Kai shifted rather uncomfortably in his seat. He, along with his father and Konn Torin, among other members of his father's cabinet, was seated on one of the raised platforms overlooking the room, on the far left of the dining hall.
It had been a week since the Lunars had arrived in the Commonwealth, and some of the panic had died down, but not completely. Kai hadn't seen Selene since the garden, which made him slightly uncomfortable when he glimpsed her at the opposite side of the room, despite having told her he would "see her soon" just a couple of days ago.
The Lunar party, with Queen Channary, Princess Selene, and a whole group of thaumaturges (including Royal Thaumaturge Elissa Heliore) was seated all the way on the opposite side of the hall. Everyone in the group sat calmly at their table (save for some royal guards standing protectively around the party), chatting and exchanging meaningful looks with each other. The queen sat in the midst of it all, veil turned towards the crowd of people that sat in the middle of the two royal families. It was a chatty, warm atmosphere, full of cheer.
And yet, something about the Lunar Queen's unseen face unnerved him.
Emperor Rikan stood up. "Welcome," he said, looking out at the small group of politicians and representatives from all over the world that made up the crowd of people sitting between the two main tables (which vaguely reminded Kai of a mosh pit) "to the Eastern Commonwealth. For those of you who are foreigners to our country, we hope that you enjoy your stay here while you dine with us this evening. We would also like to introduce some special guests of ours tonight, Her Majesty the Queen of Luna, Queen Channary, Her Highness the Crown Princess of Luna, Princess Selene, and some of the royal thaumaturges from the Lunar Court, including Head Thaumaturge Elissa Heliore..."
Kai stopped listening after that and scanned the crowd. He could clearly make out the representatives from all across the Earthern Union among the crowd, their faces fixed on Kai's father while occasionally darting to the side to look warily at Queen Channary. He recognized Jamal Nuy, the representative from the African Union; Chedelina Gare, parliament member from the United Kingdom; Government leader Trewett Litchfield from Australia; Senator Samantha Williamson of America, and parliament representative Keal O'Pierce from the European Federation. So many political figures, so many political moves to make this evening. Queen Channary had chosen an extremely convenient time to make any maneuvers, Kai realized.
After Rikan's speeches finished, dinner was served. An opening appetizer of salad with sweet tangerine and pepper sauce; a first course with chicken and roasted chesnuts, and so on. It wasn't until the fourth course that trouble arose.
"Aaaahhh!" A frantic shriek erupted from the opposite side of the room. Everyone in the room turned to look. Kai craned his neck, but it turned out he didn't have to.
Queen Channary had stood up. "How dare you?" She screeched at someone that Kai couldn't see over the sea of politicians. "How dare you try to glimpse my face?"
Emperor Rikan had stood up now, and Kai followed suit. He could see now that the person that the queen had been shouting at was Catherine, the girl who Kai and Selene had been talking to in the garden. Her face was pale now, all the color flushed out of her cheeks. She looked terrified.
Selene was also standing next to her mother, but her mahogany eyes were fixed on the queen, not Catherine. Her face was also deathly pale.
There was a moment of silence following the queen's outburst. The entire room held its breath. Kai stared at the queen, wondering if she would dare try to do anything to Catherine in a room full of diplomats. Would she put an entire alliance on the line just for this one moment of vanity? Kai was afraid to let himself think the answer out.
Then, he saw it. It was just a miniscule nod to her side, barely enough to be visible.
But it was enough to ignite the person whom the queen had gestured to. A royal thaumaturge (Not Thaumaturge Heliore— she was standing next to the princess, her hand grasping Selene's wrist) and a guard sprung into action, and Catherine screamed. The guard grasped her by the arms, dragging her out of the hall, but Catherine wasn't looking at them, or even straight at the crowd. Instead, she was staring up at the ceiling, mouth still open in a wordless cry of pain.
"Stop!" Selene's voice echoed across the dining hall. She had broken free from Thaumaturge Heliore, eyes wide. She pleaded with her mother.
"Please, mother, please, she didn't do anything—"
"She attempted to violate one of the most sacred traditions of our people, Selene." Channary's voice was cool, composed. "It is only fitting that she be punished for her insolence and negligence, although I highly doubt that there is anyone in this room that is unaware of our customs." The queen turned away from her daughter.
"Mother!" It was a desperate cry now, and Kai suddenly remembered how kind Selene had been towards Catherine in the garden. It seemed that Selene had remembered as well. "It was a pure mistake on her part, it was just a fork that—"
"Silence, now, Selene. This is not your place to talk." Channary snapped at her daughter.
Rikan stepped forward. "Your Majesty, I apologize for the commotion, but under the agreement of 54 T.E., you are not permitted to take anyone from the Earthern Union away from the planet. We will deal with the servant, your Majesty—"
Channary turned towards the emperor, and Kai knew what was coming, and felt the urge to leap forward and turn his father away from Channary's gaze. But Rikan stood still and tall, unwavering.
"My dear Emperor Rikan," Channary purred. "Would you not agree that the traditions of every group of people are their most prized possession?"
Dazedly, Rikan nodded, but he looked conflicted, as if he was trying to fight the manipulation.
"Yes? Then I am confident that you see why we need to take the girl into our custody."
"Yes," Rikan murmured. "Quite so."
Instinctively, Kai moved forward. "Father, what are you—" His tongue went limp, and he looked up to see one of the thaumaturges looking at him. Kai relented, but didn't back away from his father.
Turning back to the sea of diplomats who were all standing, silently shocked at the turn of events, Channary clapped her hands together. "Now, why don't we resume our festivities? That was quite enough drama for the night." Her voice was sweet, and Kai felt a wave of her glamour wash over him again, and unwillinglu, he, along with the rest of the individuals in the hall, sat back down. Kai felt his father next to him, still stiff with shock.
Casting his eyes across the room, Kai saw the princess again. She seemed to be engaged in an argument with the blonde-haired Head Thaumaturge. Thaumaturge Heliore was shaking her head violently at Selene, her lips moving rapidly. Selene seemed to fire back equally fast, wringing her hands in the air multiple times. Finally, Selene shook her head one last time, pushed back her chair, and disappeared beneath the raised platform that the rest of her people sat on. Kai fixed his eyes on the exit, and sure enough, Selene hurried out just a few seconds later.
Kai was curious. Had Selene gone to save Catherine? Did she just want to get away from the dining hall? Leaning over, Kai muttered a quick message of leave to his father, who nodded distractedly before turning back to his conversation with Torin.
Kai had walked three halls and turned four times before he heard voices.
"Jacin, please, she's younger than both of us! And I saw what happened, it was an accident! The fork on the plate that she was carrying got caught on the veil, and don't you dare tell me she positioned it intentionally!" Selene's voice, yelling at whoever "Jason" was.
Kai flattened his back against the wall and peered slightly around the fifth corner. He could see the Lunar princess talking to the royal guard that had taken Catherine away. Kai recognized the guard— one of the guards clothed in the uniform of a higher-ranking officer that had flanked Channary when she had first descended the ship. What was his name? Jason? Jacin. Yes, Jacin.
The thing that frightened him, however, was the fact that Catherine was nowhere in sight. Kai's heart dropped.
"I can't, I have orders from my queen to take the girl away." The blond guard replied.
"Jacin!" Kai could hear the frustration in Selene's voice. "Do you hear yourself? You're basically sentencing a what, fifteen year old? Sixteen year old? To death! Or even worse, imprisonment in a Lunar household! And don't tell me it won't be so bad— I know what happens in Lunar households, I've been to them. Jacin, please, I'm not asking you to smuggle her to the American Republic! I'm just asking you to let her go, and not even outside of the palace! You'd be letting her into my protection. You don't have to worry about if you'll be punished, I'll take care of that."
"Look, Cinder—" A sigh. Cinder? Kai wondered. "— I would let her go if I could. But I can't. Our queen would impale my head on a stake— no, don't try to prove me wrong— if I ever disobeyed her. I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do."
There was a pause. Then an intake of breath. "Jacin, you're one of my oldest friends, and we dont always see eye to eyes, but on this topic, could you just agree—"
"— Cinder, I've done all I can. I put her in the cleanest cell on the ship, and I gave her more than enough food to last the rest of the Queen's stay. I'm sorry, Cinder, I just can't do anything. I'm really sorry."
Footsteps echoed towards him, and Kai ducked into the nearest dark room he could find. But long after the footsteps faded away, he still sat on the floor of the pitch black space, thinking to himself. About Catherine. About the queen. About the Eastern Commonwealth.
About Selene and her outburst. And her attempts to save Catherine. Or so it seemed.
Maybe there had been two queens at this dinner. One who held the fate of the world in her voice, and one who tried to salvage the world in hers.
Soo... Yeah. I just stole this from Cinder, and I feel really guilty about this. (Along with the scene where Channary and Selene first arrive in the Commonwealth.)
I hate author's notes, but I'm just using this one to tell all of my WONDERFUL readers that this story might be delayed for a bit, but only to the point where there might only be one chapter per week, because I'm having a little bit of trouble laying out the plotline of the story. I know where the major events are, but I have to fill in the gaps between them, which is proving to be a little tricky. I've already written the next chapter, but it needs to go through some serious editing (I've already deleted a thousand words from it and started over).
But as a bit of a teaser, I'm going to map out the major characters and easter eggs from the actual series included in this story.
Watch out for Elissa Heliore and Catherine, as well as some of the diplomats included in the crowd in this chapter. They are going to appear at least twice more in the story, although I'm not so sure about the diplomats— but Elissa and Catherine are a definite.
As you saw in this, we are going to get hints of Winter, Jacin, Torin, and other characters from TLC, although not the characters Cinder has met and recruited such as Scarlet, Wolf, Thorne, or Cress. Other minor or secondary characters might make cameos, so keep your eyes on the lookout.
We're going to get more flashes from Selene on life on Luna, and the friendship between her and Jacin. (And more references to the name "Cinder" as well— it's going to have an interesting BACKSTORY that is going to be more closely related to the original Cinderella story (you already know what it is, don't you?!).
That was all of the teasers for this chapter! Again, the next chapter won't be up for a while, I'm having a lot of creative issues with it, especially how the characters could act or think. Stay tuned though!
