Kai hadn't recognized the girl who had come out of the crashed Lunar spaceship and collapsed against him at first. She was covered in cinders and dirt and burns, and her hair was completely mussed. Basically the exact opposite of her perfect picture in all the photographs he'd seen.

But there was no mistaking it. This girl was was Queen Selene. You could tell not only in her face but also in her ragged but obviously expensive dress. And the girl she was holding must be one of her thaumaturges, judging by the white cloak. They were both injured, too.

Kai turned to the crowd of citizens behind him. He could tell they all recognized him, even in his incognito disguise of a sweatshirt, but were too frightened and shocked by the sight of the Lunar ship that fell from the sky.

"Somebody get a med-droid!" Yelled Kai, lifting up Selene and the other girl. Both unconscious. Kai carried them over to an empty spot on the street and waited for a med-droid and medical hover to arrive. He didn't know if it politically okay for them to treat Lunars, especially the queen, without permission from them. All he knew was that they would die, probably very soon, if they didn't help them.

•

Selene stirred slowly, slitting her eyes open and staring up at the ceiling. The... ceiling. Where was she? She didn't remember ever going someplace with white ceiling tiles. Unless...

Selene felt for her shin, her hand touching fresh, clean bandages instead of skin. She must be in a hospital. And if she was in a hospital, Winter must be as well. Relief flooded through Selene and she slumped back, exhausted. She'd most likely slept for many, many hours before, but the trauma of having been closest to death than she'd ever been before was catching up with her. Selene screwed her eyes shut and tried to shut out the returning images of fire. Blood. Fire. Smoke. Fire. Destruction. Selene choked back a sob.

It was Levana, no doubt about it. No normal Lunar spaceship was capable of malfunctioning that badly. It had to have been tampered with, and no one on Luna except Levana hated Selene so much to attempt such a blatant assassination attempt. Selene had always considered Levana a minor threat to her safety, but she was starting to get annoying. Selene would have to do something about her soon.

Selene reached up to scratch her neck with her left hand, then realized with a start that where her hand once was, there was only a bandaged stub. Selene gasped wheezily, poking at it with her good hand. Gone. All gone. No trace of her old hand remained except for the soft, freshly changed bandages. It must have been burned too badly in the fire, leaving the doctor's only choice amputation. If Selene had been any other of Luna's monarchs, she would have taken the removal of her hand as a personal slight and even might have gone so far as to declare war on Earth. As it was, though, Selene felt nothing but relief. She'd most likely have died if not for the surgeon that made the brave decision to amputate her hand. Selene was grateful for two things. One, that she hadn't died, and two, that it had been her in the spaceship instead of Levana. Who knows how she would have taken it if the doctors had taken off her hand instead of Selene's. Besides, if Selene had died, Levana would have become queen. That would have brought nothing but misfortune and future strife for the people of Luna. Selene sighed internally in relief.

The door to the hospital room creaked open, and three men slipped inside. Two of them looked to be doctors, and one off them looked vaguely familiar with a handsome face and tousled black hair.

"Your Majesty." One of the doctors said, bowing and approaching Selene's bedside, checking her vital signs on the monitor connected to her IV tubes. The other doctor and the boy next to him bowed to Selene as well, and the doctor shifted from foot to foot, looking uncomfortable.

Finally, the uncomfortable doctor blurted out, "Your Majesty. As you may have noticed, we had to amputate your hand. We realize our insolence at this, Your Majesty, and beg your forgiveness!"

The doctor locked himself in a low bow, the tips of his hair brushing the floor. Selene narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm not a moron, Doctor. I'd like it if you could please refrain from using phrases such as, 'as you may have noticed'. Of course I've noticed, idiot. I take your use of language as more of an insult to me as your removal of my hand. Please excuse yourself."

The doctor turned beet red, bowing again and turning out of the room with sweat dotting his brow. Selene turned to the second doctor.

"I hope you're less incompetent than your colleague. Where was he going with that insulting sentence?"

The doctor inclined his head, pushing his glasses up his nose. "I believe, Your Majesty, that he was about to propose the opportunity for you to request a cybernetic hand as a replacement for the on that had to be removed."