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Cinder
In that moment, Cinder would've given anything for the power of telepathy, just to tell Winter to leave, to make her register the look of absolute hatred on Levana's face. But she couldn't, so Winter just stood there, pale, but determined.
"I see you've chosen to fight for the heroes now." Levana hissed, "Is this how you choose to honour your father's memory? By betraying us and all we fight for?"
"My father wouldn't have wanted to re-start the Blood Moon Time." Winter said, her voice soft but carrying easily in the vast room, "He would never force someone to live beneath his heel simply because they weren't born with powers or suffered a traumatic experience that gave them powers. That is what you would do."
"Evret never really understood the value of sheer power." Levana replied, devoid of emotion. "And you understand it even less. Look at you, hiding your true power out of fear of what hurt it might cause, despite the advantage it would give you over others. With your powers of mind-control, you could have ruled. But instead, you chose weakness."
"Better to be weak, than to be cruel." Winter said.
Well said Winter, Cinder thought proudly, very well said.
Unfortunately, Levana didn't seem to share that opinion. "You know nothing of the real world, Soul Blood." She sneered, "And you never will, if you insist on sticking to these ideas of righteousness and morality. You stand there, defiant, as if you can actually face me. You must think yourself a hero. Well, let me tell you right now Soul Blood, you are not a hero. You are nothing more than a weak, naïve little girl with a broken mind. Why people insist on admiring you is beyond me. All they see is that pretty little face of yours and are blind to the crippling weakness underneath."
"Ooh, is that jealousy I hear?" Thorne called, a crooked grin spreading across his face.
Levana glared at him. "Silence!"
"It's just that sounded a lot like jealousy. Can't blame you. I mean, Winter is one of the few people I know that is better-looking than me, and your face is basically an illusion, so I'm guessing your real looks aren't all that great-"
Thorne's mouth suddenly snapped shut, his lips pressed tightly together. He gave a startled hum and glared at The Queen, who smiled in exaggerated content.
"Much better. But you know Soul Blood," she mused, "he was right about one thing: as loathe as I am to admit it, you are quite pretty." Her blood-red lips curled into a cold smile. "Just imagine how lucky your future husband would be to get to kiss those lovely lips, to look at your beautiful face every day, and every night." She cocked her head to one side, as if thinking. "But who would be worthy of such beauty? Who would be worthy of marrying the stepdaughter to the Queen of the greatest prodigy force on Earth?" Levana's onyx eyes flicked over to Aimery, a cold spark gleaming in their dark depths. "Aimery, you are a powerful prodigy, and high up in my ranks. Would you care for the hand of this vision of loveliness?"
Aimery grinned, a sight that made spiders race up and down Cinder's spine and studied Winter up and down. Winter, for her part looked sick.
Aimery opened his mouth and Cinder cringed, imagining the slimy gratitude speech that would come out. But suddenly his expression of satisfaction and pleasure twisted into one of distaste. He sneered at Winter, looking at her as if she were a slug that had dragged itself up out of the ground. "Not for all the treasures in the world My Queen."
Levana stared at him, open shock written across her face. Cinder was surprised too, until she noticed Winter's eyes, narrowed in concentration, and her tightly clenched fists. Of course she wasn't going to let herself get handed-off that easily. And for someone who has the power to alter people's emotions, it's not at all hard for them to make someone say "no" to a marriage proposal.
Unfortunately, it's also not at all hard for someone else to figure out what they did.
Levana glared at Winter, her ivory-skinned fingers clutching at the armrests of her chair. "How dare you? I find you a match worthy of your beauty, of your status, and you defy me?"
Winter met The Queen's gaze steadily. "I will not consent to marry someone I don't love, much less someone I hate. And I'm afraid Aimery is someone that I hate."
Levana sneered and her gaze snapped to Aimery. He blinked, shaking his head as if to clear it. His gaze hardened, and the glare he levelled on Winter could've cut through solid steel.
"It seems I must alter my offer." Levana said coldly, "Aimery, rather than have Winter as your wife, you may have her as your slave. Do what you like with her, she is officially your property now. That includes killing her."
"Your generosity knows no bounds My Queen." Aimery said, his tone as soft and silky as ever, though the look he was giving Winter remained hard and sharp as jagged rock.
She narrowed her eyes again, gathering her concentration, but Aimery wasn't having it. Cinder blinked as he suddenly flickered out of sight, but just as quickly as he vanished, her reappeared less than a foot away from Winter, who shrieked and stumbled back in her haste to get away from him.
He reached out his hands. In a few moments, he would have her.
Cinder's eyes narrowed. Not on her watch.
She took hold of Aimery's mind, keeping his body frozen in place, a living statue as Winter scampered away with the only intention of putting as much space between him and her as possible.
Levana's eyes widened and she stood up from her throne. "That girl." She hissed, "She's here somewhere." Her gaze flashed towards Aimery, and quicker than Cinder could react she found his body pulled out of her grip, and he stumbled forward a few steps before breaking into a steady run in the direction Winter had gone.
"I imagine Aimery will find Soul Blood before long." Levana said, "In the meantime…"
Thorne suddenly flicked his wrist, and a knife slipped out of his sleeve and into his hand. He held the sharpened edge up to his throat, his blue eyes fixed on the gleaming steel.
"Reveal yourself "Niece"." Levana spat the last word as if it left a bitter taste in her mouth, "Or I can guarantee that your friend will never speak another word."
Thorne shook his head fervently, accidentally cutting himself in the process. The sight of the red liquid dripping off the point of the knife was all the remaining encouragement Cinder needed.
She stepped out of her hiding place in the shadows, shooting Levana the best glare she could muster. Levana smirked, unfazed by her hostility. "Well. It seems you do have some sense in that computer brain of yours."
"Enough with the speeches Levana, let him go." Cinder snapped.
"Oh, I'd be delighted to let him go." She shot Thorne a distasteful look, "Believe me when I say I don't want to be in his company any longer than necessary."
"I'm sensing a "but"…" Cinder grumbled.
"Indeed, there is a condition you must complete before I let him go." Levana smiled, "I know that there is a gun in one of the fingers of that hideous hand of yours, and a knife in the other. Your monstrous brain makes it difficult for me to control you, as you've already found, so it wouldn't be very reliable for me to simply take control and end your life here and now. So here is my condition: You kill yourself, with the gun, or the knife, or whatever you wish to use, and I'll let your little friend here walk free. Refuse, well." She gestured to Thorne, who was still holding the knife to his neck. "I believe you know what will happen."
Thorne caught Cinder's gaze and shook his head, spreading more blood along the knife's edge. Cinder couldn't speak, only glance back and forth from Levana, cold and confident, and Thorne, determined and disapproving. She couldn't let him die, Cinder knew that without a doubt. But what would stop Levana from killing him just after Cinder? She'd already said that she disliked him, it certainly wouldn't be any bother to her conscience. But if Cinder defied the Lunar Queen, Thorne would die anyway.
There was one other option. Cinder wasn't sure if it would work, but it was the best shot she had. Taking a deep breath, she reached for Thorne's mind, ready to wrest control of his body. But just as soon as she touched it, she felt Levana's grip tighten.
"Ah, ah, ah." The Queen chided mockingly, "None of that, now. It seems that you insist on being unreasonable. Very well then. I suppose we'll do it your way."
Thorne's hand lowered the knife from his neck and Cinder's eyes widened. Levana was… letting him go?
That thought was dashed away when he suddenly charged forward, the point of the knife aimed squarely for her heart.
A/N: Final showdown, coming soon in a few weeks. Also, heads up, I won't be able to update as much since I need to study for my exams. If there are no new updates for one or two weeks, that doesn't mean I'm giving up on this story because I'm not! Especially not when we're this close to the end!
Please review!
