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Once Upon a Spaceship

Chapter Two

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Cinder took a deep breath as the Rampion began its descent into Adelheid's atmosphere. She tried not to think about the queen or Peony too much, but worry had rooted itself into her brain and wasn't willing to leave anytime soon. At least her stepsister had looked significantly healthier when they talked over vid-comm earlier that day. It had been a nice release from the stress of diplomacy to talk with both of her rational sisters at the same time again, as Iko was fussing with Cinder's hair when Peony was finally awake enough for a chat. Sure, she was a lot drowsier than normal, but Cress and Dr. Erland's reassurances that she was on the mend were finally starting to come to fruition.

She tried to convince herself that not having to worry so much about Peony anymore was a good sign in regards to their next assignment, but she knew she was kidding herself. It seemed like there had been at least one minor hiccup at each planet they had visited thus far. Cinder knew on some level that it wasn't her fault, but in the back of her mind she couldn't help but wonder if having a cyborg onboard had cursed the Rampion somehow. She wouldn't be surprised, at the rate things were going.

"Ready?" Iko asked, squeezing her hand.

Cinder shook her head. "As I'll ever be."

Iko grinned, pulling her sister towards the cockpit. "That's the spirit! Just think, in a few hours that first meeting will be all over and you'll be sleeping in a real bed again!"

Cinder rolled her eyes. "If I can sleep, you mean. I think Peony stole my ability to get more than three hours at a time."

Iko only hummed in response, taking a moment to straighten the sleeve of Cinder's gown. The android's eye for fashion had its perks at times like this. Cinder honestly didn't know how she would've handled getting ready without her, especially after spending the past five years wearing normal street clothes. Prior to this misadventure, her last experience with ballgowns had been as a child, and with age came greater expectations for her public appearances. While the adjustment period from dresses to t-shirts and cargo pants had been difficult, Cinder quickly discovered that going back was much, much worse. Though it had initially felt comforting to go back to her old style, it was gradually beginning to feel suffocating, and she was certain that without Iko she would have lost her mind by now.

Jacin and Ze'ev (or Wolf, as he was better known as among the crew), the ship's guards, were already standing in position by the entryway. Scarlet and Thorne were seated in the cockpit, with Cress standing between them and watching in awe as the castle grew from a distant speck into a magnificent fortress. Winter was between the two rooms, coaxing Ryu into his harness. Which only left...

"Where's Kai?" Cinder asked.

"Probably taking a royal dump," Thorne responded.

"He's in his cabin, talking to the emperor," Cress chimed in at the same time.

Cinder resisted the urge to swat Thorne upside the head, appealing as it was. "Thank you, Cress. At least one of you knows how to be helpful."

Thorne scoffed. "Excuse you, I'm a delight."

Cinder ignored him, giving Ryu a quick scratch between the ears. His tail thumped wildly against the wall, and his tongue flopped out from the side of his jaw. All intimidation and intrigue that could be gained from having a wolf on board the crew usually vanished once people realized just how non-threatening Winter's beloved pet really was. At least 90% of the time he was, as Iko had so eloquently put it, a "total goober", but Cinder wouldn't have had it any other way. She was just thankful that out of all the animals in the royal menagerie that Winter could have smuggled onboard, she had at least chosen one that was mostly tame. She couldn't imagine what would have happened if her cousin tried to bring their ever-grouchy polar bear with her instead.

She was all too aware of the sound of a door opening and the footsteps that followed. She just focused on Winter and Ryu, and tried to ignore the incoming message about her heart rate.

"Hey, your princelyness! Your fiancee is bullying me again!" Thorne announced dramatically.

"Did you deserve it?"

Cinder bit the bullet and looked up at Kai. As always, he looked... nice. Too nice. Thank the stars she couldn't blush anymore. Suddenly she was feeling a little too self-conscious of the grease stain near the bottom of her dress, even though Iko had already hemmed it out of sight.

Needing a distraction, she turned to glower at Thorne. "Yes, yes he did."

"Landing in five!" Scarlet announced.

Cinder fell into routine, taking the arm Kai offered her. She was careful to avoid touching him with her metal hand, though the elegant gloves Iko had paired with her gown were theoretically thick enough to avoid any incidents, and she had her grafts on underneath to cover the prosthetic anyways. They moved near the entryway, remaining behind Wolf and Jacin. She felt Kai's grip on her arm tighten, nearly causing her to short-circuit. Any embarrassing giddiness this may have caused faded when she saw the look of concern that was etched into Kai's features. Given that he was just talking to his father, which usually put him in a good mood, she knew something was off.

"Was everything okay with the emperor?" Cinder asked.

Kai shook his head, hesitating as he spoke. "The outbreak is getting worse. He had some... theories. I may have told him what you shared with me and Cress, about the plague being man-made. He wasn't happy."

Cinder tightened her own grip on Kai's arm, pushing down any waves of nervousness. She had hesitated to let the prince know in the first place, as if the information got out it would only be a matter of time before King Marrok traced the leak back to her. But she couldn't keep it from the rest of the crew any more than Kai could keep it from Emperor Rikan. A small, immature part of herself wondered if this would affect the marriage alliance, but this paled in comparison to her worries about the alliance as a whole.

She wanted the Lunar royal family's crimes to be revealed to the world. She wanted King Marrok to be removed from the throne and someone competent to replace him in Channary's stead. She wanted for the Earthen Nations to be free from the king's blackmail. But despite all of this, the last thing she wanted right now was a war, especially when she was light-years away from it all and Peony and Garan were still back on Earth.

Avoiding his gaze, Cinder tried to think of some way to turn the situation around. "At least Dr. Erland has all the information now. Maybe this will help him figure out how to replicate the antidote, so you don't have to rely on the king bribing you with it anymore."

"What's going to happen to you when your family finds out?" Kai asked.

Cinder shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I know the king needs me. Trust me, we tested it. That's how we got so much of that stupid soap Thorne likes in the bathroom. He went along with nearly every condition I put on joining this expedition short of abdicating the throne and curing the plague entirely. I'm sure it won't be pretty when he figures out who told your father, but it's not like we could've kept this from him forever."

Mostly, she was just worried that her grandfather would try to use Peony as leverage to keep her in line. Although the king had informally disowned her, she was currently his only biological grandchild. Winter would probably do in an absolute emergency, but until Channary or even Levana had another child, Lunar succession laws meant that he couldn't exactly get rid of her without having a replacement heir lined up. Despite Cress's reassurances that the ship's security was able to withstand Darla's spyware, Cinder was reasonably certain that Peony getting the plague wasn't a mere coincidence. She had spent hours reflecting on what she might've done wrong to trigger an assassination attempt against her sister, and far too many things came to mind. The only reassurance through it all was that once Peony got over her illness, it would be a long time before King Marrok could try hurting her again without drawing suspicion.

Her paternal family, much to Adri's mortification, became hounded by the press once they got wind of the fact that one of inventor Linh Garan's daughters and the mysterious Princess Cinder were one in the same. While her father had went about business as usual and Adri and Pearl tried to ignore any connection they had to a Lunar (one descended from the evil king the Earthens despised, at that), Peony and Iko had both fully embraced their moment in the spotlight and developed a modest following on the netfeeds. Granted, Peony put way too much emphasis on her role as "the dashing Prince Kai's future favorite sister-in-law" for Cinder's tastes, but at least it meant the media had their eyes on her. Maybe it wasn't all positive attention, with teenage girls worldwide wishing Cinder would drop dead, but it was attention nonetheless. As the press was already concerned about her recovery, if another tragedy befell her too soon the foul play would be obvious. It was a small, much needed comfort.

As Scarlet gracefully landed the Rampion, worry gnawed at the back of Cinder's mind like a gerbil chewing on the bars of its cage. She did her best to reassure herself that Peony was fine, that everything would be fine, but she couldn't help but fear the collective wrath of King Marrok and Emperor Rikan. Truth be told, she was still at a loss as to what might happen next. She could be reasonably certain of her and Peony's safety, but despite her reassurances to Kai she really didn't know what other repercussions there might be for both revealing and keeping the secret. She put on her best brave face for Kai's sake, since pretending to care about her as much as he did was probably awkward for him, but she knew she would probably have to break down in front of Iko and Winter later.

Jacin and Wolf were the first to exit the ship as always, in order to spot any potential threats before the heirs of two empires could be harmed. Cinder's audio interface automatically amplified the hushed whispers from the crowd that had formed outside, and she relaxed slightly when there was no danger to be found among the chatter- only awe at the sight of one of King Marrok's infamous wolf soldiers. Her grandfather still had no idea how the information about the soldiers was leaked to the other planets, though at least this time she didn't have to worry about any fingers being pointed at her. After all, Emperor Rikan had first revealed his knowledge of such during the conference that lead to King Marrok signing the very treaty which linked Cinder and Kai, and she was only a small child at the time. Although he may have lost the element of surprise that he was hoping for by having such an army, the king had unfortunately bounced back rather quickly and went straight for intimidation tactics. Few dared to cross the king's army, and those who did were quick to regret it.

Once Jacin gave the signal, Cinder knew it was her own turn to make an appearance. With one final glance at Kai, the pair began their slow, practiced descent down the exit ramp. The overwhelming heat of Adelheid's tropical climate hit her in an instant, and the thick layers of her gown felt heavy and oppressive. Yet there were expectations for the way a princess should be dressed, and judging from the excited roar of the crowd it was clear that she was at least meeting some of the expectations required of her.

As the others filed in behind the royal couple, Cinder got her first look at Adelheid's own royals. They were younger than most of the ruling families she and Kai had met with on their journey thus far; King Engelbert was only 32, while Queen Gertrud was even younger at the age of 29. Letumosis had spread to Adelheid a few years prior, taking out King Engelbert's parents as well as his first wife, leaving the king to be crowned at a younger age than he had anticipated. The king smiled at the crew warmly, though Cinder felt there was something off about the queen's reserved expression. Prince Hans and Princess Greta, the king's six year old twins from his first marriage, were strangely absent from the welcoming committee, though Cinder tried not to dwell on it. With any luck, this would be a routine stop.

Cinder's luck had vanished with the twins.

…..

Footnotes:

*The wolf soldiers: Dr. Erland was 100% the one who tattled to Emperor Rikan. He leveraged insider knowledge from his involvement with the project to get on staff at the palace, since he came to earth before the plague did in this AU.

*King Engelbert: Named for Engelbert Humperdinck, composer of the 1893 Hansel and Gretel opera.

*Hans and Greta: I didn't want to use the names Hansel and Gretel verbatim (to follow the pattern of other TLC names), so I went with names that were just a few letters off.