Lunars of the Caribbean

I Hate Engagements (20)

Kai dug into the book the moment his father and Torin stopped breathing down his neck. He devoured it page by page, learning more than he thought he'd ever know about Lunars. Not only that, but there were several stories about their entanglements with mermaids, sorceresses, and magic beyond Kai's wildest dreams.

One even told of a prophecy that said a true queen of Luna would reveal the fraud of her predecessor. The true queen would be tough as metal and have the heart of a lion. Except, the prophecy said the woman would actually be composed of metal and other materials along with her human body. This confused Kai a tad.

The true queen sounded like Cinder – or Selene – and the fraud predecessor resembled Levana greatly. But unless Cinder was hiding a metal leg from him along with her lunar tattoo, Kai was pretty sure she didn't have any metal body parts.

That was, until he read the section of spells that mentioned using glass, wood, or melted down metal to replace missing limbs. After the spell was used too widely and drained many sorceresses of their power, people resorted to hooks for hands and peg legs to suffice. There was another spell that could change the appearance of regular cloth or fabric to that of human skin. The magic would allow the person it was used on to move and feel with their artificial limb.

So, there was a chance Cinder fit the description of the true queen of Luna. That, or this prophecy didn't apply to what was going on now, and the entire world was in trouble.

The more he read, the more he understood that the world was no where as normal or simple as he once thought it was. There was so much he'd been shielded from, so much he'd never heard of before. This book was the key to bring Levana to her knees.

And the one person who needed it most didn't have it. Kai did, and he had no way of getting it to Cinder. He had no where she was or who she was in contact with. But Kai did know that to defeat Levana, he would need to get the book to Cinder, and tell her that she was Princess Selene.

There was a knock at Kai's door, and Kai instantly hid the book under his bed. He was sure Levana – or anyone coming into his room – wouldn't look under his bed. Everyone who would enter his room either respected his privacy, or refused to get onto the floor just to look there.

Once the book was hidden, Kai called, "Come in."

Those who came in the door were not friends of Kai. Levana and Lieutenant Aimery wore sickeningly sweet smiles. After them, his father entered, his face ashen and filled with regret and shame.

"Hello, Kaito," Levana greeted. "Your father was kind enough to allow us in. I have a proposition for you."

Kai cast a glance to his father, weary of what she could have said to him to make him like him like this. "What would that be?"

She hummed – horribly – before stating, "I have been a widow for quite a time now. And I thought it would be a wondrous idea to end the dispute between Luna and Port Royal by marrying you."

He nearly puked. "Excuse me?" he wheezed, disgusted beyond words. He knew about her ideas for a marriage alliance. But his father told him not to worry, that it would never come to that.

Well, to Kai, it looked like it was coming to that.

"Don't be so surprised, Kaito," she said, not exactly keeping up the sweet and innocent charade. "You and I are the perfect match. With our marriage, the problems between our little countries would be solved."

"You mean the problems you're causing," he snapped. "You're the one who threatens to blow our ships out of our harbor, who abducts our sailors from the seas, and sentences the people of Port Royal who have done nothing wrong to death with little to no proof."