I swivelled in my chair so that I could see him better. Rome pulled back a little, the intensity of his eyes dazzling. “What are you dweller? What makes you see the world the way you do?’
I found myself shaking my head, blinking a few times. “I … I don’t know. I guess when this is the best you can hope for, you appreciate it. Gods have Topia. Sols have the hope of Topia and dwellers … we just have Minatsol. This is the best for us.”
That was such an Emmy answer. She would totally be so proud of me right now. Rome didn’t say anything more, but I could tell my words had struck something within him. He seemed thoughtful, his brows furrowed and his eyes searching mine. I jumped as the train let out another loud whooshing noise, and with a jolt we started to move. I settled back into my seat, Rome did the same, and we both kept our heads turned toward the view. The valleys gave way to massive expanses of water, the same water we had crossed in the barges, but this time I got to really see the vastness. It formed a huge circle around Blesswood, the early morning rays of sun highlighted colours across the surface, shifting from the deepest cobalt blue, to the lightest of turquoises.
“I want to learn how to swim.” The demand burst out of me before I could think about it.
Yael’s head appeared above the seat in front of me. “Is this another excuse for you to take your clothes off?”
I glared, narrowing my eyes as far as I could whilst still being able to see him. “No! I will be learning to swim fully clothed. I love clothes. I’m never taking my clothes off again.”
Siret’s mutters drifted up then; he must have been sitting beside Yael. “That’s really disappointing, Soldier.”
Crossing my arms, I dismissed them all, and focused on my water. Unlike the Abcurses, I was going to claim that beauty. It was worth claiming.
Eighteen
The train ride was close to the most awesome thing that I had ever done in my life. Sitting just behind my first view of Topia. Topia was more beautiful, but it also had asshole gods and Jeffreys. Neither of which were comfortable to be around. On the train, it was just me and the Abcurses, and a view which drifted from one beauty to the next. The metal beast climbed up the cliff with the multitude of waterfalls, across the plains of Blesswood’s territory, and then into the rolling hills of Soldel.
A crowd of sols and dwellers were on the platform when we emerged. Siret, Yael, and Coen went out first, and I was next, followed by Rome and Aros. The sols appeared to be waiting for the train. I supposed that it would continue on to Dvadel and Tridel, after leaving Soldel. The dwellers were there to load bags and to clean the station. I knew this because that’s exactly what the few dwellers present were doing.
Of course, there was no time to stop and chat—we had ass-kicking to do and sols to get revenge on. The usual for a sun-cycle with the Abcurses. They moved as a single unit of zero-fucks-given through the crowd. They didn’t get out of the way for anyone … actually they didn’t even have to attempt to avoid anyone, since sols and dwellers alike moved for them. They were striding quickly and with purpose—two things that would have tripped me up, if it hadn’t been for the fact that I was wedged right in the centre between Aros and Yael, both of whom had a hand on me, half carrying me.
We moved off the train platform, which I now noticed was located right on the side of the Minateurs’ training facility: the shiny, extra-perfect building I remembered from my journey with Emmy. We didn’t go inside, but passed the wide-open double-doors, and I could see enough to know it’s interior was not quite as fancy as some of Blesswood’s academy buildings, though it came close. Definitely designed by the same sols. No time to think about that though, we were out in the streets now, walking the same path I had driven in the bullsen cart with Jerath. I hadn’t seen that dweller-on-a-power-trip for a while. I wondered where he’d gotten to.
Rome and Siret had taken point now—I knew that because they told me, and since I had no idea what ‘point’ was, I just nodded and smiled. Seriously, was there a damn name for everything people did? Anyway, apparently ‘point people’ went in the lead and ran the risk of being taken out by angry Elowins. The Points veered off the path, and we all followed a few steps later. We now walked between small hut-style homes, and interspersed were some of those larger houses with the gates and fences. I still had no idea what they were trying to keep in … or out. Either way, this was a fancy part of town, even in the already-fancy Soldel.
Siret held up a hand and everyone knew that signal. Everyone except me, that was. When Point People hold up a hand, you stop. I, on the other hand, did not stop and ended up crashing right into a pole. Where the hell did that come from?