They had been on the train for over three hours. Saer Lon had nodded off to sleep almost as soon as the conductor had checked their tickets, lulled by the rhythmic clacking of the jointed railway and gentle swaying of the train carriage.  She had not moved since, and remained huddled in the corner by the door with the hood of her cloak up, with no indication that she was even aware of the other two occupants of the cabin.

Nem Koel and Suthe, meanwhile, had chatted at intervals about various topics, lapsing into silence to admire the landscape whenever the scenery changed. The craggy mountainside surrounding Fai had turned into lumpy hills, and then to a grassy plain as the train sped along to Sang Bur. At one point, they had even rushed atop a cliffside next to a great stretch of glittering water that Nem Koel had explained was one of the many fjords in the country. But all too soon, the tracks had veered inland, and now the pair had resumed their conversation as the view again turned to a great expanse of plain and distant snow-capped mountains.

"Here." Suthe watched as Nem Koel scribbled two complex letters on a slip of parchment rolled out on the table between them. Flipping her pen around, she pointed with its wooden end as she enunciated each syllable. "Nem. Koel."

Suthe leaned closer for inspection. The first shape was larger than the second, with more swirls and lines, and she could only guess at how to begin drawing such a character.

"This is mountain script?"

Nem Koel nodded. "Yeah, each block has a meaning, which gets lost when you write it with the Shun Dwo alphabet. See here – "

She covered the "Koel" part of the characters, and began following her pen along the painted lines of "Nem". "This swooping part of the block is wind, and it connects with these lines representing speed. So together, it means 'swiftness'. It was pronounced 'nen' in the Verli tongue though."

She moved her hand to reveal the second block.

"And this is 'night' – this line represents the horizon, and this part above it means the sky is dark. It used to be called 'kueh'."

Suthe squinted. Perhaps if she was very creative, she could see the symbolism, but most of the shapes were lost to her – and after all, Nem Koel had explained that the script had simplified over the years for ease of writing, so perhaps the darkness and horizon, among other things, had been more apparent in the character at the start of the Pretian regency.

"So you're saying your name is pronounced 'Nen Kueh' in the old language? 'Swift Night'? And is there a 'Slow Day' as well?" Suthe teased, laughing as Nem Koel made a face.

"I like to think of it more as 'the swiftness of nightfall'," Nem Koel replied, setting the pen down. "As in, 'one who moves with uncanny speed and agility'." She grinned. "Pretty fitting for a warrior name, don't you think?" She tapped the paper impatiently with a finger. "Now your turn. What's yours?"

Suthe reluctantly picked up the pen, rolling it between her fingers for a few moments before dipping it in the inkwell. "My family name, Montikwe, has two parts – the prefix, obviously, denotes my Montese heritage. It's the largest ethnic group in Montmyth, though Isendorn has a large Yonjin population, and Melendru has a few Crevvanese communities."

Nem Koel nodded, seemingly following along a lot easier than Suthe had while trying to understand mountain script.

"The last part is old Montese, but according to my mother it means something like 'from the heart'." The pen rasped on the parchment as Suthe wrote it out. "So I suppose altogether it means either I am a true Montese at heart, or I come from the heart of the country."

Nem Koel laughed. "I always like when you can have multiple interpretations!"

Suthe smiled. "My father might have known the true meaning, but unfortunately he has reunited with our ancestors."

Nem Koel's face fell. "I'm sorry."

Suthe shrugged. "It was a long time ago."

Silence filled the cabin, and Suthe bit her lip, berating herself. She shouldn't have mentioned it.

"Anyway," she said, desperate to break the tension, "the meaning of my given name is more certain. In Montmyth, traditionally the children are given a name beginning with the starting sound of one of their parents' first names. My father's name began with an s- sound, so my parents chose Suthe – from Sutele, the Sun, with a diminutive ending. So something like sun-child or small sun. It was a popular name when my grandparents were young, or so my mother tells me. It's not very common now."

"Wow," Nem Koel's eyes were wide as she examined the words Suthe had written down as explanation. "Your alphabet looks so weird."

Suthe frowned. "You can't read it?" And to think, she had thought Nem Koel was following along so well.

Nem Koel shook her head. "I grew up speaking Montese on the border, but never needed to learn to read it." She shrugged, and then gasped, looking back up at Suthe.

Suthe would have been more alarmed had it not been for the small smile she saw tugging at the corners of her companion's mouth.

"What is it?"

"I just realized something," Nem Koel begain, giving a small chuckle.

Suthe couldn't hold in her sigh. "Obviously."

"Our names are opposites. Light and dark! We're a perfect team, you and I." And with that statement, she reached out and gave Suthe a playful punch on the shoulder.

The train whistle sounded, and Suthe checked the window again. Off in the distance, she could see a glittering stretch of water, and just before it, the buildings of a city coming into view.

"At last! We're almost there, thank the heavenly realm." Nem Koel continued to laugh to herself, cheerily rolling up the parchment. "I'm so glad I thought of this idea. It's helped make the time pass so quickly! I only wish I'd thought of it sooner, when you were stuck in the boarding house in Fai. Then we would've had more time to go over Saer Lon and Seolosu's names too!"

Suthe glanced towards the door, wondering how much time they had before their stop. "Is there a toilet onboard?"

Nem Koel looked up as she shoved the parchment in her bag. "Yeah, it's down the hall. Careful though – it empties out directly onto the tracks."

Suthe grimaced. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

She stood up to crack the door open, cautiously sticking her head out and checking both ways before stepping out into the carriage hallway. Her initial qualms about being seen by other passengers, however, was unfounded, as it seemed everyone else was busy in their own cabins preparing for the upcoming stop in Sang Bur. As a result, Suthe's walk – or rather, tiptoe – past the other doors in the carriage went unnoticed.

Put at ease by this, she made her trip back with much less trepidation, even daring to sneak glances through the windows of the other cabins whose occupants had left the curtains open. At first, it was intriguing, and Suthe caught glimpses into the lives of Andilirish individuals and families as they cleaned up after their meals, rearranged their suitcases, or in one particular family's case, tried to calm down their young son enough to button up his outer jacket. It was a nice change, Suthe thought, from having been stuck inside for weeks and never getting to see much of Andilirish life except for the first day when she had arrived with Ulsper. It also made her long for the mundane little moments she'd shared with her mother back in Crestdune, and she smiled softly at her memories before moving on.

At the fourth cabin window, however, she realized she had made a terrible mistake. While there was an Andilirish couple sitting on the left side of the cabin, there was a foreigner on the seat on the right – Montese, like herself, and facing the hallway. Immediately, his eyes locked with Suthe's, and some dangerous spark flickered in his dark amber eyes.

Heart in her throat, Suthe forced her gaze ahead and hurried past the door. Nem Koel and Saer Lon were just in the next cabin. She should—

Too late, a shushing sound behind her indicated that the fourth cabin door had slid open, and footsteps tapped on the wooden corridor.

"It's unusual to see another Montese citizen so far from home," a deep voice said, and Suthe froze, slowly turning back to face the man. Though he was middle-aged, his neatly-trimmed beard already had streaks of white, and his head was closely shaven, revealing a scar that stretched from his left temple to the top of his head.

"I-I like to travel," Suthe said, leaning back against the wall and searching with her hands for the latch that would open the door to her cabin.

"I see." The man tilted his head, studying her. For a small moment, the collar of his gray coat moved to the side, and Suthe noticed a black and gold insignia on the left breast of the man's uniform beneath, just before the fabric shifted and again hid it from view. Her eyes widened at the realization. He was a member of the Board of Advisors in Isendorn.

"A-and you?" Suthe said, tearing her gaze away from the spot where she had seen the telltale crest. "What brings you here?"

The man let out an amused breath. "Work."

"O-oh?" Suthe hated that she couldn't seem to stop stuttering, and cleared her throat, hoping it would make a difference. "How long will you be staying in Sang Bur, then?"

Behind her back, her hands continued to search for the door latch, as the ever-present danger of Montmyth's decree against druiths marched through her mind.

"Sang Bur?" the man said with a soft chuckle. "No, my business was in Fai, but that's finished now. I'll just be taking the connecting train back to Isendorn. Aren't you?"

Suthe sucked in a breath. Why couldn't she open this ancestors-cursed door?

"Is there a problem?"

The door slid open, and Suthe stumbled, momentarily caught off-balance. A quick glance over her shoulder revealed Nem Koel standing behind her, a suspicious frown fixed on her face.

The man's eyebrows raised slightly at the Andilirish girl speaking Montese. "No, not at all," he replied smoothly. "Just striking up a friendly conversation with my fellow countryman." He paused, returning his gaze to Suthe. "Well, countrywoman."

Suthe swallowed the lump in her throat, and caught a glimpse of silver as Nem Koel returned a knife beneath her coat.

"That's good," was Nem Koel's stiff reply. "Suthe, you should come back inside, we're nearly there."

"Suthe?" the man echoed. "That's a nice name."

Suthe tensed, caught between her desire to hide in the cabin and the obligation to reply. Nem Koel's presence bolstered her confidence, and slowly, she turned back.

"And might I know your name, sir?" she asked, for once without stuttering.

"Anede Montbadu." The man's smile was not unfriendly, but it still set Suthe on edge. Additionally, though the insignia on his jacket had hinted at a higher status, Anede had not given a title. Was he hiding something?

Anede inclined his head in greeting, and Suthe hesitantly reciprocated the gesture.

"A pleasure to meet you," she said, mentally adding, for the first and hopefully last time.

Anede let out a short, sudden laugh, and Suthe gave a start.

"The pleasure is mine, Suthe," he said, still smiling in a way that unnerved her. "I do hope to see you again, and continue our chat. I have a feeling we would have a lot in common to discuss."

Before she could dwell on his words, he turned, his gray coat flowing softly as he walked down the carriage hallway. Suthe watched him go for a moment before Nem Koel tugged at her sleeve.

"Come on!" she said, ushering Suthe inside the cabin. "Let's not draw any more attention to ourselves."

Suthe obliged, shutting the door firmly behind her.

"Besides," Nem Koel continued, looking pointedly at the unconscious figure in the corner. "I need your help waking her up in time for our stop. We've got our work cut out for us."

~~~~~~~

Shoutout to Thomas-LF for all his amazing words of encouragement!  Check out his book, Beyond Legend: The Unbreakable Kingdom, for some more action-packed adventures.

Any thoughts on Anede?  I'd love to hear them!