“Torin, what about the families of all these people? Are they safe?”

“Yes, sir. The families of all government officials were relocated to the palace within forty-eight hours of the first attacks. They are all here.”

“And what about the people who aren’t government officials? The chefs? The … the housekeepers?”

“I’m afraid we didn’t have room for everyone. We would have brought down the whole city if we could.”

Kai’s gut clenched. He would have brought the whole country with him, if he could.

“Of course,” he said, forcing himself not to dwell on the things he couldn’t change. “Do I have an office down here? I need Nainsi to set up a meeting. This afternoon, if possible.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. There are also private rooms set aside for the royal family. I’m having them made up now.”

“Well, there’s only one of me, and I only need one room. We can find something more useful to do with the rest of them.”

“Of course. Who is Nainsi to contact for this meeting?”

He inhaled deeply. “My fiancée.”

Torin’s pace slowed and Kai thought he might come to a complete stop, but Kai pulled his shoulders back and kept marching down the corridors. One of the guards ahead of them was yelling again—“Clear the way! Clear the way!”—as curious staff and officials emerged from doorways. Rumors were spreading fast and as Kai met the eyes of those he passed, he saw joy and relief cross their faces.

He gulped. It was strange to think how many people were worried about him—not just the people he saw every day, but citizens throughout the Commonwealth—waiting to hear if the kidnappers would return their emperor safely, having no idea that Linh Cinder was the last person in the world who would hurt him. It made him feel a little guilty for having enjoyed his time aboard the Rampion as much as he had.

“Your Majesty,” said Torin, lowering his voice as he caught up with him again, “I must advise you to reconsider your arrangement with Queen Levana. We should at least discuss the best course of action before we make any hasty decisions.”

Kai cut a glance toward his adviser. “Our government is being run out of an enormous bomb shelter and there are Lunar mutants beating down the doors of my palace. I’m not making hasty decisions. I’m doing what has to be done.”

“What will the people think when they hear you intend to follow through with a marriage to the woman who is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths?”

“Millions. She’s responsible for millions of deaths. But that doesn’t change anything—we still need her letumosis antidote, and I’m hoping she’ll accept the terms of a new cease-fire while we confirm alliance details.”

One of the guards gestured toward an open door. “Your office, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you. I require a moment of privacy with Konn-dàren, but if an android comes by with some tea, let her in.”

“Yes, sir.”

He stepped into the office. It was less lavish than his office in the palace, but not uncomfortable. Without windows, the room was filled with artificial light, but bamboo matting on the walls gave the space some warmth and helped deaden the sound of Kai’s footsteps on the concrete floor. A large desk with a netscreen and half a dozen chairs took up the rest of the space.

Kai froze when his eyes landed on the desk and he started to laugh. On the corner of the desk sat a small, grime-filled cyborg foot. “You’re kidding,” he said, picking it up.

“I thought it was becoming a token of good luck,” said Torin. “Although in hindsight, I can’t imagine what led me to think that.”

Smiling in amusement, Kai set Cinder’s abandoned foot back down.

“Your Majesty,” continued Torin, “what did you mean when you said Levana is already responsible for millions of deaths?”

Kai leaned against the desk. “We thought this war began when her special operatives attacked those first fifteen cities, but we were wrong. This war began when letumosis was manufactured in a Lunar laboratory and brought to Earth for the first time. All these years, she’s been waging biological warfare on us, and we had no idea.”

Though Torin was skilled at disguising his emotions, he couldn’t hide his growing horror. “You’re certain of this?”

“Yes. She wanted to weaken us, in population and resources, before she struck. I also suspect her ploy to offer an antidote as a bargaining chip was designed to create an immediate dependency on Luna—once she became empress.”

“And you don’t think this changes anything? Knowing it’s all been a strategy to coerce you into this alliance, you still plan on going through with it? Your Majesty, there must be another way. Something we haven’t considered yet.” Torin’s expression tightened. “I should inform you that in your absence, we’ve had a team focused on designing a new class of military-grade weaponry that will be able to penetrate even the biodomes on Luna.”

Kai held his gaze. “We’re building bombs.”

“Yes. It’s been a slow process. No Earthen military has built or harbored such weapons since the end of the Fourth World War, and there are unique modifications required to weaken Luna. But we believe that with Luna’s limited resources and dependency on the domes to protect them—the success of a few bombs could mean a swift end to the war.”

Kai stared down at his desk. All of Luna’s population lived beneath specially designed biodomes that provided them with breathable atmosphere and artificial gravity and the ability to grow trees and crops. Destroying one of those protective barriers would kill everyone inside.

“How long before these weapons are ready?” he asked.

“We’ve finished the first prototype, and hope to have the first batch complete in four to six weeks. The fleet of spaceships required to transport the weapons is ready now.”

Kai grimaced. He didn’t want to say it, but he despised the thought of reducing Luna’s cities to rubble. Already he had begun to think of Luna as belonging to Cinder, and he didn’t want to destroy the kingdom that could someday be hers. But if it could end the war, and protect Earth …

“Keep me informed of any developments,” he said, “and have the space fleet ready at a moment’s notice. This is a last resort. First, we will try to reach a peaceful resolution. Unfortunately, that begins with appeasing Levana.”

“Your Majesty, I beg you to reconsider. We are not losing this war. Not yet.”

“But we aren’t winning it, either.” Kai’s lips twitched upward. “And one thing has changed. Until now, Levana has been calling all the shots, but for the first time, I might be a step ahead of her.”

Eyes narrowing, Torin took a step closer. “This isn’t about an alliance at all, is it?”

“Oh, I fully intend to form an alliance with Luna.” Kai glanced at the cyborg foot again. “I just intend to put a different queen on the throne first.”

Fifteen

The communication link took ages to connect, while Kai stood before the netscreen with his hands clasped behind his back and his heart thudding louder than the Rampion’s engine. He hadn’t bothered to change from the white silk wedding shirt he’d been wearing when he’d been kidnapped, though it was wrinkled and had a tiny hole where Cinder’s tranquilizer dart had punctured it. Still, he thought Levana might appreciate that contacting her was his first priority—above a fresh change of clothes, above even alerting the Earthen media to his return.