She looked up. Kinney had returned.
“It’s time.”
Cinder gulped and stood, her heart thumping. The festive mood turned serious.
Wolf, who had been holding the knife last, gobbled down a few extra bites before passing the knife back to Jacin. Jacin took one look at the frosting- and crumb-covered blade and stuck it back in the cake for safekeeping.
“I’m ready,” said Cinder. Breathing became difficult as the dress constricted against her stomach. “I am ready, aren’t I?”
“Hold on.” Iko turned Cinder to face her. “Smile.”
Cinder gave her a nervous smile, and Iko nodded proudly. “Nothing in your teeth. I’d say you’re ready.”
Her friends gathered around her, pulling her into embrace after embrace.
Until she reached Kai, who wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her. He tasted like lemon frosting.
Thorne whistled. Iko swooned. The kiss ended too quickly.
“What was that for?” Cinder whispered against him.
Kai scooped his arm around her shoulders and led her out of the queen’s chambers. “I was just thinking about the good future,” he said. “The one with you in it.”
* * *
The official coronation of Queen Selene Channary Jannali Blackburn was in some ways an intimate affair, and in others an intergalactic sensation. Cinder had held a lottery for tickets so all of Luna’s sectors would be represented, and all the guests combined made for a crowd a few hundred strong, which barely filled up half the seats that had been set out for Levana and Kai’s ceremony a few weeks prior.
The footage was broadcast, not only to every sector on Luna but also to all Earthen newsfeeds that chose to run it. It became the most viewed netfeed of the third era.
While Cinder walked down the endless black-carpeted aisle, she tried not to think of all the people in the universe who were watching her. She tried not to wonder whether they were judging her or admiring her, afraid of her or impressed by her. She tried not to guess how many saw her as a lost princess or a pathetic cyborg, a vigilante or a criminal, a revolutionary or a lowly mechanic that had gotten lucky.
She tried not to think about the smear of yellow frosting on her priceless gown.
Kai and Winter stood at the altar encased in the light of glowing orbs, Winter holding the queen’s crown and Kai a ceremonial scepter. Together, they represented how both Earth and Luna would accept her right to rule. The rest of her friends were in their reserved seats in the front row. Thorne, on the aisle, held out his hand as Cinder passed. She snorted and accepted the high five before floating up the stairs.
Winter winked at her. “Well done, Cinder-friend. You didn’t trip. The hard part is over.”
Kai gave a smile meant for only Cinder, even though the entire universe was watching. “She’s right, that really is the hard part.”
“Thank the stars,” Cinder whispered back. “Now let’s get this over with.”
Taking in a long, shaky breath, she turned to face her kingdom.
* * *
The blood had been scrubbed from the throne room floor, but the room was still a disaster. Toppled chairs and broken rails, cracked tiles and wall panels where bullets had hit them. Even the throne itself had a fracture in the stone from when Cinder had tried to shoot Levana. It smelled of chemicals and bleach from the cleaning.
The horrors of the rebellion were starting to fade. Not, perhaps, for those who had lost friends and family, and Cinder knew there was still so much to be done in order for Luna to pick up the pieces of Levana’s rule. But they were eager to start picking up those pieces right away.
She’d begun compiling councils made up of both members from the Artemisian court and nominated citizens from the outer sectors to begin bridging the gap between the classes and figuring out how best to reallocate funds and labor. Already the “families” and the thaumaturges were starting to fight against her, but that was all right. It would take time, but they would adjust.
She’d been sitting on her throne in the silent, chemical-filled air for what could have been hours, watching the city of Artemisia shimmering before her and Earth turning above the horizon.
The doors opened. Kai poked his head in and Cinder tensed, feeling guilty to be caught on the throne—even if it was her throne—all alone in the darkness.
“There you are,” he said.
“Sorry,” she said. “I’m kind of hiding. Would you believe that when you’re royalty, it is really difficult to find a moment of privacy?”
Smirking, Kai shut the door behind him. He kept a hand behind his back as he came toward her. “Might I suggest getting yourself a hooded sweatshirt? It makes a surprisingly adequate disguise.” He paused when he spotted Earth over the balcony, all beautiful and enormous in the dark sky. “That’s quite a view.”
Cinder nodded. “Not to justify what Levana did, but I can kind of understand why she wanted it so much.”
When Kai said nothing, she slid her gaze back to him and she knew what he’d come there to say. Her heart sank. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”
He turned away from the view. “In two days. Two Earthen days.” He frowned apologetically. “I’ve been gone for too long already.”
She tried to smother the despair that knocked into her. Kai would be gone. Thorne, Cress, Wolf, and Scarlet had already left, and Winter and Jacin would be leaving on their first ambassadorial trip in the next few days, and then she would be alone.
Well, she and Iko would be alone.
She’d been expecting it. She had known he couldn’t stay forever. He had his own country to rule.
“Right,” she said, feigning confidence. “I understand. You’ve been a huge help, you and Konn-dàren. Is … is he leaving too?”
Kai grimaced. “He is. I’m sorry.”
“No. You … you have to go home. Of course you do.”
“You should come visit,” he said, speaking fast. “Soon. It would be symbolic, I think, of the new alliance…” He trailed off and scratched behind his neck, one hand still hidden. “Or I could make up a political dilemma we need to work through if that would help.”
Cinder forced a smile. “I’d like to come visit. I’m … Iko and I are going to miss you.”
“I think you’ll find that being a queen doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for being lonely.”
“We’ll see about that.” Suddenly, it felt awkward to be sitting on her throne while Kai stood below her. She stood and crossed her arms over her chest, drifting toward the balcony ledge. Anxiety was already growing inside her. Two days. Two more days and he’ll be gone.
There was so much she wanted to say to him, and two days wasn’t enough time to get it all out—especially when all the words remained locked up in her throat.
“It’s strange,” Kai said, joining her on the glass overhang, his gaze fixed on Earth again. “I spent all that time trying to avoid a marriage alliance with Luna. And now that the treaty is signed and the war is over … somehow, a marriage alliance doesn’t sound so bad.”
Her heart flipped. Kai’s gaze danced back to her and then he was smiling in a way that was both bashful and confident. The same smile he’d given her the day they’d met in the marketplace. After a long, awkward moment, he laughed. “You really can’t blush, can you?”