Page 66 (1/2)

"You’re right," said Cinder "She could cut your rations and halt the supply trains But not if we control the lev system Don’t you see? The only way this can work is if we all band together If we refuse to accept the rules Levana has forced on us"

She caught sight of Scarlet in the crowd, then Iko, too, with Wolf and Thorne Thorne earing a guard uniform but had taken off the helh to halt anyone’s misplaced hatred

Their presence bolstered her

She tried to meet the eyes of as many citizens as she could "I have no doubt the other sectors are dealing with the saest we select volunteers to act as runners to your neighboring sectors We’ll tell the I said on that video is true I will be ht"

"And I will be with you," said Maha Kesley "I believe you are our true queen, and e you our allegiance on that alone But as a mother reunited with her son, I owe you so rateful

Maha returned it Then she dropped to one knee and bowed her head

Cinder tensed "Oh, Maha, you don’t have to…" She trailed off as, all around her, the crowd started to follow suit The change was gradual at first but spread like ripples in a pond Her friends alone stayed standing, and Cinder was grateful for their lack of reverence

Her fears started to melt away She didn’t know if her video had persuaded every civilian to join her cause, and maybe not even most of them

But the sight before her was proof that her revolution had begun

Thirty-Seven

Kai stood with his aruest suite but seeing nothing of the beautiful lake or city below He had not ed to appreciate any of the luxuries of his fine prison, despite the suite being larger thanrespect, giving him accommodations co parlors, an office, and a washrooh it had an actual pool in it, before Kai realized it was the bathtub

Breathtaking, to be sure It was evenPalace, though Kai and his ancestors had prided theuests

The effect was ruined, however, by the fact that the double doors leading onto his outdoor balcony reuards were posted outside his cha one of the s and trying to scale down the wall of the palace--it was probably what Cinder would have done--but as the point? Even if he avoided breaking his neck, he had nowhere to go Though it pained hi his best to keep her occupied edding and coronation rubbish

Which was not going well, given that he hadn’t seen Levana or any of her cohorts since they’d locked him in here after the ambush in the docks The only visitors he’d had were ant food that went largely untouched

With an exasperated growl, he started pacing again, sure he would wear a hole through this stone floor before this ordeal was over

He had succeeded in getting Cinder and the others to Luna, which had been his prione s what had happened Had they gotten away? Was anyone hurt?

Even without a D-COMM link, he would have been tempted to send a co, but Levana had confiscated his portscreen It wastraced, possibly for the best

His anxiety would have been quelled if he could have moved forith his other objectives In addition to distracting Levana, he had also been tasked with gathering infor, nothing, while trapped in here