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?”
A mix of relief and disappointment rolled through her and she tucked her hands under her arms to hide their shaking. “That wasn’t nice.”
“Only if you think I didn’t mean it.”
Her brow twitched.
“Here, I have something for you.”
“It had better not be an engagement ring.”
He paused, his lips puckering as if the thought hadn’t occurred to him and he was regretting it.
“Or gloves,” added Cinder. “That didn’t work out too well last time.”
Grinning, Kai took a step closer to her and dropped to one knee.
Her eyes widened.
“Cinder…”
Her heart thumped. “Wait.”
“I’ve been waiting a long time to give this to you.”
“Kai—”
With an expression as serious as politics, he pulled his hand from behind his back. In it was cupped a small metal foot, frayed wires sticking up from the cavity and the joints packed with grease.
Cinder released her breath, then started to laugh. “You—ugh.”
“Are you terribly disappointed, because I’m sure Luna has some great jewelry stores if you wanted me to—”
“Shut up,” she said, taking the foot. She turned it over in her palms, shaking her head. “I keep trying to get rid of this thing, but somehow it keeps finding its way back to me. What made you keep it?”
“It occurred to me that if I could find the cyborg that fit this foot, it must be a sign we were meant to be together.” He twisted his lips to one side. “But then I realized it would probably fit an eight-year-old.”
“Eleven, actually.”
“Close enough.” He hesitated. “Honestly, I guess it was the only thing I had to connect me to you when I thought I’d never see you again.”
She slid her gaze off the foot. “Why are you still kneeling?”
Kai reached for her prosthetic hand and brushed his lips against her newly polished knuckles. “You’ll have to get used to people kneeling to you. It kind of comes with the territory.”
“I’m going to make it a law that the correct way to address your sovereign is by giving a high five.”
Kai’s smile brightened. “That’s genius. Me too.”
Cinder pulled her hand away from him and sat down, letting her legs hang over the edge. Her thoughts grew serious again as she stared at the metal foot. “Actually, there’s something I wanted to get your opinion on.”