The Fire Didn't Stop Her

The Sorrows Of The Mind

Kai could hardly even breathe. There he was, sat down in the Emperor's office chair, watching the loop of pictures from the scene in France on repeat. It was like his worst nightmares, of late, had come to life.

His princess, his best friend, his fiance, held at gunpoint by that criminal scum. Kai was surprised his heart was even still in his chest.

And in the photo, Cinder looked pained and sad. It reminded him of how she looked right after he Levana had told her she was manipulating him.

Like she's lost all hope.

Kai could hardly think as his legs mindlessly trudged back to his room. His head caught up in a thousand thoughts of tortures and punishments Cinder could be experiencing at this very moment. Cinder was giving up hope, and now, so was he.

Not only this, but the fact that Torin had tried to hide it from him. Now, Kai was finding hard to trust his own adviser. Even if he'd been serving the E.C. since before Kai was born. He'd tried to keep this from him, and he knew how much he cared about Cinder and her safety. But he'd still be able to keep leads on the case from him.

Speaking of which, Kai needed to have a serious chat with Torin about telling him about possible leads. He hadn't even heard about the lead on the ID chip Iko had taken until a few hours ago. And that had been from Levana.

Then again, if Kai had known about the lead, he probably would be feeling worse now than he already was. Even so, if he'd known, he'd be feeling more despair, and not an absence of trust, or that he was being treated like a child.

Kai made it to his room, thankfully without falling over and pulling himself into a ball.

And in all this madness, and all this horror, Kai actually felt a little ...

relieved.

Up to this point, Kai had dreamed that this wasn't a kidnapping at all. But an elaborate plan that Cinder had made to get out of their relationship. That had been the last time he'd slept, two days ago. And it had almost been as bad as when he dreamed of Cinder killing herself.

He'd been walking alone in the gardens and trying to get his head on straight. When all the sudden, he saw her. She was standing by a large Willow tree, with her back turned to him. Still, he knew it was her, and couldn't help but run to her.

"Cinder," he cried. He was almost to her when she turned to him, and began to hold up her hands. He bolted to her even as she told him to stop.

Kai threw his arms around her and his momentum forced them back to the ground. He started laughing, almost hysterically. "Cinder, you're back."

"Ugh," she groaned. "Get off of me you idiot." Kai's laughs caught themselves in his throat. She was glaring up at him sternly, which told him she was being utterly serious. So, he rolled onto the ground next to her.

Cinder sat up and pulled herself to her feet, and she didn't look at all amused. "What is you're problem, Kaito?" she asked as she rolled her eyes.

Kai had to blink a few times to get rid of the daggers Cinder was shooting hat him. "What are you talking about, Cinder?"

She groaned again. "Stop calling me that. My name is Selene. Princess Selene Blackburn. Is that so hard to say?"

Kai may have been disoriented, but he was sane enough to know that Cinder wasn't acting like herself. "Cinder, what's going on with you?"

She scoffed, but before she could answer, someone else came out from hiding in the garden.

Carswell Thorne.