26. Chapter 26
CHAPTER 26
Lucenna
A light cover of fog rolled across the quiet platform of the quiet train station. Only a few people mingled about, waiting for the next ride out of the city. Lucenna wearily looked to the road. As soon as Zev and Rawn had realized Dyna and Fair were missing, they set out for Kelpway during the night.
Lucenna shifted on the stone bench. Her body felt cold and stiff from waiting here since dawn. Leaning back against the wall, she closed her eyes. She hated this. She hated being left here out of the fight. Nothing good ever came out of separating. She should have gone after her, too.
But it was no longer safe for her here.
There had been no more sightings of Magnus. He probably moved on to whatever business he had here. Lucenna was still holding onto the hope his presence here was only a coincidence, but she had to risk glamourizing herself as an old hag. Sighing, she adjusted the sash over her eyes, making sure they were covered. When she told Lucien about their uncle last night, he urged her to leave Dwarf Shoe immediately before anyone else spotted her.
It wasn’t only the mages to worry about. The map to Mount Ida was tucked away in her satchel like a secret. Rawn and Zev felt it best she kept it with her, and far away from Tarn.
But Lucenna couldn’t help feeling to blame for this mess. She rubbed her eyes beneath the sash and sighed. “I shouldn’t have been so hard on her. I drove her to do this.”
“The lass was determined to go. You couldn’t have stopped her.” The detached tone in Klyde’s voice made Lucenna look over at him. He sat leaning forward with his elbows resting on his legs. His jaw was clenched, his cool blue eyes fixed on a crack in the wooden floor.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she said. “You have waited years for the opportunity to confront your brother. Why are you still here?”
Klyde inhaled in a harsh breath and rubbed his face. “I am tasked with taking you to safety, Lucenna.”
Yet she could read the frustration on his face and the restlessness of his bouncing knee. He wanted to go. Though it may be difficult since he let Elon borrow his horse.
“I can find my way to the White Woods. This may be the only chance you have to stop Tarn.”
He straightened and his tired gaze found hers. “You’re probably right. This may be the only time he and I are within the same province. But if something were to happen to you, if you were taken by mages because I went after him, I could never bear that.”
They looked at each other in the morning quiet and a drizzle began to fall. He put her first before his own vendetta, but it somehow made her feel worse.
Klyde leaned his head back. “At the moment, helping you leave the state takes priority over everything else.”
She glowered. “I am not a defenseless woman, Klyde. I have been battling mages for the last three years and I held my own perfectly well. I don’t need you to protect me.”
He chuckled but it didn’t sound amused. “Aye, I know. You don’t need anyone. You’re better off alone, right? Fine, that. But allow me to take you where you need to go, then I will leave you be.”
Lucenna frowned, taken aback by his response.
But as easily as it an appeared, Klyde’s irritation faded with another breath. “Do you know how to travel by train and how to go to where you need to go?” he asked in a softer tone.
Unfortunately, he had a point. At the look on her face he nodded and returned to staring at nothing. She studied him, trying to understand the unsaid things behind his words. He was upset, but it was more than merely not going after his brother.
A crowd slowly gathered on the platform as the hour drew near. They perked up at the vibration beneath their feet as the floor rumbled with an incoming the train. It let out a piercing whistle, spitting out steam into the early morning. The brakes hissed and screeched as the train came to a stop at the station. She rose from the bench with Klyde.
The gathered crowd swarmed forward in a rush toward the many entrances of the attached carriages for passengers. Conductors in dark blue uniforms stepped out.
The one assigned to the carriage in front of them was a grumpy dwarf. He barked at them to form a line and make room for the passengers disembarking the train. “Mind the gap,” he announced on repeat once the line started moving.
Eventually it was their turn to board. Klyde went in first and took her arm, towing her past the opening between the platform and the train’s stairs. He led her to the back of the carriage, and they chose the empty wooden booth on the end. Lucenna sat and he took the seat across from her. It wasn’t long before all the eats were filled. The train sputtered a whistle, and the carriage rattled as they rolled away from the station. Lucenna stiffened as they picked up speed. It was a marvelous experience and a little unnerving.
“Rest,” Klyde murmured. “It will be a long ride until the next stop.”
She wouldn’t sleep, not whilst ridding this metal beast.
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep watch.” Klyde appeared laid back with his arms crossed. But his alert eyes studied the crowd. He had taken the seat that gave him a full view of the carriage.
Lucenna almost retorted something about having a personal guard, but she yawned instead. They fell into a comfortable silence as she watched the city of Little Step sweep past them out of the window. The rising sun cast a golden light over the rooftops. Eventually, the rocking of the train lulled her into a dreamless sleep. She seemed to float on a warm cloud, enveloped in the rich scent of sea salt and cedar. For whatever reason, it made her feel safe.
She woke to the soft rumble of Klyde’s quiet voice. “Evening.”
It was close. Right beside her. Lucenna almost thought he was speaking to her until another spoke.
“Tickets, please,” came a nasally response.
She peered through her lashes, finding herself leaning against Klyde’s chest. His arm was securely wrapped around her with his mercenary coat covering her. Her first thought was annoyance, then embarrassment that she fell asleep on him. His arm partially hid her view, though she saw the dwarfs’ small shoes in the aisle beside them.
“One moment.” Klyde carefully shifted, careful not to wake her as he reached into his coat pocket.
“Traveling with your wife?” the dwarf asked him.
Lucenna tried not to twitch at the question. She remained still, pretending to be asleep.
“Aye,” Klyde answered gruffly as he handed the conductor their tickets.
“Where to?”
“South.”
“Hmm. Silver hair. I’ve never seen a lass with pretty hair like that. Where does she hail from?”
“Is that your business to know?”
She inwardly smiled at Klyde’s unusual brisk tone.
“All right, sir. I meant no offense.” The dwarf stamped their tickets and returned them. He went on his way, muttering to himself about tetchy mates.
Wait. He said silver hair .
Lucenna sat up with a gasp. She looked down at herself, finding her glamour had dissolved again. Why did it keep doing that?
“Sit back.” Klyde quickly pulled her back to the shelter of his chest and tucked the lose locks on her temples beneath the turban she now wore on her head. He must have put it on her to cover her hair. “The spell broke a little while after you fell asleep,” he whispered, peeking over his shoulder. “My coat deflects magic, but I don’t know how well it serves to cloak it. I wouldn’t risk casting another spell.”
Lucenna stiffened at the wariness in his tone. “Why?” she whispered back, listening to rapid beat of his heart. Her pulse climbed with it.
“I am quite sure there is a mage on this train.”
“What?” she hissed.
“The next stop is in Oreville. We’ll get off there and take the next train out.”
Lucenna glanced at the evening sky outside of the window. She had slept most of the day. “When?”
“Soon,” Klyde murmured, his breath drifting over her scalp.
Lucenna shivered. Both from the sensation and from nerves. “You saw him?”
“Aye. Spotted him in the next carriage when the conductor crossed through. He’s wearing gray robes.”
The tension eased out of her body with a heavy exhale. “He’s not an Elite Enforcer. Only an Earth Mage.”
“No cause to worry, then?”
Lucenna peeked past his shoulder to the door that separated the carriages. It had a window to see into the other side. She couldn’t see the mage, but she did see part of the green crystal in his staff. The little Essence hovering around him was hardly of any note. Must be a boy still learning the craft, and by the charcoal color of his robes, he was of a middle-class House. The Earth mages from a noble class dressed in brown.
Like the Celestials, the mages wore their colors according to their Guild and power level. The darker it was the more powerful, but most liked to inflate their level by basing their robe colors off their nobility. Black was the highest status of all. It was only worn by Enforcers and the Archmage’s household.
“Every mage is a risk, but if I am spotted, this one will more than likely report me to an Enforcer rather than confront me,” she said.
“Because it is not his duty to capture you?”
“Because I can sense his little power.” Lucenna turned back around. “Once he senses mine, he won’t wager his life.”
Klyde chuckled. “I admire your confidence.” He switched to the bench across from her again to keep his sights on the carriage door. “Once we reach the station, we’ll go somewhere to lie low for a while. The next train arrives in two hours.”
Rain pattered against the carriage roof, filling the silence as they waited. When the train began to slow, Lucenna could finally breathe easy. They were already standing when the train came to a stop. Klyde took her hand and pulled her ahead to the exit before anyone else could beat them to it. The conductor berated him for opening the door, but Klyde ignored him. He got out and lifted her by her waist, promptly setting her down on the platform.
Her legs wobbled from the unexpected solidity of the floor and the shock of how easily he moved her.
The spring wind blew against them and the sash hanging loosely around her eyes lifted. Lucenna reached for it, but the wind snatched it away. And at that same moment, she looked up and met the gaze of the mage from the train windows. He was hardly a young man, perhaps sixteen.
But there was no shock on his face.
Because she realized, he had wanted her to think that.
The air rippled with a burst of powerful magic, so strong it weighed on her like a heavy blanket. It had been completely hidden away until he dropped his cloaking spell and the glamour he wore peeled away.
The earth boy mage vanished and in his place was a fully grown lunar mage with sharp features and short white hair.
Her lungs seized with a breath.
Magnus.
“Shite,” Klyde cursed. He grabbed her hand, and they ran.
The hum of the train station faded behind them as he led her through the darkening streets of Oreville. Their boots splashed in rain puddles, their heavy breathes clouding in the cool, misty air.
Gods, how could she have been so careless? Of course, he had been sent to find her. He was a skilled tracker. It must have taken a lot of her father’s pride to send his younger brother after her. Or the Archmage was finished waiting.
Static crackled in the air, and she knew, Enforcers were already after her. Magnus must have had them waiting in each major stop along the railway.
“You really shouldn’t have stayed with me,” Lucenna said as they loped around another street. “We need to split up.”
“What?” Klyde demanded. “I’m not leaving you, woman.”
She gritted her teeth. “This is not your fight. I can feel the Elite Enforcers tailing me now. They are almost here. Go now before it’s too late.”
He stared at her a moment, shaking his head. “Lucenna?—”
“Get out of here!” She shoved him. “I am trying to save your life, you fool.” But he wouldn’t budge, his jaw clenched, eyes burning. Lucenna shook her head, swallowing the lump in her throat. “Stop it, all right? Stop behaving as if I need you. I don’t .”
Her feet stumbled as she backed away from him. She couldn’t allow herself to need him, because if she did, then she would come to rely on it. And she knew, that would be when she lost him too.
“Stay away from me, Klyde. While you still have the chance.”
Lucenna sprinted away into an alley. The thud of her running steps and the rapid beat of her heartbeat filled her ears. When she looked back, Klyde was gone. A knot that formed in her chest. It was better this way.
If he stayed with her, she would only get him killed, too.