cinder || dnf

chapter twenty two

Dream could hear Dr. Za's warnings in his head, echoing like a damaged audio file, the entire six miles to the palace.

Queen Minx will stop at nothing to ensure her control, to terminate any resistance. That means killing those who could resist her- people like you.

If she were to see you, she would kill you.

And yet, if something were to happen between the apartment and the palace to this android who had real information on the missing Lunar prince, Dream would never forgive himself. It was his responsibility to get the android back to George, safe and sound.

Besides, the palace was a huge place. What we're the chances he would run into the Lunar queen, who probably didn't intend to spend much time socializing with the citizenry anyway?

Luca was much faster on his treads than Patches, and Dream had to hurry to keep up with him. But their pace slowed as they discovered that they were not the only citizens on their way to the palace that afternoon. At the base of the cliff, the main road had been blocked off as it left the city behind and became the private drive of the palace, shaded by twisted pines and dropping willows. The winding street was filled with pedestrians making their slow way up the hill. Some walked alone, others in large cliques. Their conversations reached Dream, irate and determined, arms flying in mad gestures. We don't want her here. What could His Highness be thinking? The growing roar of the mob echoed down the road. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of angry voices chanting in unison.

"No moon queen! No moon queen! No moon queen!"

Turning the last corner, Dream's gaze fell on the crowd up ahead, filling up the courtyard before the palace's maroon gates and spilling down the street. It was barely contained by a flustered row of security guards.

Signs bobbed over their heads. WAR IS BETTER THAN SLAVERY! WE NEED AN EMPRESS, NOT A DICTATOR! NO ALLIANCE WITH EVIL! Many included the queen's veiled image slashed through with red Xs.

Half a dozen news hovers circled the sky, capturing footage of the protests for global broadcasting.

Dream skirted the edge of the crowd, shoving his way to the main gate while trying to shield Luca's compact body with his own. But upon reaching the gate, he found it closed and guarded by both humans and androids, standing shoulder to shoulder.

"Pardon me," he said to the closest guard. "I need to get into the palace."

The man stretched his arm toward Dream, pushing him back a step. "No entrance to the public today."

"But I'm not with them." He placed his hands on Luca's head. "This android belongs to His Imperial Highness. I was hired to fix it, and now I'm returning it. It's very important that it be returned to him as soon as possible."

The guard peered down his nose at the android. "Did His Imperial Highness give you a pass?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Does the android have its ID?"

"I do." Rotating his torso, Luca flashed his ID code at the guard.

He nodded. "You may enter." The gates were opened, just barely, and it wasn't a breath before the crowd surged forward. Dream cried out at the rumble of angry voices in his ears and the sudden crush of bodies, shoving him into the security guard. Luca rolled through the gate without hesitation, but when Dream moved to slip through behind him, the guard blocked him with his arm, straining against the crowd. "Just the android."

"But we're together!" he yelled over the chanting.

"No pass, no entrance."

"But I fixed him! I need to deliver him. I need to... to collect payment." Even he was put off by the whining in his voice.

"Send your invoice to the treasury like everyone else," the man said. "No one is to be admitted without an issued pass."

"Mr. Almeida," said Luca from the other side of the iron gate. "I will inform Prince George that you would like to see him. I'm sure he can comm you an official pass."

Instantly, Dream felt the weight of his silliness. Of course he didn't need to see the prince. He had delivered the android; his job was done. And he wasn't really going to bill him for his work, anyway. But Luca had turned away and rolled off toward the palace's main entrance before Dream could protest, leaving Dream trying to come up with a reasonable excuse as to why it was so important to George, something better than the very stupid, very childish reason that first entered his head. He simply wanted to.

The chanting stopped suddenly, making Dream jump.

The crowd's silence created a vacuum on the street, yearning to fill with breath, with sound, with anything. Dream looked around, at the dazzled faces turned upward to the palace, at the lowered signs held in limp fingers. A ripple of fear stroked his spine.

He followed the gazes of the crowd up to a balcony that jutted from one of the palace's highest stories.

The Lunar queen stood with one hand on her hip, the other on the balcony's railing. Her expression was stern- bitter- but the look did nothing to dispel her uncanny beauty. Even from afar, Dream could make out the pale luminescence of her skin, the ruby tinge of her lips, her dark purple hair. Her glowing eyes were scanning the silenced crowd, and Dream shrank back away from the gate, wanting to disappear behind the empty faces.

But the shock and terror was short-lived. This woman was not frightening, not dangerous.

She was warm. Welcoming. Generous. She should be their queen. She could rule them, guide them, protect them...

Dream's retina display flashed a warning at him. He tried in vain to wink it away, annoyed by the distraction. He wanted to look upon the queen forever. He wanted the queen to speak. To promise peace and security, wealth and comfort.

The orange light beamed in the corner of his vision. It took Dream a moment to realize what it was, what it meant. He knew it was out of place. He knew it didn't make sense.

Lies.

He squeezed his eyes shut. When he looked up again, the illusion of goodness faded. The queen's sweet smile had turned haughty and controlling. Dream's stomach turned.

She was brainwashing them.

She had brainwashed him.

Dream stumbled back a step, colliding with a senseless middle-aged man.

The queen's gaze jerked toward them, focusing on Dream. A wash of surprise flashed over her face. Then hatred. Disgust.

Dream flinched, wanting to hide. Cold fingers clamped over his heart. He was compelled to run, yet his legs had melted beneath him. His retina display was drawing confused lines over his vision as if it couldn't stand to look upon the queen's glamour a moment longer.

He felt naked and vulnerable, all alone in the brainwashed crowd. He was sure the earth beneath him would open up and swallow him whole. He was sure the queen's gaze would turn him into a pile of ashes on the cobblestoned road.

The queen's glowered darkened until Dream began to feel that, tear ducts or not, he would burst into tears.

But then the queen spun away, her shoulders back as she stormed into the palace.

With the queen gone, Dream expected the crowd to take up their protests again, even angrier that she had dared show herself. But they didn't. Slowly, as if sleepwalking, the crowd began to depart. Those with signs let them fall to the ground, to be trampled and forgotten. Dream pulled back against the wall bordering the palace, out of the way as the citizens meandered past.

So this was the effect of the Lunar glamour, the spell to enchant, to deceive, to turn one's heart toward you and against your enemies. And amid all these people who despised the Lunar queen, Dream seemed to be the only one who had resisted her.

And yet, he hadn't resisted her. Not at first. Goosebumps covered his arms. His skin aches where it melded with metal.

He had not been entirely immune to the glamour, the way shells were supposed to be.

Worse still, the Queen had seen him, and she had known.

~~~

1400 words
3/14/22