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Sybil’s smile had frozen on her face

"Well," she said as the doors opened to the third floor, "you are young"

He dipped his head, pretending she’d given him a compliment, then faced Torin "If you have a minute to spare, perhaps you could ith me to Dr Erland’s office? You ht of"

"Of course, Your Highness"

Neither of theuard as they left the elevator, but Kai heard her sugared voice behind therowled "We should have her incarcerated"

"A Lunar ambassador? That’s hardly a show of peace"

"It’s better treath his hair "Gah--Lunars"

Realizing that Torin had stopped following, Kai dropped his hand and turned around Torin’s gaze was heavy Worried

"What?"

"I know this is a difficult time for you"

Kai felt his hackles rise in self-defense and tried to nudge them back down "This is a difficult tihness, ill have to discuss Queen Levana and what you intend to do about her It would be wise to have a plan"

Kai stepped closer to Torin, ignoring a group of lab technicians that were forced to swarm around them "I have a plan My plan is to not marry her Diplomacy be damned There End of discussion"

Torin’s jaw flexed

"Don’t look at me like that She would destroy us" Kai lowered his voice "She would turn us into slaves"

"I know, Your Highness" His syer "Please believe me when I say I would not ask it of you Just as I never asked it of your father"

Kai backed away and sluainst the corridor wall Scientists bustled past in their white coats, android treads whirred on the linoleum, but if anyone noticed the prince and his adviser, they didn’t show it

"All right, I’hness, this is not the place--"

"No, no, you haveto think about other than this stupid disease"

Torin took a calculated breath "I don’t think we need to rewrite our foreign affairs policy We’ll follow your father’s exareeets tired of waiting and decides to follow through on her threats? Can you iue, and the economy, and…she would destroy us And she knows that"

"If she wanted to start a war, she would have done it by now"

"Unless she’s just biding her tiet so on’t have any choice but to surrender" Kai scratched at the back of his neck, watching the bustle of the corridor Everyone so busy, so determined in their search for an antidote

If there were an antidote

He sighed "I should have married If I’d already married, Queen Levana wouldn’t even be an issue She’d have to sign a peace treaty…if she wanted peace"

At Torin’s silence, he forced himself to look back at the adviser, surprised to find a rare warirl at the festival," said Torin "Have a ind romance, a happily ever after, and have no lare at him but couldn’t maintain it Torin so rarely joked "Brilliant idea Why didn’t I think of it?" He turned, bracing his shoulder against the wall, and folded his arms over his chest "Actually, maybe there’s one option that you andthat’s been on hness"

He lowered his voice "Lately, I’ve been doing a little research" He paused, before proceeding "On…on the Lunar heir"

Torin’s eyes widened "Your Highness--"

"Just hearhis hands to silence Torin before he could be chastised He already knehat Torin would say: Princess Selene, Queen Levana’s niece, was dead She had died in a fire thirteen years ago There was no Lunar heir

"There are ru they helped her, theories…"

"Yes, we’ve all heard the theories You knoell as I there’s no substance to them"