The Beholden by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Author:Cassandra Rose Clarke
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Erewhon

Izara was lying down on the fainting couch when she felt the train slowing. She had been attempting to fall into a trance during the length of their trip, with a mind to uncover the formulas that made the train run, buried in the Aetheric Realm. But she couldn’t concentrate. Her mind had kept wandering over to that kajan Celestia had seen in the sleeping car—and to worry that they were once again the early days of the Last War. And so despite her best efforts, she stayed firmly pressed in this realm, the train’s engines roaring around her head.

The slowing of the train was followed a heartbeat later by a surge of more unfamiliar magic, as all the magic had been the last few days. Izara gave up on her trance, stood up, and trotted over to the window and peered out. The forest was no longer a green blur, and amidst the tangled undergrowth she caught signs of civilization, actual, real civilization—little round brick buildings tucked away behind the trees, gleaming metal signs written in a language she didn’t recognize. She could hardly believe it.

“What do you see?” Ico pressed beside her, the faint reflection of his features materializing in the glass of the window.

“A few little buildings. There’s definitely something here.”

“Ico, could you go into the sleeper car and fetch the trunk for us?” Izara asked.

No answer. Izara glanced over her shoulder, where Ico was staring out the window, sunlight illuminating his face.

“Ico!”

“Look,” he said.

So Izara looked. And then her breath caught in her throat, and she had to press one hand against the wall to steady herself. The forest was gone, replaced by glass buildings that shimmered and shone in the sunlight. She hadn’t thought such buildings were possible. Even at the Academy they didn’t have buildings like this.

How could such a place stay hidden for five hundred years?

The door leading out to the walkway slammed open, bringing a rush of hot wind. Celestia darted in, dressed in an old-fashioned green dress. “The kajan’s gone,” she announced. “We must be getting close—she said she could feel the city’s wards.”

“You’re still the only one who’s seen this kajan,” Ico muttered.

If Celestia heard him, she chose to ignore it. She slipped up behind Izara and Ico and peered through the glass. “Oh my,” she said softly. Then: “You and Ico should change. You two have been wearing the same clothes for two days.”

Izara rolled her eyes. “You see a city like this and all you can think about are clothes?” She laughed. “Look how advanced they are! I doubt they’ll care about whether we’re wearing the latest fashions.”

Celestia frowned, and then, without speaking, slipped out into the walkway between cars.

“She’s probably not wrong,” Ico said suddenly. “It’s always better to be overdressed if you don’t know the situation.”

“And you would know, pirate?” Izara rankled with irritation. Even Ico was giving her lessons on manners now.

“I would, actually.” Ico turned away from the window. “You’ve got to look respectable if you want to do some real thieving.

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