“Are you sure about that, Husband?” Levana snapped her fingers at two of the nearest guards. “Take him back to the others.”
They hastened to obey, dragging Kai away from the queen and toward the group of brainwashed Earthens. “Release me!” Kai yelled. “I have as much right to give orders now as you do, to any Lunar guard or soldier.”
Levana laughed, and she would have sounded entertained if it hadn’t been borderline hysterical. “I hope you don’t believe that.”
Wolf was standing right next to Kai as he was pulled away from the queen, but the knowledge of the thaumaturge watching his movements kept him from stepping forward in the emperor’s defense. A shudder rumbled through him at the mere thought of earning her disapproval again.
When the queen beckoned him to follow, he did.
Eighty-One
They sent scouts ahead to confirm there wasn’t an ambush waiting for them at the maglev’s platform. It was Strom’s idea, and while Cinder was a little annoyed to see someone else taking charge, it also felt nice to have another leader considering strategy and making sure Cinder wasn’t about to make a stupid tactical error. It was the sort of thing Wolf would have done, if he’d been there.
No, she didn’t want to think about Wolf. She’d had to tell Scarlet about how they were separated as soon as they were brought back to Artemisia and how she didn’t have any idea what had become of him. The memory opened up a wound that was still too fresh, one she didn’t have time to let heal.
She tried to still her thrumming pulse, focusing on the allies she still had. Iko was by her side again. Scarlet was off in one of the other tunnels along with another group of soldiers and civilians. Thorne and Cress were in the palace and, if the removal of the barricades was an indication, they were still safe. Winter and Jacin were making their way through the nearby sectors, recruiting as many reinforcements as they could.
She felt like she was playing one of Cress’s strategy games. All her pawns were in place and her final attack was about to begin.
A hand slipped into hers. Iko, offering one last moment of comfort.
A low howl echoed down the stifling tunnel.
The signal.
Cinder gave Iko’s hand a squeeze, then waved her arm. Time to move.
They slipped forward onto the empty platform, where the netscreens were announcing that the coronation had ended. Levana was empress.
They entered the stairwell, pushing toward the daylight. Though manufactured evening would soon be forced upon the domes, real daylight could be seen off the horizon, a faint sliver of their burning sun.
Sunrise.
It was beautiful.
Their footsteps pounded against the stone streets of Artemisia. She had expected the streets to be as empty as they had been before, but as the sound of their march echoed off the mansion walls and through the manicured gardens, silhouettes were drawn to the windows.
She tensed, readying for a surprise attack. But one of the wolves muttered, “Servants.”
Looking closer, she saw that he was right. Dressed in simple clothing, eyes overflowing with fear, these were the lower classes who lived in the shadows of the white city and attended to the needs and whims of their masters.
Cinder hoped some of them might be brave enough to fight. After all, now was the time to show it. But to her disappointment, most of the servants disappeared back into seclusion. She tried not to be resentful. No doubt they’d suffered from years of punishments and brainwashing.
It occurred to her that this might be the first they’d heard of the insurgence at all.
The palace came into view, shimmering and majestic.
“Alphas!” yelled Strom, his voice carrying over the clomping footsteps. “Spread out and surround the palace. We’ll come at it from every open street.”
They were a well-oiled machine, and watching the certainty with which the packs divided, each leading their regiment of civilians down various side streets, gave Cinder a chill. Though the people looked afraid, they also took confidence from the beastly men leading them. It was the type of confidence she wasn’t sure she could have inspired on her own.
As they reached the gates of the palace, the clomp of their footsteps halted.
No one was in sight. Even the guard tower was empty. The heavy iron gates were wide open, beckoning them forward. It was as if Levana had no idea she was under siege—or like she was too confident to heed Cinder’s threats.
Or maybe it was a trap.
The gilded doors of the castle were shut tight.
Cinder emerged from the front line of her army, stepping before the open gates. There was an energy coursing through her, an impatience humming across her skin. Strom and Iko stayed at her side, ready to protect her if an attack came from one of the palace windows.
Cinder scanned the sparkling windows but saw no sign of life. Anticipation wrapped around her body like a rope, growing tighter by the moment. She felt as if she were teetering on the edge of a cliff, waiting to be pushed off.
Glancing down the front line, she watched as the groups that had split off emerged, filling up the intersections of every city street. The soldiers waited in perfect military formation. Training and willpower turned them into ferocious statues, but she noticed the twitch of a muscle, the flexing of a fist, eagerness sizzling beneath their skin.
Behind them, thousands of civilians waited. Less intimidating, less prepared, but no less determined. She saw Scarlet’s red hair in the crowd.
Not everyone who had joined them had come from LW-12. Some had come on faith, because of a couple videos and a promise that their true queen had returned. Some had been encouraged by the messengers Cinder had sent. Some, she hoped, were still coming.