Winter (The Lunar Chronicles 4)

“Is something wrong?” said Scarlet, steel in her tone.

“N-no. I’m sorry.”

“Then stop looking at her.”

He opened his mouth and Scarlet thought he wanted to mention the blood or the grime or Winter’s very existence, but then he shut it again and kept his head down.

Some of the alcoves they passed had heavy metal doors over them, but most were open, showing docked ships within.

“See?” Winter whispered. “Mushrooms, and the shadows that dance.”

Scarlet followed her gesture. The spacecrafts’ shadows on the walls did look something like dancing mushrooms. Sort of. If she tilted her head and squinted just right.

“Bay 22, Your Highness.”

Scarlet glanced at the number over the arched door and the podship enclosed within. It was a two-person carrier, inset with the gold insignia of the royal court.

“Thank you,” said Scarlet. “That will be all.”

The man’s eyebrows stitched together. “Will … will you need an escort back?”

Scarlet shook her head and linked her elbow with Winter’s again, but had only taken two steps when she paused. “Tell no one you saw us,” she told the man. “But if someone asks, tell them we glamoured you into helping us. Understand?”

His round eyes fell on Winter, who smiled warmly. His blush deepened.

“I’m not so sure you didn’t,” he muttered.

Rolling her eyes, Scarlet hauled the princess toward the ship. She checked that the man was gone before she opened the pilot’s side door and nudged Winter inside. “All the way over, unless you plan on flying this thing.”

Winter complied without question. Scarlet removed the knife from her waistband and settled it between them. She shut the door and the noise of the docks silenced in the vacuum-sealed ship.

Scarlet exhaled, willing her hands to stop shaking. Willing the mess of controls in front of her to come into focus. She examined the cockpit, noting what was similar to the delivery ship she’d flown since she was fifteen and what was different.

“I can do this,” she whispered, pressing her fingers against the main screen. It brightened. The controls lit up.

SECURITY CLEARANCE UNDETERMINED

She stared at the message. She had to read it four times before the meaning of the words sank in. She half expected their phantom helper to override the ship’s security and start the engines for her too. When nothing happened, she remembered the cylinder Jacin had given her. She fished it from her pocket and popped off its cap, holding her breath as she jammed it into the corresponding security port.

An icon whirled over the message.

And whirled.

And whirled.

Her stomach tightened. A drop of sweat slid down the back of her neck.

CLEARANCE GRANTED. WELCOME, ROYAL GUARD JACIN CLAY.

Scarlet whooped, dizzy with relief. She jogged a few switches. The engine hummed and the ship lifted up on the magnetic force beneath the ports, steady and sure. Outside their alcove, a series of cargo ships were making their way toward the sealed chamber that separated Artemisia’s Port E from the emptiness of space. They could slip in right behind them and no one would stop a royal ship, no one would even question—

“Wait,” said Winter as Scarlet nudged the podship forward.

Scarlet’s heart dropped. “What?” she said, scanning the port for a thaumaturge, a guard, a threat.

Winter reached over and pulled the pilot’s harness over Scarlet’s head. “Safety first, Scarlet-friend. We are fragile things.”

Thirty-One

Winter was mesmerized by Scarlet’s confident hands as they skimmed over the ship’s controls. Behind the ship, enormous iron doors slammed shut, locking them in a vacuum-sealed chamber with a dozen other ships waiting to be released from Artemisia’s underground port. Tearing her attention away from Scarlet and the twinkling instruments, Winter glanced over her shoulder at the interlocking doors—so ancient they looked almost like they had existed on the moon even before colonization.

Now they divided her from the ports, the city, the palace.

And Jacin.

Scarlet was all nerves, tapping her fingers across the instruments. “How long is this going to take?”

“I don’t know. I’ve only ever left Artemisia on the maglev rails.”

“They just have to seal a couple doors, right?” Scarlet reached overhead and toggled a few switches. The lights inside the ship faded to black. “This would be a bad time for someone to look over and recognize you. They’d probably think I was kidnapping you.”

“You are, in a manner.”

“No. I’m saving you from your psychotic stepmother. There’s a difference.”

Winter pulled her attention away from the doors and scanned the nearby ships. Most seemed to be cargo ships. She wondered how many were taking supplies for the war efforts on Earth or carrying more of the queen’s soldiers. Still, most would be headed to the outer sectors for deliveries or to load up on goods to be brought back to the capital. It was much faster to fly than to take the maglev shuttles halfway around the moon.

“Are we going to Earth?”

Scarlet’s frown deepened. “Jacin said this ship wouldn’t make it that far. He said to go to Sector RM-9.”

Jacin. Brave Jacin. Always protecting her.

She’d abandoned him.

Scarlet tugged on one of the drawstrings of her hoodie, the end frayed and dirty. “Jacin said this sector we’re going to is where Wolf grew up. His family might still be there.”

Winter trailed her fingers along her harness and sang to herself, “The Earth is full tonight, tonight, and the wolves all howl, aa-ooooooooooh…”

“We need an ally. Someone we can trust. Maybe I can persuade Wolf’s parents to shelter us. Hide us, until we come up with a better plan, and in the name of all the stars, what is taking so long?”

Winter blinked at her. “Aa-ooooh?”

Scarlet huffed. “Would you focus? We need to find someplace we can hide from the queen.”

“She will find us anywhere. We will not be safe.”

“Don’t say that. The people like you, don’t they? They’ll protect you. Us.”

“I do not wish to put them in danger.”

“You need to get over that mode of thinking right now. This is us against her, Winter. From now on, I need you to think like a survivalist.”

Winter took in a shuddering breath, jealous of the embers that burned inside Scarlet. She felt hollow and cold on the inside. Easily shattered.

Scarlet popped one of her sweatshirt’s drawstrings into her mouth and gnawed on the plastic end. “RM-9,” she muttered to herself. “What does RM-9 mean?”

“Regolith Mining Sector 9. That is a dangerous sector.”

“Dangerous? Dangerous how?”

“Regolith sickness. Many deaths.”

Scarlet’s mouth quirked. “Sounds like the sort of place Levana wouldn’t look for you.” Scarlet clicked on a screen and opened up a map. “Perfect.”

The second set of massive doors began to slide apart, disappearing into the black cavern walls. Faint light spilled in.

“Scarlet?”

“What?” Scarlet looked up and gasped. “Finally.”