Cress scooted backward, but the woman persisted, pulling her penciled eyebrows into a tight frown. Stepping forward, she held out her hand. “Who is your message for? I will see that he or she receives it.”
Cress stared down at the open palm, soft and wrinkled. “It’s … confidential.”
The woman pursed her lips. “Well, I’m afraid if you don’t leave immediately, I will have to call a guard to confirm your story. We were promised our privacy and I don’t—”
“Cress?”
Her heart hiccuped.
Kai.
He stood there blinking at her as if he thought she might be a trick.
An ocean’s worth of relief crashed into Cress, nearly knocking her off her feet. She braced herself with one hand against the wall. “Kai!” Shaking herself, she amended, “I mean, Emperor—Your Majesty.” She dipped into a flustered curtsy.
Brow drawn, Kai looked at the speaker. “Gliebe-dàren, you haven’t gone down yet?”
“I was just on my way,” said the woman, and though Cress didn’t meet her gaze, she could sense her distrust. “But I saw this girl and … as you know, we were guaranteed privacy on this floor, and I don’t think she should—”
“It’s all right,” said Kai. “I know this girl. I’ll take care of it.”
Cress studied the floor, listening to the crinkle of the taffeta skirt.
“With all due respect, Your Majesty, how can I be sure she isn’t manipulating you into siding with her?”
“With all due respect,” said Kai, sounding exhausted, “if she wanted to manipulate someone, why wouldn’t she have manipulated you into leaving her alone?”
Cress chewed on the inside of her cheek while a moment stretched out between them. Finally, the woman bowed. “Of course, you would know best. Congratulations on your forthcoming coronation.”
The woman’s footsteps clipped toward the elevator bank. When she had gone, Cress waited three whole seconds before launching herself into Kai’s arms with a sob she hadn’t known she’d been holding in.
Kai stumbled back in surprise, but returned the embrace, letting her cry into his very fine silk shirt.
The adviser made a strangled noise and Cress felt the handgun being lifted from her hand. She was glad to let it go.
“Calm down,” Kai said, stroking her hair. “You’re all right now.”
She shook her head. “They took Thorne. They shot him and they took him and I don’t know if he’s alive and I don’t know … I don’t know what they’re going to do to him.”
Cress gave up on speaking until the flood of sobs started to wane. Ducking her head, she pulled her hands back and swiped at her hot cheeks. “I’m sorry.” She sniffed. “I’m sorry. It’s just … really, really good to see you.”
“It’s all right.” Kai gently held Cress away so he could see her face. “Start from the beginning. Why are you here?”
She was trying to rein in the stampede of emotions when she saw the damp spot she’d left on his shirt. “Oh—aces. I’m so sorry.” She swiped at it with her fingers.
He gave her a little shake. “It’s fine. Cress. Look at me.”
She looked at him, rubbing her wrist across her eyes again. Despite the splotch she’d left, Kai was quite dapper in a cream-colored silk tunic. It was fastened with gold frogs and a sash striped with the colors of the Eastern Commonwealth flag: sea-foam green, teal blue, sunset orange. If the sash had been red, it would have been an exact replica of the outfit he’d been wearing when Cinder and the others had kidnapped him.
But no. He was already married. He was Queen Levana’s husband now, the man who was on his way to be crowned king consort of Luna.
Her focus darted to the side. Royal Adviser Konn Torin was wearing a basic black tuxedo and Cress could sense his concern despite his composure. He was holding the gun’s handle between two pinched fingers, looking about as comfortable with it as Cress had been.
“Cress?” said Kai, stealing back her attention.
She licked her lips. “Thorne and I were supposed to get to the system control center, but he was captured. They said something about taking him to a holding cell? And I got away, but now I—”
“Why are you trying to get to the control center?”
“To play another video Cinder recorded. It shows the queen—oh! You probably don’t know that Cinder is alive!”
Kai’s expression froze for a moment, before he tilted his head back and let out a long, slow breath. His eyes had a new light in them when he glanced at Konn Torin, but the adviser was watching Cress, unwilling to be relieved just yet.
“Cinder’s alive,” Kai repeated to himself. “Where is she?”
“She’s with Iko and Jacin and … it’s a long story.” Scrunching up her face, Cress felt the weight of time pressing down on her. She started to speak faster. “Jacin was going to see if he could find the letumosis antidote and distribute it to the outer sectors, because a lot of people are sick, including Princess Winter, and Scarlet too. Oh, and Levana took Wolf and we don’t know where he is, and now they have Thorne—!” Cress hid her face behind her hands in an effort to refrain from sullying Kai’s shirt any more than she already had. Kai rubbed her arms, but even in this sympathetic touch she could tell he was distracted.
Konn Torin cleared his throat. Sniffling, Cress lowered her hands and found a handkerchief being held out to her, extended at arm’s length as if Torin were afraid that her hysteria would rub off on him if he got much closer.
Cress took the handkerchief and held it to her nose. “Thank you.”
“What do you need?”
She dragged her attention back to Kai. “To rescue Thorne,” she said, without thinking. But then she remembered his last words to her. Be heroic. She gulped. “No, I … I need to get to the control center. I need to play this video over Levana’s broadcasting system. Cinder’s counting on it.”
Kai ran a hand through his hair. Cress flinched as he went from neat-and-tidy emperor to concerned teenage boy with that one movement. She could see his indecision. How badly he wanted to help, in contrast to how much danger his involvement could put his country in.
Cress felt time ticking away.
“Your Majesty.”
Kai nodded at his adviser. “I know. They’ll probably send a search party if I don’t show up soon. But I just need a minute to … to think.”
“What is there to think about?” said Torin. “You asked this girl what she needed, and she gave you a very concise answer. We all know you’re going to help her, so it seems like a waste of time to argue the pros and cons of such a decision.”
Cress fidgeted with her gloves, feeling the butterfly wings graze her arms. The adviser looked both stern and kind as he handed the gun back to her, handle first.
Cress shuddered. “You can keep it, if you want.”
“I don’t,” said Torin. “Neither do I intend to put myself into any situations in which I might want it.”
With a resigned sigh, Cress took it from him. She spent a moment considering where she might be able to store it, but her outfit didn’t offer any good solutions.