Warnings: swearing, mentions of death.
"......and therefore we will send twelve men there, ready to shoot." She said and leaned her hands on the table. Kai's head turned to her immediately.
"No. You can't do this, you can't just kill my people." He said. Cinder looked at him and chuckled.
"Your people invaded my country. It is my duty to protect my people by sending there soldiers." She said while not breaking their eye contact. It all started a few days ago and she couldn't believe it has come to this. Fifty earthens have broken into Artemisia three days ago. Cinder guessed they were only people banished by the Emperor, but they weren't. Miller has confirmed this morning that they were up to no good. She then called a meeting with the Emperor to set the record straight and had him come to her land instantly. He came and well, they were not getting closer to an agreement.
"I know, but it doesn't mean you can kill them." He argued and took a step closer to her desk. Although she was behind it, Miller raised his hand and stopped Kai from taking another step closer to the Queen. She nodded to Miller, he leaned his head down and stepped back.
"Here are my terms, Your Majesty," she said and got up from her chair, "if you open fire â I open fire, if you fight â I fight. I am not looking to kill your people, but if they want a fight, I will make sure they get one. However, if they will stay where they are and not make a move against us, I will do nothing." She finished.
"Fine with me, but tell your men to stand down." He said.
She took a deep breath and said,
"As I said, I will not send them back, but they will not make a move until they have to. Nevertheless, they are staying there for the people's protection."
He sighed and sat in the chair placed behind him. He ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes shut tight and opened them.
Cinder could hear the desperation in his voice but ignored it. He needed to know that these were her terms. Period.
"Good." She sat back in her chair. "I'm glad we could come to an agreement."
"This isn't an agreement. You shouldn't send your army to kill my people." He argued. She was done with this, she had bigger problems to deal with besides the Emperor's opinions on basic politics.
"Again, they are not there to kill your people, they are only there in case something happens." She said and rolled her eyes. "Now, can you please just accept this?"
The two doors to her office were opened by Windsor, one of the guards. He walked in and bowed to his Queen. She nodded her head.
"You asked for me, My Queen?" He asked her, maintaining his eye contact with her. Although she knew some of her people feared her, Cinder made sure that everyone would be able to look her in the eyes.
"Yes, I did, Windsor." She said and leaned her elbows on the desk. "Would you please escort the Emperor to the private chamber we have arranged him?"
"Of course, Your Majesty." He said and went to take Kai's elbow. Kai moved away from him and turned to Cinder.
"You can't just lock me up here, I will not walk straight into your trap." He said and stood up.
"I am not locking you up. You are here as my guest, Your Majesty, not my prisoner." She said. "So please, go with Windsor, let me show you a place you can rest in."
"I want to be kept updated about the situation out there. These are my people you are talking about and I will-"
"That's enough, Emperor." She raised her hand. "I will keep you updated, but remember that those people that you count as your own are the same idiots who started all of this."
Before he could respond Windsor took him out of the room, closing the doors behind him.
"What now, My Queen?" Miller asked.
"Please," she pointed to the chair, "sit down." He sat down and she answered his question. "Now, we will wait for the things to come, besides that, we can do whatever we want."
"Miller. This is Sergeant Nigro. Miller, do you read me?"
A voice interrupted him. He pulled out his radio and pressed the button.
"I read you, Sargeant, what happened?" He asked.
"They attacked. They killed seven people, five injured." Cinder's eyes widened and she froze. They attacked. Her heart quickened its beating and her breath caught in her throat.
"Copy that, are they soldiers or civilians?" He asked and looked up to meet her eyes. Once he noticed the look on her face he knew what this meant.
"Civilians. They are out for the other sectors."
"Wait." He said and turned to Cinder. "What do I tell him?" He asked her.
"Tell him to wait. In the meantime, bring here the Emperor." She said.
He got up. "Of course, Your Majesty." He said and bowed to her.
He got out of the room. Cinder let out a sigh and leaned back in her chair. She couldn't just open fire on them, even with what she said, the last thing she needed right now was a war. She knew she couldn't do anything to hurt Kai's people but it didn't matter. She needed to prove her stand and if she had to do that in order to make sure it happens, she will.
The doors opened and two guards walked in, followed by Miller and Kai. She cleared her throat and stood up.
"Thank you, Kinney and Tobias, you may leave now." She said. The two guards bowed and left the room. "Your Majesty, I hope you've rested a little."
"I did." He responded. "May I ask why I am here?"
"Of course." She said and pointed to the chair. "Sit down, please."
"Suit yourself." She sat back in her chair and leaned her elbows on the desk, crossing her arms. "You are here because I wanted you to know before I give the command." She took the radio that was placed on her desk and pressed the button. "Nigro, do you read me?"
A few seconds fast before his response came.
"Good." She locked her eyes with Kai's as she said, "open fire, stop them and stop this madness."
Kai's eyes widened and his face gone pale.
"Copy that, Your Majesty."
"Thank you, Nigro." She said and put down that radio.
"Are you serious? You can't just shoot them." He said.
"I can and I did." She said and slowly got up from her chair as well. "I told you what will happen if they attack, and they did. Seven dead, five injured. All by your people. Now tell me, why shouldn't I fire back?"
He looked at her and said nothing. She knew he thought the same â how couldn't he? She was right and he knew it.
"Just don't shoot to kill, they are not bad people." He said.
"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, Your Majesty. I presume you know what that means, right?"
"That is our policy. You get what you give, and if you escape it, congratulations." She smirked.
"Well, it doesn't have to be that way, Your Majesty. You can spare their lives. Take them as your prisoners. But please, just don't kill them." He said, stepping closer to her desk. "Please, you don't-"
She took a deep breath and said,
"I will not hear another word about this, Emperor. They are your people. Your people, your responsibility. You seem to have forgotten that. Then let me remind you." She straightened herself. "Anything that involves your people â involves you. They invaded my land, it is your responsibility to solve it. You say I'm attacking your people, but I'm only protecting mine. You dare ask me to take mercy on them? On the ones who slaughtered my people?" She raised her voice. "I must say, Your Majesty, you have quite a nerve."
"I admit, I may have been unfair with my requests. But you say that you've changed this place â that you made it better. But the way you run things around here, your policy," he said mockingly, "is even more unfair than my requests. You kill people, make them fight for their lives and watch it like some psychopath. You really think there isn't a problem with it? You're just like Levana, if not worse." He said, his voice laced with venom. Her jaw tightened with the last sentence. She felt herself getting angrier and angrier, waiting to lash out. But she held herself back and just glared at him.
"You will not disrespect The Queen in such way." Miller said, glaring at him too.
"It's okay, Miller," she raised her hand to stop him, "if the Emperor thinks our way is bad, then let's prove him wrong." She said, not taking her eyes off of Kai.
"Nevertheless, My Queen, he can't speak to you this way."
"I agree, he can't. And that will cost him his requests." She said and picked up the radio.
"Nigro?" She said to the radio.
"Yes, My Queen?" He answered.
"Move to G position. Shoot to kill, we are no longer looking for prisoners." She ordered.
"Wait-" she quickly said.
"Leave some survivors, we need a few for the arena."
"No." Kai gasped. "You can't do this, just kill them, they don't have to fight-"
Miller stepped forward and said,
"That will be enough, Your Majesty."
"Did you copy that, Nigro?"
"Thank you." She put down the radio.
"I need to speak to you, Your Majesty." Kai said. "Privately." He looked over at Miller.
"Miller, leave us." She said. She wanted to know what exactly Kai had to say to her that couldn't be heard by her second. Again, her curiosity got the best of her.
"Of course, My Queen." He said and bowed before exiting the room.
"You used to hate it when someone called you 'My Queen'." Kai said once Miller left the room.
"I'm their queen, it only makes sense for them to call me that." She said.
"You've changed." He said, looking her up and down. "You're less you, you're more queenly than a few years ago."
"Well," she looked at him, doing the same thing he did to her, noticing his long dark coat and fingerless gloves he always wore, "five years as a queen changes you. I assume you know what I mean, right?"
"I do. I'm just trying to find where exactly we parted. What we had was strong enough to hold-"
"But it wasn't strong enough." She cut him off. "And whatever is that happened between us is long gone behind us."
She saw a little spark of disappointment in his eyes. She knew that subject hurt him as much as it hurt her. They broke up because of their nations, and because she was the next to rule hers. She didn't want to end their relationship. She loved him, she still did.
"You're right, you are the queen of Luna, I'm the emperor of The East Nation, it was doomed to fail." He said and looked down.
"So, what is it that you wanted to speak about with me privately?" She asked him, wanting to switch the subject.
"Right." He cleared his throat and looked up. "Look, I'm sorry that I said you're like Levana because you're not. Nonetheless, you have to understand that killing them all isn't the solution."
"I'm not killing them all." She said.
"Yes, but you're sending them to the arena and that's not exactly sparing them."
"I don't want to spare them. They acted against my people, that can't go unnoticed."
He walked past the desk and reached her side, standing close to her. She took a deep breath and pursed her lips. They hadn't stood this close since four years ago. It was quite weird standing close to him, yet still familiar.
"Please, let me send someone to go there, make order in this mess, I can solve this. This doesn't have to end like this." He said with a look of passion on his face. Stars, how she loved that look. It was the same look he used to have when he told her he loved her for that first time. It almost had the same effect on her.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but I cannot let you do that. An eye for an eye, that is our way. I can't just ignore that and do whatever I want."
"I know," he stepped closer to her, "but please, don't send them to the arena."
"Please, Cinder, I'm begging you. If you want to kill them â then kill them. But don't send them to the arena."
"It's 'Your Majesty' for you." She said. Him calling her by her name was new yet old. It brought her to a time when she was happy, when she felt whole. With Kai.
"My apologies, Your Majesty. I did not know it bothered you."
Silence filled the room, both of them stared at each other. She thought of how much she missed his brown eyes, his dark hair, running her hand through it. Before she could move away, he leaned down and kissed her, wrapping his arms around her waist. His lips. His soft, talented lips. They had the same effect on her, and that effect made her kiss him back, tying her hands around his neck. He pulled her closer, letting his hands wander down her back. When his hands reached her backside she pulled back, knowing why he kissed her. She couldn't believe he'd do that. But most of all she couldn't believe she actually fell for it.
She stepped back and pulled the chip from the back pocket of her jeans.
"This is what you want, isn't it?" She asked him and held the tiny chip between her fingers. He didn't say anything and just looked down. She smirked. "I knew you played dirty I just didn't know you'd stoop down to this level of dirty." She walked to the end of the table, placing the chip on it. "Tell me, why do you want this?"
He didn't answer but looked up at her. She saw the slight regret in his eyes. She knew better than to be affected by them.
"You want to know my tactics, don't you?" She laughed and stepped closer to him, taking the chip.
"If you want it so bad, here," she put the chip in the front pocket of his pants, "take it."
She locked her eyes with his and felt the tension between them. He didn't move but didn't break their eye contact either. Without noticing, they both slowly leaned closer, not breaking eye contact. She was lost in his eyes, and she knew it. Nonetheless, she let herself get lost in them. His warm, copper brown eyes that she loved.
"Your Majesty?" Nigro's voice came from the radio cut the moment. She looked away and took the radio.
"Yes, Nigro?" She said, not looking at Kai.
"We have a problem, a big one."
"There are more earthens, at least eighty. They are attacking us."
"Seventy six dead, thirty injured. They are mostly civilians."
She froze. Seventy six dead. Seventy six people â her people â were dead. She couldn't believe it. Her shock soon turned into anger and turned to Kai, glaring at him with anger. His face showed surprise, but she couldn't care less.
"Blind up an OG line, make sure to not let anyone cross it. Switch to an H position and kill as many as you can. I want them dead." She sneered, trying to maintain her anger.
"Copy that, Your Majesty."
"Good. Bring the injured to the medical station, I'll take it from there."
She put down the radio and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself before she tore this place apart.
"Your Majesty, I had no idea-"
She raised her hand and cut him off.
"Miller!" She called. Not two seconds have passed and Miller stepped into the room, bowing before the queen.
"Please take His Majesty to his room and lock him up." She ordered.
"What-" Kai protested but Cinder was quick to cut him off.
"And lock his little bitch Torin in there too." She added.
Miller nodded and grabbed Kai's elbow, dragging him out of the room.
"Yes, My Queen?" He turned around.
"Make sure to hurt Torin a little bit while you're at it." She smirked.
"No!" Kai yelled and struggled against Miller's grip.
"I'm sorry for holding you up, but one more thing, Miller."
"You are not holding me up, Your Majesty, what is it?"
"I want you to come to sector seven with me as my second, will you be able to do that? Tell me the truth." She said. She always made sure that her people were not afraid of her and even if they were, she made sure they could speak truthfully to her. She appreciated honesty most of all.
"I will be able to that, Your Majesty. Thank you for the opportunity." He bowed.
"Thank you, for agreeing. Now go."
He left the room with Kai and closed the doors. She sat down on her chair and tightened her jaw. Seventy six of her people, dead. She was going to get her revenge.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.