“What?” snapped the queen.
“We’ve been informed that since the security breach occurred, our system has been neglecting to relay information from the tunnels—”
“Quickly, Aimery.”
His mouth turned down. “They are inside the city, My Queen. All eight of our barricades are down.”
“Who is inside the city?”
“The cyborg. Civilians from the outer sectors. Even some of our own soldiers have joined them.”
Levana was hyperventilating, burning with rage. “The next person who uses the word cyborg in my presence will be losing a limb.” She took in a sharp breath. “Why haven’t they been stopped?”
“Our resources are thin, Your Majesty. So many of our men were sent to the outer sectors to tame the uprisings. We cannot send reinforcements to meet these rebels without weakening our position here in the palace.”
Gathering her skirt in her hands, Levana drew her shoulders so close to her neck that a spot of blood was left in the crease. “Fine,” she hissed. “This little rebellion will end here.”
“Also, My Queen, we found this in the system control center after we discovered that our security had been tampered with.” Aimery held up a portscreen. “It would appear that it belongs to none other than our honored king consort.”
Levana’s gaze spoke of murder as she turned to Emperor Kaito.
“I was wondering where that had gotten off to,” he said, his mouth twitching with a challenge. “And here I spent all morning looking for it.”
Levana’s nostrils flared, her expression vicious and calculating. She grabbed the portscreen from Aimery and threw it at the altar. The plastic casing shattered.
“This celebration is over,” she said, her voice amplified by speakers around the great hall as she faced the audience. “It appears that some of my subordinates have chosen this night to incite what they see as a rebellion. But do not be alarmed—I am sure it’s little more than a silly demonstration.” She was slowly claiming control over her emotions again. “For your safety, I must ask that all of you, as my distinguished guests, remain seated while I see to the disturbance.”
A rustle passed through the crowd.
“Wait,” said a man’s voice, speaking from the rows of Earthens. “You can’t expect us to stay in this room while the palace is under attack. This is your war, not ours. I demand to be allowed to return to my ship at once.”
The man had an Earthen-European accent, and a vision of the red-haired girl flashed through Wolf’s thoughts. He frowned, searching for the man in the crowd as a thrum of agreement rose up from the other Earthens.
Levana’s lips drew back. “You will stay here,” she said, each word hard and cold as an ice cube, “until I give you permission to leave.”
All at once, the Earthen dissent hushed. Levana directed her attention to the guards. “Bar all the doors. No one is to leave this room until I allow it.” She glanced at Wolf and snapped her fingers. “That one stays at my side. He will make the perfect shield should I need one.”
“My Queen,” said one of the guards, “we must insist that you allow us to escort you to safety. The lava tubes beneath the city—”
“Absolutely not,” Levana seethed. “These are my people. This is my kingdom. I will not abandon them now.”
She started marching toward the main exit, but Kai followed beside her. “These Earthens aren’t yours to lock up. We aren’t hostages.”
“Are you sure about that, Husband?” Levana snapped her fingers at two of the nearest guards. “Take him back to the others.”
They hastened to obey, dragging Kai away from the queen and toward the group of brainwashed Earthens. “Release me!” Kai yelled. “I have as much right to give orders now as you do, to any Lunar guard or soldier.”
Levana laughed, and she would have sounded entertained if it hadn’t been borderline hysterical. “I hope you don’t believe that.”
Wolf was standing right next to Kai as he was pulled away from the queen, but the knowledge of the thaumaturge watching his movements kept him from stepping forward in the emperor’s defense. A shudder rumbled through him at the mere thought of earning her disapproval again.
When the queen beckoned him to follow, he did.
Eighty-One
They sent scouts ahead to confirm there wasn’t an ambush waiting for them at the maglev’s platform. It was Strom’s idea, and while Cinder was a little annoyed to see someone else taking charge, it also felt nice to have another leader considering strategy and making sure Cinder wasn’t about to make a stupid tactical error. It was the sort of thing Wolf would have done, if he’d been there.
No, she didn’t want to think about Wolf. She’d had to tell Scarlet about how they were separated as soon as they were brought back to Artemisia and how she didn’t have any idea what had become of him. The memory opened up a wound that was still too fresh, one she didn’t have time to let heal.
She tried to still her thrumming pulse, focusing on the allies she still had. Iko was by her side again. Scarlet was off in one of the other tunnels along with another group of soldiers and civilians. Thorne and Cress were in the palace and, if the removal of the barricades was an indication, they were still safe. Winter and Jacin were making their way through the nearby sectors, recruiting as many reinforcements as they could.
She felt like she was playing one of Cress’s strategy games. All her pawns were in place and her final attack was about to begin.
A hand slipped into hers. Iko, offering one last moment of comfort.
A low howl echoed down the stifling tunnel.
The signal.
Cinder gave Iko’s hand a squeeze, then waved her arm. Time to move.
They slipped forward onto the empty platform, where the netscreens were announcing that the coronation had ended. Levana was empress.
They entered the stairwell, pushing toward the daylight. Though manufactured evening would soon be forced upon the domes, real daylight could be seen off the horizon, a faint sliver of their burning sun.
Sunrise.
It was beautiful.
Their footsteps pounded against the stone streets of Artemisia. She had expected the streets to be as empty as they had been before, but as the sound of their march echoed off the mansion walls and through the manicured gardens, silhouettes were drawn to the windows.
She tensed, readying for a surprise attack. But one of the wolves muttered, “Servants.”
Looking closer, she saw that he was right. Dressed in simple clothing, eyes overflowing with fear, these were the lower classes who lived in the shadows of the white city and attended to the needs and whims of their masters.
Cinder hoped some of them might be brave enough to fight. After all, now was the time to show it. But to her disappointment, most of the servants disappeared back into seclusion. She tried not to be resentful. No doubt they’d suffered from years of punishments and brainwashing.
It occurred to her that this might be the first they’d heard of the insurgence at all.
The palace came into view, shimmering and majestic.
“Alphas!” yelled Strom, his voice carrying over the clomping footsteps. “Spread out and surround the palace. We’ll come at it from every open street.”