“How will I contact you when she’s ready?”
“Send a comm to the palace.” Kai paused, remembering Sybil Mira—the Lunar Queen’s own minion. Remembering how important it was that she never suspect he was searching for the missing princess, or doing anything else to undermine Levana’s rule. Quickly, he added, “Or will you be here again next weekend? I could stop by then.”
Iko’s voice chirped from the back, “Oh, yes! We’re here every market day. You should come by again. That would be lovely.”
Cinder winced. “You don’t need to—”
“It’ll be my pleasure.”
It wasn’t a lie. Not only would this allow for him to keep the transaction discreet, but it also meant that he would be picking up Nainsi in person, rather than having her dropped off with some nameless assistant at the palace. It meant he was sure to see Linh Cinder again.
Maybe he could learn more about her then.
Maybe he’d make her smile. A real smile.
Maybe …
Maybe he needed another hobby.
He nodded a farewell to her. She returned the nod, but didn’t stand or bow—all professional politeness, without much of the royal courtesy he was used to. It was sort of refreshing.
Pulling the hood over his face again, he turned and slipped back into the bustling crowd.
He felt lighter than he had in days as he made his way back to the hover car. He knew that nothing was resolved, not yet. His father was still dying, his country was still in danger, and Nainsi was still unable to share her secrets.
But there was something about Linh Cinder. Something capable and confident, even if she had been a little nervous to be talking to him. There was something about her that went beyond an unexpected reputation.
The knot in his chest loosened, just a little. Linh Cinder was going to solve this problem. He knew it. She was going to fix Nainsi, and then he would be able to retrieve the lost information about the princess. He would find Selene and, for the first time in generations, Earth would have a true ally in Luna.
He was optimistic as he left the weekly market behind. More optimistic than he had been in weeks.
That mechanic was going to change everything.
Something Old, Something New
Cinder squeezed the suitcase shut with a sigh of finality. Iko had been pestering her all week about what she was and wasn’t going to pack, insisting on a variety of gowns and uncomfortable shoes and rolling her eyes at Cinder’s constant reminders that they would be spending most of this trip on a farm. With cows and chickens and mud.
“Just because you’re not a queen anymore,” Iko had said, her hands fisted on her hips, “doesn’t mean you get to go back to looking like you just rolled out of an engine compartment.”
Together they had finally agreed on a few pairs of comfortable pants and lightweight blouses, plus a simple emerald-green cocktail dress—“Just in case,” Iko had insisted.
Cinder stepped back and looked at the suitcase with some trepidation, trying to determine what she’d forgotten, but she knew the nerves writhing in her stomach had nothing to do with what she would wear or the possibility of leaving something behind—after all, they had shops on Earth.
No, she was nervous to be leaving.
For the first time since her official abdication, she was leaving Luna.
She had been back to Earth only once since she’d reclaimed her place upon the Lunar throne. She had kept to her promise and been Kai’s date to the Commonwealth’s ball last year, and it had been … terrifying. But also extraordinary. The people of Earth still weren’t sure what to do with the fact that one of their beloved leaders was not so secretly dating a Lunar, and a cyborg Lunar at that. There had been protests. There had been countless comedy skits taking jabs at a romance that most of the world deemed unconventional, even offensive. There had been jealous, hateful glares from the other guests, and live newsfeeds that criticized everything from Cinder’s gown to her posture to her sarcastic (i.e., tasteless) sense of humor.
She would have been humiliated, or possibly furious, if it hadn’t also been for the amazing things that had come from that trip.
Iko had been one of the stars of the ball—the first android to ever receive an official invitation.
Dozens of kids had asked Cinder to autograph their portscreens, calling her a role model and a hero.
There had been her elation at seeing her friends again.