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Jacin's POV:
The Reveal
You know what sucks about suspended animation? Waking up from it. Literally, everything slows down during the process, so you kinda feel like a slug, and the gel they cover you in definitely doesn't help to reverse the feeling.
A frustrated groan shoves past my closed lips as I struggle to open my eyes. It feels like my eyelids are made of lead.
When I eventually open them, I have to force myself not to blink against the harsh, blinding light of the healing room. Stars know if I did blink I'd have to force my eyes open again.
Finding whatever scraps of strength I have left in my muscles, I shove myself up into a sitting position. I glance down at my hand. It's human. The elves must have changed my form before sticking me in this tank. It probably would have been awkward to coordinate the life-supports systems to the requirements of a wolf.
"Welcome back, Sir Clay." A blank voice says from the doorway.
I stare blearily at the speaker, trying to gather my fuzzy thoughts together enough to figure out his name. "Kinney, isn't it?"
He dips his head. Huh. I didn't think I actually got it right.
"You were in a pretty bad way when we found you." He tells me, "That other werewolf seems fierce."
I chuckle bitterly. "Well, I was trying to force him to do something against his will. It's not exactly surprising."
Kinney smirks at this.
I rub my face to try and wake myself up, accidentally smearing myself with gel. Great, just what I need, more slime.
"Sorry to spring this on you just after waking up, but Her Majesty has requested for your presence, effective as soon as you are healed." Kinney says, a slight hint of guilt to his voice.
My first instinct is to scowl, but my mind's cleared enough by now to know that that is probably a bad idea, so I settle for working the kinks out of my shoulders. "Any chance that I might get a new uniform before I meet the queen? All I've got right now is a towel."
Kinney's mouth twitches into an amused smile. "I'll have one of the servants go get one. Oh, and one more thing."
"Yes?" I prompt, trying not to sound annoyed. What is it this time? A thaumaturge is heading to one of the villages and needs a private guard? The Alpha needs someone to pretend to lose to him in a fight? A maid broke one of the queen's necklaces and needs to have her fingers chewed off (thank the stars I wasn't the unlucky mutt who got that honour)?
"Princess Winter wants to know that she hopes you get better soon, and that she's missed you very much."
As I step into the Throne Room, I find it harder to compose my face than usual. My time away must have made me sloppy. My face is desperately trying to twitch into a frown as I walk towards the throne.
I drop to one knee in a bow. "Your majesty."
"Sir Clay," Levana says, "care to explain to me how you failed in your mission to bring back a single refugee so spectacularly?"
"The werewolf was too strong for me My Queen. If I had others to help me-"
"If you need others to help you bring down one mutt then you are a useless member of my guard." Levana declares.
I grit my teeth. "My Queen, Captain Solis also failed to apprehend this werewolf, even when he was a wolf and the refugee was a human. My battle against him was wolf against wolf."
"I am well aware of Jerrico's failure." Levana says coldly, "But Jerrico didn't know what he was dealing with. You were perfectly well prepared for this battle. You've had battle training, which this rogue, I must assume, does not. You should have been able to outwit this beast."
""That beast" was a werewolf and therefore naturally gifted in combat." I remind her, "He was strong and big, and I couldn't hope to overpower him."
"Strange." Levana pretends to muse, "I could've sworn that my guards were trained to bring down opponents like the one you describe."
My eye twitches. As Levana full-well knows, guards are given a very simple, very straightforward instruction in combat that doesn't include fancy complicated things like defeating opponents who are going to win no matter what you do. We are shields for Levana, nothing more. But telling her that would just get me killed faster, so I opt to keep my mouth shut.
Levana sits back on her throne. "If you have nothing more to show me that a handful of pitiful excuses, then your mission was a failure. And do you know what I do to those that fail me?"
"I did find out something while I was on Earth." I blurt out.
Levana raises and interested eyebrow, but doesn't comment.
I hesitate. What I'm about to tell her could very well eliminate the one hope Luna has for a better future. But if I don't tell her, what will happen to Winter? I know for a fact that several of the guards here aren't the most interested in her safety, and I've seen enough leers from the nobility to last a lifetime. Call me selfish, or small-minded or whatever, but Winter's safety is worth more to me than anyone else on Luna.
With an inward sigh, I tell the queen, "Princess Selene Channary Jannali Blackburn is alive, and living on Earth."
Levana's reaction is almost funny. In a heartbeat, she's up on her feet, shaking with anger, and giving me the most heated glare I can ever remember receiving. "You dare to spread conspiracy theories about my niece?"
"It's not a conspiracy." I tell her calmly. "I've even met her, officially. She has a small group of revolutionaries and their aim is to take the throne from you and give it to Selene."
"It's probably just a vampire using Selene's name as a pseudonym to gather followers." Levana scoffs.
I shrug. "I would agree with you My Queen, if the vampire in question didn't happen to look pretty much exactly like Channary. Either way, there's a revolution brewing on Earth, and she's the leader."
Levana's hands are clenched into fists and her cheeks are blotched a furious red. I half expect her to finally lose control and drop the illusion of her appearance, finally revealing her true face. But instead she raises her head and hisses. "I will send one of the thaumaturges to deal with this vampire who's posing as my dead niece. This revolution will be history by an Earthen morning."
A/N: Oh Jacin… what have you done?
Levana knows about the revolution and is ready to do something about it. Will Cinder make it through?
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