Hey guys,
I know, I know. This chapter is really, really late, but I have my reasons. I started writing this scene more than a week ago but got writer's block and decided to put it off. Then, when I really wanted to write, my teachers started bombarding me with tests and projects. Then, a few days later, I got really sick and I'm still sick but I wrote the chapter anyway and here we are. Hope you like it!
With Tandoori on his arm, Kai tried to look casual as he sauntered into the banquet hall. Instead of multiple rounded tables that took up the entire dining room, they had been replaced by a single long table that dominated the centre of the room. The marble floors were freshly polished and reflected the holographic candlelight with dazzling shimmers of color.
The Lunar delegates were already at their places. Thorne, Reece, Cinder, Cress, Scarlet. In that order. They all stood as he entered the room. Kai waved them to not stand on courtesy and the Lunar envoy sat. As a symbol of equality, Kai moved to the seat across from Cinder, at the head of the table. Tandoori dropped her hand from his arm and slipped delicately into the plush dining chair to his left. Torin seated himself at his right. Tandoori took his hand, intertwining their fingers, and Kai looked at her desperately. Get me out of here, he mouthed, but she merely smirked and squeezed his hand. Too bad, she mouthed back.
Scowling, Kai let his gaze sweep over the group. Scarlet seemed somewhat miffed, not that she wasn't usually, and Cress drummed her fingers on the table, silently communicating her flagrant displeasure to her inamorato across the table. Commander Thorne only grinned and Kai got the distinct impression they were playing footsie beneath the table. Kai's gaze collided with that of Thaumaturge Blackcrest and he glared at Kai, challenging, asserting control. Kai felt his hackles rise as he pulled his lips back in a growl. A subtle tug from Tandoori broke his focus as he looked back at her. She shook her head at him slightly, the bejeweled combs in her dark hair glinting.
Kai glanced at Reece, but he had already lost interest in him. Instead, the young thaumaturge nudged Cinder gently. The queen blinked at him languidly, her eyes hollowed and dark. Kai's breath caught as he choked back a gasp. Oh, Cinder. Had it really only been two days since he'd seen her? It seemed as if she had aged a lifetime. Cinder's typical burnished, tawny skin was drawn and pale, her eyes shadowed and smudged. Reece pushed the salt and pepper shakers in front of her. Cinder pushed them away with a shaky, weak hand. Reece tapped her on the chin to compel her to look at him. She bit her lip and glanced at the shakers. Reece balanced the salt atop the pepper. Cinder frowned, confused. Reece smiled at her, and with one smooth motion pulled the pepper out from under the salt. The salt shaker fell and clattered against the table upright. Cinder's lips twitched into a half-smile. Encouraged, Reece slid the shakers toward her, but Cinder refused.
Feeling a bit awkward, Kai shifted in his seat. What was a safe topic they could focus their attention on? Finally, he just said, "Shall we get dinner started?"
Carswell Thorne rolled his eyes at him. "And I thought you would never ask! I'm famished." He patted his lean stomach. "And I thought you were going to torture information out of us by withholding dinner." He hissed in pain as Cress folded her arms, narrowing her eyes at him. She had probably kicked him from under the table.
Kai signalled to the servers waiting at the double doors leading into the kitchen. "So," he said, searching for something, anything to say, really, that would elevate the tension. "Your Majesty, how have you enjoyed your stay so far in the Commonwealth?" Kai paused, then froze in dismay. He knew that he had made a grave mistake. Stars, Cinder was right. He did need to see a therapist, or at least a counselor. What was wrong with him? Scarlet and Reece stiffened immediately, shooting identical panicked glowers toward him. Cress' eyes widened and she shook her head subtly. No, she mouthed.
Cinder was rubbing her wrist, the place where skin met metal, frowning. Her brow furrowed in concentration muttering something to herself under her breath. Reece elbowed her gently and Cinder's head shot up, frown disappearing. "Did you say something?"
Reece spoke as if he were talking to a child."His Majesty asked if you were doing alright," he said, lying through his teeth.
"Oh," Cinder said, her delicate features drawing together into a mildly surprised expression. "Of course." She blinked at him sleepily, drained of energy. "Excuse me, Your Majesty. I am a bit... tired this evening and I'm afraid I won't be much for conversation. Please don't mind me." Cinder gestured vaguely at the rest of them. "Continue doing..." she trailed off. Her lack of attention had caused her to lose track of the conversation. Cinder shrugged. "Whatever you were doing." Everyone turned to glare at him. Kai scowled and sunk deeper into his chair.
The servers arrived with their dishes, setting the food in front of them. Kai had designed the menu himself and all were his favorite foods, but he didn't seem to be hungry anymore. The attendant placed various sweetmeats onto his plate. Sighing, Kai reached for his chopsticks and picked up the thinly sliced pork. Meanwhile, from across the table, Reece and Cress urged Cinder to eat with no avail. Cinder poked at the meat on her plate with her ivory chopsticks, her face pinched with nausea. Reece smiled at her encouragingly and she stuffed it in her mouth chewing quickly. The thaumaturge beamed at her as she swallowed. Cinder gave him a wan smile back.
Tandoori picked up a piece of chicken and placed it delicately in her mouth, careful not to smear her lip gloss. Unlike Cinder, Tandoori looked vibrant and her lips curved into a mischievous grin, eyes sparkling with glee. "So, Queen Selene, you aren't looking so well. Is there a reason or..." she trailed off. Kai eyes caught at her desperately. Don't pry. Don't pry, he thought as if his unheard plead would be sent telepathically. His date ignored him and merely gave his hand a small squeeze. Cinder's lids lifted to Tandoori, then to her hand intertwined with Kai's. Her expression darkened for a moment, storm clouds rolling in, but it promptly cleared.
"I am quite fine, thank you for your concern," Cinder said softly. "I don't believe we've been formally introduced yet. I'm-"
Tandoori gave a tinkling laugh. "I suppose everyone would know who you are, Your Majesty. There's no need to waste your breath on extraneous information." Cinder's brow furrowed at her rude words.
"Of course," she replied. "No need at all."
"My name is Tandoori, but my friends call me Tandy. You may call me that as well." The girl smiled and fluttered her eyelashes coyly.
"A pleasure," Cinder said shortly.
Tandoori grinned and Kai clenched a fist barely able to keep from groaning aloud. What was she doing? She slipped an arm around his waist, pulling him closer. "His Majesty and I have gotten to know each other very well these past few days and he has spoken a lot about you, which stirred my curiosity. What kind of person is the Queen of Luna? I mean, you are such a prominent figure in politics and such a beauty as well, but few people on Earth can claim ties of friendship with you. How do you and the emperor know each other so well?" She giggled. "You guys are dating, aren't you? At least, that's what the media is saying."
Cinder stiffened and Tandoori snuggled even closer to Kai. "What goes on between his majesty and I is private, but if you really want to know..." she trailed off and shrugged. "The press twist a lot of things, don't they. I mean," Cinder adopted Tandoori's airy, flirty tone. "You can't believe what the press says is always true. You were a model, were you not, Tandoori-mei?" The girl by his side froze, the smile slipping off her face. Kai frowned, studying the two women who were now staring each other down. Tandoori had been a model? Her profile read that she was the CEO of a high-end fashion industry. Kai glanced at Torin in confusion. Cinder ducked her head and tilted it slightly, a smile gracing her mouth. "I may be busy much of the time in Luna, but I always make time to keep myself updated on Earthen news, even the gossip columns." Tandoori paled further. What did she have to hide? Cinder knew, that's for sure and she was holding it over Tandoori's head. What did Tandoori do that was so bad that even the Ghost Queen knew about it?
"Your Majesty must be very knowledgeable about everything that goes down here," Tandoori murmured with a raised eyebrow. Cinder gave a small nod.
"Quite."
The main dish arrived, easing the tension somewhat. Bored, Cinder shifted her gaze toward him and her eyes brightened. Without seeming to realize what she was doing, Cinder's lips curved up. He glanced away, fighting a smile of his own. Stars, he had just gotten dumped. He should not be smiling at his ex like that... Especially with Reece glaring at him like Kai was a cockroach to be squished. The room was suddenly uncomfortably hot and Kai tugged at his collar. The blasted tie was choking him. Cinder's smile faded as she became aware of her own behaviour.
Servers set the dish in front of him, uncovering the platter with a flourish. Strangely, tea was poured as the beverage instead of the champagne he had requested. The imitation shark fin soup was ladled into bowls accompanied by stir-fried vegetables and white rice. To cover her earlier embarrassment, Tandoori automatically took a sip of tea.
Her eyes widened. "The tea was seeped very well," she whispered to him. "It tastes really good. I just don't know what kind it is." Noticing Tandoori's remark, Scarlet took a sip as well and murmured her agreement.
Civil conversation began and the rest of the tension dissipated. Kai even found himself enjoying the light laughter and dialogue. Tandoori continued her act, touching Kai as much as possible and subtly looking for Cinder's reaction. There was none. The queen kept her head down, occasionally chipping into the conversation to add her piece when her opinion was needed before sinking back into herself. She poked at her meal pretending to smile and eat when her friends were watching, but otherwise stared down at her food as if they held the secrets to the universe. It broke Kai's heart to watch Cinder fade bit by bit. Until midway through the dinner Cinder stood up suddenly, her dark eyes wide and horrified. Her chair clattered behind her as she clutched the fabric of her dress tightly in a hand. Breath sawed in and out of lungs in sharp gasps, expression filling with rage and fear. "Who drank the tea?" she snarled. All was still. Then, a giggle. Tandoori stood up, swaying like she was drunk. But that was impossible. They hadn't even consumed alcohol.
Tandoori stumbled out of her seat, wobbling on her heels. Kai reached out for her, but his date pulled away. "I did," she called. "It was good too." Scarlet rose to steady her, frowning, only to clutch her head a moment later, whimpering. "Spinning!" Tandoori squealed. "The room is spinning!" She twirled herself like a top and collapsed onto the floor, promptly vomiting onto her dress. She attempted to get up, but found that she couldn't. Shuddering, almost seizing, Tandoori's eyes rolled into the back of her head and passed out. They all stared at her limp body in shock, too stricken to repond.
Then the screams began. A female server backed away, a tray of desserts clattering onto the floor. Cress started crying as soon as Scarlet toppled into her arms, the red-head's chest rattling strangely.
"Wolf! Call for Wolf!"
Commander Thorne rounded the table to Cress, only clutch his chest with a pained gasp. Cress almost dropped Scarlet trying to get to her lover. Reece caught most of Thorne's dead weight as he fell, keeping Thorne's flailing, jerking arms away from Cinder who could only scream. Reece lowered Thorne gently to the marble as he blacked out. He checked his colleague's vitals with a shaking hand. Paling, the thaumaturge immediately started CPR. Staring at the chaos around him, Kai choked into his comms unit, "Guards, call for a med-droid! GUARDS!"
Cinder shook like a leaf as she stretched down to check Tandoori's pulse and breathing. She instantly drew away. Cinder met Kai's gaze with such grief, he felt himself reaching toward her involuntarily. He knew what she was about to say before he heard it. "No pulse," Cinder said in a strangled voice. "Dead." Kai wrapped his arms around her before she crumpled. Cinder shook her head wildly, brown locks whipping his chest. "It's my fault," she whispered, her face contracting with shock and pain, though her eyes stayed achingly dry. "My fault." Cinder pressed her hands to her face. "The oleander. How could I have been so careless?!"
Kai tipped her face toward his. "What do you mean your fault? How could this be your fault?!" Cinder started shaking again, whimpering.
"The assassin. My assassin," Cinder sobbed. "He was watching us on our date. The plant I said I wanted to foster. It was an oleander plant. Oleander is poisonous," she said crying softly. "It wasn't Sage. I arrested the wrong person. The assassin is playing with me. I know it. He wants me to suffer. He watched us on the date, probably noted the kind of plant it was. He gave us oleander tea, Kai! Oleander! He knew it was going to poison us. He's even haunting my dreams. He promised he would kill them. Oh stars, Thorne and Scarlet and Tandoori are going to die. They are going to die and it's all my fault. My fault," Cinder babbled on, but Kai tuned her out, mind whirling with new information.
The conversation he had overheard only a few hours before. They had thought Sage was the assassin, but ended up capturing the wrong person. It explained so much. Why Cinder had been so tense and jumpy during the date. Why she thought she had heard something when he had not. Someone had been after her. Kai hugged Cinder tighter, muffling her sobs in his shirt, protectiveness swirling around his core. Loathing for the assassin swelled until he was brimming with the need to hit something. Kai clenched his fists in her hair, pulling her even closer. He be damned if he ever let the assassin get to her. Nobody will ever lay a finger on his queen ever again. Because if the assassin wants her, he'll have to go through him.
And the consequences won't be pretty.
Till next time!
-Silverleaf