Unexpected

Chapter Twenty-Eight

A/N: Aaaand we didn't make it to 77 reads on the last chapter, and so CLOSE WITH 62 reads. A shame.

Hey guys it's almost the end of Unexpected! Yeah, yeah, I know the updates have been irregular and super slow but I warned you from the start. I've had a horrible case of writer's block. Anywho, I expect this story will end in about thirty to thirty-two chapters. Hopefully. So, I just wanna say I've had a great year writing this story, and I love you those who decided to stick with this story. 

Dedicated to @SparkleDolphin12 for inspiring me to write this chapter.

CINDER

"I swear, it's almost like someone's watching us. I don't like this feeling." Cinder muttered, staring out the balcony. Kai came up behind her, sliding his arm around her shoulders. "Back in the room. It doesn't feel..." She searched for the word inside her head. "Right." She finally said.

Kai shook his head. "Maybe you're being too paranoid. I don't understand how this person works, though," He said. He nuzzled his nose into Cinder's neck and she laughed. "The War ended about five months ago. Queen Levana is gone. You've got Luna under control. Why start something now, when the world is mostly at peace and trade is flourishing?"

Cinder paused. "Actually, there's something I haven't told you yet. Before the network crashed, Iko told me that the thaumaturges are having second thoughts about me," she shrugged. "well, being the Queen. That they think I'm not fit to rule. They even have this 'leader' among them, supposedly Sybil Mira's sister or something. I don't know." She sighed, running a weary hand through her hair. "Iko didn't tell me much."

"Is that so?" Kai mused. "Sybil...that woman you--"

"Drove insane using bioelectricity." Cinder finished, her gaze on the ground. "It was horrible, what I did. I could have ended her life quickly. But instead..." Cinder bit her lip, trying to suppress the guilt. She wasn't a violent person by nature, but the war had messed with everyone's heads. Including hers. "Instead, I pushed her over the edge to the point she couldn't even speak."

"It wasn't your fault, Cinder." Kai said softly, tightening his embrace around her. "We were in a war. Things like that are inevitable. You can't blame yourself, and think of it like this. Cress was under that woman's so-called care and was treated terribly. In return, you sort of avenged your friend's youth."

"She was still a person, Kai. People don't deserve to die that way." Cinder countered.

"Sybil took newborn shell babies from their parents without a second glance. She wasn't a good person to begin with, Cinder." Kai said, narrowing his eyes. The woman truly was horrible.

"I swore to myself I wasn't going to turn out like my aunt. Levana?" Cinder said, her aunt's name bringing a frown to her face. Her voice rose, shaking with anger. "She murdered people. She beheaded subjects who spoke out against her in her throne room, even after they pleaded mercy. She used her power to manipulate them into doll masquerades. I did that, Kai. Don't you get it? This isn't about the fact that I killed Sybil. This is about the way I killed her. I could have just slit her throat, or do something else, other than slowly twisting every thought in her head, other than driving her to the brink of insanity. She threw herself off a roof because she couldn't stand to hear herself scream like that."

Kai turned to Cinder, anger flashing in his eyes. "Why are you tearing yourself apart about this?" He inquired hotly. "Sybil was going to kill you if you didn't do it first. Either way, those powers are there for your reach for a reason. You had to use them, even if do it the wrong way."

"I said I wasn't going to turn into Levana. And by winning that war, hundreds of people dying in the process--do you remember when Winter and Scarlet brought in reinforcements with the wolf mutant soldiers? Dozens of them died. Our own friends nearly died. I'm no better than Levana, because she thought she was doing the right thing by taking over Luna."

"We were doing the right thing. You saved everyone, Cinder. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good. We went in there for you, and for the sake of Earth." Kai snapped. He didn't understand why Cinder was beating herself up over this. The past was the past. Just don't repeat that same mistake and you were fine. "It was their choice, Cinder."

Cinder wrapped her fingers around the ledge of the balcony. Her knuckles were turning white. "With bloodshed?" She asked, her voice quiet.

"Tell me how else a war is going to be won without bloodshed," Kai said. His eyes were blazing. "I'm going to be in my own room. Figure yourself out, Cinder. Find out if you really are fit to lead, when you're doubting yourself like this." He gritted his teeth, clearly furious as he stormed out her room, slamming the door shut behind him.

She watched him leave, helpless. She didn't mean to make him that angry, but it was the truth. Cinder was everything she had set out not to be. Cinder massaged her temple with both hands, wondering how it ever got to this point. Everyone was against her. Things were peaceful in Luna for a while, but then the thaumaturges--who had hated her in the first place, anyway--gained some confidence and decided to speak out against her.

While the outer sectors may have supported her cause during the war, Cinder had to accept the fact that Artemisia clearly still had a grudge against her. After all, Cinder had striven to supply the outer sector's villages with goods and hospitality similar to Artemisia. But the Artemisians  were used to being the top dogs.

They were used to getting their way all the time, to hoard all the luxuries and goods. She hadn't wanted that. Once she became Queen, Cinder had told herself she was going to change Luna. 

"Get yourself together," Cinder said aloud to herself. Kai was right. She had to figure herself out. The thaumaturges would be right if she was always doubting her instincts and herself. She couldn't lead an entire nation in this state. "Focus, Cinder." She shook her head. Worrying about her rule in Luna was another thing, something to fret about in the near future.

But right now, there was another crisis in hand. She had to focus on that. She could only assume the thaumaturges' uprising in Luna, especially after she'd left for Earth's rendezvous, was connected to the fact she wouldn't be able to return to her homeland because of the network crash. 

Someone didn't want her to go back to Luna, so they were stalling. Cinder frowned, racking her brain, trying to think of why. Were the thaumaturges going to take over the crown with her out of the way? "Dammit," she hissed. "What are they planning?" Cinder walked back into her room, thoughts in a whirl.

She had to think of every possibility. Cinder sank down in her armchair, gnawing on one of her fingernails. She had to think of something. Someone was trying to keep her from returning to Luna, so they decided to hack into New Beijing Palace's network, crash the system so the podship launcher was unable to open and was on lockdown.

They jammed the signal between Earth to Luna so they could keep her in the dark. So she wouldn't know what was happening in her own nation, resulting in the fact she couldn't stop it. Keep her from Luna, stalling for time here on Earth so she was stuck here involuntarily...

The gears in her head turned. And she could suddenly see everything. 

"Oh stars," She whispered. "They're trying to keep me on Earth, so they can finish me off here. So Luna will have no ruler. So the thaumaturges can take over. It's a lockdown." Cinder said everything aloud, eyes huge as she came to the conclusion. Leaping to her feet, a blind motion flashing past her thoughts. "Kai?" Cinder looked up, realizing he had left.

 She froze. And barreled to the door a second later, not bothering to shut the door behind her. She had to find him, tell him everything, warn him. 

Kai. 

A/N: BTW a new chapter will be posted on Tuesday. It's already finished and waiting for you guys. This chapter has to reach at least 60 reads, 4+ votes and 4+ comments though.