Winter
Page 69“Your Majesty!”
She pivoted toward the voice. A woman had stood up and was adjusting an invisi-screen. “I think I’ve found something.”
Levana shoved past Aimery to get a better view. The screen showed the central square of an outer sector—regolith mining, perhaps, judging by the dust that covered every surface, smudging even the camera lens. The fountain depicting her likeness could be seen in the footage, a thing of beauty in their drab world.
The square was full of people, a rarity in itself. Her mandated curfew ensured that the people focused on their work and their rest without being tempted to converge with their neighbors during off-work hours.
“Is this live?” she asked.
“No, My Queen. This was filmed not long after the end of the workday.” She hastened through the footage, and Levana squinted to try to make sense of it. Guards, civilians, a just punishment, and then …
“Pause the video.”
The woman did, and Levana found herself staring into the face that had haunted her for months. If there had been any doubt, the monstrous metal hand dispelled it.
“Where is this?”
“Regolith Mining 9.”
Levana’s lips curled upward.
The cyborg was hers.
“Aimery, assemble a team for immediate deployment to this sector. Linh Cinder is to be arrested and brought to me for a public trial and execution. Use whatever methods you see fit to detain her.” Her vision bled with loathing as she stared at the screen. The haughty girl with her ignorant words and her proud displays. “We are not to tolerate any sympathizing with her or her allies. This uprising must be brought to an end.”
“Your stepmother will soon know you are here,”
warned the kindly dwarfs. “Do not let anyone in.”
Thirty-Nine
Levana’s rebuttal video was playing for the third time that hour. Cinder was doing her best to ignore it, but every time Kai started speaking the sound of his voice made her jump, only to be reminded all over again that he wasn’t here. He was under Levana’s control, as Levana had so deftly illustrated.
From her spot around a worktable on the third floor of a regolith factory, Cinder could see most of one of the screens embedded on the dome. It showed a contented Levana and a peaceful Kai. So happy together. There was one moment when Kai turned to Levana and smiled all dreamy-like that made Cinder’s skin crawl. For the billionth time, she wished Cress was with them. She would have known how to turn it off.
Cinder turned away from the video to concentrate. She had no way of knowing how Levana’s message was being received across Luna, just as she had no way of knowing how her video was being received. The best she could do was move forward.
She was gathered among her allies—Iko, Thorne, Wolf, and Scarlet. Wolf’s mother was there, too, along with a handful of sector residents who had been nominated to represent the others. They had worked through the night, plotting and organizing, too energized to sleep.
Two runners had returned that morning from neighboring mining sectors and were reporting good news. The guards had been restrained, their weaponry confiscated, and the people would join Cinder on her march to Artemisia. Additional messengers had taken on the dangerous assignment of traveling through the mines, lava tubes, and maglev tunnels to confirm the truth of Cinder’s video and rally as many sectors as they could to the cause.
It was a promising start.
The rest of the sector residents had been sent home after Cinder encouraged them to get some rest. In truth, she needed space from their curiosity and awestruck whispers. Space to think.
When they regathered, she would divide the people into teams and assign each team a task. Though some volunteers had already been put on watch guarding the maglev platforms, she would soon have to establish a rotation to make sure they stayed alert. Some groups would be tasked with gathering what food and medical supplies they could find, another would watch the guardhouse, and still others would be sent to ransack the mines for potential weapons and tools. Wolf promised to spend time training any able-bodied citizens in basic combat techniques, to commence that afternoon.
She stared up at the holographic map of Luna, her brow drawn, as Wolf indicated what routes he thought they should take to the capital. Everyone agreed they should come at the city from as many directions as possible to force Levana to divide her own defenses against them.
“RD-1 seems easy enough to get around.” Cinder spun the holograph for a better view. “But TS-1 and 2 are right in our path if we’re going to hit these agricultural sectors on the way.”
“Maybe we don’t avoid them,” said Thorne. “Is there some way we can blockade the platforms under those sectors, trapping anyone inside? It would allow us safe passage through, and also keep anyone from sneaking up behind us afterward and trapping us in these tunnels.”
Cinder tapped a finger against her lower lip. “That might work, but what do we block them with?”
“Doesn’t this sector manufacture building materials?” asked Scarlet, gesturing to a sector labeled GC-6: GENERAL CONSTRUCTION. “Maybe they’ll have something we can use.”
Cinder turned to one of the miners. “Can I appoint you to look into that?”
He clapped a hand to his heart in proud salute. “Of course, Your Majesty. We can take some of the mining carts to transport the materials too.”
“Perfect.” Trying not to feel awkward about the Your Majesty part, Cinder turned back to the group.
Wolf stiffened—a small change that sent an alarm through Cinder.
“What is it?”
He started to shake his head, but stopped, his frown deepening. His piercing eyes turned toward the window. The screens on the dome had once again fallen silent.
“I thought I … I smelled something.”
Hair prickled on the back of Cinder’s neck. If it had been anyone other than Wolf, she would have laughed. But his senses were uncanny, and his instincts hadn’t led them astray yet.
“I can’t place it. There are a lot of bodies here, a lot of scents. But there was something…” His fists tightened. “Someone is near. Someone who was also on the rooftop in New Beijing.”
Cinder’s heart thumped—Kai!
But, no, Wolf would have recognized Kai for sure.
It had to be one of the royal guards who had attacked them.
Iko grabbed the portscreen—a device that had stunned and awed the civilians—and shut off the holograph.
A shrill scream echoed through the streets outside.
Cinder ran for the window, pressing her body against the wall, ready to duck out of view. Thorne plastered himself to the wall beside her. “You should hide,” he whispered.
“So should you.”
Neither of them moved.
She watched the scene below, trying to make sense of it as horror built inside her. Countless guards were marching through the streets, along with at least half a dozen thaumaturges that she could see.
A white coat drew her attention and her stomach sank. Thaumaturge Aimery stood on the edge of the central fountain, right where Cinder had stood before. He carried himself like a prince with his beautiful face and proud stance.