Stories Unknown

All He Ever Wanted

"Happy birthday," Cinder whispered, pressing her lips to Kai's cheek. He groaned, unable to process the words coming from her mouth as he left that place of sleep and reentered reality.

Keeping his eyes closed tight, Kai pulled Cinder close to him. He would never understand how other couples slept peacefully on opposite sides of the bed, not touching their partner and feeling the warmth of them. Each night since Cinder had moved into the palace, they'd slept in one another's arms, a tangle of limbs and comfort. Kai had never slept better in his entire life.

"Time is it?" Kai asked reflexively. He'd always hated looking at his port in the morning and being blinded by the startling glare. But seeing how Cinder had a computer built into her brain and could check the time whenever she pleased, that was no longer a problem.

"6:03," Cinder replied. Kai let out another muffled groan, burying his face in Cinder's hair.

Cinder had this annoying talent called waking up early. And on top of that, she rather enjoyed waking Kai up with her. Granted, it was always the time that he was supposed to be waking up at, but he despised it all the same. Ever since he was a child he'd loved sleeping in late. He'd thrown pillows over his head and tried to lock his bedroom door, but his parents or Torin always found a way in.

But now that he had Cinder, there was no way to escape the early rising. Sleeping without her was like trying to breathe without lungs or see without eyes. But boy did he drive him mad with her early waking.

"Since it's my birthday, I think we should stay in bed all day. Just sleep and cuddle and not be in boring meetings." Kai opened his eyes and found Cinder watching him with thoughtful brown eyes. He loved when he was this close to her and he could see the retina display in the corner of her eye. It wasn't on now, meaning she was looking only at him. The thought made him feel a little bit flustered.

"That sounds lovely," Cinder said, bumping her forehead against Kai's. "But I don't think the provinces would be particularly happy to hear that their emperor abandoned them so he could sleep the whole day."

"You know, kids my age sleep through the whole day all the time."

"You're twenty-one. You're not a kid anymore."

"Well aren't you raining on my parade," Kai harrumphed. "Fine. Adults my age sleep through the whole day all the time. And they're fiancées aren't even half as wonderful and divine as mine is." He drew her in for a kiss— one that she reciprocated with little hesitation. Even when it wasn't his birthday, Kai's arguments tended to go the same way. And just as they always ended, Cinder won.

She extricated herself from his arms and out of bed, pulling her hair into a knot atop her head. Kai pouted, but she ignored him as she walked to the closet and began to select her clothes for the day.

Kai sat up, watching her the way a dreamer watches the sky: as if he would never get enough of it. Through all the changes that came by, he loved them all just the same. She was his Cinder, and that was the only constant he needed in his life, no matter what shade she presented as.

"We only have a few meetings today," Cinder called over her shoulder. "Then everyone is coming over tonight to throw you a party." She turned around at this, giving him a hard glare. "Thorne is going to try to give you alcohol because he's American and stupid and thinks that turning twenty-one means you have to booze it up. But you and I both know that you cannot handle your alcohol."

"That was only one time."

"It was the only time."

"It really wasn't that bad."

"You fell down a flight of stairs," Cinder exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh please, like you haven't done that before."

"My freaking foot fell off, in case you forgot. I was not drunk when I showed up to the ball."

"That's what you claim," Kai muttered under his breath.

Cinder stalked over to the bathroom, his favorite of her dresses folded over one arm. It was simple, made of soft pale pink silk. There was something about the color and the way it complimented her dark skin and brown hair and eyes that made her look almost... divine. Younger, happier— just a girl. She looked like the Cinder he had first met down at the marketplace, the Cinder that only he really knew.

"You better get your ass out of bed while I'm in that shower, or else," Cinder said, narrowing her eyes one last time before she closed the door behind her.

***

Kai made sure to drag his ass out of bed just as he heard the shower turn off. Really, that was what he did every day. He'd mastered the art of jumping out of bed and picking his clothes for the day in a matter of seconds, just in time for Cinder to peak her head out of the bathroom at him.

They'd gone to their meetings, and, true to what Cinder had said, there weren't many. By lunch they were done, and Cinder took Kai out to their favorite place in the palace gardens. They ate all of Kai's favorite foods from green apples dipped in peanut butter to chocolate cereal (something that Kai had been introduced to during his time on the Rampion and loved ever since).

It had been their first afternoon off since Kai could remember, and it felt heavenly to lay under the budding branches of the trees and smell the sweet blossoms with Cinder by his side. They'd gazed up at the sky, drinking tea and sharing jokes and being in love just as they should have been.

But as the sun began to set over the horizon and a chill settled over them, the pair packed up their belongings and headed back toward the palace, hands swinging between them.

Their friends met them just inside the palace, telling Kai happy birthday and hugging the both of them. Cress and Thorne had stopped by from time to time over the past few months, but Kai hadn't seen Scarlet and Wolf since the wedding and had only seen Jacin and Winter once. It felt good to have everyone back together again, even if it was just for one night.

Kai hadn't had friends growing up— at least, not ones like this. Just ordinary people who he hung around because he liked rather than because they would make an excellent alliance or were the children of men who would. He'd met them all under strange circumstances, and perhaps he loved them more because of it.

They moved into the kitchens, which had been cleared for the evening, and they made a variety of foods, though Scarlet did the majority of it all. Thorne poured drinks for everyone, and Cinder bickered with him all the while, trying and failing to steal the coveted bottle of vodka.

After hours of eating and talking and a decent amount of drinking, everyone began to share their favorite stories of Kai. He had complained about it at first, claiming that they were speaking of him almost as if he were dead, but Thorne had carried on, exclaiming that the first time he'd met Kai he'd been unconscious and tried to draw a mustache on him before Cinder stopped him. Kai wasn't sure he believed that story, considering Thorne had been blind at the time, but it only brought on an entourage of more tales concerning Kai.

Just past ten, Winter pulled a chocolate cake out of the oven, and Scarlet, hardly waiting for it to cool, smothered it with frosting. Wolf pulled out a package of birthday candles and shoved them haphazardly into the cake, and Jacin lit them efficiently with a lighter.

The nine of them gathered around the cake, singing to Kai in boisterous voices. Kai stared around at them, feeling overwhelmed by how much he loved each and every one of them. There was Winter, picking harmonies in the raucous singing with an arm thrown over Scarlet's shoulder, forever clad in her red hoodie. There was Cress, sitting on the counter, and Thorne behind her wearing a matching beige uniform. Jacin was dressed more casually than Kai had ever seen him before, and appeared to actually be singing, though only barely. Iko jumped up and down in time with the song, and Wolf cast her wary glances, as if unsure what to do with her even now.

Then there was Cinder, standing beside him. And while the others watched the flickering flames, he could stare only at her. Her hair was down in a mess of tangles, but she was more beautiful to him than anyone else in the world— and having been previously married to the self-proclaimed most beautiful woman in the world, that was saying something.

When his friends finished their happy birthday song, with Thorne adding on strange endings and Winter going up and down on the vocals, Kai blew out the candles, wishing for nothing, for he already had all that he ever wanted.