“What happened with Cian?”
“Look, the next train is in fifteen minutes,” he said, nodding toward the monitor. “It should be less crowded than the morning trains. We’ll need a disguise though—something ordinary.” He handed her the urchin’s visor. “Use this for now.”
“Is this his?”
He tried to keep his face as stoic as possible. “We don’t have much time.”
“Did you kill him?” she asked quietly, and when he said nothing, she squeezed his hand. “Holy Bird Above, you didn’t do it.”
“I gave him a good scare. He won’t talk.”
“Oh, he’ll talk,” she said, but there was a softness in her eyes, a kindness. She touched his cheek. “I’m glad you didn’t kill him.”
“Let’s just get to the cabin—”
“What made you stop?” she said, and her eyes, so dark and large in the waking dawn, stopped him from turning away.
“He reminded me of someone I once knew.”
They sat in silence as they stared out at the empty platform. Sand swirled and danced in the wind. Yassen rested his head against the wall and glanced at Elena. Her eyes were distant, but he sensed her sadness, her misery. They were both orphans now.
The air screeched with the approach of the hovertrain.
It was empty, just as he had suspected it would be.
Yassen pressed his holopod on the scanner beside the door and purchased two tickets for the Sona Range. Together, they watched as the Claws unlatched.
With a groan, the hovertrain rose and hurtled east, leaving the orange sky and the desert behind.
CHAPTER 37
ELENA
Distance makes the heart grow fonder, but what of the eyes? Do they show the sorrow of our parting?
—from a Sayonai folklore ballad
Elena watched the desert give way to deep forests and metal buildings. They left the orange silence behind them, the hovertrain zipping past bronze skyscrapers and metal bridges.
The trip to the Sona Range would take three days, and they had already stopped twice. Only two passengers had boarded in that time, both at their last stop. One was a young woman with hair like honey; the other, a younger boy, likely her son. He slumped into her, his face pressed against her stomach, his mouth slightly parted. The mother shifted the boy and rested his head in her lap. She looked up and saw Elena staring. She smiled, but Elena quickly looked away.
Yassen shifted across from her, crossing one leg over the other as he stared out the window. He wore a haunted look and had not said much since their conversation on the platform.
He reminded me of someone I once knew.
She wanted to ask him who, but when Yassen finally met her gaze, Elena faltered.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I,” she began.Who did you remember?He watched her, waiting, and Elena at once noticed the quiet in the car, felt the gaze of the mother on them. “I’m… hungry.”
Yassen nodded as the hovertrain began its third descent. “I can get us something from the station stalls.”
They looped past a large sign that readWELCOME TO MONORA, reaching a platform full of people. Elena tensed. Yassen stood, casually studying the crowd as the Claws buzzed and latched on to the train. Steam hissed out of its engines. She turned to Yassen to see him scrubbing the dried blood from his lip with the back of his hand. He had long discarded his palace badge, and the spot above his chest looked dark and empty without it.
“Wait here and save me a seat,” he said.
“But there are so many people,” she said under her breath, glancing at the mother and sleeping child. “What if someone recognizes us?”
