The detectives were smart, smarter than most in the entire country. But not smart enough to figure out what was going on.
Dr. Erland had to credit them though. They did manage to start tracking the ship the criminal had used to escape. But found no such luck in locating the ship.
He knew what was really going on. He knew why Carswell was doing this, and how he'd made it out of the prison.
The guards hadn't gone unconscious, they set him free. They wanted him to get out. He was the perfect ploy to make it out and keep the princess safe until after the coronation.
Though he wasn't sure on what they'd done or where they were, he knew they would not harm Selene. Even if they did manage to convince her to dethrone Levana, the prince would have their heads if she was hurt.
He hoped that when Levana was finally out of power to abuse, that she'd be put in her place. He hoped she would be tortured, maybe even until she died.
No matter what the people of his past had told him, he would never let his anger and hatred toward her go. Her kingdom, her ways, her sister, took his precious daughter from him. They killed his precious daughter, and made him betray his friends.
He'd tried to help Ms. Benoit and Doctor Tanner take Selene to Earth, to save Luna from Levana's rein. But then, when he was interrogated, by a woman named Sybil, she told him that she had information about Crescent. About his Crescent Moon. The little girl he'd wanted to hold and raise to be the perfect angel he knew she could be.
It had been a struggle, and one of the most troubling times of his life, but he gave them the information they wanted. Leading to the death of Logan and the heartbreak of Michelle. Dr. Erland hadn't seen Michelle since, and she'd probably never forgive him for giving up the princess.
And when he'd done given those wretched Thaumaturges what they wanted, when he told them that Selene was alive, and where she was. Sybil had told him the "information about his daughter" that he would never get out of his head.
"Your daughter?" Sybil had began. "Ah, yes. I remember her. She was a small little thing, and especially ... horrific. Even for a Shell. And her relentless screaming was unbearable." She cast him a smile of pure evil. "I was finally relieved of her wailing once she was killed. And I think that by killing her, we saved you and your wife a great deal of trouble and stress."
From that day on, the doctor's only pleasures were imagining countless ways in which to make the Lunar queen, her Thaumaturges, and her court suffer. Every last one of them was cruel, selfish, and unfeeling. No one with an ounce of compassion would take infants from their parents and have them killed.
For once, the world should be glad that a monarch of Luna didn't have a direct heir. If Levana had any children, they would all be as evil and twisted as their mother.
One day, the doctor swore he would get his revenge. For Luna, for all of the people who suffered by Levana's hands,
And for his little Crescent Moon.
.................
"I don't care," Torin barked at the event planner. "Postpone the Coronation until the princess is found. All resources need to be used to find her, unless you want an interplanetary war between Earth and Luna."
After at least an hour of battling the planner, they finally stopped arguing with Torin, and promptly left the scene. Though he was hiding it well, Torin was on the verge of losing his mind. Since the princess had been kidnapped, the entire palace had been in chaos. And now, it had been a grand total of four days since the princess had been taken.
The press still had no idea that Kaito was engaged, or that Selene was even missing. But if she was gone for too much longer, an official statement would have to be release to the public. And Kaito was in no shape to do such a thing.
Even before the engagement, Torin had been up to his ears in stress. At first, he thought that Selene or Levana had been glamouring Kaito into a marriage alliance. But after the prince got down on his knee and proposed, there was no doubt in Torin's mind that he truly cared for the princess.
For that brief moment, Torin's stirring thoughts had been at peace. Kaito was happy, and it seemed like nothing could bring him down.
Then, that kidnapper, Carswell Thorne, had ripped his happiness away from him. Destroying Kaito, like he hadn't felt enough pain already.
Since Kaito was a child, Torin had almost treated him like he was his own. After all, he'd spent so much time with Kaito, it was as if they were family. Now, Rikan, Kai's father and Torin's best friend, was gone. All Torin had left that he could even think of as family was Kaito, though Kai probably didn't think the same. Torin made it a dying promise to Rikan that he would protect Kaito the best he could.
The last thing Kaito loved was being held against her will by a criminal. One who could hurt or kill her if he pleased. And Kai thought it was his fault, allowing the guilt to rip him apart from the inside.
Now, to top off all this madness, Levana was torturing Kaito.
One of the night-shift maids had come to Torin under great worry for the prince. She said that the night before, she'd seen a girl that looked like the princess walking down the hall to the prince's room. At first, Torin had been filled to the brim with joy, believing that the princess had returned and was simply hiding away in Kaito's quarters. Then, the maid went on to say that a few minutes later, she saw Levana sneak out of the room with a grin on her glamoured face.
For Torin, that had been the last straw. He'd hated Lunars since he was a child. No, they were giving him a pretty good reason to do so. Later on, Torin had gone down to Kai's room to make sure he was alright.
And "alright" was the farthest thing front describing the state Kaito was in.
............
Three days.
Three resentful, lonely, and depressing days had passed since Cinder faked her abduction. And the guilt of leaving Kai was eating away at her.
She still hated Thorne, and despised him for even thinking of hurting Kai. But, in retrospect, Kai hadn't given him much of a choice. Kai had tried to pulled her away, and getting him off was the only way to stop him.
She still didn't like that Thorne decided to punch him in the face.
"Cinder," her android friend said from behind her door.
"Come in, Iko," Cinder replied, monotone.
The happy android came in, bouncing on the balls of her artificial feet. "So..." she began. "I've been meaning to bring this up, but .... how was your relationship with Kai before we left?"
A sudden ping of sadness, and anger hit Cinder in the center of her chest. "What?"
"You know. You said we could talk about it after we broke Thorne out of jail, but we haven't yet." The spark behind her eyes was glowing with anticipation. In a few seconds, she was seated mere inches from Cinder on her bed. "So how is it?"
Cinder sighed and looked down at the floor. "I don't really want to talk about it right now, Iko. Since ... you know."
Iko placed a sensitive hand on Cinder's shoulder, nearly making her jump. "I know it's hard. It's just like a net-drama I used to watch with Peony." If machines could gulp, it was the movement Iko's throat made after the mention of her previous owner's name. "This couple was separated, and they could hardly even think about each other without crying."
"I guess it's a good thing I can't cry then."
Iko's face scrunched, another weird thing for an android to be able to do. Then, it was even more frightening to see her take on a devilish smile that could scare even Levana. "Didn't you say Kai knows you're a cyborg now?"
"Yeah ..." Cinder couldn't forget who Iko had nearly lost it when she's told her.
"Well," she mused, inspecting one of her new hands, flipping it back and forth a few feet from her face. "I guess you finally found a guy that thinks complex wiring in a girl is a turn on."
The idea was so gross and wrong, but Cinder couldn't help it. She burst into a laughing fit and watched as warnings scrolled across her vision. Increased heart rate, higher levels of chemicals trickling into her systems. It didn't matter though. Because this was the first time she'd been happy in days.
"I guess someone's in a better mood now. Wouldn't you say so, Iko?" a voice said from the hall.
Cinder tried to control her laughing and looked up. In the doorway was an six-foot-tall man made purely out of ego and annoyance. The sight of him made it easier to control her laughing.
"Shouldn't you be trying to crash the ship?" Cinder called, half mockingly and half serious. Since he was be far the worst pilot she'd ever seen.
Thorne's smile flattered, and he came closer into the room. "Oh, come on, Princess. You were just having a good time with Iko in here. Why can't you smile when I'm around?"
"Because you're probably going to get us all killed with your idiocy at some point," she said, with the smallest grin.
"Well you're the one who likes to try to kill people. You nearly shishkabob-ed me with your sword finger."
Cinder was stunned. How had Carswell figured out that it had been her who led him out of jail with Iko. She made a note to never underestimate Carswell again. But it would be hard if he only showed the slightest amount of intelligence every few days.
"Anyway, I'm just glad you didn't. And thanks for getting me out of jail."
After that, the three began to talk like they were actual friends. It felt good to Cinder, like she was actually part of something. And she came to realized the Thorne wasn't all bad. Sure, he was a pain, and more of a problem than a solution. Still, he felt like the little, annoying brother Cinder never had. And yes, he was the little brother because he acted like it.
But before long, Cinder felt she recognized this scene. Thorne was like the pale man with light blond hair, and Iko was like the dark skinned girl with beautifully long curls. Soon, Cinder felt homesick for the palace of Luna, like she never thought she would.
"So, Cinder," Iko asked. "Where we headed."
It took a moment before Cinder came to the conclusion that they couldn't just keep orbiting the Earth on auto pilot. They needed a plan, a place to go. Someone they could trust.
Then, she got two ideas of places to run to. First, was to Cress's satellite, like they promised so they could rescue her. But second, to Rieux France.
"We need to go to France. To help a woman that once tried to help me." Cinder prayed to all the stars above that Levana didn't remember the people who tried to save her once. "Let's go see Michelle Benoit."