He stood in front of the three sectioned mirror as several attendants fitted him into the white suit and blood red sash adorned with metals and pins that was made for this day. The sash was smooth silk that could lull the sense of touch into slumber. The white if the suit so stark and bright is could rival the moon's glow. His hair had been combed and styled by a professional to perfectly compliment the crown that would be placed on his head during the coronation.

He saw his reflection, and only really processed certain parts of the way he looked. His eyes, sunken and tired from only eight hours of sleep in the past week. His lips, frozen in an emotionless image. Not daring to show or indicate the smallest sample of joy or hatred.

His cheek appeared slightly hollow from the lack of eating he'd had over the last week and a half. Not a morsel of food at graced his tongue in a whole day, and he wasn't even hungry.

The outfit he was wearing was one he would wear for the coronation, and then ...

The wedding.

Time was up. With Cinder not being spotted since the fight at the Benoit farm, there were next to no leads for any of the private detectives to go off of. And today was the day of the coronation. The deal Kaito and Levana had made said that if Cinder wasn't found by sunset today, he would marry Levana. Sunset was at seven almost exactly.

It was nearly one in the afternoon now. Less than six hours before Kai would have to marry that witch. It was more likely that Levana would call of the wedding than for Cinder to be found and returned to the palace before then.

So, he had no chance of marrying Cinder. After fighting so hard for so long, they wouldn't get to be together. The only person who truly cared about him, who sincerely wanted to be his family. And he would be marrying her aunt.

That is, if Cinder wasn't already dead. The tests had come back from the swabs of the inside of the satellite, and Cinder had definitely been inside it before it crashed. She could be dead.

Kai had grown used to the crushing feeling he'd developed after she'd been stolen from him. The endless despair that clouded his mind constantly. Every last bit of self loathing and hatred for his own existence grew and grew. It was as if a black hole was swallowing his heart from inside his body.

He could feel nothing but pain and sorrow, and he desperately wanted it all to end.

The attendants flocked away to find more accessories for his attire, and he stood glumly in front of the mirrors. All he saw in his reflection was a pathetic waste of space that couldn't even protect the one person he loved and who loved him. A weak, insignificant moron that was only cared for because he was a prince. If he wasn't such royalty, no one would care if he went missing, disappeared, or even died.

A glint of light caught his eye, and he saw something else in the mirror's reflection. It was enough to make him turn around and find something that he had not yet been fitted for.

A sheathed sword that he remembered seeing his father wear to the Coronation of Queen Camilla. It was a blade that resembled valor, bravery, and the caring for of others.

The handle was glorious enough without the rest of the sword. A handle of simmering gold and with a guard of gilded branched with intricate leaves no bigger than the nail on his pinkie finger.

He stepped toward the sword, feeling as though it was calling to him.

After all of this, Cinder getting kidnapped, being forced to allow politics to rule his life. He knew how his father felt. He knew how painful it was to be separated from the one thing you love. His father might have had the capacity to truly care for Kai if he hadn't be riddled with grief and the thought that his son could only be a reminder of his lost wife.

But his father got to marry the one he loved. He go to have a child with his bride. Kai wouldn't even have that. He was being forced to marry a woman of pure evil that would most likely have him killed after she got what she wanted.

Kaito winced at the thought. The mere idea that he would have to marry Levana, a witch born from the pits of hell. That he would have to .... ugh. He internally gagged.

His hands reached out for the blade. The finger of his right hand wrapped tightly around the handle of the hilt, and his left grabbed for the sheath, removing it and dropping on the floor.

Silver was the blade that seemed sharper than a sword just used on a weld-stone. A perfect contrast to the handle. He held it aloft, just at the level of his eyes.

The gold handle was a perfect contrast to the blade. The gold to it's silver. The day to it's night. The light to it's darkness.

Just like Cinder was to him.

Suddenly, the sword weighed a hundreds pounds in his hand. The tip hit the floor and made a few sparks glide of the metal. He couldn't cry still. There wasn't nearly enough water in his system to do that.

But he felt all of the pain just the same. Every last bit of agony and torture he'd felt up to this moment crashed against him in waves, threatening to knock him down. The worst part was, he wasn't even trying to stop the pain from engulfing him. He was done fighting. Done resisting. Done trying to survive this.

There was nothing he could do to get Cinder back now. Not when he was to weak to save himself.

He thought about how beautiful the blade would look on him. But .. not the way the attendants might have wanted. His hands leveled the blade so that the tip was against his chest. Where his heart used to reside. The idea of how his soon bloodied shirt would match his sash almost made him produce a faint smile.

Just as he felt the tip of the blade cut into the top of his suit, a familiar pain protruded his skull. It willed his hands to fall to his sides as he held the sword. His mildly slouched shoulders became parallel to the straightness of his legs.

As bad as this was, Kai caught the sound of Levana's cursed laugh that she made when she was happy. AKA when she was torturing someone.

The queen strolled into the scene like this was her normal kind of affair. Which it probably was. "Do you really think I'm going to let you kill yourself before you marry me?"

Kai didn't speak. Her vale was just as deceptive as it's owner. Her dress was lavender with lacy flowers around its base. And Kai thought about how much prettier Cinder would be in that dress than Levana.

Levana floated closer with her supposedly graceful walk and stared at Kaito in amusement. "You would really rather die than marry me?"

His nose started to twitch. He held a firm point of eye contact with the floor in front of him. Too many games, too much torment, to much waiting. Why couldn't he just die already? He knew it was coming, that Levana would dispose of him the second he lost his usefulness to her. Why couldn't that moment come sooner?

"What do you want?" he growled.

The queen was smiling under he vale. Kai could feel it. "To gloat," she answered. Kai didn't have to ask her to elaborate. "You and Cinder had the perfect love, and it was unconditional, unselfish, and nearly unbreakable. And something as small as a kidnapping broke you in two." Her hand brushed his shoulder, and he tried to yank away. But her glamour held him firm. "Just like a horrible tragedy can break the two of you apart, one brought you together. Don't you remember?"

Confused, he was stupid enough to ask, "Remember what?"

She laughed in pure, evil pleasure. "The nightmares you both had. The one that scared you both into crying out for the other to comfort you."

A lump the size of his fist formed in his throat. He could recall just how terrified those nightmares made him. More importantly, how much they frightened Cinder. "You..."

"Yes, me," she grinned. "I've been causing the two of you pain in hopes that you would bond over it. When Cinder was clumsy enough to fall and reveal her cyborg foot, I thought she was done for! I though the marriage alliance was no longer an option. Imagine my surprise when you helped Cinder to her feet and told her that you loved her regardless. She almost couldn't believe a word you said."

Though the was nothing left in his stomach to throw up, Kaito thought he might anyway. This woman was sick and twisted, more so than he thought at first. She'd watched them. She'd watched them be vulnerable together. She stalked them like a scientist with their pet project.

A deep pit was forming, a seed of doubt that had been planted long ago. "Did you .. did you know? That Cinder was going to be kidnapped?"

Her laugh grew in volume and became even more shrilled than before. "Of course I knew! I knew before it was going to happen, before you two got engaged. I've known and I've enjoyed every moment that you were withering in agony."

A wave of despair swallowed him whole. At least, that's how it felt when Levana released her grip on him. He dropped the sword and fell. Not able to find the strength to stand up again. He fell back against a wall he'd forgotten was there. His knees in his chest, arms at his sides. Tears managed to fight there way out of his eyelids.

Levana's glamour penetrated his mind again to project the sound of Cinder's screams in his head. So loud and real he could have sworn she was next to him. Her shrieking tore his head to shreds.

"Please," he begged. His nails digging into the fabric of his pants. "Please stop."

Tears stained his clothing and face. Levana leaned over and puffed, "Never."

KAI!!! Cinder screamed in his mind. Her body beaten and bloody from cuts and wounds. She cried out for him, relentless. But he couldn't save her. He would never be enough to save her.

She repeated his name at the top of her lungs in his head. Begging for him to help her. But he was helpless. She screamed his name over and over and over. Enough to make Kaito wish he'd killed himself a long time ago.

Levana smirked at his anguish. "You will never be free of this pain, young prince. I will make sure of that."

He prayed to every good thing in this word that she didn't mean she would keep him alive for as long as possible. He just wanted to die, to get it over with. He couldn't stand this any longer. Knowing that Cinder could be in peril, that she could be dead.

Why couldn't the universe be kind to him for once, and kill him already?