Of Rampions and Revolutions

(formerly Jealousy)

by lovelunarchron

Note: This story takes places immediately after the last chapter of Cress. If you have not read Cress, be aware that there will be spoilers. The Lunar Chronicles is written by Marissa Meyer. I do not own this series.

Chapter One

Kai sat alone in his room, trying to process everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. It was a lot to take in. It seemed like entire days had passed since he'd sat locked in his office, waiting for a security breach to be fixed so he could go to his wedding ceremony. He now sat on a spaceship, in space, surrounded by nothing but the breathtaking views of Earth and stars that enveloped him in every room he went. The future he had resigned himself to just days before felt like a distant memory. Levana had attacked Earth, he had been kidnapped, they were headed to the moon…and he had kissed Cinder. Linh Cinder, the cyborg mechanic Lunar fugitive.

No, Princess Selene.

He was still getting used to the concept. Cinder had been Selene all this time? And she hadn't even known? A part of him now felt guilty for having accused her of so many things during the course of their argument. There were so many things that she hadn't been able to control at all, in the end.

He had wondered, weeks ago while Cinder was on the run, how she had become a cyborg in the first place. He had pondered whether she had been in an accident or if she had simply been disfigured as a child. But now he knew. Levana had tried to murder her. Cinder's own relative had tried to burn her alive. But someone had tried to save her and brought her to Earth.

Had the procedure been painful? Did she remember anything at all? He was pretty sure she didn't, but he wasn't willing to pry for any more information just yet. She claimed to only have found out who she was from Dr. Erland while she was held captive in New Beijing Prison, after all.

His prison. The prison where he had practically sent to her to her death. Guilt choked him again for a moment, but he fought it down. He hadn't known any better. And at the time, there wasn't much that he could have done to change the situation, anyway, even if he had known. But he knew that he had a long way to go to understand all the complexities of Cinder, with all of her new identities now on display for him to see. Cyborg. Lunar. Princess.

And…his girlfriend?

Did the kiss mean that they would be together? Kai had never even dared to think that this could be a possibility before he had woken up on the Rampion, and he was so surprised by the turn of events that it was hard for him to linger on the question. They had more pressing things to think about now, didn't they? They would figure out their relationship status in the end—whatever end that was. But he couldn't get those brief moments of elation during their kiss out of his head, even if it had been thwarted almost instantly by Levana's brutal attack. Cinder had been devastated and scared—tormented by what she felt was her own fault. Admittedly, until he had understood that Cinder was Princess Selene, he thought that a lot of it was her fault too. Only now did he understand why Cinder couldn't just disappear and let him marry Levana. He had a vested interest in seeing Princess Selene reclaim her throne as well. But kidnapping him and postponing the wedding hadn't helped.

Cinder was a mess. It was one of the things he loved about her. On the outside, she was able to be strong when it was needed of her, but he knew that deep down she was scared and this comforted him. She had finally been real with him. And he was scared too. All those weeks that he had spent with Levana and the thaumaturges—all those unbearable moments of hatred and disbelief as Levana slowly tortured him by illustrating again and again that he had absolutely no power—made him understand just how much he feared Levana too. But maybe they could be strong together. At least, he would try to be strong for her. Cinder had risked her life so many times to help him and help Earth, so he felt that he owed it to her to be there for her now.

He wasn't sure how to show it, though. He wasn't even really sure where they stood. As much as he wanted to believe that their reunion and subsequent kiss would move them in a favorable direction, the rest of the night hadn't panned out how he had expected either. They had kissed, but they had been interrupted too much to explore their feelings further. And now he didn't know what to do. Or how Cinder really felt about moving on from that point. He knew he shouldn't be thinking about it, he knew he should be concentrating on their plan, but it was impossible for him not to circle back to the thoughts that clouded his mind.

Once the blonde girl—Cress—had opened the door and rushed in on them, exhaustion and stress overtook Cinder. After she let everyone know that Kai knew of her plan, she had tried to save face as best she could, but she finally sat down and sort of crumpled together, muttering to herself somewhat incoherently on the floor. But Kai, feeling unsure from the sudden presence of an audience, had hesitated a moment too long to comfort her again. Much to his dismay, it was Carswell Thorne who had been the hero of the hour instead.

Cinder had said that he was blind, but it took him all of three seconds to find his way to her, sit down behind her, and pull her into his arms on the floor—not too differently from how Kai had been with her before Cress had interrupted them. Cinder had slumped into his embrace, probably too overwhelmed from thinking about the planned revolution and Levana's attacks. She had closed her eyes and rested her head on the crevice between his shoulder and neck. Thorne wrapped one arm around her waist and snuggled her tightly, whispering things into her ear while he rocked her. Kai knew it was his fault for hesitating, but he couldn't help feeling frustrated at Thorne's ease with her. He should be the one comforting Cinder.

Not this convict.

"You're just in shock from what happened at the palace, Cinder. We've been through worse than this," Thorne cooed. His cooing was sultry and smooth and irritated Kai more than he cared to admit. "We escaped jail together. We made it through the wolf attacks in Rieux together. Then again in Paris. We survived satellite crashes and kidnappings and thaumaturge attacks. Then we even survived the attack in Farrafrah by his His Majesty's pawns." Thorne stopped to glare at Kai, but since he didn't know where Kai was standing, just sort of glared randomly at a wall. Kai knew it was for him, though.

"And we made it back. Now we've kidnapped the Emperor and are safe, together. We're going to be fine. You're not alone in this. So pull it together because we're all together."

Kai couldn't help but count all the "we's" and "together's" that Thorne threw in there. Was it intentional? Did he just mean that they were working together, or was he trying to remind her of a possible relationship? Had they had an affair on this ship? Kai had hated him immediately when he had learned of their initial escape, and he had to admit that part of it had been his unease that this good-looking man would be with Cinder the whole time.

But Kai had just kissed Cinder. Why did he suddenly feel so insecure, so inadequate? Why was he overcome with a pang of jealousy?

Well, what had he done to help Cinder? What had he done that had been heroic? Nothing. Thorne was the real hero in this situation. Kai had just made it more difficult for Cinder at every step.

Thorne lifted his head again. "Cress, could you get Iko? I'm gonna need some help moving Cinder."

Kai rushed to stop her. "I can take her."

Thorne found the sound of his voice and turned to him. "Your Majesty? Please. I don't think so. Can't you see the girl's traumatized? Or am I not the only blind man on this ship anymore? Clearly meeting with you only adds to her distress."

"But—"

"Cinder's gonna stay with me tonight, your Imperial Highness. I'm the only one she actually knows on this ship. And I'm the only one who knows how to cheer her up." A devilish grin spread across his face.

Kai shut up, feeling defeated and useless. Of course he was right. His brief encounters with Cinder were nothing compared to all the things that Thorne and Cinder had done together. He felt like a fool. Cinder barely looked up at Thorne and swatted him a little with her cyborg hand. "Shut up Thorne, you're so full of it."

Thorne only grinned harder and grabbed her hand into his own. "C'mon princess, this is just another one of our moments."

Cinder closed her eyes and slumped back against him again. Kai couldn't help but notice a small change in the expression of the blonde girl standing beside him as she watched Thorne with Cinder. What was that look she had? Was it mirroring his own jealous sentiments? Cress caught him staring at her and she blushed, trying to make her face look neutral again. What was Kai missing here? Was everyone on this ship in love with Carswell Thorne?

Kai had been forced to go back to his room since Iko wouldn't help Thorne with Cinder unless he wasn't there. And now he was stuck replaying that night's events over and over again. He felt as though he were being banished, as if he were the problem in this situation. He hated being in this room, feeling trapped with his thoughts. He certainly couldn't sleep anymore. In fact, he had probably slept an entire day after being shot with that lovely tranquilizer dart.

But he couldn't just sit in his room and think about Cinder all night, as he would probably go crazy. He was already conflicted enough, and the brief hug fest with Thorne had severely thrown his confidence. Instead, he made his way out of his room into the empty corridors and back towards the cockpit. Maybe he could search the netscreens to see what had been going on in the Eastern Commonwealth during his time away. To his surprise, he saw a figure sitting in the pilot's chair. He stumbled back abruptly, worried that it was the "harmless" Lunar Special Operative—Wolf, Cinder had called him—and nearly tripped. The man swiveled in his chair and to his dismay, Kai saw that it was none other than Carswell Thorne.

Here we go, he thought.