Kai stared at the wall, feeling his back becoming sore from all of the bending over and straightening back up again. He was sitting at one of the tables on the balcony of the library, books splayed all around him.

The red and gold swirls painted on the wall Kai was facing gave him a pounding headache. He had been locked up in the library the entire day, searching. And for what, he still didn't know.

He was still thinking about Channary and Catherine and Selene and that dinner six nights ago. (Had it really been that long?) He didn't know where Catherine had gone or where Channary even was, although he suspected she was part of the reason why Kai's father had been shut in his office for long periods of time, rarely coming out. And Selene? Kai had seen her occasionally walking around the palace, although she always seemed too lost in thought for him to talk to.

Kai rubbed his eyes and leaned back, before he yelped and realized that he was still sitting in the hard backed chair, and that one of the "decorative" pegs sticking out of the back had impaled his back. Sighing, he got up and dragged an office chair to the table. He glanced at the mess of books he had created. Books like The History of the Eastern Commonwealth and 100 Years of Peace were tangled in books like A Brief Summary of Luna and The History of the Blackburn Royals. Kai had been trying to find out where in history the EC and Luna had ever crossed before Channary's visit. Evidently, not since before Kai's grandfather's birth. It had been decades since Luna had been intimately involved with the Union. Despite hours of searching, Kai had found nothing on Luna or any possible suspicious activity. His most valuable paragraph so far came from The History of the Blackburn Royals, which stated,

Cyprus Blackburn was the first true citizen of Luna. He was the son of Marjorie Parker and Matthew Blackburn. Parker gave birth to her son after hiding her pregnancy for nine months, as affairs among colleagues and scientists were strictly prohibited. (Marjorie and Matthew were later deported from Luna as a punishment.) However, Cyprus Blackburn was not sent back to the Earthern Union; he was kept by the remaining scientists as a test to see if humans could truly survive without any previous nurturing from Earth. When Blackburn successfully survived into his twenties, more and more scientists began to procreate, making Luna a bigger colony. However, when Blackburn entered manhood, he managed to convince the population to elect him as king. (There is still no definite answer to how this was done; although many suspect that Blackburn was the first to have the fabled "Lunar Gift" and that this might have assisted in his campaign to make Luna a monarchy.) Tension arose between Luna and the Earthern Union at this point; the Earthern leaders became suspicious of Blackburn's ability to transform Luna's government so easily, and Earth and Luna grew apart. The House of Blackburn has ruled Luna to this day.

And Kai had still gotten nothing that he didn't already know. He knew, vaguely, what he was searching for- a snippet, a paragraph, something, that would teach him something about the Lunar glamour.

Kai reached over and picked up another book. It was titled The Mysterious Moon. Great. Another boring book with a generically "exciting" title. However, as Kai turned the book to face him, something fell out. A piece of paper (a brochure?) Kai picked it up and smoothed it out on the table, pushing several other books off. Once it was all laid out, Kai realized what it was. A family tree. The Blackburn Family.

At the top, to be expected, was Cyprus Blackburn. A line connected him to Alina Oakwood. Another line stemming from the middle of the first line split into three lines for three children, and more lines for their spouses, and so on. It wasn't until the bottom of the family tree that Kai began to pay more attention. Towards the bottom, Marrok Blackburn was connected to Jannali Whitebridge, and a line stretched down from their union to split into two names- Channary Blackburn and Levana Blackburn. A solid line linked Levana to someone named Evret Hayle, and solid line to the side connected Evret to another woman named Solstice. A solid link down to another name stemmed from Evret and Solstice- Winter. However, Channary Blackburn was linked to a question mark, and another line stemmed down from that to the name Selene Channary Jannali Blackburn.

So Selene had never known her father. Kai couldn't even imagine that— he had always looked towards his childhood with fondness because of his mother— and the times when they had been a whole family, laughing and cheering for god knows what. Selene had never had that. Kai's heart swelled suddenly with pity for her.

Kai snapped out of his haze when he heard the heavy wooden doors of the library slam, and his head snapped up. Quickly folding the family tree back up and stuffing it into his pocket, he snatched a book from the pile that he hadn't knocked over yet and flipped open to a random page. Feigning calmness, he slowly looked towards the entrance.

Selene was leaning against the doors, panting as if she had been running a marathon.

"Selene?" Her name sounded foreign on Kai's tongue, after so many days apart. Her head snapped up, and she shot up in obvious surprise. "Pri- Kai! I, um, I didn't know you were in here! Um, you're obviously busy, I'll go... I didn't mean to disturb you, I'm sure you have plenty of more interesting things to do, ah-" Selene shook a hand. "- you know what? I'm going to go now."

"No- wait-" Kai scrambled to his feet, hurrying down the stairs. Selene halted her steps, turning around. "Actually, I was wondering if I could talk to you?"

Selene looked helpless. She had obviously wanted to dodge this meeting, and although Kai could guess why, he had to talk to her. Find out more.

"Look, I'm trying to do everything I can to get Catherine out of whatever prison my mother's trapped her in, I'm just... Stuck. Just distracted." There was an awkward pause, and Selene shifted nervously. "I'm sorry for my mother, by the way."

"You don't have to do that." Kai ran his fingers through his hair. "You don't have to apologize for every single thing that happens to us, good, bad, or downright crappy. It's not your fault."

Selene seemed to flinch a little at his words. "I'm just trying to... to... to just find a way to fix everything. You were alright before my mother and I came here, and now things have happened that none of us could have possibly anticipated, and the other Earthern representatives obviously want us gone, but they don't want to say it, and—"

"—wait. You said something about the Earthern representatives?"

"They're in one of the conference rooms." Selene looked slightly nervous. "I overheard them talking about my mother. They were saying how the Earthern Union and Luna were distant, and how Lunars were not to be trusted."

Kai fisted the bottom of his shirt in his fingers. Of course they were. Earth had been distrustful of Luna for a century. Why would that change now? "I'm sorry you had to witness that," he replied lamely. It was a sorry excuse for an apology.

He hadn't expected the faintest hint of a smile to cross the Crown Princess's lips. It was, after all, not a good time for any smiling, with Channary and Catherine and everyone else caught up in this mess. "You keep telling me to stop blaming myself for everything," she said softly. "Evidently you yourself owe me an apology for hypocrisy, Your Highness."

Kai laughed out loud, a sound that surprised him. He gave Selene a deep bow. "I formally apologize, Your Royal Highness, for my seemingly rash act of hypocrisy. It was insubordinate, rude, and stupid. I would be so humbled if you could accept this apology."

Moments later, he felt the princess curtsy to his level. "Your apology is most gracefully accepted, Your Imperial Highness."

They both straightened up, and Kai asked, "So, Princess Selene, what brings you to our royal library?"

Selene frowned ever so slightly. "Actually, to be honest, I was trying to hide from my mother and her thaumaturges."

Kai sat down at a nearby table and gestured for her to sit as well. "Oh? And why is that?"

Selene looked frustrated. "I was just thinking about how I could bring Catherine back."

"So have I."

"I've been trying to come up with a plan, maybe something to do with trying to break her out or trying to bargain with my mother for her—"

"—break her out?" Kai felt a twinge of guilt for interrupting her, but he continued. "Isn't she being held in the Commonwealth prisons in the dungeons?"

Selene hesitated for a fraction of a moment before answering. "No. She's being held in one of the cells on our Lunar ship." Selene shifted. "My mother made sure of that."

Kai stared briefly. Lunar cell? He hadn't even known where Catherine had gone. He had barely bothered to check.

Selene must have seen the confusion and irritation in his eyes, because she shrunk back. "I, uh, didn't come to you earlier because I thought you wouldn't really want to talk to me, what wih my mother and—" she broke off in the middle, looking at him, and he realized he was still distracted.

What an idiot.

Blinking, he quickly stammered out, "Sorry, got lost. In my mind, I mean."

Selene looked much more relaxed now. "I've been angling towards the bargaining idea... My mother has everything she wants, though, and she can get everything she wants easily. There's nothing that I can offer her that wouldn't fall into one of those categories."

"I can talk to my father, maybe he can-"

"-he can't." Selene rested her elbows on the hard oak. "Nothing your father can say will make an impact on my mother." As an afterthought, she added, "No offense."

"How could I possibly take offense?" Selene laughed. She stood, and Kai followed.

"I'll, um, update you if anything changes, then?"

"Sure. I'd like that." Kai nodded.

"Kai, are you stealing pages from the library?" Selene pointed to the crinkled, folded up Blackburn family tree that was still sticking out of his pocket. Kai had completely forgotten about it.

"Oh, this?" He chuckled nervously. "Just something I found tucked inside a book. It was already torn, so I thought, why not?" He leaned in conspiratorially. "Don't tell Torin," he whispered.

"I won't," she confirmed. "if you won't tell anyone I was in the library with you."

"Why?"

She fidgeted nervously with the sleeve of her dress. "I'm kind of trying to go incognito. You know, dodging palace security and all. Not a fan of those things."

"I know the feeling."

"Yeah, well, it's been okay so far."

"Selene?" Kai peered at the Lunar Princess. "Can I ask you a question?"

"I mean, I'm sure if I ever refused a prince it would mean World War V, so go ahead."

Kai laughed. "Six nights ago, at the banquet, I sort of... followed you out."

Selene raised her eyebrows, and Kai quickly continued, trying not to skip a beat out of nervousness. "I mean, I wanted to see where you were going. It's not everyday someone leaves a royal banquet."

"Sure."

"And I saw you talk to that palace guard— Jacin? And you seemed like you knew him."

Selene tilted her head, and it suddenly occurred to Kai how calm, how utterly relaxed he was. If he had been having a conversation with her mother, he would have stiffened up the moment she tilted her head, but he felt no panic at her miniscule gesture.

"We've been friends since childhood." Selene picked at something invisible on her fingernail. "Jacin's father was a royal guard, which meant that Jacin was at the palace almost everyday. Lots of time to bond."

"And Princess Winter? You mentioned her?"

Selene's face softened visibly at the mention of her cousin. "I've also known her since childhood. She was in the same position as Jacin- her father, Evret, was my grandparents' closest guard and my aunt's favorite." Selene paused. "Evret married my aunt a couple of years ago, which means that Winter is technically my cousin."

"Oh." Kai wasn't really sure what exactly to say, but Selene kept talking anyway.

"Winter and Jacin sort of grew closer, even though it was forbidden, they became more than friends."

Kai pondered over this. He knew from the books he had read that the Lunars were more protective of their royal family than the Earthern Union. If Kai really wanted, he could marry the palace cook for all his father could care (there had been a moment in his life where he had really, really, cared for one of the cooks. But that was over.).

"And—" Kai hesitated. He knew from etiquette lessons (because apparently Tashmi Priya could multitask doing four different jobs) that he had probably overstepped his boundaries and that he should stop. But he had a strong sense of curiosity— and before he knew it, he was finishing his sentence. "— out in the hallway, Jacin called you " Cinder." Is that... is that a nickname?"

Selene arched her eyebrows, and Kai was aware of how much she seemed to be scrutinizing him in this conversation. Aces.

"It is a nickname." Selene was choosing her words carefully. "A very personal one."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm obviously prying where I shouldn't be-"

"No, it's okay." Selene gave him a smile, but didn't answer his initial question.

She turned to the door. " I have to go, or else Elissa will wonder where I fun tearing pages out, I guess."

As she went out the door, he called after her, "It was already torn!"

"If you say so, if you say so."

Kai smiled to himself, and instinctively plucked the parchment paper out of his pocket. Why hadn't he told Selene about the family tree? It wasn't like it was some top secret government file (those were rarely on paper anyway). It was Selene's own family tree.

Maybe for the same unspoken reason that she hadn't told him about her nickname's backstory.

He just didn't want her to know that he was digging into her family history. After all, who would want that?

Kai made his way up to the balcony again, dragging a cushioned chair over to the table and leaning back in it.

Tommorrow Channary would leave.

And Catherine would either be on Luna or back in the palace.

Good luck, Selene.

Well... This chapter is up... :)

Surprisingly, this was one of my favorite chapters, after I completely deleted my first draft of this (which had something to do with Selene showing some serious ninja skills (I'm cringing just thinking about it)).

I'm not super proud of this chapter, but I'm proud of the lengthiness of this, which I think you guys deserve after a six-day wait. I've got the structure of the next chapter laid out, but I'm going through some editing and plot issues, so it's going to be a few days before it's up.

Plus, I changed the story title, if you didn't notice! (And now the cover is way prettier!) It's a reference to when people say, "I'll love you to the moon and back." (Wink wink.)

Thanks for all of your positive reactions and reviews!