I had promised a certain individual that I would post a new chapter today. Cress officially comes out today! Yay! Have you guys pre-ordered your copy yet? I can't wait to see what happens!

Enjoy!

Cinder entered the netlibrary and sank into an armchair. She waved away the enthusiastic biblio-droid who eagerly followed her, awaiting commands. The palace archives were clean, not a speck of dust to be seen. The library was arranged into neat shelves and cases holding barcodes for a books and documents. It was a large improvement over musty, aged paper from the second era. Of course, it took time to catalogue and scan the publications into an electronic format, but at the end, it was all worth it. Nowadays, everything is uploaded into the Intergalactic Athenaeum, or IGA for short, and knowledge came as easily as one snapshot of the barcode and one tap of your portscreen.

But Cinder hadn't come for the information contained within these walls. No. She came for the peace and quiet. When the biblio-droid finally rolled away, its sensors dim in disappointment, Cinder finally took out the burnt pages. She hesitated, staring at them. What kind of person was her assassin? Did she really want to know? Maybe if she ignored it the problem would go away. Cinder shook her head. Yeah, and pigs fly, she thought scathing. Cinder forced herself to flip to the first page. It was in a messy, childish script.

21 December 117 T.E.

Dear Selene,

I imagine it would be your 8th birthday today. What is it like in heaven? Are you happy? Did you get a large birthday cake with lots of icing like they made for your third birthday? That was so good. Do you remember?

How's life in heaven? Better than mine, I hope. Do you float on fluffy, pink clouds flying with angel wings? Daddy says you are in a better place and I suppose so. Any place would be better than stuck here with Levana as queen. Levana is being her usual bitchy self. I miss you Lena. I turned 11 a few months ago. Mommy let me dye my hair brown, just like yours. I look quite dashing in it, as several girls have told me already. I think I'm going to leave it that colour. I never liked my messy blonde hair anyway. Do you get presents in heaven? If so, what did you get?

Forever yours, Goldie

Cinder paused. This was written five years after she supposedly died. She quickly flipped through the whole folio. All of the letters started with a date and addressed toSelene. Her assassin was a former friend named Goldie. Sage had seen him burn a book. These were the only pages he were able to save. Cinder slumped back into the armchair and gazed sightlessly at the ceiling, deep in thought. This was part of a journal. Her assassin's journal. But who was Goldie?

There was a thump, and Cinder jumped a foot in the air, her revolver shooting out of its hiding place. Cinder whirled around to see Reece standing behind her, hands up in the air. He cocked an eyebrow at her, his brilliant eyes regarding her handgun warily.

"Whoa, steady there tiger! It's just me." Cinder sagged back into the armchair, groaning. He had to sneak up on her. She placed a trembling hand to her heart to steady the galloping beat and glared weakly at her thaumaturge. The rogue only grinned at her and flopped into a nearby beanbag. "So... What's gotten my queen so uptight, she can't even take a joke?" His smile faded at the sight of her pallid complexion.

Reece grabbed her hands. They were cold, so cold. Distantly, Cinder's mind acknowledged the fact that she was going into shock. Belated shock. She hadn't crumbled at the restaurant or the infirmary or the ambush, but one scare from Reece startled her enough that she would go into shock? Cinder wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. So she did. Cinder started to giggle hysterically. Reece stared at her aghast. She cackled at his ludicrous expression. Cinder couldn't remember the last time she had laughed this much.

Reece gripped her hands harder and attempted to rub the warmth back into them. His eyes only reflected his alarm. "Your Majesty, are you okay?" Cinder laughed harder, then tried to rein it in, stuffing a fist into her mouth. Giggles slipped through. Reece's lips twitched and he lifted her onto his lap. "Silly, silly, Cinder. What am I going to do with you?" he sighed. Cinder saw the exact moment Reece spotted the papers she had been looking at just a moment before. He frowned, before smoothing his expression over into curiosity. "What is that?" Reece reached over her to swipe the folio off the library floor.

Cinder calmed herself and took the folio from him. Her hands shook but she ignored it and thumbed through the pages yet unread. "These papers were found at the scene of the fire, the storage room. I suspect the assassin threw them deliberately into the fire. This is all that is left of the assassin's journal. His name is Goldie apparently." He snorted.

"Goldie?"

Cinder gave him a look. "I'm serious!" Reece snorted again.

"Why didn't you leave it to the law enforcement officers? I sure they could handle such a case," Reece suggested hesitantly. Cinder shook her head.

"They aren't making any progress and besides, I rather do some sniffing around myself." Cinder wrung her hands as she brooded silently. "I don't even know who to trust," she admitted softly, looking down at her lap. "I know Scarlet would never do something like that, but that only accounts for one. You know I have never really trusted your father, and now with the Conscripts also in hot water... I'm afraid Reece. I'm afraid this will never be over. I'm afraid that my friends are just going to get hurt." Reece exhaled, the puff of air stirring strands of her hair. Cinder felt the heat of his gaze and she avoided staring directly at him.

He stayed quiet, then, "Look at me, Cinder." When she closed her eyes and refused with a shake of her head, Reece brushed a hand over her cheek, down to her chin and tilted her face to him. Cinder relented, and looked back at him. His gaze was warm and full of conviction. "You don't need to be frightened. I'm here remember? I'll help you with your little investigation. We will flush out this little traitor, and you will have no more worries for the rest of your days." Cinder smiled feebly at him. Reece brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. "I promise you."

Cinder smiled fully, this time. "Thank you Reece," she said, then paused, her eyes gleaming with worry. "But what if-"

Reece pressed a finger to her mouth, interrupting Cinder mid-rant. He gave her a dashing grin, his gold eyes lighting up like two suns. Cinder couldn't help herself. She basked in their warmth, melting. "Everything will be fine, Your Majesty. If you worry too much, you're going to have grey hair before you reach thirty and nobody will marry you."

The queen scowled and smacked her thaumaturge on the chest. A muscular, well-defined chest, she noted. Reece's grin deepened revealing dimples. "Did you just say I had a great chest?" Reece asked her, eyes shining with mirth. Cinder's jaw dropped. She couldn't have said that out loud. She immediately snatched her hand away.

"N-No..." she stammered. "Why would I say something like that? No, not at all." She laughed nervously. He leaned closer and Cinder twisted away from him, eyeing him with apprehension.

"You're lying," Reece whispered. He angled himself closer, before hesitating, vulnerability sliding over his face. "You know how I-" Screw this. Kai had been quick enough to get over her. She might as well distract herself from thinking about him. And Reece Blackcrest was the perfect distraction. Cinder gave him a once-over, a smile spreading over her face.

Cinder pushed a hand against his chest, tilting her head, the previous anxiety-ridden queen gone. Cinder smirked, curling a hand into his chocolate brown locks. She lowered her face, lips slanting over his. And they were gone.

Cinder woke up, gasping for breath. Her hair stuck to her temples coating with sweat. She gave a soundless sob, the pain slowly fading from her limbs. Always the same dream, fire, burning, Levana. Cinder shuddered, shivering. She was sure she had screamed again. Cinder drew her legs up to her chest rocking herself back and forth. Her internal clock told her it was only two in the morning.

Reece burst into the room drawn by her cries. His hair was tousled, as if he had just rolled out of bed. Reece probably had. He glanced around wildly. "What is it?!" He skidded to a halt when he noticed that, one, nobody was threatening his queen and, two, she was still in bed. Cinder watched him, too stricken to move. His shoulders slumped. "Oh, another nightmare, you poor thing," he walked toward her, ignoring the fact that she was in a sheer nightgown, which didn't leave much to the imagination. It wasn't like this was the first time. It had always been Reece who comforted her when she had her nightmares. It was a good thing this only happened once or twice a month, or Reece would be severely sleep deprived.

Cinder covered her face with her hands, shaking. She felt the bed dip under his weight as he crawled into bed with her. "It's okay," he murmured. Reece smoothed her hair back and hugged her to him. "Just a nightmare. It's not real. You're absolutely fine." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Cinder trembled. "You're fine, Cinder. Just a nightmare." She collapsed into him, arms tight around his neck. He rocked them back and forth, his rumbling, drowsy baritone purring sweet nothings into her ear.

Cinder eventually regained her bearings and her dignity and pulled away. Reece's concerned eyes followed her every move. "Better?" he asked. Cinder nodded and cleared her throat.

"Sorry I woke you," she said in a low voice.

"You can wake me up anytime, Cinder. My duty is to serve you." Cinder nodded again.

"You can go back to bed now, if you want," she said. "It has been a long night for you I'm sure." Reece cocked his head hopefully.

"But I'm already in bed." Cinder rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Since we are both not tired, you can help me. Remember what I told you yesterday in the library?" Reece's eyebrows rose.

"Which part?"

"Danto."

Reece rubbed his eyes. "The arrest warrant for my boss?"

"Yeah," Cinder said, her brow furrowing. "Can you check with Sasha? I have a really bad feeling about this all of a sudden. There are so many holes in this picture, that everything around it is blurred. Danto is not in the council. How did he get the Tarsus? And how were his Wolves Guard ignorant of his actions?"

"Maybe someone in the council told him?" Reece suggested. Cinder stifled a scream of frustration.

"But that would mean it could have been anyone who received the Tarsus. That doesn't narrow it down, Reece." He shifted to her night table to get his portscreen, facing her cross legged. He propped his head on his hands, fingers dancing across the screen. Cinder waited, accessing her comms to see if Sasha had contacted her during the night. He had. She selected the blinking message.

Cinder inhaled sharply as her eyes rapidly scanned through the information. Stunned, Cinder looked up to see Reece staring back at her with dismay. He had read it as well.

To Her Majesty Queen Selene and whomever this might concern,

Scion-Elect Sage Sablewood had informed me of your situation, Your Majesty, and I've dropped all my cases at the moment to assist you in what is within my ability. I have went through Third-tier Thaumaturge Danto's records and nothing seems to be amiss. He, and his records reflect, that Danto was a very conscientious man. He was always punctual to social obligations and Danto seemed to have loved his occupation very much.

It is my concern, however, that Thaumaturge Danto's family have mysteriously disappeared. There has been no documentation of said family leaving Luna, but when I had my officers check in, simultaneously, doing a search, they found no life within their home. Danto was found lying on the floor in the kitchen in a puddle of his own blood, a kitchen knife imbedded into his chest. No fingerprints other than his were found on the knife and no foul play is suspected.

He also left on the counter, a very vague suicide note. The single sentence read: 'He's closer than you think.' leading us to believe that someone else was behind the restaurant fire and the ambush back at the New Beijing palace. We found no evidence that Thaumaturge Danto was the culprit and I also suspect that Danto was framed.

I shall keep Your Majesty updated if there are any other leads.

Be careful, Queen Selene.

Yours, Sasha Tikovanoff, fourth-tier Thaumaturge

"I think our problems just got a lot worse," Cinder said, stating the obvious.

"No kidding," Reece muttered.

Well... What did you think? I kinda hurried on this chapter so tell me if there are any mistakes that glare out at you.

Review and see you next time!

-Silverleaf