(COMPLETED) The Lunar Chronicles - Winter's Summer

Part 8

Cinder was exhausted. Between news of Winter's pregnancy, announcing her engagement to the world leaders, and planning her wedding, she hadn't been able to sleep, a constant stream of stress and excitement coursing through her. She tossed and turned all night, making it impossible for Kai to sleep as well.

They both walked around in a zombie-like state, caffeine being the only thing that could get them through the day. They were just waking up from a very unsatisfying few hours of sleep when Kai said "We have to do something."

Cinder rolled out a kink in her neck before turning to look at him. He was propped up against half a dozen pillows, looking very formal, very much an emperor, despite having just woken up.

"About what?" Cinder was feeling a little irritable, since she hadn't had her tea yet. She wasn't in the mood to beat around the bush or play a guessing game.

"About this. Us."

Cinder cocked her head to the side and frowned. "I hadn't realized that there was a problem with us."

Kai immediately shook his head. "That wasn't what I meant. You know that's not what I meant."

"Obviously not." Cinder sighed. This wasn't how she wanted to start the day. "What did you mean?"

"I mean that we've both been about as useful and productive as cardboard cutouts ever since we heard about Winter. With the wedding, and our regular jobs piled on top... it's just too much for us. I haven't seen you without worry lines on your forehead for four days."

Cinder considered what he was saying. He wasn't wrong about anything. "So what do you propose we do?"

Kai leaned forward and grabbed Cinder's hand. It still startled her slightly when he touched her cyborg limb. She still felt like it was wrong, something to be ashamed off. But Kai had insisted that she lose her gloves. It was just different than what she was used to, when she lived at Adri's.

It had been two years since she had seen Adri and Pearl. It was after they had put a patent on Linh Garan's bioelectricity lock, and they had been overwhelmed with riches beyond their wildest dreams ever since.

She had seen them at a government official's house. He had thrown a small gathering for the political leaders of the country, and Cinder was included in that category, so it would seem. It turned out that Adri had managed to fulfill her dream of marrying Pearl off to a powerful man, as she was the man's newly wed wife.

They had acted civil, or as civil as they were capable, and greeted Cinder with a remarkable lack of hostility. They still didn't approve of her metal limbs, but they had been able to recognize that Cinder had never meant to be a tormenter. Or, were just too aware of Cinder's social standing to criticize her in public.

Cinder had forgiven them for their mistreatment, even if Kai was still wary.

"We should leave."

Cinder quirked up her eyebrows. "We are the leaders of two of the largest governments in the galaxy. I don't know how easy it will be to just 'leave'."

Kai grinned. "You're scheduled to return to Luna in three days, correct?"

Cinder nodded, intrigued to how this train of thought would be ending.

"Well, you could extend it. We could take two weeks, stay with Scarlet and Wolf. I spoke to Winter yesterday, she said that that's where she's staying for the next few months while Jacin's in the American Republic for his medical training."

Cinder played with the idea in her head. "Well," she started, "it would be nice to get away from all of the politics. We could plan our wedding with our friends, and spend some time with Winter and Wolf and Scarlet."

"And we could hide from the press." Kai smiled, but there was a hint of bitterness in his tone. Things didn't go well when they announced their engagement. The majority of the leaders were against the idea, saying it would be bad because Cinder was not only a cyborg, but a Lunar, even though she had had Lihn Garan's device installed a second time and hadn't used her glamour in two years.

There was still a lot of prejudice against Lunars, and not all of it was ill-conceived. There were reports of rogue Lunars hiding in cargo ships and disappearing on Earth, causing murders and general mayhem wherever they went. It was getting a lot harder to be in the public's eyes since the attacks had started, and it didn't look they would be ending anytime soon.

All of the other world leaders had advised them to lay low with this information until the last few Lunars on Earth without the bioelectricity lock had been captured. Cinder and Kai had found that ridiculous, but still haven't announced the wedding to the general public.

It was all remarkably stressful, and the more Cinder pondered the concept of escaping for a couple weeks, the more it sounded like a good idea.

"We'd need to ask Scarlet and Wolf. We can't just appear on their farm."

"Actually," Kai said, an impish grin on his face, "I got the idea from them. We were invited up."

Cinder crawled into Kai's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. She smiled at him, then kissed his cheek.

"What was that for?"

"I wanted to."

Kai laughed, then Cinder kissed him again.

"Thank you."

His eyes brightened. "So I can tell them we're going?"

Cinder nodded, feeling more energized and upbeat than she had all week. They were going to see their friends. The very idea of being near them again filled her up. She stood up, landing her feet on the floor with a little thud when her metal leg hit the marble.

"Where are you going?" Kai asked.

Cinder spared him a glance over her shoulder before marching to her closet.

"I'm going to go pack."