When Roman told me it was necessary to work with Cinder Fall, I trusted his instinct. I could see he was -we were- outmatched and had to make the best of a bad situation.
When Roman was imprisoned I contacted her and offered to help implement her plan, on condition I could free my friend.
When Roman died for her twisted scheme, I swore one day I'd kill her.
But when I found her... when I saw my revenge right before my face...
...I faltered.
No, that's not right. I remembered what he taught me. I remember there was no reason to fight a losing battle.
She far exceeded me. So I pretended to listen to her words, feigned submission to her power. She did the same every day: she understood that all such alliances were fragile, and she'd always sleep with her remaining eye open.
She told me she'd help me find my revenge on another girl who'd merited it. Once that was done...
I was willing to be patient.
To a point.
The time is right to hit them. But now Cinder Fall is the one to falter. She's the one to pick her battles, rather than provoke the ire of someone her greater.
Her master, Salem... I am to Cinder what Cinder is to her. Forced into this role of dancing on her strings. But Cinder will never be satisfied being forced to serve. A woman like that will never be content so long as there's a higher rung on the ladder.
I understand it. She has no one. She cares for no one but herself, so her own advancement is her only goal.
I could pity her.
But she killed someone I love. Maybe not directly, maybe not intentionally, but she took from me a reason to live for something beside myself.
Now revenge is all I have to look forward to... and revenge is exactly what she seeks to deny me, ranting about her master's timetable and her own need to retrieve some advantage before her "allies" gain ground on her and she loses the element of surprise.
I never say a word. She was deaf to all my protests; all my hopes of killing Ruby Rose at a time when her hand could remain undetected. I intended to give her exactly what she said she wanted.
Not now, she says. Not when there are other games being played and something else for her to gain.
She understands that once Ruby Rose is dead there will be a new target for my fury. While Ruby Rose lives, there's a reason to hold our alliance together, and Cinder cannot afford to be without an ally now.
I cannot kill her. She's stronger than I am.
But I gave her a chance to fulfill our pact. I gave her a golden opportunity to honor her word and she scrambled away. She faltered.
She's afraid.
There's no better time to act.
Cinder Fall has no choice but to divide and conquer: to trust that my fear of her will stifle any thoughts of rebellion. She sends me after the farm boy and the relic while she moves elsewhere.
Cinder Fall senses opportunity and thinks her only threat is miles away. She looks to her destiny lying ahead, rather than concentrating on the shadows at her back.
The Atlesian military chases her allies. They left Cinder's prize unguarded.
Cinder uses her powers to push through the barriers. Lacking such powers myself, I take a moment only to look where she's going... and where security moves to secure in the wake of an unexpected aggressor.
I find the location. And I take the subtler route... a slower one than Cinder's, in theory... or at least it would be at any other time than now, when every remaining defense is put in her path.
And not in mine.
Cinder would hate to be beneath notice; to let a few moments pass being unheard, not savoring the sound of her own voice.
She was blind in one eye long before she was maimed.
I find Cinder's target ahead of her. Cinder still slaughters Ironwood's men. They fight bravely, but I know my time is short.
I bear the woman no ill will. But I know Cinder wants her.
And I know without her, Cinder loses her opportunity.
I press the pillow over her throat. I leave one eye of hers' open and hold her gaze.
Mine is the last face she'll see. Mine is the last person she'll ever know.
She probably didn't deserve to die.
But better she dies for me. Better she dies knowing someone worse will die right after her.
Cinder Fall contacts me seconds after I've left. She screeches that Ironwood has robbed her of her prize... though she doesn't specify what that prize is.
She orders me to complete my mission, and I'm only too happy to comply. The farm boy was no threat before, and now he'll be even less.
I will need time to learn to control what I've gained.
But when the moment comes, I'll have no more reason to falter.
When I look in Cinder's eye that final time and she realizes she is no longer my greater... when she realizes her arrogance has finally undone her...
When she realizes her actions have consequences...
...revenge is further from me now than it seemed to be yesterday. Ruby Rose will be harder to find once she escapes the chaos engulfing Mantle and Atlas.
But I'll face her with a new weapon... one buried deep in my soul.
Cinder thought her powers made her invincible. I'm not so optimistic... but I do know they give me the element of surprise and only further isolates her, hastening her plans; making her reckless and desperate.
She's blind in one eye. She couldn't even see her own shadow.
And soon... very soon, I will be the last thing her last eye sees.
