JOURNEY: Tales of Telenia, Book 2 by Lorraine Bartlett

Author:Lorraine Bartlett [Bartlett, Lorraine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Polaris Press

11

Despite the many Minnesota winters she’d survived, Amanda had never been so cold in her entire life. Blaster in hand, she stood guard outside Prince Paxdon’s private rail car for more than two hours while each and every member of the train’s crew, members of the Royal Guard, and every one of the train’s passengers were removed from the train and made to look at the dead man’s face. No one claimed to have known him.

She didn’t envy the guards who were forced to haul the dead man’s body up into the baggage car. Once the entire train had been thoroughly searched and Brannan was satisfied it harbored no other assassins, the silent, shivering passengers were allowed to board once more.

The rail crew chained the royal car to the train for a tow and at last, Prince Paxdon boarded the train, taking up the last two rows opposite where Amanda, Dohmas, Mancia and Dorelia sat. Two grim-faced guards stood with their backs to the prince, looking formidable, while Brannan had commandeered the seat ahead.

The train traveled little faster than walking speed until twilight when they came upon a siding. The royal car was pushed onto it and left behind. Brannan muttered something about hoping they wouldn’t find it stripped, but declined to spare a member of the guard to protect it. He wasn’t taking any chances with Prince Paxdon’s safety.

For hours, conversation had been at a standstill. Once they were on their way again at maximum speed, Dohmas turned to Amanda. “I’ll be glad to get into Denax. We’re vulnerable out here with nothing between us but miles and miles of barren farmland.”

Amanda didn’t comment, but turned her head to face the guards. From time to time they’d move enough so she could see Paxdon sitting alone at the table, his paperwork spread out before him, intently reading dispatches. The passengers had been freaked out by the experience, but Paxdon seemed to be taking the assassination threat in stride. Was he brave or just resigned to whatever fate handed him?

The train swayed back and forth through the long cold night, and Amanda wished she’d had a chance to have at least a bit of the honey cake that had been brought to Paxdon’s private car. It, too, had been left behind. The prince’s cook brought him tea, and something on a plate covered with a linen napkin, but offered no one else a bite.

Much to Dohmas’s chagrin, Mancia and Dorelia distributed the food Gritha had made to the other passengers, and his stomach growled loudly in protest. Come morning, the cook came around with a tray of uncooked vegetables, offering it to everyone. Nobody turned her down.

The day dragged on and on. The whole idea of the trip was now a terrible bore. She was tired, cramped, and hungry. She leaned back in her seat, closed her eyes, and dozed.

She felt a sharp poke to her arm. “We’re getting close to Denax,” Dohmas said with evident delight. Everyone else seemed

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