The Commonwealth Ball - The Lunar Chronicles (Fanfic)

Chapter 4

"Good evening the citizens of the Commonwealth. It is an honor for me on behalf of the Commonwealth to welcome the beloved queen of Luna." greeted Kai in front of the audience. "She is the one who stopped Levana's rule, ended the Lunar revolution, and formed an alliance with Earth. Not only this but she gave Earth the letumosis antidote which has saved thousands of lives of your friends, family, and citizens" he added. "Now with an open heart, I would like to present Queen Selene Channary Blackburn of Luna."

The Queen stepped out into the palace grounds. Kai was standing in front of her, greeting her to the citizens of the Commonwealth. 

Cinder took a deep breath and walked towards Kai who gave her a slight bow and whispered "good luck" under his breath. 

"NO LUNAR QUEEN! NO LUNAR QUEEN!" many of the protestors chanted.

Cinder jumped and took a step back with a frightened expression. Kai must have seen her expression and suddenly took control.

"Well, well," said Kai. "Is this how we treat our guests. Let Cind- Queen Selene say some words and then you can ask questions."

Cinder walked ahead and cleared her throat. "Umm... thank you Kai- Emperor Kaito for greeting me and all my lunar ambassadors to the Commonwealth." she took a deep breath. "I know the last time I was in the Commonwealth was a long time ago when I was a wanted criminal on both Earth and Luna. I know that during this time I committed many crimes and even kidnapped the beloved Emperor of the Eastern Commonwealth." Cinder glanced at Kai who gave her a small smile. "Let me make it clear that during this time my intentions were clear to overthrow Levana, and did not mean any harm to Earth." "If any of those who you love, were injured or killed I truly apologize and hope you can wholeheartedly forgive me." The citizens were in shock staring at the absurd lunar queen who was confessing all her crimes and asking for forgiveness.

Cinder started again. "The last time many of you actually saw me was at the Commonwealth ball and I'm sure you had many pessimistic thoughts about me. But trust me I had no intention of starting a war, in fact, I had no idea who I even was on that day. My true goal was to come to the ball as a mess and warn the Emperor about Levana's plans." with many snickers in the crowd.

From the expression of the crowd, they looked like they were enjoying it so far. They looked entertained and started showing some admiration for the queen.

"Thank you, any questions?" asked Cinder.

One of the reporters stepped forward and asked, "Why did you give Earth the letumosis antidote and form an alliance with Earth? How can we believe that Luna does not have any demands like it did during Levana's rule?"

"What? Of course not, I do not want nor need any part of Earth. My intentions were clear to stop weakening Earth's society by willingly giving the letumosis antidote."

"Are you going to stay for the Annual Commonwealth Ball?" asked another reporter.

Cinder replied with confidence, "Yes, that is the main reason why I came to Earth."

"Do you have a date to the ball?" asked someone.

Cinder was confused about what to say. She couldn't tell the entire world about her and Kai's relation. They would find out on their own eventually. So Cinder looked up and slightly nodded. "Next..."

"Do you have any relation with Emperor Kaito?" Cinder was taken back by the question.

She glanced towards Kai who was looking down clearly trying not to show her his expression. She was on her own this time. "No!" replied Cinder. "Kai and I are just friends and he is one of the companions of the crew who helped stop the Lunar war." Again Cinder looked towards Kai who was clearly shocked by her answer. Is this really what she thinks about me thought Kai. Cinder glanced towards the citizens staring at her and realized that they were also shocked. Obviously, they expected something juicier between the emperor and queen than the lie CInder blabbed.

Someone stepped forward and asked in anger. "How do we know that you or any Lunar isn't manipulating us?"

"Umm... I have no intention of feeding you lies." murmured Cinder. "Other than Lunar ambassadors and guards, mostly all the Lunars who are staying on Earth as permanent residents are wearing a device that does not allow them to use their Lunar gift. Though I will be honest with you, I cannot guarantee that all Lunars on Earth have this device installed. I have tried my best to prevent any manipulation on Earth." said Cinder.

"So you don't know? We can have Lunars standing right next to us manipulating us and we won't have any idea. Even you could be manipulating us or the Emperor!" stated someone.

"As I said earlier I have no intentions of brainwashing you or anyone on Earth."

"You've done it before. You've brainwashed many people inside the palace and all over Earth."

Cinder didn't know what to say. She just stood there speechless. Cinder couldn't possibly argue with them because everything they were saying was true. She heard murmurs of the people in the crowd saying, "GO BACK TO LUNA", "LUNARS ARE LIERS", "WE HATE LUNARS", and "THE CYBORG SHOULD BE LOCKED UP IN PRISON FOR THE PEOPLE SHE KILLED." 

The world started turning everything became blurry. People were shouting in the crowd. Cinder felt as if she was going to faint when a pair of sturdy arms wrapped around her. She looked up and saw Kai holding on to her. He took quick action and said, "Thank you! That's all for today. The Queen needs to rest." Kai kept her together and they walked away. 

~book_x_nerd