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He was going to use every tactic he could think of to get on her good side Anything to lobe in the corner stopped turning and the netscreen brightened, revealing Levana in her sheer white veil

"Could it be iven you up for lost What has it been, ht for sure your captors hadshe’djoke "A few bu so horrible as all that"

"I see," Levanaher head "That bruise on your cheek looks recent"

"More recent than so his time aboard the Rampion had been a trial, barely endured, was the first step in his strategy "Linh Cinder made it clear frouest Between you and me, I think she was still bitter I’d had her arrested at the ball"

"How savage"

"I’otiateyou of hest priority"

"And to what do e this happy occasion? I suspect those negotiations must have been cumbersome"

"My kidnappers had many demands A oing search for the fugitives, both Linh Cinder and Carswell Thorne"

The veil fluttered as Levana adjusted her hands on her lap "They must have believed their capture was ih I can’t see how that would be, given that you could not apprehend them whilst they were in your own palace"

Kai’s sreed to it However, I uarantees for the rest of the Union, nor Luna I expect these criht to justice for their cri"

"I expect they will," said Levana, and he knew she was e didn’t crawl beneath his skin

"They had one additional deether, forcing his nervous energy into theh with the alliance ter not be allowed to continue"

"Ah," said the queen, with a spiteful laugh, "noe get to the reason that contacting ree to such egregious terms"

"Not really," he deadpanned

Levana leaned back, and he could see her shoulders tre "And why should these crialactic politics? Are they not aware that they are already responsible for starting a war between our nations? Do they not believe I will find a way to sit upon the Coulped painfully "Perhaps their interest has to do with Linh Cinder’s claim that she is the lost Princess Selene"

A silence crackled between him and the netscreen, still as ice on a pond

"She seems to think," Kai continued, "that should we proceed with this wedding and coronation, it eaken what claiht have on the Lunar throne"

"I see" Levana had reclaimed her composure and her flippant, whimsical tone "I had wondered if she would fill your head with falsehoods I ied "It’s a pretty small spaceship"