Hi guys! Sorry for the late update. I've kinda been putting this chapter off. So without further ado... chapter thirteen.
Cinder stalked off, leaving a flabbergasted Kai behind her. She didn't look back. Cinder didn't want to see the crushed expression on his face that was probably mirrored on hers. It had taken her forever to convince Dr. Erland that she was fine and eternity to persuade the gang to let her out of bed. She could walk perfectly well. It's not as if she was an invalid. Since her friends hadn't known what had occurred at the restaurant, Cinder was just as clueless, frantically searching the net for information, any information that might jog her memory. Wolf informed her that after he had commed Cinder explaining Ginger's missing status, Cinder had left Pearl's to find her goddaughter, only to run into Kai.
Allegedly.
Cinder didn't even know what happened after she had made up with her stepsister. Then, Cress briefed Cinder on the press conference. Knowing Kai would have a challenging time with it, she ordered Scarlet to stop her maternal fussing and get her out of bed. The obstinate red-head refused until Cinder made it a direct order. Even then, it didn't stop Cress and Scarlet from dressing her up like a doll, which consisted of Scarlet shoving the guys out while simultaneously throwing random articles of clothing at Cinder, barking at her to strip. Meanwhile, Cress rushed her into the bathroom and proceeded to stuff pins in her hair and dust her face with glittering powder. Cinder scowled through the whole treatment wondering if Scarlet and Cress had ever rehearsed and timed this just to torture her.
They had rushed to attend the press conference just to hear- Actually, Cinder preferred not to think about what Kai said. Did he know how much trouble he just brought her? She would have to explain to the Luna Council again. Oh and let's not forget the Earthen Union and all those people who watched the live broadcast. Which, considering the escalating views on the net right now, meant everyone.
Knowing Iko and Winter, they would probably be comming her very, very soon. Cinder grimaced as she felt an incoming comm entering her system.
Speak of the devil.
Scarling's portscreen chimed gleefully, reporting another comm, a sharp contrast to the somber mood. Cinder groaned, already dreading the imminent argument that was sure to take place.
"Please don't answer that."
Scarlet, who was in the middle of reaching for the comms unit fitted to her ear, paused and gave her a sympathetic smile.
"I don't want to either, but Winter has to get her explanations ready in case the council gets all wound up."
Cinder sighed. "This is blowing out of proportion." Kai couldn't be so insensitive. Pretend they had a relationship and lie to the whole country? He's got to be kidding her. Scarlet fingers stalled in her tapping on the portscreen and glanced at her out of the corner of her eyes.
"Cinder," she said quietly. "Do you want to talk about it?" Cinder snorted.
"What is there to talk about?" she asked scathingly. "The emperor said all there was to say." Scarlet hummed her agreement distractedly, fingers dancing, pulling up files and brushing them away.
"That was a bad move on his part," she said making a face. "But perhaps you could look at the situation in his perspective. He was being jammed into that answer. Everyone knew you and the Emperor had some kind of connection before you..." Scarlet trailed off awkwardly. "Well, before you became an evicted criminal. They thought you were trying to rekindle that romance. And besides, I doubt your little Kaito has had any experience wooing women in the past. It's not like he needs to. They probably just throw themselves at his feet."
Cinder choked on a laugh and cut her eyes toward her friend."Don't tell me that was your way of making me feel better about the whole situation."
Scarlet shrugged. "It's the truth. The poor guy is confused, darling. Take the lead. Give him a chance."
Cinder raised an eyebrow. "Are those your words of wisdom for the day?"
Scarlet rolled her eyes. "If words of wisdom were what you wanted, maybe you should talk to Cress. She's the pillar of romantic advice." Cinder hid a smirk and counted down the doors to the guest suite.
"The day I look to Moony for romantic guidance is the day I screw being queen and disappear." Scarlet shot her a look. Cinder narrowed her eyes defensively. "What? It's not like I ever wanted this position. It was forced upon me just like everything else."
"No," Scarlet huffed a breath and pulled on Cinder's arm until she came to a stop. "As much as you don't believe this, Cress is usually right about these things. Stars know, she has had plenty of time to think about it, trapped in that accursed satellite and all." Cinder snorted.
"You're right. I don't believe you." Ditzy, idealist Cress giving romantic council? Riiight. True, She could be as demanding as hell when you got her going, but...
"Just give her a try later, okay? We'll have a girly heart to heart. Wolf and Thorne could take Ginger and Tobias out for a while and it'll just be us girls."Cinder felt the start of a grin twitching her lips up.
"We haven't had girl time in a while." They turned to each other with matching squeals.
"Desserts!" they sang together. They came to a set of beautifully carved double doors.
"Your Majesty," murmured the two Earthen guards standing at attention. They bowed, eyes averted. Cinder turned to Scarlet with a cocked brow. One of the guards straightened, sensing their confusion.
"His Majesty Emperor Kaito had requested we guard Your Majesty," he said respectfully, fist pressed to his chest. "We welcome you to New Beijing." Scarlet smiled politely.
"And we are honored to be thus welcomed. May I ask the reason for this unexpected arrangement?"
"For your protection, Your Majesty, and your attendants," the one on the right rumbled. An orange light flickered in the corner of Cinder's vision. Isn't that interesting. Cinder tilted her head regarding the officers with lips pressed together. Their pearlescent air pistols, stuffed in their belts, gleamed in the light. Cinder's eyes caught on the model number and narrowed her eyes. When were RE.35s used in the Earthen military?
"Our protection," Cinder said at last. "Funny." Cinder caught Scarlet's attention and listed her head almost imperceptibly to the so called guards' firearms. Scarlet would know more about these things than she. The guards shifted, uncomfortable with the intentness in which the Lunars studied them. Cinder subtly brought her hands behind her back and released the revolver in her cyborg hand. Better to be safe than sorry. She noted the exact moment Scarlet realized there was something truly wrong with the two guards. Her partner stiffened and extended her hand to the guard on the left.
"It is a pleasure to meet you," she said calmly, "My name is Scarlet Benoit. May I examine your weapons?" The guards exchanged glances. Clearly, that was not what they were expecting.
"We are not authorized to pass our weapons to another without an official licence, ma'am," he said, clearing his throat uneasily. Scarlet crossed her arms and glared.
"Do not force my hand, gentlemen," Cinder warned. "I can make it into a direct order if you wish. Perhaps His Majesty will hear of this infraction. I strongly suggest you to cooperate." She paused and waited for a reaction. None. The guards unclipped their handguns from their belts and extended them toward Scarlet robotically. Scarlet reached for them only to freeze when they simultaneously clicked off the safety. How predictable.
"Put your hands where we can see them," demanded the first guard. Scarlet extended both hands out in a placating manner, eyeing their weapons warily.
"You too," the other guard snapped. Cinder brought her hand up and shot once into the skylights. Glass shattered spraying glass shrapnel everywhere and they all ducked, hands covering their heads protectively. The guards shot frantically, eyes unseeing in the sudden gloom. Cinder fired back, inching down the hall. Why weren't there people coming? Can't they hear the gunshots?
While Cinder distracted the guards, Scarlet slipped her own handgun out of its holster at her waist and opened fire from the other end of the hall.
"What is going on?" a vaguely familiar voice exclaimed from behind her. Cinder instinctively jerked her arm, elbow smashing into a man's face without losing stride. There was an awful crack. She winced, the sound vibrating through her. Wolf would be so proud. The guy gave a muffled cry and cursed colourfully. Cinder could feel him staggering back. "Your Majesty," he gasped. Cinder tensed in dismay. Reece?
"What the hell are you doing back here?" Cinder hissed through gritted teeth as she ducked behind the wall to reload. The ammunition shook in her trembling hands as she struggled to stuff the magazine in. Click. Finally.
"I just came back from the police headquarters," Reece said clutching his bleeding nose, baffled. "Why are we being attacked?" He whipped out a dagger and Cinder felt her lips twitch up, despite the grim circumstances.
"Going old school, are we," Cinder said huffing a laugh. She aimed her hand around the corner again and flinched as bullets battered the wall beside her.
The doors to the guest suite slammed open. Thorne stood gaping at the glass and the bewildered guards who, taken back by the door's sudden opening stopped shooting. Wolf barreled out and took in the scene quickly. He lunged at the second guard. The frightened officer shot wildly, the bullet going wide before Wolf knocked him unconscious. The second guard, seeing that he was extremely outnumbered, stopped and blinked, fog fading from his eyes.
"What happened here?" he questioned. Then he saw the smoking gun in his hands and the furious look in the Lunars around them. "Crap," he muttered and his eyes rolled up as he fainted, slumping unceremoniously to the floor.
Cinder sat slumped on a hard plastic chair at the New Beijing Law Enforcement Department. Scarlet tapped her fingers idly on the armrest between them, a steady drumming that was starting to get on her already frazzled nerves. Scarling's personal handgun, a Leo, had been confiscated upon arrival after much protest. Cinder brushed a hand comfortingly over her cyborg hand, thanking the heavens that they hadn't thought to rid her of her own revolver as well. It was a small blessing considering what she had been through today.
She chewed on the inside of her cheek, wondering how long it would take for the police to interrogate Wolf. At least he could keep his cool. The same couldn't be said of his wife. Cinder glanced at Scarlet out of the corner of his eyes. A furrow ran through her brow as she gnawed at her lips, agitated. No doubt worried about her alpha male. Cinder shifted and propped up her head with a hand. Reece had gone to the infirmary to get his nose checked out. She probably broke it. Then again, Cinder thought she was being attacked and didn't look back to see who was behind her. Didn't stop Cinder from apologizing effusively to the annoyance of her injured thaumaturge though. They had all been taken in for questioning. The two guards were arrested and now languished in their cells, confusedly. Good riddance.
Cinder felt kind of bad. They probably hadn't meant to attack. Someone was controlling them. A Lunar. The question was who in their gang would do such a thing. But her attendants were all loyal. She had made sure of that. Cinder would never force anyone to work for her. She made sure they all delighted in what they were doing and that they all had a proper stipend and hours that would support their lives and families. Which leads to the conclusion that the offender must be a rogue. Somehow the culprit had given the Earthen guards a Lunar handgun. A Tarsus RE.35. It was impossible and Cinder and Scarlet had both known it. The Tarsus was still in its rudimentary evaluation stages. Not yet in the market, not yet mass produced.
Hardly anyone knew about it. Only a few of the Lunar Council and her chosen advisors and friends.
Not to mention the choking cloud of glamour that had enveloped the two guards. She was the only one who wasn't subject to a bioelectricity disrupter. She was the only one who could use glamour on Earth. But somehow the culprit had been able to. Impossible. Unless... The Lunar had to be one of the rogue. But rogues don't have access to Luna without a Lunar I.D which has a built-in bioelectricity disrupter.
Cinder sighed gustily. Scarlet glanced at her.
"Still wondering?"
Cinder rubbed her temples, warding off an incoming headache. "It has to be one of the rogue. There is no other explanation. But how did the culprit get the finished version of the Tarsus?" The unspoken question hung like a veil, smothering the air. One of their own had betrayed them. Scarlet shook her head.
"None of us would have done it though. What would that achieve? But it might be connected to the fire. The police said it was a planned assassination. Maybe they found out you survived and tried again," she said thoughtfully. "Thank goodness you weren't terribly hurt," Scarlet added, "or we wouldn't know what to do."
"Who would have most to gain if I was dead?" Cinder asked perplexed. "The most logically answer would be Winter. At least to outsiders," she elaborated when Scarlet shot her a look. "I know my cousin would never do that. And besides, even if I were gone, the council would rather put Medora on the throne anyway. Winter has no blood relation to the throne, no claim. I wrote her in as my heir but I doubt the council would care as long as I have other distant relatives that are willing," she snorted. Who wouldn't want the throne? "and able to ascend to the sovereignty. Especially, Medora."
"You are implying Medora is behind all this?" Scarlet asked, her raised eyebrows conveying her skepticism. Cinder didn't blame her. Just thinking Medora was the culprit made her want to crack up. Medora? No way.
"Well," she thought out loud, "Medora has the motive and the means of doing it. She's certainly wealthy enough and she's of royal blood no matter how distant. She's in the council and has knowledge of the military going-ons. Medora knew about the Tarsus, that's for sure. And-"
"I think that's enough," Scarlet said frowning. "You are tired and going on and on in circles. Medora is not the culprit anyway. We'll think upon this tomorrow with the council and all your advisors."
"But the culprit might be in the council!" Cinder protested. Scarlet faced her directly, stilling her fidgeting by holding down her shoulders.
"Are you going to shut out the rest of us then?" she demanded. "You have to trust that we can take care of this. Together. Okay?" Cinder took a shuddering breath and nodded.
"Together," she murmured. But Cinder's mind was already going ahead, making plans. Analyzing data from the police reports and eyewitness statements, footage and pictures from the restaurant fire. Then, correlating the patterns from the fire to the assault. She clenched her fists and rose from the chair, padding to the small window. Cinder ignored Scarlet's curious green eyes and brought her fingertips to the frosted glass. Glittering snow covered the ground and dusted the emerald roofs of the capital. With the first assassination attempt, Cinder had been caught by surprise. The second, unanticipated. But the next time...
A wicked smile curved Cinder's lips and she looked up at the faint white cast of the midday moon. She was the Queen of Luna. She was dirt, cinder, ashes, fire. She was the phoenix and nobody, nobody messed with her without consequences. Cinder lowered her hand and curled her fingers into a ball, feeling the glamour inside her seethe and surge. She looked out the window to see her first snowfall in six years. Snowflakes danced, shimmering with an icy indifference and Cinder laughed quietly to herself. Next time she'll be ready. Next time.
I hope you all got what I meant when I described Cinder as a phoenix. The meaning might be kinda obscure. Anyway, please review. Til next time!
Ciao!
-Silverleaf