Passage to Queen Mesentia by Vann Dorlana

Author:Vann, Dorlana [Vann, Dorlana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pixie Punk Press
Published: 2011-07-19T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Ben paid the conductor as they boarded the 12:30 a.m. non–air conditioned, second-class train headed for Luxor. Lilly took a seat and scooted down by the window, and Ben sat down next her. When Lilly glanced up, Wade stood beside them, staring at her, his backpack slung over one shoulder, a mixture of hurt and disgust covering his face. He shook his head and walked further down the aisle. She realized she was biting her nails and yanked her hand from her mouth and scoffed, turning to stare out the window at nothing in particular.

“Lillian, is everything all right?” Ben asked.

“Yes,” she said still facing the window. “I’m sorry about the wrong city and...”

“There is no need to be sorry. You have sacrificed everything to help me get the statuette, like your parents did, and I have so much appreciation for you.”

She turned to him. “If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly does it look like?”

His dark eyes glistened, catching the light outside the dimly lit car. “It is a perfect palm-sized pyramid made of gold and copper. The gemstones on three of its sides represent the three elements of its power: amethyst—love; garnet—blood; and emerald—hate.”

“What about the forth side?”

“It holds all three stones representing the importance of their union.”

“I hope we can find it before Schelsteder. What if we’ve given him too much of a lead?”

The train jolted a little and then began moving slowly out of the station. Lilly sat with her right leg crossed over her left leg and her hands clasped together in her lap. Ben cupped his hand over her hands, bringing back the sensation of that morning’s touch. “Everything will be fine,” he said.

She tried to stay focused on the conversation and not be distracted by the fact that his hand lingered. “What if it’s too late?” she said avoiding eye contact. “We don’t even know exactly where we’re going except for Luxor.”

“I’ve been thinking about the letter, and I believe they put my statuette in the Luxor Museum.”

“Right! That makes sense. It said…” When she went to retrieve the letter from her bag, his hand naturally dropped to her thigh. When he didn’t move it away, chills combined with confusion caused her to forget what they were talking about for a second. However, she did her best to recover and to pretend not to notice, because she really didn’t want him to move it. She held the paper out in front of her and quickly read over it again. “Right, it says stuff about ancient tombs, gold, and metal. It makes sense. My parents certainly had access to the museum and the staff. But if you figured it out so easily, what’s going to stop Schelsteder?”

“Me,” he said. “First we will go to the museum and see. That will tell us. If the museum has been robbed, it will be closed to the public. If not, it is either still there, and I’ll have time to retrieve it because Schelsteder will most likely wait until dark to steal it.

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