Cinder

Aware of Dr. Erland's request for her to stay away from the palace for her own safety, Cinder nonetheless takes the risk in order to reunite Kai and Nainsi, along with the valuable information Nainsi possesses. As they approach the palace, Cinder and Nainsi must wade through a crowd protesting the queen’s visit.

Nainsi is allowed to enter the palace due to her ID chip, but Cinder remains outside until Nainsi can find Kai and obtain an entrance pass for Cinder. As Cinder waits outside, Queen Levana walks out onto a balcony, a move that creates a quiet stillness among the protestors. Cinder realizes the protesters are falling for the queen’s glamour. Cinder, too, experiences the queen’s mental manipulation before awareness sets in due to her retina display alerting of the glamour. The queen’s ability to glamour Cinder sparks confusion because as a Lunar shell, she should be immune.

While on the balcony, overlooking the crowd, the queen becomes aware of Cinder’s presence. She not only sees Cinder, but appears to know she is Lunar. Queen Levana’s bewilderment at Cinder’s presence on earth turns into anger.  

Inside the palace, Kai and Torin hear the protests turn to silence and know it’s a result of the queen’s glamour. Sybil describes the glamour as a strategy for “dealing with unruly citizens, which are never tolerated on Luna” (207). Kai responds with his belief that disruption among citizens is indicative of a meaningful reason: that “brainwashing doesn’t exactly seem like the proper solution” (207). The contrasting forms of ruling between Luna and the Commonwealth are obvious, and Prince Kai neglects to hide his contempt for the queen’s strategies.

Queen Levana enters from the balcony and says to Kai that he’s harboring a Lunar fugitive. Genuinely unaware, Kai disavows her accusation. Torin comes to his aid by stating their procedures for overseeing incoming and outgoing spacecrafts. Agreement is reached to search for the Lunar refugee (Cinder) following Kai’s coronation and the subsequent ball.

To celebrate Prince Kai’s coronation as emperor, Queen Levana offers the gift of a letumosis antidote. Kai is furious that that the queen has withheld the antidote; Torin helps to calm his rage. The queen aims to use the antidote as a political tool—Prince Kai must marry her for access to the antidote. Nainsi reaches Kai and assures him that the information they researched remains safe. He considers Cinder, asking Nainsi why she and Cinder did not arrive together, and wonders if Cinder might reconsider attending the ball.

Cinder contemplates why the queen’s glamour influenced her, since, as a Lunar shell, she should be immune. Cinder wonders if she is actually Lunar, an desires to know her origin story. Cinder is allowed into the palace by Kai; she’s fearful about encountering the queen.

Cinder meets up with Kai, who appears distressed. The two walk to Dr. Erland’s office. Kai asks about the reason for Nainsi not working; Cinder informs him about the D-COMM chip she found. Kai says he had nothing to do with installing the chip. Cinder relays that the information stored in Nainsi could be accessed by whoever installed the chip. Unaware of what Nainsi knows, Kai jumps to the idea that his research supports the rumor that Princess Selene is alive. However, his excitement turns to fear when Cinder describes the look of the chip. The chip is Lunar, which means the queen may be aware of his research.

Cinder listens as Kai vents about the problems he faces as the soon-to-be emperor, from Queen Levana and his open disdain for her, to feeling inadequate and unprepared to rule. He again asks Cinder to accompany him to the ball, and Cinder again declines because of who she is: “Cyborg. Lunar. Mechanic. She was the last thing he wanted” (225). Rather than tell him her true feelings, Cinder offers her sick sister, Peony, as the reason for her inability to attend the ball.

Kai escorts Cinder to Dr. Erland’s office, Cinder insisting that she is okay. Dr. Erland continues to hide the reason for Cinder’s pain; Kai reluctantly leaves for a meeting with world leaders. Before his departure, Kai gives the Lunar antidote to Dr. Erland for testing, which leads Cinder to think about Peony. With one last reference to the ball, Kai departs. Dr. Erland scolds Cinder for being at the palace while the queen is present.

Cinder tells the doctor that the queen saw her and that the glamour worked on her, which is a surprise, since Cinder is a Lunar shell. Dr. Erland relays more information about Cinder, including information about Garan, Adri’s late husband: “The year before your surgery, [Garan] unveiled an invention at the New Beijing science fair. A prototype. He called it a bioelectrical security system” (237). The security system is the mystery chip located on Cinder’s spine, and acts as a “lock” (238) to Cinder’s Lunar magic. The pain Cinder experiences is her magic coming to life again.

Dr. Erland defends why he kept certain information away from Cinder, including how the lock kept others from knowing her true identity. In his explanation, Dr. Erland slips when describing how not using Lunar magic results in “psychological side effects” (240). It is this slip that clues Cinder to the doctor’s true identity: he is also Lunar. He challenges Cinder’s judgments about Lunars, saying that not all are evil, and refrains from using his magic. Dr. Erland also relates that he escaped to earth after Queen Levana killed his daughter, who was a Lunar shell and therefore immune to glamour, and designated to die because of it. Erland offers additional details related to being Lunar and to Cinder’s history. Cinder receives a message that Peony is in the final stage of letumosis. Antidote in hand, Cinder leaves with the hope of saving her stepsister. She promises Erland that she will avoid the palace and Queen Levana.