The Fire Didn't Stop Her

Fairytales Are Falling Down, Falling Down...

Cinder hit her head against the controls of the ship. "Selene, you're going to break the control panel."

She could barely here Jacin as he nagged like an old woman. "How would you feel if two of your friends crashed to Earth in a satellite, one of them was kidnapped by a crazy Lunar, and your aunt was trying to marry your fiance?" she asked.

Jacin leaned against the co-pilot's chair and rubbed the back of his neck. His face was still the solid slab of rock she was used to seeing everyday. Yet, he still managed to concoct a smudge of humor. "I'd feel a little weird about it. And I'd then have to go and stop drinking whatever was in my hand."

Normally, she would have laughed. But this was way too much. Is this what being queen would feel like? Juggling handfuls of complex situations that – if not handled correctly and at the right time – would blow up in your face?

Yet another thing to add to the long list of reasons why she didn't want to be queen. Still, becoming queen and dealing with all of these things was better than letting Levana rule. That witch had to be stopped. And this wasn't out of jealousy, but Cinder would not let her marry Kai. She vowed it, for his protection of course. Not because she wanted Kai all to herself or since they were betrothed. Levana would kill him the second she got what she wanted from him, which was ....

"Oh dear stars!" Cinder screamed. She jumped up from the seat and ran to the bathroom. Just the thought of Levana doing anything to Kai .... to get .. an .... heir. Stars, it was far to disgusting.

The second she closed the door, she threw up. Sadly, her cyborg wouldn't forget the thoughts in her head anytime soon.

"Princess, are you alright?" Jacin called through the door, concerned.

"Yeah," she replied when her yakking seized. "Just thinking about how my aunt wants to steal my fiance."

"How would that ... ohhhh." Jacin seemed to get the message. "Why would you start thinking about that? That's awfully inappropriate for a princess to be thinking of."

"She's going to try to do it! We both know that! She needs and heir."

"So you think your fiance, the prince of the Eastern Commonwealth, would cheat on you with your own aunt like that? How much faith do you have in him?"

Cinder groaned as she got to her feet. Jacin was being such a pain – as always. "I can't let Levana start using her glamour on him." She opened the door and saw Jacin waiting just outside for her.

"We won't," he assured her. "We'll save your precious fiance and the world. Levana won't hurt either of them." Cinder knew Jacin was only going to help save Kai so he could interrogate him later on. He always said she was like a little sister to him, and that he would protect her at all costs. She also knew that there was no way Kai would be able to avoid having a "chat" with Jacin once this was all over.

"Okay. I'm gonna go check on Wolf and fix his bandages." She left the room and Jacin went back to the cock-pit to navigate the ship. All Cinder could do was help the best she could, and pray that her friends were okay.

.................

(Three days ago)

Cress woke up with a throbbing headache. Her hair was tangled and wound around various items. And that's when she saw it. A hole in the side of the satellite. Sand leaking onto the floor. And worst of all, there was no sign of Thorne.

"Thorne?" she called groggily. No response. "Thorne?" she repeated, more nervous. "Thorne, where are you?"

A groan erupted from the other side of the satellite. Struggling – and tripping over her own hair -, she rose to her feet and trudged to the origin of the sound. On the way, she saw more sand. And ...