Rumors and Affairs

What was she thinking?!

// This is going to be a multi-chapter fic, so it would take so time!

"You are absolutely correct." She said.

"Your Majesty?" Torin asked, looking as if he was questioning her sanity.

"Yes Torin?"

"Do you want to reconsider what you just said, Your Majesty?"

What the hell did she say that Torin wanted her to reconsider her choice of words? She surely was not paying much attention to the meeting that was taking place around her. Indeed it was she who had called for this meeting. She just zoned from the very beginning of the meeting until now. Plus she had learned this trick from Kai that said "I agree with you but give me some time to think about it." or "Yeah sure". Maybe the trick screwed things for Cinder today. Kai was not there and she was dreading whatever she had said already.

She was continuously zoning out on an hourly basis for the whole day today. She was also missing Kai. Kai-he had gone to England for his meeting with Queen Camilla and the other world leaders. Why couldn't he just stay back and attend all those meetings through his port screen from Eastern Commonwealth? Dang! She missed Kai. Torin was eyeing her as if he could read her mind and tell that it was Kai on her mind, that's when she realized that she had zoned out again in the middle of the meeting. The palace head staff was staring at her as if she had told them that Luna will be attacking Earth tomorrow. Well, she did not have the right to lead an invasion against Earth, not to mention her present state did not allow her to even ride on an airplane leading an invasion against Earth was somewhat next to impossible for her.

It was her mistake that she decided to call the head of each department working in the palace for a meeting to check on their work. Hell she was not even in a condition to keep track of her own work. Kai was so much better at this at least he did not zone out in important meetings like her. She wanted to see Kai and just stare into his brown eyes and run her hand through his black messy hair-

Cinder! Get yourself together; you are the Empress of the Eastern Commonwealth not just a crazy, hormonal pregnant woman.

Putting on her pleasant apologetic smile and resting her hand on her belly, she asked," I am so sorry Torin but could you please repeat what was asked."

"Well, your majesty, Mr.Hiroshi, the Head of the Telecommunication Department asked you a question related to Mr. Thorne..." He said.

It was not quite rare that Thorne was mentioned here and there in international politics. He had indeed been the integral part of the lunar revolution not only that but he previously was known as and this is what he calls himself as -the criminal mastermind. He had also helped her to maintain her calm while she was the Queen of Luna along with distributing antidotes of Letumosis on Earth. He was becoming quite a noble man thanks to her friend Cress. No one would have believed that innocent Cress would have Thorne under her control.

She really hoped that she did not agree to anyone of Thorne's dumb ideas or requests. Last time he had asked Cinder to give him land to rule and she had thought that he meant it casually until Torin had approached Kai about a certain letter from Cadet Thorne about his request to acquire lands in the far east part of Eastern Commonwealth as a symbol of his loyalty to the Emperor. She had really not expected that.

"Well! What about him?"

"According to the management of press taking place under the palace security, some magazines and fan sites have published articles that your majesty, you and Mr. Thorne are having an affair without The Emperor knowing–"

She was sipping water from her glass while Torin was talking and stars above if not for all the manners and etiquette classes she had taken in order to be a pristine Queen of Luna and Empress of Commonwealth she would have definitely spit the water on somebody.

She was coughing to save herself from embarrassment and that's not the worst part she had said 'it's absolutely correct' to whatever Hiroshi had asked.

Once her coughing fit was over, Torin continued, "In addition to this they have posted a picture of you and Mr. Thorne from the Annual Peace Ball claiming that the royal heir to the throne is Mr. Thorne's child and they seek to have an official statement regarding these rumors. The Commonwealth wants to know about the true parentage of the royal heir-"

"That would be enough Torin."

Well now she knew why everyone was staring at her like she had grown a second head. She had just confirmed that the rumors regarding her and Thorne were true in front of the entire palace head staff. They were not true. She had definitely screwed up and Kai and Cress would definitely be distraught after hearing this news.

"Well the Palace shall surely prepare to give the official statement once Emperor Kaito returns. And for my previous statement I would like to apologize as I claimed the rumors to be true without hearing the question properly. I hope you know that my current state is continuously interfering with my work schedule and I get easily distracted. I would apologize for the same. I would also like to confirm that all the rumors of Mr. Thorne and me courting are false and we are nothing but good friends and the parentage of the royal heir should not be questioned. " She said with as much authority as possible. She had to make them believe that she was telling the truth.

"Thank you for attending the meeting. You all may leave." She wanted to ask Torin to wait back but she had already guessed that he might have questions of his own like checking her sanity. Experience has taught her how Torin behaves in situations like these. Everyone left after bowing. She could see a few eying each other suspiciously.

The newsfeed in her eye had already started looking for such articles.

"Are you fine Linh-daren?" Torin dropped all sorts of formalities while talking to her and Kai if they were not in front of a crowd. He was practically like a father to both of them.

"Does Kai know about this?"

He nodded his head. Well now Kai will be more disappointed to know that his wife and mother of their unborn child just accidentally confirmed that she had been having an affair with a dear friend Thorne. Why do all the bad things happen to her in his absence?

Torin was not shouting at her to have paid attention which made it worse.

"What if someone tells about this incident to the press, Torin? They would definitely believe that I have an affair going on with Thorne and had been manipulating Kai all along and Torin, they went as far as to question the parentage of my-our child!?!" She was having a headache. Her throat had gone dry and her retina scanner showed names of so many bodily symptoms but it was all haste for her.

"Cinder, it's fine. This is the very reason Kai did not want you to know about these articles but the rumors are being wide spread so the issue had to be addressed. " Torin was beside her side and patting her on her back which was equivalent to a hug in any normally affectionate person.

"But Torin-"

"Don't worry Cinder I will personally look into the matter and make sure that no false rumors are spread outside the palace. I hope that you have some rest. You did not look good in the meeting and Kai would be worried sick to know that the empress had not been well cared about. "

It's more like Kai would be panicked to death after he came to know what she had done and kick her out.

After saying this Torin left the room. She obviously could not rest. How could sleep come to her after she had screwed up big time?

_x_

// I would probably post in a week, comments and votes are very much appreciated!

Thank You for reading so far!

Credits: The fan-fiction cover is by Eerna (An amazing artist)