CHAPTER 26
Lucenna
Alight cover of fog rolled across the quiet platform of the 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 from whatever business he had here. Lucenna was still holding onto the hope his sighting was only a coincidence, but she had to risk glamorizing 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.
The mages weren’t the only thing 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, 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 todo 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 lent his horse to Rawn.
“I can find my way to the White Woods. This may be the only chance you have to find 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 quiet morning, 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. 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 appeared, Klyde’s irritation faded with another breath. “Do you know how to travel by train and how to get 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 train. It let out a piercing whistle, spitting out steam into theearly morning. The brakes hissed and screeched as the train came to a halt 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 at the end. Lucenna sat, and he took the seat across from her. It wasn’t long before all the seats were taken. The train sputtered a whistle, and the carriage rattled as they rolled away from the station. Lucenna stiffened as the train picked up speed. It was a marvelous experience, even if a little unnerving.
“Rest,” Klyde murmured. “It will be a long ride until the next stop.”
She wouldn’t sleep, not whilst riding 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 pulled 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.”
