Stories Unknown

Lavender Sky

"Hey, what's up?"

Cinder glanced up from her mug, shaking her head as if the simple action could clear it. But when her eyes landed on Kai, she smiled all the same, scrunching her nose at him subconsciously in the way she only did when she was pleased. Or, in other words, whenever she saw Kai.

Kai raised an eyebrow, but returned her smile. He crossed the room in a few strides, and sat himself upon her desk in a very un-emperor-like manner. If Torin had been there, he would have frowned, but as it was only the two of them, Cinder placed her chin in her hands and looked up at him with wide adoring eyes, lips parted as if in fascination of him.

"You haven't answered my question." Kai tucked a strand of loose hair behind Cinder's ear, though it did little good as the hair only fell forth once again. His brow furrowed as he attempted three times to tuck the strand behind her ear before he gave up and placed his hand on her cheek.

Cinder sighed. It had been a long week, with their wedding getting closer and closer and people still insisting that they couldn't have a lunar as their empress. That they couldn't have a cyborg—someone not even completely human—as their empress. It would have been one thing if Cinder were, well, one or the other, but she happened to be both a lunar and a cyborg. There was nothing she could do about it, yet people continuously held it over her head.

There were times when she wanted to throw something. If she were still a mechanic working in the marketplace, that thing would have been a wrench or a screwdriver, but these days she was surrounded by paper weights and portscreens—definitely not things to be thrown.

For months now she'd watched Kai watching her, making sure that she adjusted well. She didn't want him to worry about her. For star's sake, she'd started a revolution when she was only sixteen and overthrew the most powerful rulers in the galaxy. She could take care of herself. And besides, Kai had enough going on already. He had a whole country to rule; the last thing he needed was to worry about his dejected fiancée.

Rather than answer his question, Cinder turned her face, pressing her lips against his palm. She brought her own hands up to cup the back of his, and felt him tense. She glanced up at his face only to discover him watching her.

"What?"

"Cinder..." Kai swallowed. "Why— Why won't you tell me what's wrong?"

Closing her eyes, Cinder let out an exasperated breath. If there was one thing Kai was good at, it was calling her out on some of her less favorable habits. Always loving and forever kind, he constantly brought out the best in her—even if it was sometimes through his own annoying persistence.

"I'm just worried," Cinder admitted, intertwining her fingers with Kai's. At his encouraging look, she continued, "I'm scared the people will never like me."

"They'll come around," Kai said. He leaned forward, looking down at her, fist tucked beneath his chin. "You know, plenty of people weren't entirely pleased when I was crowned emperor."

Cinder gawked. "But your family has ruled over the Commonwealth for... for generations. Since the Third Era."

"But I was eighteen," Kai said, voice low. "I was young and inexperienced and, well, from everyone's perspective, a dumb teenager in love."

"With me."

"And you never forget that." Kai grinned, then grew somber once more. "I had to prove to them that I was worthy of their trust, and I did."

"By marrying the evil tyrant who wanted to mind control all of them?"

Kai huffed. "You know, I'm trying to give you an inspirational speech here, but you keep interrupting." He tried to look annoyed, but one look from her softened his glare.

"I did do that," Kai admitted, for she, too, was good at bringing out the best in him. "But I also teamed up with this crazy cyborg-lunar girl who assassinated my dear wife before she could get to the whole evil mind control thing. I proved to my people that I was willing to do whatever was needed to protect them. I showed them that I am in this position, not just because of my bloodline, but because I am the best person for this job."

"You are the best person for this job," Cinder whispered.

Kai placed both his hands on either side of her face. "And so are you."

Cinder looked down, getting that dull ache in her head that signified that, were she human, she would be crying now. She tried to focus on the pattern of her skirt, a pretty lavender color dotted with white crescent moons. Iko had deemed the dress unworthy of a queen, or even an ex-queen, but Cinder had liked it. Set against a lavender sky, it was almost as if the crescent moons were being painted into a book of fairytales where lovers met under that moon, and children were sung to sleep with gentle lullabies beneath its soft luminescence.

She'd been back on Earth for months, yet nothing felt right—she wasn't living in a fairytale where everything worked out perfectly. She was Linh Cinder, a girl who came from nothing. She was Selene Blackburn, a princess. She was Cinder, future empress of the Eastern Commonwealth. She was too many things all at once, and Cinder felt dizzy whenever she contemplated her future and the expectations that people had for her. It was too much.

Kai placed his hand beneath her chin, gently raising her gaze to meet his—and everything was still once again. No more spinning worlds or aching minds; everything was Kai. Everything was okay.

"Just give it time," Kai said. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. Cinder couldn't help but close her eyes, as if by doing so she could live in this moment—of just him and her and everything peaceful—forever.

"Do you have any evil queens around for me to marry?" Cinder wrapped her arms around his waist. "That might speed things up."

Kai laughed, pulling back just enough to look into her face, as if to display his smile for her as proof that she made him happy.

"Hey," Kai scolded. "Last I checked, you were engaged to me."

Cinder glanced down at her left hand, as if only now remembering. "Oh yeah," Cinder sighed. "Would you mind becoming evil for a short while? That might help the people come to accept me faster."

"Sometimes," Kai said, lips twisted halfway between mock-agitation and amusement, "I just don't know what to do with you."

"You don't?" Cinder raised her face, bringing it within inches of Kai's own. He was still seated on her desk, she in the chair, but his hands were on her face and hers around his waist, the both of them drawing closer and closer by the moment. "Good thing I know just what to do with you, then."

Their lips met, and Kai kissed her with a gentleness that reflected the contents of his very soul—as if, wherever she was concerned, that was all he had to offer. It was slow, both of them familiar with the taste of the other, yet never growing tired of it. His hands moved to cup the back of her head, fingers running through her hair, and she, in turn, traced her fingers over the curve of his cheek. When they broke apart they were breathless.

"I guess you really do know what to do with me," Kai said, his voice low and rough. She kissed him again on the cheek, watching him as if he were that spectacular moon set against a lavender sky—all fairytale magic.

"And you know just what to do with me."

"We make a great pair." Kai grinned. "And someday very soon, you'll make a wonderful empress."