Happily Ever After: The Lunar Chronicles

Chapter 1

"Research conducted in the outer sections show that, while support for the new Queen of Luna has remained steady, there is some unrest, which is of course to be expected as changes are made to the country."

Cinder rubber her metal knuckles absentmindedly as Amira Jion continued her report. The room was silent, despite the amount of people in it, with the only sound the quiet tap of Amira Jion's nails as she turned the page on her portscreen. She glanced over at Iko, who gave her a bright grin, her eyes shifting to a lighter shade of yellow as she took in Cinder's appereance. If Cinder could have blushed, she would have, but she wasn't surprised at Iko's smile. It was a look Cinder had gotten used to in recent months. One of appreciation, and respect, and even a little bit of awe. Cinder liked to blame her clothes. Her closet was filled with dresses and skirts instead of cargo pants and t-shirts, a physical representation of all the changes she had gone through after leading the revolution. While Cinder still preferred her more comfortable, albeit ragged look, she quickly realized the importance of looking like a queen, not a mechanic. However, she knew it was more than that. The 'Queen's Revolution', as so many had begun to call it, had already become legendary, despite its recentness. Ballads had already been conducted on her behalf, multiple statues had been enacted on Luna and Earth alike, and Cinder and her friends had become the talk of all news and gossip feeds. She was pretty sure a movie was even in the making. And while Iko was her best friend, and always had been, she knew that even her perspective of Cinder had changed.

"My Queen?" Amira Jion asked, and Cinder started, realizing that everyone in the room was watching her, waiting for a reply. Her internal programing quickly ran a recording of Amira's last statement, a question on how to proceed in terms of sector unrest. Cinder stifled a smile, thanking the stars that whoever programmed her added many components that were very helpful as a leader. Of course, the cybernetic specialists which operated on her knew that she would be a leader, or at least hoped she would.

"Yes, um, give me a moment," Cinder replied, tapping her metal finger on the glass table as she thought. "I'm assuming that most of the unrest is coming from anger over items we've been trying to reform as of late. Food distribution, revising housing systems, and working conditions?"

Amira Jion nodded in confirmation, as did her other advisors in the room. Cinder turned to Quinton Barge and Elara Xanthip, the two representatives from the RM sectors. It had been very hard to learn everyone's name at first, but with the help of her internal programming, she had quickly gotten the hang of it. "I would gather that the RM sectors would be some of the main sectors with unrest, with the amount of poverty and job inequality. You've been in these sectors more recently than I have. What are the main concerns among the people?"

Elara and Quinton passed a few hushed words between each other, gathering their thoughts before answering. Cinder waited patiently, her mind turning as watched the two representatives, both eager to help their fellow citizens. Quinton Barge was one of the toughest looking representatives in the room, his muscles in the mine, and his face framed with a bushy beard. He couldn't have been more than 50, but his hair was a fine gray from years of manual labor. He seem very different from the slender Elara Xanthip. She was a young woman who was no more than 30, had long, dark hair that hung down her back, and dark eyes that rarely revealed her emotions. It was hard to imagine that before the the Revolution, this woman, with her impeccable poise and extrodianry diplomatic skills, was a regolith miner. It went to show how corrupt the government had been. No representation and no opportunities were allowed to the lower sectors. After the Revolution, Cinder had set up a hasty voting system, allowing each group for sectors to elect two representatives to be in her cabinet, to be a voice for the people. Since then, her cabinet of advisors had revised the voting system, deciding how many representatives were needed and how to best go about the election process. Cinder was already excited for the next election season, almost a year away, so her people could get a real taste of democracy. Of course, serious opposition had arisen when she first proposed having representation, especially among the aristocrats of Lunar. It had never been done before, and the rulers of Luna were always the deciding power, the only power. But Cinder was determined to change that, as long as it took. She still hadn't proposed her idea of having a full democracy, knowing that her people were still largely dependant on their traditions. And on her. But the idea was still there, strengthened with every decision, and Cinder was confident it would happen on Luna. Some day.