Cress had done as Cinder asked and cloaked the ship from all of the E.C.'s defenses. There was no way that anyone would see them coming.
All of them were trekking through the back area of the palace to the "secret paths" that were used to escort the royal family out of dangerous situations. They all had their assignments, and they all knew what to do.
Erland would go with Thorne to the Medic Center to make a solution to help fix his eyes, as the doctor said he could do. Wolf and Cress – who were both wearing very formal attire – would enter the ball as guests. Thanks to Cress's amazing hacking skills, they had the invitations they needed to get into the coronation. They would be able to distract the guests in case of any holes in their plan. Iko would get in as a servant droid and get Kaito to his room to keep him away from all of the danger. Jacin's job was to make sure no one got in Cinder's way.
And Cinder's job was to sabotage the arrangements for the wedding. Including stealing a certain object that the ceremony couldn't proceed without. Actually, two things that the wedding couldn't proceed without.
As they all moved through the palace, Cinder felt an odd sensation in her chest growing. It was a feeling of pure anguish, sorrow, and misery. The feeling of complete despair. Her heart ached under the steady waves of the emotional current. Looking over he shoulder, no one else seemed to feel it, but Wolf had a twang of depression in his gaze. Still, that could have been from Scarlet being trapped on Luna.
They moved as one through the underground tunnels. The schematics of the network and the tunnel exits on her retinal scanner. One of the tunnels led to the Medical Center, just as Thorne and the doctor needed.
"Doctor," Cinder said in a hushed tone. "Take this tunnel and then take a right. It will lead you to the Med Center." The old man took Thorne by the arm and guided him along the way. After a minute or so, Cinder couldn't hear them walking.
The group pushed on, and Cinder told each group where they had to leave to get to their locations for the plan to work. Soon, Cinder was the only one walking along the tunnel.
The sinking feeling in her chest grew and grew. The sheer power of the waves sending her vision into a blurry mess for a second. Her schematics showed that she was directly beneath one of the royal fitting rooms used for making the perfect outfits that the Royal family would wear on special occasions. Such as today.
In remorse, Cinder held up her metal hand and placed it to the highest part of the tunnel. She pain only became stronger. She felt the agony of abandonment, hopelessness, depression, the feeling of not being good enough to do anything right, and the torment of a nearly broken mind. Instead of tears, a headache was pounding in her head. Still, she couldn't let whoever was suffering go on in such pain.
Cinder didn't want to glamour them into being happier. So, she took on the despair of some of the emotions the person above her was dying of. The heartbreak, the loneliness, the desire to die. The major emotions that no one should have to feel.
Her other hand came to rest on the bridge of her chest. Her heart wanted to give out. But she forced it to go on. Kai needed her. He needed to be saved from Levana, just as Luna and Earth did. While she could save those two later, she only had a small amount of time to help Kai. Since Doctor Erland had made it sound like Kai was on the verge of dying.
When she finished, she took her hand from the ceiling and trudged on. She guessed that she wasn't the only one having a horrible day after feeling what the person above her was thinking.
At the end of her path, the exit was covered in a wall of Rose bushes. Kai told her that his mother had planted them when he was only a baby. And was in aw about how much they'd grown since. Carefully, Cinder moved the wall just enough for her to get through, then moved them back into their exact spot.
For a moment, she smiled lightly at the roses. She said a silent "thank you" to Kai's mother; for being such a kind woman, and for bringing Kai into this world. Without her, Cinder would never have met the love of her life, or been dragged into this crazy fiasco. But this was a small price to pay to protect Kai.
Although she didn't like it, Cinder pulled up her glamour to make her appear like a woman in a regal dress with a veil over her face. AKA, Levana. Just as they'd planned, Cinder elegantly made her way from the garden to the inside of the palace. No one approached her as she passed. They were probably to frightened to move towards anything that looked like Levana.
She knew the palace inside and out, not just from her schematics though. She'd memorized just about every path and hall from her time in the palace. Right now, Levana would be preparing for the coronation on her ship. So, her room would be empty of anyone that was lunar. Only earthern servants would be cleaning her room.
Making it all to easy for Cinder to do what she needed to.
The door opened before her, and she saw some of the seamstresses inside. The were making small tweaks to a glorious gown with red silk fabric and gold seams. The dress made her heart skip a beat. It was a perfect compliment to the E.C. Levana wouldn't appreciate the colors or design of the dress. But they formed a sense of joy in Cinder's chest.
Upon noticing her, the three woman in the room bowed. "Your majesty," one of them squeaked. "We were just making a few adjustments to your dress for the wedding ceremony."
Quickly, she thought of something that Levana would say. She waved her hand and said, "The dress is adequate. I'd like to wear it now, for the coronation."
The seamstresses looked between one another. Confused as to whether arguing would get them in more trouble than allowing her to wear the dress now. After a minute or so, they began fitting her into the dress.
While one of them was tightening the waist of the dress, she commented, "You must have lost some weight, Your majesty. You're at least a size smaller than you were when we took your measurements for the dress." The girl stiffened, afraid of what she said and the effect it might have.
In response, and to set the woman at ease, Cinder hummed a laugh. If Levana ever found out that Cinder was thinner than her, she'd have a fit.
The door opened behind them, and Cinder could acutely sense who it was. Her insides curled in a bit. "You look stunning, my queen." It was Thaumaturge Aimery. Cinder hated him with a burning passion. And had plans to fire and incarcerate him once she ascended to the throne. He was a disgusting man who was attempting to court her step-cousin, Winter. And his past with woman was more than disturbing.
She didn't reply to him. Hoping that he would just go away eventually. Unfortunately, he came closer to speak to her. The seamstresses finished placing her dress on her the second he was right in front of her. He gestured for them to leave.
All three of them were happy to exit the room.
"They brought Princess Winter here, as you requested, your majesty. But .. there were a few complications," he revealed. Winter was here, of all places. Cinder never would have thought that Levana would force Winter to watch her marry Kaito. That was a new kind of low. Still, Cinder didn't allow her anger to show.
"Excellent," she replied, happy with the fact that Winter was here. After all of this, Winter could come with them on the Rampion and get away from all of this crazy stuff. Take a break from all of the things that were slowly driving her insane. Maybe spend some alone time with Jacin as well. "What were the complications?"
Aimery tried not to grin. "She refused to come without her pet."
This did not clarify much. Winter practically ran the Menagerie. Whichever "pet" she brought could range from as small as a bird to the wolf she loved so much.
"Which one?" Cinder inquired.
He was all to happy to elaborate. "Her latest one of course. The redhead who was helping the kidnappers. We had no trouble getting them both on the ship and escorting them here. But I think there should be a ... demonstration for the kidnappers later on. I think that would be a good way to convince the prince that we truly wish to help Princess Selene."
Her nose twitched with aggravation. When Aimery said "demonstration", he really meant torturing and/or killing the "pet". Cinder knew it was Scarlet, her friend, a girl who threw her life away to help her. She was not going to let her go through anymore pain than she was already in.
To play along, Cinder agreed, "I definitely have something planned for later on. You're dismissed." He bowed to her and retreated from the room. What she had planned was not exactly what Aimery was thinking. But it would be in all ways memorable.
...............
It had been half an hour, and Doctor Erland was still fiddling with medical equipment and growling in anger. Thorne could hear all of this, and gathered that the doctor had no idea what to do in order to help him regain his sight.
"This is hopeless, isn't it?" Thorne asked.
The old man grew more frustrated. "It wouldn't be if all the equipment I needed was here! It's all gone! Almost everything I need to do this is gone!" He threw a glass object at a wall, letting the sound of shattering and fracturing echo throughout the room.
What was even more unsettling than this guy's temper were his coughing fits. He'd stop what he was doing for about a minute or two and cough none stop. The fits became more frequent and more severe. Thorne was starting to wonder if this guy was sick or something.
At one point, he coughed so hard Thorne heard the man's throat curdle, and he fell to the ground.
"Doc!" Thorne shouted. He heard the clamoring of metal in metal and the doctor standing up.
He coughed and tried to clear his throat. "I have one more thing I could try," he barely got out. "But I don't think you'll like it that much."
Thorne shrugged, a tad nervous at what this man was saying. "If it gets me my sight back, it'll be worth it. Do it."
He probably should have gotten the hint that whatever the doctor was going to do would hurt. Or the hint that this man was getting weaker and sicker by the minute. Or the one that all of the equipment for the operation was gone and nothing else. But that would all have to wait for a while.
Because apparently, the doctor held up a metal stool – that was meant for sitting on – and thwacked it against Thorne's head. Knocking him out cold.
................
Sure, wallowing around in a cage for about a week was not as fun as it sounded. Neither was being treated like an animal for the same amount of time.
But Scarlet had a line when it came to handcuffs.
The Thaumaturge clamped them around her wrists as she kicked at him. He was grinning like a freak as he did this, getting some kind of awful pleasure from seeing her in captivity. Winter was standing by, as if to make sure that the man didn't try anything that he wasn't ordered to.
"Now behave," he told her. "Or you'll spend the rest of the week in a prison cell, where you belong."
Thank the stars that once he was done, he left. The man didn't leave the keys to the handcuffs or the cage with Winter, knowing that she would either let Scarlet out or loss them. Or so she thought. Once he was all the way out of the room, Winter hummed as she walked to Scarlet's cage. From behind her back, she pulled the key to the handcuffs.
Astonished, Scarlet asked, "How did you do that?"
A twinkle formed in her eyes. "The blood on the wall stopped for a moment. So I could see the key hanging from his belt. I snatched it up like a monkey does a fruit of yellow crescents."
It was a good thing that Scarlet had grown used to the way Winter spoke. And while she didn't know what monkeys and bananas had to do with this, she gladly used the key to get out of the cuffs.
There was something whimsical about Winter's expression. "What are you so happy about?" Scar inquired. Winter answered in a singsong voice.
"I think my Jacin and my Selene are here." She twirled a curl of her hair with one finger. Her features calm and collected. "I feel like they are present. To help me as I watch my aunt get married again."
Scarlet knew something was off. She'd never asked about her relations to other people. Or what happened to the father that seemed to have disappeared off the face of the Earth. He could be dead, but Scarlet had mommy and daddy issues of her own that she could draw conclusions from.
If anything, Scarlet doubted that anyone was coming to help them. They were on their own, and Cinder and her crew were probably still in hiding. Scar could understand that. Though she hoped that someone would come for them soon.
That's just when she heard the screams of terror and gunshots from the hallway.