, I'm fine. I just want to go to sleep. You should rest, too," Cinder replied, shrugging her dress off and changing into her thin, comfortable nightgown. She fell back onto the bed again while Iko giggled at her, returning to her needlework.
After five minutes of staring at the popcorn ceiling of her room, however, Cinder realized that her jittery nerves were not going to let her nap. Head shooting up, she slipped her feet into her shoes and stood up. Iko raised an eyebrow, saying, "Didn't you want to sleep?"
Cinder smiled sheepishly. "I don't know. I just don't feel tired all of a sudden." Pulling the shoes up her heels, she said, "I'll be right back. See ya later, Iko!" Shuffling out the door, she closed it after her, stepping into the dark hallway. Looking both ways, she suddenly realized she didn't know where to go.
Going down the hallway, Cinder let her body lead the way. Before she knew it, she had made it to the door of the room where all of the jets, airplanes, and aircrafts were stored. When she pressed her ear to the door, she thought she could hear some shuffling inside.
Locking her fingers around the metal door handle, Cinder lurched the door towards the side, the door cracking open silently. Stepping inside, she could see the blonde head of Thorne under a jet, squinting at the inner workings of the aircraft.
The jet looked completely dead. One side of the aircraft was bruised, and some parts were even caved in. The nose of the jet was ripped off, slim pieces of metal hanging off of it. Black scratch marks lined the side.
Unfortunately, Thorne looked utterly and completely baffled.
"Thorne," Cinder whispered, inching closer to him. Startled, he yelped and thumped his head against the underside of the jet. Oil spilled onto his blonde hair, the color contrast as distinct as ink on paper. Cinder smiled a little at his clumsiness. Groaning, the captain slid out from under it and stood up.
"What are you doing out here so late?" he hissed, still massaging his scalp.
Cinder shrugged. "Couldn't sleep," she answered simply. Nodding her head towards the seemingly broken jet, she asked, "What's wrong with it?"
"Just a few kinks to work out, that's all," Thorne explained. "Seems too complicated for a woman to solve, it seems." Cinder growled at him and hit him.
"For your information," she added, wandering over and plucking the gloves off of his hands, "I was a mechanic before the Selection. I trust that I'm much more experienced than you in engineering, based on how confused you looked earlier." Thorne snorted but didn't deny it.
Brushing her nightgown aside, Cinder slid under the aircraft easily. From here, she saw all the wires and machinery laid carefully inside of the jet. Prying apart the inner workings to find out the problem, she felt right at home. After a few minutes of inspecting it, she had already figured out what was wrong.
Smirking, she poked her head out from under the jet and said, "I've already figured out the problem. Simply, it's that the engine has failed, so we'll probably have to replace it." Shaking her head, Cinder pulled herself out from the jet and stood up, dusting herself off. "I can't believe you flew in with one failed engine."
Thorne scratched his head sheepishly and admitted, "Yeah, I kind of crashed into an open field." Chuckling lightly, Cinder turned to walk towards the table with all the tools on it.
"Luckily, I know exactly how to fix it- WHOA!" With a yelp, Cinder tripped over a stray scrap of metal lying on the floor. The ground rushed to meet her, but before she could hit the hard, cold ground, two strong arms tugged her back. When Cinder opened her eyes again, she was face to face with Thorne.
They were so close that their noses almost brushed together, and if they moved just the least slightest, they could be kissing. Stunned into a silence, Cinder could do nothing but stare, like a deer in headlights. She was mentally freaking out.
"Take a picture, it will last longer," Thorne drawled sarcastically. Snapping back to her senses, she quickly pushed him away.
"Don't flatter yourself, Captain," she snarled before stomping back to her room.
THE NEXT DAY
Today was supposed to be a fairly uneventful day for the Selection. Kai had updated the rest of the country on the progress of the Selection, and who had been eliminated. Cinder wondered if Scarlet was watching them from the other side of the screen.
However, today Cinder decided she would be lazy. Surprisingly, prancing everywhere in high heels was painful, and gave her more of a workout. So she plopped onto her bed, kicking those wretched shoes off and laid back, relaxing.
Picking up the remote, she called to Iko, "Let's watch the television together!" Her maid's blue head popped in, and she immediately sat down next to Cinder, bouncing up and down in excitement.
"Anything good?" Cinder asked, surfing through the different channels. Iko shrugged. Most of them were children's shows, the news update they just filmed, or some other news that showed excited faces of the reporters.
Suddenly, the television glitched. Iko and Cinder made a surprised noise as the screen went black, then blipped back on a second later. An image of a girl popped up. She had long, blonde hair and a worried face, eyes darting back and forth constantly.
"Cinder," she said in a quiet voice, filled with urgency.
"How do you know my name-"
"It doesn't matter right now. We don't have time." Seeing the skeptical look on Cinder's face, the girl heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry. Everything will be explained later. But I have some news that you really need to know." Cinder's eyebrow shot up. "Have you ever questioned where you come from?"
What a random question, Cinder thought. Out of the blue. But she answered it anyways. She shook her head slowly. The mysterious girl cocked her head to the side, a small smile on her lips. Then her worried expression appeared again as she peeked at the time.
"Oh dear," she squeaked. "I'm sorry. We have to cut our meeting short." Her eyes turned grave. "You have to remember this, Cinder," she said seriously. But by now, Cinder had to know why the ridiculous question was asked, but before she could protest, the girl rushed, "As I said before, everything will be explained later." Another glance at the clock. The tiny lady's fingers danced over a keyboard, clicking buttons all over the place. "Cinder. You're the missing Princess Selene."
Then her twitching fingers paused. "Oh," she added. "And be careful." The television went black again, then the channel they were on previously popped up once more. It was like nothing ever happened, but Cinder was frozen in place, her brain unable to process what she had just heard.
She is the missing Princess Selene? How is that possible?!
Trying to convince herself that that was a scam, she tried to focus on what was currently on the television.
An image of a grave looking face of a news anchor appeared.
"Breaking news," the reporter announced. From the corner, an image was enlarged, showing a dark, grainy video of two people. With a gasp, Cinder realized that the dark mess of brown hair was hers, and that the electric blonde was Thorne's. Broken aircraft surrounded them, and all of a sudden the girl in the video tripped. He caught her, and from this angle, it looked like they were currently in the middle of a deep kiss.
Iko let out a startled gasp. "Miss?" she asked timidly.
Shoot. This footage was from last night. Somebody had secretly recorded it and released it to the media. This was not good.
"Cinder Linh, a competitor from the Selection, was caught having a love affair with who we have interpreted as Captain Thorne, head of the Royal Air Force." The shot zoomed in on their pixelated faces as their profiles floated in the top right corner. "Having a relationship outside of the Selection is strictly forbidden, considered treason, and punishable by death. However, Prince Kaito has seemed to take a strange liking to this lady. What will her punishment be?"
By now, Cinder's lips had turned deathly pale.
"Miss?" Iko asked again, a warning seeping into her usually calm voice.
Spinning around, Cinder put her hands on her maid's shoulders and explained, "This is not real, Iko. I tripped, and - and he caught me - but… the angle, that's why it looks strange!" she stuttered. Iko looked like she believed her, but Cinder was still freaking out. "Oh my gosh, what do I do? This is on national television, and by now the prince and the emperor would have found out. I'll be disgraced, at the very least, but like the reporter said, the punishment is death. And now, suddenly I'm known as the long-lost Princess Selene and my entire life is a lie!" Her face turned a sickly white. "I'm doomed. Doomed, Iko!"
Before Iko could say anything, the door to her bedroom burst open. Cinder shrieked and immediately dropped into a protective stance, but it was only Thorne that had appeared at her door. His chest was heaving, struggling to catch his breath. Also, he was armed to the teeth with pistols and daggers.
"Cinder," he gasped urgently once he had enough air. "We have to go. Now."
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