Chapter 29
I ’d never been to the Falmouth Train Station before.
I’d never left the city before. While Kilderoy was the mysterious land north of the Mortarbone Cliffs, only the wealthiest of the New Rothwick citizens could afford the trip through the mountains.
And those born on that side of the cliffs rarely ventured south to the city.
Tris had mapped out the bus route we needed to take to cross the city to the Falmouth Train Station.
We’d all slept in quite late, even Wylen, so there was a bit of a mad rush to figure out what to pack, find Tris’s tent (which was buried in the back of his storage room), and make it to the station in time.
“This feels weird,” I muttered to Tris as we stood in line to check in.
The Old Mission Tunnel sat in front of us, arching as wide and high as several city buildings.
Carved through the white rocks that walled off New Rothwick from the rest of the continent, the stone had been polished and decorated to exude extravagance and appeal to the population who enjoyed decadence.
“What does? The fact that we finally get to see what lies beyond the cliffs, or that we’ll be riding in first class and bumping elbows with New Rothwick’s most elite?” Tris beamed with excitement, yet I couldn’t push down that nagging feeling that something was off .
“In my home, we don’t have trains,” Wylen said, staring up at the massive archway at the beginning of the tunnel.
“Well, then I guess this is a new adventure for all of us,” I said before Tris had a chance to reply with some rude comment. “We’re up.”
I stepped forward to the attendant to show him our tickets.
He was just a few inches taller than me but at least three times my size in girth.
His red jacket barely stayed clasped together around his swollen belly, and his cheeks were red from being exposed to the humid air.
After studying our tickets, he finally looked at the three of us.
Not missing the way he glared down his pointy nose at me and then eyed Wylen with a lot more respect, I bit my tongue.
“One way?” he asked, flipping my papers over in his hands.
“No, but we don’t have a set date of return.”
He glared at me again. “That is unusual,” he muttered.
“It’s not,” I snapped back, pushing my fog out over him and trying my best to convince him to stop questioning our intent.
“We usually see a return ticket.”
Tris set down his backpack and tent and stepped a little closer to the man. “Believe me when I tell you we are coming back. We’re just not sure how long we can stand the elements up there, you know?” he teased. “Sosie’s not a big fan of the wilderness.”
The man huffed but continued flipping through our paperwork. “All three of you camping together?”
I shook my head as Tris smiled and said, “Yes.”
Another round of scrutiny before Wylen spoke. “Sir, we only anticipate being gone a couple of days.” He reached forward and set his hand on the man’s shoulder. The attendant instantly relaxed and got a glazed look in his eyes as he stared up at Wylen. “Are we free to pass?”
It took a minute before the attendant spoke, and I worried we’d pushed our luck. But he eventually smiled, handed the paperwork back, and said, “Follow me.”
I tossed Wylen a sly look, asking what he’d just done, but he just gave me a slight shake of his head.
Tris led the way along the platform, walking briskly after the man who shuffled along at an almost unnatural speed.
The train was already here, doors and windows open to allow the breeze pushing down the cliffs a place to flow.
“This is you,” the attendant said, waving toward the third car. “Your rooms are across from each other. Dining car is up front. Bar car is in the rear. Enjoy your trip.”
He walked away before I had a chance to thank him for his help. Probably for the best. “Was he part troll?” I asked Wylen. Tris snapped his head around just as he stepped up on the first stair to enter the train.
“I’m not sure,” Wylen mused. “He was something…different, though.”
“He was an ass,” Tris said, reaching his hand toward me and helping me up. “Not all assholes are trolls.”
“No, but most trolls are?—”
“Don’t even finish that sentence, Wylen,” I warned with a smile. He chuckled while Tris grumbled something beneath his breath.
As we stepped inside, a train employee handed us hot washcloths in exchange for our bags, and we followed her down a short hallway to our sleeper cars. “Dinner starts an hour after departure,” she said with a slight blush growing on her cheeks each time she looked at Wylen.
“Thank you.” I watched her walk away and then studied the tickets one more time. “Looks like Kaelan gave you your own room, Wylen.” I pointed to the door across from me. “And Tris and I are right here.”
I slid the heavy metal door to the right, revealing a room about the size of my kitchen.
Two beds were braced into the walls on each side, like floating bunks.
One parallel and one perpendicular to the door.
A small table with two chairs sat in the middle, and to the left was a door I guessed led to the bathroom.
Tris was already checking it out. “I wonder if this is what it’s like traveling on a ship?
” he mused, flicking the water on and off in the tiny sink.
I smiled. “Probably.”
“Depends,” Wylen said from the doorway.
“Depends on what?” Tris asked.
Wylen’s eyes darted to me in worry, like he’d revealed something he didn’t intend to.
“Depends on your wealth, right, Wylen?”
He nodded and looked appropriately embarrassed.
“Well, whatever,” Tris said with a huge sigh. “I’m fine pretending to be rich for a day or two. Let’s go grab a drink.”
Pushing past the two of us and turning toward the rear of the train, Tris practically skipped around the other passengers, being sure to smile and greet them. He seemed unusually happy and calm about all of this, and I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t find that odd.
“He is fine, Sosie,” Wylen said as we started to follow.
“He is always good at moving on,” I muttered.
“He enjoys life.”
I turned around and looked up at Wylen. He wore his ball cap again, along with his jeans and a plain black t-shirt. We were definitely underdressed for first-class travel. “How do you know that?”
Wylen shrugged and beckoned me to the side when a family with two kids tried to walk past. The two little girls marveled at Wylen, their eyes as wide as their mother’s. I pushed down a giggle.
“You know, you could have quite the career here in New Rothwick if you ever wanted to stay.”
“I cannot stay,” he said quickly, tone changing and head dropping.
“I know, I was just saying?—”
“Sosie! Come on!” Tris had made it to the end of this passenger car and was holding the door open between ours and the next one.
We hurried forward and continued all the way to the last car, which was surprisingly empty of passengers.
The train horn sounded, and we lurched forward just as Tris grabbed us one of the booths in the bar car.
Unlike our rooms, this car had windows that stretched all the way around the top, giving a nearly panoramic view.
I sank into my seat, Wylen scooting into the plush booth across from me, while Tris talked to the bartender behind the counter.
The train jerked forward several more times before the slow hum of the pistons became faster and faster.
I watched the sky as we got closer to the Old Mission Tunnel and once again marveled at the design.
“Do you think humans built this?” I asked Wylen.
He turned in his seat a bit to look forward. “Sure. They built your city, did they not?”
“I don’t know anymore,” I mumbled.
“Humans are a very interesting group,” Wylen added, still watching the tunnel entrance up ahead. “You all have created technology and gadgets only dreamed about in our realm.”
“Why don’t you all borrow some of our inventions?”
Wylen shook his head. “The metals. Those used in your electronics can be harmful to us and our magic.”
Thoughts swirled in the back of my head, pushing their way to the front in a search for answers. “If our realm is so harmful, how is it the Gil could be here for so long?”
Wylen’s jaw twitched, and I knew I’d asked him something he didn’t want to discuss. But even when Tris joined us with a whole bottle of wine and started to pour our drinks, I didn’t let up.
“What is it, Wylen?”
“If I asked you to just accept that Gil’s presence in Talamnach is an exception to the rules, would you?”
I said no at the same time Tris asked, “What’s Talamnach?”
Wylen groaned and drank his wine. I glared at him, arms crossed over my chest, until he finally set it down and had the courage to look at me again. “You really are persistent,” he muttered, and Tris chuckled.
“Why can Gil live in our world for so long, while you are struggling?” The train entered the tunnel, and the air around us cooled instantly. The lights inside the bar car illuminated the tunnel just enough to see how the stone was carved to allow this passageway to exist. It was quite a marvel.
"Gil and I are of different bloodlines. Some Fae can tolerate metals better than others. Gil’s…your family…comes from a long history of weapons makers. Therefore, they fare better in the human realms.”
Realms.
Plural.
I bagged that question for another time.
“And what is Talamnach?” Tris asked again.
Wylen waved his hand to dismiss the question. “It’s just a term we use for your continent.”
“What does it mean?” I continued to bug him.
He gave me an exasperated look. “It doesn’t translate directly.” When I narrowed my eyes, he sighed. “The land after.”
“The land after,” Tris repeated. “I kind of like it.” He poured more wine and sank back into the seat next to me.
“I don’t,” I said.
“Sosie, of all the things we’ve learned these past few days, this is what upsets you?” Tris wrapped his arm across my shoulders and pulled me closer. “Seriously?”