Torin demands Emperor Kai fulfill his duty: “I have allowed you your freedom, but it is time to put an end to this. You are embarrassing yourself” (345). Despite having learned Queen Levana’s plans, Kai knows marriage to the queen is the only option to avoid a war and gain access to the antidote for the plague. Desperate to stop him, Cinder kisses Kai. She then declares that Kai loves her. Queen Levana explains that love has nothing to do with marriage on Luna, and then exposes Cinder as Lunar.

While Kai digests this information, Levana orders Cinder to be arrested and deported back to Luna. Kai attempts to intervene as a Lunar guard restrains Cinder, declaring that she is not Lunar, only a mere mechanic. No longer willing to keep her secret, Cinder confirms that she is Lunar, and accuses the queen of wishing her dead because she is a shell, and therefore immune to the queen’s glamour. The queen takes aim once more, as she and Sybil inform everyone that Lunar shells are carriers of letumosis, and that the blame for the plague rests on their shoulders. Cinder states that she is not a shell.