Page 26 of Cinder's Adventure: Get Me To the Wedding!

But Cinder wasn’t listening. Her gaze was trained on the bride. Horror wrapped around her insides as the woman reached the end of the aisle and Kai stepped forward to greet her. He was smiling—nervous, but happy—as he took the hem of the veil between his fingers and tenderly lifted it away from the bride’s face.

Revealing Cinder’s aunt—Queen Levana—underneath.

Cinder stumbled back from the rail and screamed.

Proceed to Chapter 26.

Chapter 26

“Cinder!Cinder!”

Still screaming, Cinder lurched upward. Her hand shot out, preparing to strike whoever was grabbing her, but a hand stopped it in midair.

Her scream cut off.

Heart hammering, she blinked into the face that greeted her. Black hair, messy from sleep. Concerned brown eyes. Lips that every girl in the union had dreamed about a thousand times, though she was the only one lucky enough to actually kiss them.

“Kai,” she breathed. “What…? Where…? I thought…” Cinder swallowed hard to wet her dry throat, then looked around at the familiar bedroom that she and Kai had shared since the night of their wedding, years before.

“You were dreaming,” said Kai.

“It was a nightmare,” she said, breaths still ragged. “I was on Luna, and you were—” She cringed, not wanting to even mutter the words. “And before that—” She gave her head a shake as the bizarre dream already began to fade into random, nonsensical scraps. “I was locked in a prison cell, and Iko was wearing bunny ears, and I lost my wedding ring, and it wasawful.”

Laughing, Kai lowered the hand that had tried to hit him and laced their fingers together. “You didn’t lose your wedding ring,” he said, running a thumb over the band. “But I can absolutely see Iko wearing bunny ears. And probably starting an international trend.”

As her heart rate slowed, Cinder allowed herself a small laugh.

Leaning forward, Kai pressed a kiss to her brow. “Do you want to go back to sleep?” he asked. “Or should we sneak down to the kitchens and see what they’ve got for late-night stress-eating?”

This time, it was a real laugh that escaped her.

“I knew there was a reason I married you.”

The end.

Chapter 27

“And no one lived happily, forevermore. The end.”

Serilda smiled sweetly at her audience. All five children were staring up at her with looks of utter dismay.

“That wasn’t a happy ending!” cried Anna, looking particularly betrayed by the story’s conclusion.

Serilda shrugged. “Life doesn’t always end happily. Stories shouldn’t either.”

Fricz guffawed. “What’s the point of stories if they aren’t better than real life?”

“I agree,” said Fricz’s twin brother, Nickel, and this statement in itself was odd, as the two rarely agreed on much. “I was beginning to like that Cinder character. She deserved better.”

Serilda shrugged. “Perhaps we can start the story over tomorrow. I’ll letyoudecide what choices she makes. Maybe we can get her to a happier ending.” She stood, dusting the grass from her skirt. “It’s getting late, and there’s a full moon tonight. You should all be on your way home, before the wild hunt comes by and decides to kidnap you. The Erlking only takes the ones who stay out past curfew and don’t eat their boiled turnips, you know.” She reached out and teasingly pinched Hans’s cheeks.

Hans, the eldest of the group, swatted her hand away, even as his face flushed pink. “I’m too old to believe in ridiculous things like the Erlking. Save your threats for the littles. Come on, Anna. I’ll walk you home.” He held out his hand for Anna to take, but she ignored it, preferring to skip down the road on her own. Grumbling, Hans chased after her.

“Shall I walkyouhome, Gerdrut?” asked Serilda, to the youngest of the group. Gerdrut nodded and wrapped her fingers around Serilda’s, squeezing tight. It was only then that Serilda realized she hadn’t said a single word since the story finished.

They bid farewell to the twins and began making their way through the fields and orchards. Serilda peered down at the girl’s round face, lips twisted to one side in deep thought.

“And just what are you contemplating so intently?” asked Serilda, nudging the little girl with her hip.

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