Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-34633327-20180125034140/@comment-30530552-20180216184602

It's not so much a shot in the dark as it is explicitly clear.

She was searching for the Spring Maiden at the time because it would allow for her to open the Vault to the Relic of Knowledge, which happened because of her intervention and implanting Raven with the possibility of taking it for herself.

Her gifting Cinder "power," whether by letting her go after the Fall Maiden or giving her the Grimm arm to try and syphon the Spring powers, it was largely to receive the Relics that came with it.

Hell, Watts even says it explicitly in the unspeakable Chapter to Raven: "The Maidens are merely a means to an end. Salem's true desires are the Relics locked within the Huntsmen Academies."

That doesn't still mean that Maidens aren't targets, however...just that the Relics are her main goal, and the best outcome for her comes when she can guarantee the power on her side, hence why she might've offered Cinder the Grimm arm. And similarly, considering Cinder's "effectiveness" (depending on how you view it), she'd probably want the extra firepower on her side, as she has an advanced techie who (so far) hasn't really done much outside of the Black Queen virus, a vengeful brute running on willpower who can basically tank anything that hits him, and an ultra-creepy scorpion-boi with the capability to hunt and incapacitate foes...which isn't really anything special. Magic, however, is.