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“Are you doing that weird thing where you don’t eat again, Drizella?” Lana asks, stealing a bite of food off Cinder’s plate.

“I am,” Silla says with a forced smile.

“You haven’t been taking very good care of her,” Cinder complains. “She eats better when she’s regularly beaten. Don’t you know anything?”

I know for a fact she’s wrong but I nod sagely as if every word is right.

“Now that Charming is dead, what are your plans, if I may ask?” Ayden asks, steering the conversation wisely away from Silla.

I’m not sure if this is a wise decision yet, based on the excitement sparked in Cinder’s eyes. There’s a manic crazed look I’m not used to seeing on someone who is sane. Unfortunately, I’ve seen it several times on the Trio.

“I’m so glad you asked!” Cinder squeals. “First, I plan to kill the bitch Kinsley. She ought to know better than to rat me out to Charming. Then, I suppose I’ll enjoy fucking whoever I want to for the remainder of the week. Drizella will of course need to stay with me, as she’s now my appointed advisor.”

Silla mentioned this, but I thought we’d have more time.

“Is the threat to the crown from the Underground stabilized now?” I ask curiously. “You asked us to find the leader, but I believe he’s still at large.”

Cinder shrugs. “I have a few leads I’m hoping will expose the leader of the Underground. So far, none of you have given me anything!” she complains.

“Someone’s in trouble,” Lana chants, her legs swinging in the chair. I really hope she’s of age. The girl appears to be barely sixteen at the moment in her blue low cut dress. The only thing Cinder approves of on anyone else is the color, but I wonder if Lana is the exception.

“Shh, Darling. Don’t spoil it for the others,” Cinder cautions. I don’t understand what's happening, but it can’t be good.

“Who were the people on the chandelier?” Silla asks, canting her head to the side. She looks exactly like her step-sister right now, and I wonder if she simply learned the mannerisms, or if she’s always looked like this. Gods, the likeness is uncanny.

Cinder looks perplexed for a moment, as if confused. This woman is definitely not with it right now.

“Perhaps she means the pretty chandelier at the entrance, Cinder?” Lana asks helpfully.

“Oh! Yes, isn’t it beautiful?” she coos. “I have some auditors that have vexed me. I sent them off with their to-do lists, and they messed everything up! Why is it so hard to find good help?”

“I don’t know,” I murmur. I never really had people piss me off when I worked at FRC. Everyone did their jobs well. I expect this is Cinder asking for more than people are capable of doing.

“Anyway, I had a grand time torturing, killing, and displaying them. Did you recognize anyone up there, Drizella?” Cinder asks with a smirk.

Fuck, Ayden was right.

“One of them is an auditor who was watching our apartment,” Ayden remembers. “Drizella never met him, as she was out on an errand when he knocked on the door. He said he had something of hers?”

Ayden shrugs as if he took it as the ramblings of someone who is unwell, and not fact. Cinder gets an evil, calculating glint in her eyes, but is interrupted as she opens her mouth to speak.

“Your majesty, a moment please before I leave for the day?” Mr. Todd asks. Gods, I can’t wait for that rat bastard to go home so he can die. The Underground is in place to blow ricin through the vents of their homes. Anyone who lives at the castle will also die in this way. They’re masquerading as maids and valets in a joint effort to ensure Silla is safe to step into her place as queen.

“Of course,” the queen simpers. Ew, gross. Even Lana looks up in surprise, wiping the corners of her mouth with a napkin. “Please excuse me, I’ll return shortly.”

“What was that about?” Lana asks in surprise as Cinder sashays out of the dining room.

“Not a clue,” I tell her with a shrug. “How does it feel to be out of hiding?”

Silla pinches me under the table, but I just smirk. I’ll spank her for it later.

“Honestly? Amazing! I’m tired of skulking around the hidden passages to know what’s going on,” Lana complains. She looks surprised at her admission, making me wonder if the Trio put other shit in the food. Lana was entirely too truthful. “Excuse me, I don’t know why I said that. Anyway, I hope Cinder is back soon because I need dessert and only her cream will do.”

Lana regularly overshares, so I know the last sentence wasn’t because of the food.

Ayden holds back a smile, holding down the corner of his mouth to keep it from curving up.

“You seemed surprised Charming was dead,” he tells her. “Are you sad to see him gone?”