City of Gold and Silver

Shadow

The service track hung from a series of girders along the lower section of a tram platform. Trams ran the very perimeter of the city, their tracks skidding alongside the sentry wall by mere inches in some places. Two not-exactly wide planks connected the service track to the platform with ropes strung up along either side in a vain attempt at safety. Ariah eyed the lengths of rope for a moment. Pixie was already across, sitting and waiting patiently for the two to make their way to her. Ariah stuck her tongue out at the dog before walking deftly across to the lower platform. The kid followed behind her like a shadow.

Her name was Malia Archer, her father was an advisor to the prince and new ruling family, as well as one of the headmasters at the university; her mother, Kyleen, had been second daughter to the former dynasty. Malia Archer was a princess for all intents and purposes and now the two of them were about to take the tram together into Sunshine, the Gold District. This is a bad dream, Ariah couldn't help but think.

"Aren't you going to say something?" the girl asked.  

"About what?"

"You know, what I was doing ..."

"You want me to scold you or something?"

The girl shrugged. For the daughter of the Lord Alchemist, she was wearing clothes worthy of the lower districts: pants that were a bit too short, a ragged shirt and pea-vest that swallowed up her neck.

"Why were you trying to climb the wall, anyway?"

Another shrug. The kid avoided eye contact. "I don't know ... I just wanted to see what the desert looks like."

Ariah knelt down to pick up Pixie as they came up to her, propping the little dog under her arm. "Fine, don't tell me."

The girl bounced up beside her. "I was doing pretty good though, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, until you weren't." Ariah vaulted over a locked turnstile with Pixie in tow. She turned around to watch her new shadow scramble over the barrier in her own way, not entirely graceful but not completely inefficient either.

"I know what you are," the kid said as she wiped her hands onto her trousers. "You're a traceuse."

"Uh-huh," Ariah muttered as they came to a stairwell that lead to the upper part of the platform, the section meant for the public. "That's a big word for a tiny kid."

"My uncle says you're all outlaws," the kid rejoined, sparking the slightest grin from Ariah.

There were already people on the platform as they reached the upper deck. Most of them were shiners, men and women from the districts closest to the overlook, people who didn't need shadoweyes to see through the daylight. The trams weren't always a welcome place for undersiders like her, but it would be the quickest way to get Malia back home safely. 

"So, how do you know who I am?" the kid asked after a few, brief moments of quiet waiting.

It was a fair question. Ariah took a moment before answering, surveying the thin, early morning crowds waiting for the next tram. No one seemed to be paying particular attention to either of them, so that was a good thing. "You look exactly like your mother, only smaller."

"You knew my mother?"

"Not personally. I saw her speak many times though, went to her rallies."

"They didn't like her because she didn't have magic, you know," Malia said after a little while.

"They didn't like her because she asked questions that made people uncomfortable," Ariah said.

The tram arrived, bringing with it a gust of wind that swept through the platform. They found a seat near the back, the girl looking out the rear window as the tram pulled out and then accelerated towards its next stop. She pulled on a pair of goggles that had been around her neck, half-hidden by the too-large vest; the lenses were tinted light blue.

"I look pretty silver, right?"

"Sure. How about you just keep those on until we get you home?"

The girl laughed. "Why?"

"Because I'd really hate to get arrested for kidnapping you," Ariah shot back in a whisper.

"You won't get arrested," the kid said from behind her blue-tinted goggles. "I wouldn't let them."

Ariah leaned her head back against the cool glass and closed her eyes. A really bad dream.