Echoed Lullabies (Lunar Chronicles x Reader)

Chapter 92

I was relieved to find that Cress, Thorne, and I were not the only crazily clothed guests milling around the palace gates hours before the royal coronation. The entire city had come to partake in the festivities, as if Artemisians had nothing at all to fear from a possible insurgence or the crazed claims of a cyborg girl.

The palace's main entrance was surrounded by an imposing wall topped with sharp finials. The main gate was open, revealing a lush courtyard. The walkway was lined with an assortment of sculptures depicting mythical beasts and half-dressed moon gods and goddesses.

No one gave us a second glance as we strolled through the open gates, joining the crowd of gathered aristocrats who were drinking from jeweled flasks and promenading between the statues. Between Cress's frilly orange skirt, Thorne's light-up bow tie, and my shimmering ensemble, we fit right in.

I let my gaze travel up the gilded arched doors of the palace. Like the gates, they were swung wide open, inviting the queen's guests to enter, although palace guards did stand on either side.

My heart hammered.

It felt like I had only just escaped.

From that...that hell I had been trapped in.

At least this time I was entering the palace beside an ally and a friend. If there were anyone in the galaxy I trusted, it was Cress and Thorne.

As if hearing my thoughts, Thorne pressed a hand against my lower back.

"You okay?" he asked knowingly.

I swallowed and nodded. Now was not the time to have a panic attack. I let out a slow breath and tried to mimic Thorne's swagger.

Thorne strategically placed us behind a group of Lunars, close enough that we would appear part of the group, and we glided up the white stone stairs. The doors loomed larger and larger as we stepped into the palace's shadow. The chatter of the courtyard was replaced with the echo of stone floors and the resounding laughter of people with nothing to fear.

We were inside the palace. As far as I could tell, the guards hadn't even looked at us.

More aristocrats loitered in droves in the grand entrance, picking at trays of food that floated in the basins of crystal-blue pools. Everywhere were gilded columns and marble statues and flower arrangements that stood twice as tall as she was. Most breathtaking of all was a statue at the center of the hall depicting the ancient moon goddess, Artemis. It towered three stories tall and showed the goddess wearing a thorny crown atop her head and holding an arched bow, the arrow pointing toward the sky.

"Good day," said a man, stepping forward to greet us. Thorne's fingers dug into my back.

The man wore the uniform of a high-ranking servant, though his dreadlocked hair was dyed in variegated green—pale foam green at the roots and deep emerald at the tips. Though I was on guard, waiting for suspicion or disgust, the man's face was pure joviality. Perhaps servants, like the guards, were chosen for having little talent with their gift, and he wasn't able to sense that we were nothing but two Earthens and a shell.

"We are glad you have come to enjoy the festivities on this most celebrated day," the man said. "Please enjoy the comforts our generous queen has laid out for her guests." He gestured to his left. "In this wing you are free to enjoy our menagerie, full of exotic albino animals, or listen to an assortment of musical performances that will be taking place in our grand theater throughout the day." He lifted his right arm. "This way there is an assortment of game rooms should you care to test the providence of luck, as well as our renowned companionship rooms—not that the gentleman is in need of further companionship. Of course, a variety of refreshments are available throughout the palace, as well as dancing on the main floor. The coronation ceremony will begin at sunrise and we ask that all guests begin to make their way to the great hall at half before. For the safety of all our guests, there will be no continued access to the corridors once the coronation has begun. If you require anything to make your day more pleasurable, please let me or another courtier know."