“Wait here,” he whispered, holding a finger to his lips.
Cress pressed herself against a wall. She looked tiny and terrified and preposterous in that poufy orange skirt, and some chivalrous instinct told Kai he shouldn’t abandon her here, of all places. But he shoved that instinct down, reminding himself that she was also the genius who had single-handedly shut down the entire security system of New Beijing Palace.
Straightening his patriotic sash, Kai stepped around the corner. This wing was sealed off, and as far as Kai knew, there was only this one door in and out. As expected, a guard stood in front of the door at mute attention. The same guard, Kai thought, who had been on duty when Levana had dragged him here before.
The guard’s eyes narrowed upon seeing Kai in his white silk tunic. “This area is not open to the public,” he said in a bored tone.
“I’m hardly ‘the public.’” Kai tucked his hands into his pockets, trying to look both accommodating and defiant. “My understanding is that the coronation regalia are held in this wing, are they not?”
The guard squinted suspiciously.
“I’ve been sent to obtain the Brooch of … Eternal Starlight. I’m sure you’ll understand that I’m rather short on time.”
“I’m sure you’re used to getting your way on Earth, Your Emperorship, but you will not be permitted past these doors, and to see the crown jewels, no less, without official documentation from the queen.”
“I understand, and I would gladly obtain that documentation if Her Majesty wasn’t at this very moment in the opposite wing of the palace, dressed in full coronation garb, having already been anointed with a concoction of sacred Eastern Commonwealth oils in order to purify her for the ceremony in which she will become empress of my country. So she’s just a little preoccupied at the moment, and I need to find that brooch before the ceremony is delayed even more than it already is.”
“Do you think I’m an idiot?”
“I’m beginning to, actually. Only an idiot would stall Her Majesty’s coronation. Would you like me to go to her now and explain how we cannot proceed because of your obstinacy?”
“I’ve never even heard of this ‘Brooch of Eternal Starlight.’”
“Of course you haven’t. It was designed specifically to represent an alliance between Luna and Earth and gifted to one of the queen’s great ancestors over a century ago. Unfortunately, as you may be aware, there hasn’t been an alliance between us in that time, so the brooch hasn’t been necessary. Until tonight—and the moron who was in charge of preparing the regalia forgot about it.”
“And they sent you to pick it up? Shouldn’t you be getting anointed with oils yourself?”
Kai let out a slow breath and dared to put himself in arm’s reach of the guard. “Unfortunately, I seem to be the only person on this little moon who has any clue what it looks like. Now—by the end of this night, I will be your king, and if you want to still have your job by tomorrow morning, I suggest you let me through.”
The guard’s jaw clenched. He still didn’t move.
Kai threw his arms up. “Stars above, I’m not asking you to open the door, close your eyes, and count to ten. Obviously, you’ll come in with me and make sure I don’t steal anything. But time is running out. I’m ten minutes late already. Perhaps you’d like to comm Her Majesty and explain the delay?”
With a huff, the guard stepped back and yanked open the door. “Fine. But if you touch anything other than this supposed brooch of yours, I will chop off your hand.”
“Fine.” Kai rolled his eyes in a way he hoped indicated a total lack of concern and followed the guard. Not that the guard was traveling far from his post—the vault that housed the crown jewels, when they weren’t being used for a coronation, was immediately on the left, behind an enormous vault door.
Kai averted his eyes while the guard pressed a code into a screen and scanned his fingerprints, then twisted the unlock mechanism.
The door, when it opened, was as thick as the guard’s skull.
The vault was lined with velvet and spotlights that shined on empty pedestals. Most of the crowns and orbs and scepters that usually lived there were already down in the great hall.
But it wasn’t empty, either.