Kai's face was made up of confusion, like she'd spoken gibberish.
His wedding sash slipped out of his hands and drifted to the floor.
When the silence slipped toward awkward, Cinder cleared her throat.
"And in case you weren't sure, I was being sarcastic before about all
that 'great' stuff. Not that, I mean—I know you have your own things
to worry about, so you don't need to ... I don't ... I'm fine, really.
It's just been a rough few weeks with the whole"—she circle her
hands wildly though the air—"Peony-ball-Levana-wedding thing.
And now Dr. Erland is dead and Scarlet is gone and Thorne is blind
and Wolf ... I'm not sure.
He's so still these days and I'm really starting to worry about him.
But I've got it under control. I can do this. I'm—"
"Stop. Please stop talking."
She clamped her mouth shut.
The silence dragged on.
Cinder opened her mouth, but Kai held up his hand.
She shut it again.
Bit her lip.
"You?" he finally said. 'You are Princess Selene?"
Grimacing, she rubbed at her wrist. "Surprise?"
"All this time?"
She ducked her head, suddenly uncomfortable at the way he was look-
ing at her. "Um, yeah, technically. Dr. Erland figured it out first, when I
was taken in for the cyborg draft. He ran my DNA and ... yeah. But he
decided not tell me until I was locked up in prison, which complicated
a few things."
Kai guffawed, but not in a mean way. Inhaling a shaky breath,
he rubbed the palms of his hands into his eyes.
Then, as quickly as his disbelief had come, the comprehension
came faster. "Oh, stars.
Levana knows, doesn't she? That's why she hates you so much.
That's why she's so determined to find you."
"Yeah, she knows."
"And it was you This whole time, it was you."
"You're actually taking this better than I thought you would."
He dragged both hand down his face.
"No, you know, it almost makes sense. Kind of."
He scraped his gaze over her.
"Although ... somehow, I always pictured the princess ... I
don't know.
In a dress."
Cinder laughed.
"And I always thought that when I found her, it would be so easy.
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...
