The morning of the wedding arrived. Cinder was a wreck of frazzled
thoughts and skittish nerves, but at the center of it was a strange sense
of clam. Before the sun set again, she would know the outcome of all
their planning and preparations. Either they would succeed today, or
they would all become prisoners of Queen Levana. Or they'd be dead.
She tried not to think of that as she showered and dressed and ate
a meager breakfast of stale crackers and almond butter. It was all her
churning stomach could handle.
The sun had just showed itself over the frosted Siberian tundra when
they piled into the remaining podship—seven people crammed into
a space meant for five—to embark on the forty-minute low-elevation
flight to New Beijing. No one complained. The Rampion was far too large
to hide. At least the podship would be able to blend in with all the other
podships in a city suddenly swarming with foreign spacecraft.
The ride was torturous and mostly silent, punctuated only by Iko's
and Thorne's occasional chatter. Cinder spent the ride switching between
newsfeeds covering the royal wedding and the ongoing coverage
of the rebellion in Farafrah.
The townspeople had oven up their control of the military personnel
as soon as reinforcements arrived. Rather than attempt to arrest
and transport hundreds of civilians, the Commonwealth military, with
permission from the African government, put the entire city into armed
lockdown until they could all be throughly questioned and charged.
The citizens were being treated as traitors to the Earthen union for helping
Linh Cinder, Dimitri Erland, and Carswell Thorne, although the news
kept reporting that the government was willing to to be lenient with anyone
who came forward with information About the fugitives, their allies,
and their ship.
So far, not one of the citizens of Farafrah seemed to be cooperating.
Cinder wondered if the Lunar townspeople were being treated the
same as the Earthens, or if they were just waiting to be sent back to Luna
for their real trial. To date, no journalists had mentioned that many of
the rebels were Lunar. Cinder suspected the government as trying to
keep that little fact quiet, to avoid mass panic in neighboring towns—or
even all over the world—which would surely come once Earthens realized
how easy it was for Lunars to blend in with them. Cinder could still
remember when she'd believed there weren't any Lunars on Dearth and
how horrified she'd been when Dr. Erland had told her she was wrong.
Her reaction seemed ridiculously naive now.
As New Beijing came into view, Cinder sent the newsfeed away. The
buildings at the city's center were grand and imposing, like willowy
sculptures of chrome and glass reaching toward the sky. Cinder was
caught off guard by the sudden ache that hit her—homesickness. A
homesickness she'd been too busy to recognize until that moment.
The palace stood regally beneath morning sun, high on its watchful
cliff, but they veered away from it. Jacin followed Cinder's directions
toward downtown, eventually mixing with clusters of hovers and, she
was glad to see,m multiethnic podships as well. Cinder's stop was first, two
blocks away from the Phoenix Tower Apartments.
She took in a deep breath as she disembarked. Though autumn would
be sweeping in fast over the next few weeks, New Beijing was still in
summer's rip, and the day was starting off cloudless and warm. The
temperature was just. Click above comfortable, but not stifling with humidity
as it had been the last time Cinder was in the city.
YOU ARE READING
Cress
Teen FictionTheir best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she's being force to work for Queen Levana, and she...
