Marissa Meyer

What did you bring me today? Delusional mutterings with a side of crazy?

They're the first crew I've ever had and most of them even call me Captain. I'm going to miss them.

Winter__ head snapped around, away from Scarlet. Scarlet__ pace slowed, dread pulsing through her as she, too, heard the footsteps. Pounding footsteps, like someone was running at full speed toward them. She reached for the knife Jacin had given her. A man barrelled around the corner, heading straight for the princess. Winter tensed half a second before he reached her. Grabbing Winter__ elbow, he yanked back the red hood. Scarlet gasped. Her knees weakened. The man stared at Winter with a mixture of confusion and disappointment and maybe even anger, all locked up in eyes so vividly green that Scarlet could see them glowing from here. She was the one hallucinating now. She took a stumbling, uncertain step forward. Wanting to run toward him, but terrified it was a trick. Her hand tightened around the knife handle as Wolf, ignoring how Winter was trying to pull away, grabbed her arm and smelled the filthy red sleeve of Scarlet__ hoodie, streaked with dirt and blood. He growled, ready to tear the princess apart. __here did you get this?_ So desperate, so determined, so him. The knife slipped out of Scarlet__ hand. Wolf__ attention snapped to her. __olf?_ she whispered. His eyes brightened, wild and hopeful. Releasing Winter, he strode forward. His tumultuous eyes scooped over her. Devoured her. When he was in arm__ reach, Scarlet almost collapsed into him, but at the last moment she had the presence of mind to step back. She planted a hand on his chest. Wolf froze, hurt flickering across his face. ____ sorry,_ said Scarlet, her voice teetering with exhaustion. __t__ just_I smell so awful, I can hardly stand to be around myself right now, so I can__ even imagine what it__ like for you with your sense of

And they all lived happily to the end of their days.

Cinder flexed her tongue, testing it, and raised her voice."I am princess Selene."Levana leaned forward. "Your are an impostor!""And I am ready to claim what's mine. People of Artemisia, this is your chance. Renounce Levana as your queen and swear fealty to me, or I swear that when I wear that crown, very person in this room will be punished for their betrayal.

Tapping a finger against the flesh of her elbow, she deadpanned, __acin Clay, there is an assassin under my bed.

Emperor, right." she retacked the curtain "That's weird to say, after eighteen years of listening to celebrity gossip feeds go on and on about 'Earth's favorite prince'". She claimed one of the lumpy sofa cushions, curling her legs beneath her. "I had a picture of him taped to my wall when I was fifteen. Grand-mere cut it off a cereal box."Wolf scowled."Of course, half the girls in the world probably have had that same picture from that same cereal box."Wolf scrunched his shoulders against his neck, and Scarlet grinned, teasing. "Oh, no. You're not going to have to fight him for pack dominance now are you? Come here."She beckoned him with a wave of her hand and he was at her side in half a second, the glower softening as he pulled her against his chest.

You think I__ perfect?__e didn__ look away. Didn__ look bashful or even nervous. Just stared at her, like she__ asked him if Luna orbited the Earth. Then he leaned over and brushed a kiss against her forehead.__ust sort of,_ he said. __ou know. On a good day.

I'm going to make it a law that the correct way to address your sovereign is my giving a high five.' Kai's smiled brightened. 'That's genius. Me too.

You are the capital U in Unhelpful.

She would be brave. She would be heroic. She would make her own destiny.

But you are crazy.___ know._ She lifted a small box from the basket. __o you know how I know?__carlet didn't answer.__ecause the palace walls have been bleeding for years, and no one else sees it._ She shrugged, as if this were a perfectly normal thing to say. __o one believes me, but in some corridors, the blood has gotten so thick there's nowhere safe to step. When I have to pass through those places, I leave a trail of bloody footprints for the rest of the day, and then I worry that the queen's soldiers will follow the scent and eat me up while I'm sleeping. Some nights I don't sleep very well._ Her voice dropped to a haunted whisper, her eyes taking on a brittle luminescence. __ut if the blood was real, the servants would clean it up. Don't you think?

Iko held up a hand. "You need a system debug if you're suggesting that I would abandon you know.

Kai neared his desk again, seeing that the fugitive's profile had been transferred to the screen. His frown deepened. Perhaps not dangerous, but young and inarguably good-looking. His prison photo showed him flippantly winking at the camera. Kai hated him immediately.

You're asking the cyborg fugitive and the wild animal to be the welcoming committee? That's adorable.

Besides, if you are who you claim to be, that makes you my true queen. Therefore, you have my loyalty.

But mostly I just think I'am not the best person to demonstrate all the goodness humanity has to offer. I don't want you to be too disappointed when you realize that.

It was made out to be some kind of honor, giving your life for the good of humanity, but it was really just a reminder that cyborgs were not like everyone else.