Scarlet

Back in New Beijing Prison, Cinder thinks about the circumstances that landed her in Thorne’s cell. Cinder recently learned that she is the missing Lunar princess, Princess Selene, and that Queen Levana “tried to murder [her] thirteen years ago” (51). However, Cinder was “rescued and smuggled down to Earth” (51), where she has been hiding. Queen Levana recognized her long-lost niece at the ball and “threatened to attack Earth if Cinder wasn’t thrown in jail for being an illegal Lunar emigrant” (51-52), but Dr. Erland urged Cinder to escape. Now, as Cinder tries to figure out how to break out of Thorne’s cell, she realizes that she accidentally used her glamour—the “genetic trait Lunars [are] born with that allow[s] them to control and manipulate the bioelectricity of other living creatures” (52-53) on Thorne. She decides that Thorne can escape with her if he takes her to his spaceship. Together, they crawl through the air ducts and reach an underground loading dock. Guards spot them, but Cinder uses her glamour to convince the men to “turn around [...] close [their] eyes,” and “cover [their] ears” (61) while she and Thorne escape through a storm drain.