NOA

The soft light of the train station became a distant beacon somewhere past midnight. And while Noa was sad to ditch the car, it wasn’t practical to keep it—not with where they were headed. A rush of warm air greeted their entrance from the overhead heaters in the breezeway, and a trickle of relief spread through her at the sight of a bare station platform up ahead, decked in black and green. Gold pendant lights descended from the ceiling, illuminating the cozy sitting nooks tucked away on the far reaches of the archway’s view.  

The only obstacles between them and the small checkpoint were two late-night station attendants, chatting while they manned the ticket kiosks. Both wore dark gray uniforms with embroidered Miraltan green badges on the breast. The one closer to Glacier’s lighter complexion bore eyes a few shades darker to his emerald, dipping into a leafy, forest color, while his companion had piercing eyes of peridot that blended with his darker toned skin and rich, brown hair.

Noa pretended not to notice Glacier’s unease as she pushed into the locker room, wandering past label after label until she found the one Nyx had texted her. She punched in the code, it chirped, and she was rewarded a small cloth bag. Individually bagged fake ID cards—complete with stamped passport seals, train ticket cards, and two sets of new SIM cards to make up for the spares they’d ended up burning through. Noa leaned back against the lockers, taking a moment to thank Nyx—wherever she was camping out right now.

After her little break, she re-emerged into the small cluster of people in the far nook of the entry, nodding past the chokepoint to the pre-security-check lobby. “Let’s get a little further in before I hand out the tickets.” Leading the way, she flipped one of the ticket cards over to find it registered for a 1:15am departure time to Knighton. She elbowed Rune. “How far’s Knighton from the capital?”

He hummed, pulling up the map on his phone again. “Looks like… fifteen minutes via commuter train to Corris.”

“I can work with that,” she mumbled. It was far enough out of the way to let them lay low, catch up on some rest, and then arrange a meeting with the new ruler of Amarais during her stay in enemy territory to deliver her cousin safely back into her care.

Fortunately, Nyx would be around to handle the delicate matter of delivering the finer terms of the deal. She’d intervened the first time Noa had given someone an ultimatum—because that’s what it was—and had later reprimanded her, instructing her to not outright threaten the ‘client.’ Noa scoffed at the term until she’d been pinned by Nyx’s icy glare and opted to roll with it, rather than argue. Clients they were then, forcing her to conclude that her little ultimatums were amicable deals, rather than the obvious: life-debts.

They stopped around a booth, their final stop before testing out how accurate Nyx had managed to detail their new identities. Noa tossed the twins their respective bags and slid Cecilia’s ID out for examination. ‘King’s Republic’ was stamped on the front, hovering above the name ‘Elodie Andreas.’ Some of the text fell under the small, holographic stamped circle with a diamond in the corner, and Noa couldn’t suppresses a bemused smirk when she tilted it in the light. A Mage stamp. Something that Miralta would consider a badge of honor.

“Elodie,” she said, holding it out to her.

Cecilia was gentle in tugging it from her fingers, hunching as she flipped it over a couple of times while Noa moved onto Glacier’s. His read, ‘Miralta’ in bold, blocky letters along the side, and the pulled database image had been altered so the green matched the shade Noa had described to Nyx hours before. Next to it said, ‘Morgan Hawthorn,’ along with a neat list of the rest of his cursory details.

“And Morgan.”

He gripped its sides, analyzing every letter with a deepening frown.

“Something wrong?”

“I’m not twenty yet.”

Noa choaked back a laugh, turning it into a snort. “Oh, I’m quite aware, seeing how we’re going to see the defaulting regent. However, even though you’re over eighteen, you’d still need a guardian’s approval to travel, which we don’t exactly have. So, congrats. Happy birthday.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, unamused.

Crow rolled his eyes, grumbling, “Go get a drink or something.”

Rune’s head snapped in his direction, shooting him a glare.

Noa cleared her throat. “Let’s just get through security, and then we’ll unwind a little before we board. I doubt you’ll have much of an opportunity once we get you to Corris. You’ll probably get bombarded by the media once you reunite with your cousin and announce world peace or whatever.” She shoved the rest of the bag into her travel pack, waving a hand. “Let’s move, people.”

She dumped her luggage on the table, allowing one of the guards to run it through a machine while she tapped her new ID to the scanner. The other guard on duty nodded when it pulsed green, and she collected her belongings to wait for the others.

Rune started toward her in the midst of putting away his ID when the speakers chimed. Grinning, she pointed up at the ceiling. “Train’s here.”

“You have no idea how much I want to lock the door to our cabin and pass out,” he said, rubbing a hand against his forehead right as Cecilia wandered over.

“As sexy as that sounds for us to finally be alone again,” Noa purred, “I’m sticking you with your brother and the prettier young lady. I still have business to discuss with that one.” She nodded toward Glacier.

“Wait…” Cecilia said, glancing between them. “We’re going to be in separate cabins?”

Rune, ever the picture of patience, put on a gentle smile. “There’s a limit of four to a cabin, with the occasional exception for small children. So, it seems you’ll be with me and my moody brother.”

“I’m sorry, did you say something?” Crow asked as he came to a stop next to them, and Glacier took a side-step a little further away, brushing against Cecilia.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” Rune replied, starting toward the platform.

Crow and Cecilia followed, the latter looking back with dismay as Noa stopped her new cabinmate.

“You’re with me. It’s time we finish the conversation we started back in Amarais.”

She led the way up the ramp, making her way down the narrow hall to their compartment. The door slid free with a tap of her ticket to a plush cabin with inky black benches across from each other, spilling onto dark green carpet that mimicked the tear-drop shape of leaves in an orderly pattern. She dropped her bag onto one of the benches and half-heartedly motioned to the other, an invitation for Glacier to move out of the doorway.

He flinched at the door snapping shut behind him once the sensor recognized he was inside. Noa folded her arms over her chest as they took their seats, examining every little tick he corrected. His hands started in his lap, fidgeting before mimicking her own posture with his chin up like he was ready to hold his ground.

“Well, what do you want?” he asked.

She ran her tongue over her teeth to hold back that snap of irritation, reminding herself that he wasn’t in danger around her. He’d grown up in a palace, so it was reasonable to assume he’d be nervous in doing something on his own because he’d almost certainly had someone hold his hand his whole life.

Don’t pity him.

Noa leaned back in her seat. “The Soul of Amarais.”

A dumbfounded look took over his features before he broke into a short, sporadic laugh. “Y-you’re kidding, right? You won’t be able to sell it. There’s nothing you can do with that,” he said, shaking his head. “If you’re after money, you can just ask for it. I’d gladly hand some of it over, seeing how it’s been going to waste for years anyway.”

Noa had to tamp down her surprise. Usually, when she was offered money in exchange for saving someone’s life, it was because they weren’t willing to part with something more valuable, not because they thought it wasn’t worth enough.

She shook her head. “No, I’m—I’m not after money, Glacier. I broke into the palace to steal the Soul of Amarais, not the entire treasury.”

“But… why? It’s just an old relic that’s been locked up in a vault for years. It’s useless, outside of maybe being put on display at the museum, which no one wants to do.”

“Despite that,” Noa said. “Would you be willing to promise me the Soul of Amarais in exchange for delivering you safely to your cousin?”

He bit his lip, staring down at the carpet. “Well… Since it’s technically mine to give away…” His tone dropped to something more authoritative as he looked her in the eyes again. “You can have it under the condition that you take both Cecilia and I to Kat, unharmed, and causing as little trouble as humanly possible.”

Noa raised an eyebrow, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “I’ve gotten you this far with minimal incidents, haven’t I?”

CECILIA

Cecilia watched out the window as the train left the station behind. She swallowed down the discomfort of being stuck in a cabin with twin strangers while Glacier remained trapped elsewhere with their ringleader.

“I need a drink,” Crow grumbled, stopping in front of his brother. “Want anything?”

“Just sleep,” Rune said from his spot beside her on the bench. His eyes closed in the reflection of the windowpane since she didn’t dare glance their way just yet.

Crow huffed. “Suit yourself.” And left.

When the door shut, she braved a look, finding him stretched out with his arms folded loosely over his chest. 

“Um, Rune?” she asked, sounding too quiet to her own ears.

“Hm?

“What’s… Miralta like?”

He cracked an eye open. “That’s a bit of a loaded question.”

“I-I’m sorry—” she said, fumbling with her sleeves.

“It’s fine.” He shifted to sit up in his seat. “I’m assuming you want to know more about Knighton and Corris since that’s where we’ll be going, right? I’ve only been to Corris, but if Knighton is anything close, then… it’s a picture best viewed. I doubt my description would do it justice, but it’s a nice place. Certainly, better than where we came from.”

Her straw-colored hair fell past her ear, giving her pause. “I… have a feeling anyone there won’t like seeing me though,” she said, biting her lip as she tucked it back into place.

The corner of his mouth dipped down. “From what I’ve seen and heard, most Miraltans don’t care too much about appearances—Not to say that there aren’t some radicals that would like nothing more than to push back against Amarais, but… I can’t imagine they’d ever turn away a Mage.”

She squeezed her hands together. “You know…” She forced out a mirthless breath of a laugh. “Our lives would’ve been so much simpler if I had Glacier’s looks and he had mine. We might not even be in this mess to begin with, but instead, we had to use each other to survive. It’s just… not fair.”

“Sometimes the cards we’ve been dealt in life look like a losing hand, but it can also depend on how you play them. I think right now you two are just starting to get better cards. I wouldn’t fold just yet.”

“Yeah… Yeah, maybe you’re right.” She picked at Noa’s spare pants. “I-I’ll let you sleep. I think I want to get something warm to drink if that’s okay?”

“I don’t mind,” he said, waving her off with a smirk. “Go wild.”

She stood, giving a quick, polite smile in her short walk to the door before she spun around. “Oh—I don’t have any credits on this ID, do I?” She fished it from her pocket as her cheeks warmed with embarrassment.

“Nyx always ties them to a temporary bank account. You’re fine.”

“Um… but how do you know how much you have, though?”

He gave a half-shrug. “Usually about ten-thousand credits. That’s worth—what—twenty cups of coffee?”

Relief spread through her, turning her smile grateful this time. “Thanks.”

“Don’t stay out too late,” he joked, leaning back in his seat again as she left.

Once she was out in the hall, she followed the dim light strips along the floor and ceiling, casting everything in a soft, blue glow. A screen on the wall leading to the connecting car told her how far up her destination was, and she began her trek onward, stumbling into the next section.

Her eyes went wide, drinking in the starry night sky overhead, barely registering the plaque labeling it as the ‘Observation Car.’ Snow dunes sloped past, skimming the horizon stretching outward toward an infinite sky. A new world outside of the city she’d always known, lighting her soul with wonder.

Cecilia’s footsteps turned feather-light in her slow walk to the next car, where she found Crow perched on a stool at the far end. He watched the screens above the bar, most filled with advertisements and talk shows, while he tipped an amber-filled glass to his lips.

She kept her distance, moving along the far side to a drink kiosk, cluttered with icons for various coffees and teas. Cecilia picked out a hot chamomile, pressing her ID to it for a green checkmark. A mug pushed up from a hidden compartment, and the machine filled it with hot water, along with a tea bag dispensing from the side.

With her prize in hand, she took her leave back to the observatory car, picking out one of the aisle seats and letting it steep.

“Enjoying the view?”

She jumped, careful not to slosh the contents of her cup.

“Sorry,” Noa said, a hint of a grin tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Didn’t mean to scare you.” She leaned forward onto the back of the seat next to her.

“N-no, it’s fine,” she forced out, a little bit too high-pitched.

“I’m guessing Rune fell asleep?”

“I think so. I’m… surprised you’re still awake. You drove here, after all.”

She drummed her fingers against the pleather. “Not really tired.” Her eyes followed the distant mountain ranges with a slight quirk of her lips like she was somewhere else.

“And what about Glacier?” Cecilia asked.

“Sound asleep as well. What are you, his mom?”

She scowled as Noa pushed off the seat and started toward the dining car.

“Worry a little less. People can’t run if they never learn to walk.”

Cecilia watched her vanish, leaving her alone again to take in the stars. Every pinprick of light engraved itself into her memory, becoming a sight she refused to forget. A promise of a brighter tomorrow she’d never imagined waking to in Amarais.