Cinder woke up late, from her night training with Winter. After Winter had done her Levana trick, Cinder had started learning about the etiquette required of a Lunar queen, as well as the economics revolving around Luna.

She forced herself to get up and get dressed. She wore a silver dress that was a mermaid style, or so that’s what Winter had told her, as well as silver high heels that weren’t so high. Everything was so tight and uncomfortable compared to what she was used to wearing. And even though she hated dresses and tall shoes, Winter was forcing her to wear them to prepare her for being queen. She then headed down to meet up with the others who had just started a late lunch.

“Sleeping Beauty has finally awoken!” Thorne gestured toward her. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at her. But only an awkward second passed before they carried on.

Cinder stifled a yawn. “Shut up, Thorne.”

“Oooooh, beauty just got beastly,” Thorne continued making his annoyingly cocky comments.

Wolf glared at Thorne, “You know, I really don’t appreciate that.”

“No offense,” he mumbled as if he knew that Wolf would kill him if Cinder and Kai allowed it. And honestly, Cinder was seriously considering it. She would strangle him herself if Kai would let her and if he wasn't her best friend. But that could wait until another day.

She went to sit in the chair between Kai and Winter.

“So,” Kai whispered to her, “I’ve been waiting a while to talk to you. Can you meet me on the balcony by the throne room later today.”

Cinder nodded, though was half distracted by the food on the table.

“You can eat… but make sure to eat like a queen and not a mechanic,” Winter said.

Cinder tried her best to be careful, and have good manners, though watching Wolf dig in made her long to be able to be like that again. But Cinder knew that after all that fighting, there was no going back to her normal life. There was only her new life now.

She picked up her fork and took small bites of her chicken parmesan just as Winter taught her to. Cinder laughed as she thought of what Iko would say if she were here. How could you even think about eating like that if front of the prince!

Cinder sighed. She missed Iko so much. In the middle of chaos, Iko had sacrificed herself to get crucial information to Jacin, so he could rescue Scarlet and Winter. Cinder had grabbed her personality chip, though it was crushed beyond repair. Still, Cinder hoped she could one day fix it, and get her best friend back.

But Cinder knew as important as Iko was, there was more important things to think about. Even though Levana had been found guilty on Earth, she still had to go through Lunar court, and if she wasn’t found guilty there, she could go free again.

They ate lunch with very little conversation, and after Winter approved of how Cinder had behaved at the table, Cinder went up to the balcony to wait for Kai. She stood there looking at the city for a few minutes. She remembered when she was just a young mechanic, struggling to get by. That felt like forever ago.

Suddenly Kai’s arms wrapped around her. “Why hello there, Emperor Kaito,” Cinder said nonchalantly.

“And hello to you, Princess Selene.”

“I think I prefer Linh Cinder,” she said with a giggle. It had been so long since she and Kai had had time to do this. To hang around and pretend nothing else mattered. All that was important on Luna or Earth was Kai, and Cinder leaned in for a kiss. He leaned in but teasingly pulled away. “Hey, not fair,” she frowned.

Cinder pulled him in, until they were face to face. “How about this?” Kai asked and they were pulled into a passionate kiss. He put his hand on her neck then pulled away again. “I have something to ask you.”

“What is it?” Cinder asked. He was about so say something but before he could, the door burst open.

Cress busted in with a look of terror on her face. “You guys! Come quick!”

Cinder jumped up, “What is it? Is someone hurt?”

“It’s Scarlet. Something’s wrong,” Cress answered, and the three of them started running down the corridors.

 ______________________________________________________

Hey Lunartics,

Don't forget that there are two of this story both of which are written be me and not2old4fairytales. Hope you liked it. Please comment/vote/follow on BOTH of the stories. We post every Sunday and Wensday at 9:00pm ET. 

Love you all,
~Princess Selene

P.S. I'm hoping for 50 reads be the next time I post... (hint, hint, READ THE STORY LUNARTICS)