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"Besides," said Peony, hopping off the trunk, "the ru for a bride at the ball is a lot better than what the other ruuess Prince Kai is actually a itimate child with an escort, didn’t he?"
"Escort-droids can have children?"
"No"
Peony huffed, blowing a curl off her brow "Well, this is even worse They say there’s been talk of hi…" She dropped her voice to a harsh whisper "Queen Levana"
"Queen--" Cinder froze and cla around as if so She pulled her hand away but kept her voice down "Honestly, Peony Those tabloids are going to rot your brain"
"I don’t want to believe it either, but they’re all saying it That’s why the queen’s witchy a at the palace, so she can secure an alliance It’s all very political"
"I don’t think so Prince Kai would never marry her"
"You don’t know that"
But she did know Cinder alactic politics, but she knew Prince Kai would be a fool to ht Cinder’s attention, and a shock of goose buiven her a sense of paranoia, like the people who lived up there could be watching her, and if she stared for too long, she ht draw their attention Superstitious nonsense, but then everything about Lunars was eerie and superstitious
Lunars were a society that had evolved froo, but they weren’t human anymore People said Lunars could alter a person’s brain--s you shouldn’t feel, do things you didn’t want to do Their unnatural power had reedy and violent race, and Queen Levana was the worst of all of the about her even thousands of miles away Even down on Earth
They said she’d murdered her older sister, Queen Channary, so she could take the throne from her They said she’d had her own husband killed too so she would be free to eous hter to e of thirteen, she had become more beautiful than the jealous queen could stand
They said she’d killed her niece, her only threat to the throne Princess Selene had only been three years old when a fire caught in her nursery, killing her and her nanny
Soht the princess had survived and was still alive soht time to reclaim her crown and end Levana’s rule of tyranny, but Cinder kneas only desperation that fueled these rumors After all, they’d found traces of the child’s flesh in the ashes
"Here" Iko raised her hand and knocked on a slab ofCinder
She shoved the thoughts aside Prince Kai would never marry that witch He could never marry a Lunar
Cinder pushed a few rusted aerosol cans and an old mattress aside before she was able to clearly ether they shuffled enough junk out of the way so that the full front of the vehicle could be seen "I’ve never seen one like this," Cinder said, running a hand over the pitted chronia
"It’s hideous," said Peony with a sneer "What an awful color"
"It must be really old" Cinder found the latch and pulled open the hood She drew back, blinking at the reeted her "Really old" She squinted into the front corner of the engine, but the undercarriage hid the ht over there, would you?"
Cinder lowered herself to the dirt She tightened her ponytail before squir aside the jumble of old parts that had been left to rust in the weeds beneath it
"Stars," she muttered when she was able to look up into its belly Iko’s light filtered down froh cables and wires, ducts andis ancient"
"It is in a junkyard," said Peony
"I’ like it" Cinder ran a hand along a rubber cable
The light flashed back and forth as Iko’s sensor scanned the engine from above "Any useful parts?"
"Good question" Cinder’s vision tinted blue as she connected to her netlink "Could you read me the VIN by the windshield?" She searched the number as Peony read it to her and had the hover’s blueprint downloaded in e on top of the engine above her "Seeertips along a cluster of wires over her head She followed the her head to trace the path fro to decipher how it all fit together How it all worked
"This is so cool"
"I’belt on the blueprint, but a green error net, and then just belt, finally receiving a hit The blueprint lit up a rubber band wrapped around a series of gears, encapsulated by a , Cinder reached up and felt for the bolts and lock washers that attached the cover to the engine block