Jaime-The Horned Lark

The Horned Lark

Issue 11

  Rusty pieces of dirt kicked up from the railroad as the train pumped its engine. The speed of the wheels blur images of sandy shrubbery and cacti, as Mercedes squinted hard. She made an attempt to see the mountains in the distance, but pulled back after the sunlight flicked her in the eyes. She pulled the curtain over the roomette window, and eased back into her seat cushion. Letting the gentle fabric rumble against her back.
  The engine proved quite comforting, but that was the only sound in the cart.
  Mercedes tilted her head up towards the ceiling, the cool tan surface flourished in pretty golden vines. She moved her lower lip outwards, and let out a long huff of air through her cute brown bangs, tossing them out of their neat structure. She did this a few more times until three knocks hit the door, and a taller lady stepped in.
  Good thing, her cheeks were starting to hurt.
  The woman was Lola Cassidy, Mercedes’s personal advisor and one of the few people entrusted to see out the trip to Zinc. She was pale and had smooth blonde hair pinned up into a bun, with a maroon-red skirt and a matching button up blouse.
  She had a rather displeased look on her face, eyes down and narrowed, which quickly disappeared once the princess made eye contact.
  “My apologies, your highness. Am I interrupting?”
            Mercedes smiled and shook her head. “No it’s alright. I wasn’t doing anything in particular.” Not very much to do right now actually, but she quickly waved the thought away.
  “How can I help you Lola?”
  “Of course. I just spoke to one of Zinc’s dispatchers up ahead at the canyon station. They’ve informed me that there will be a slight delay on entry through the border.”
  “A delay? Is everything alright? How are they?”
  “Oh no, it is nothing dire.” Lola waved a hand. “It’s just an inspection, your highness.”
  Mercedes lifted her brow. “An inspection? What for?”
  “It is a new edict by order of Zinc’s court. They have had trouble with bandits lately. Bandits of all sorts!” Lola huffed at the word. “Cattle thieves, smugglers; they’ve been boarding the trains only to wipe them clean of everything. To keep supplies from running low, the King ordered that every train be thoroughly inspected before exit and entry. Including ours.”
Mercedes frowned a bit. Thieves were an average issue in any place or country, but never to this scale. Even when there were any bandit sightings, it would only be two or three days before the paper came out. The poor soul’s name clad in big bold letters of how long they’d be locked up. But to rob an entire train blind like that was a dangerous effort, and a stupid one too. Either way, the idea of stealing made her lips fall even lower.
  “Well as long as everyone is safe and accounted for, I see no issue.”
  “Yes, right. Still I can’t help but ponder over the poor souls. First it’s the dry season and now this! I’m sure everyone will be relieved to see you once we arrive, Princess.”
  Mercedes gulped, but did her best to smile.
  “Well, we should reach the canyon before sundown, we’ll be at Zinc in no time. Now, continue to make yourself comfortable. I’ll send for tea in about 15 minutes.” With a click of her heels Lola carried herself out, and Mercedes was alone again with the noisy train.
  Zinc, the word swam in her head like a clumsy little goldfish. She leaned back into the seat and looked down at her gloves. The shiny red silk twinkled against the lighting, but it was unfortunately making her skin clammy. She peeled the gloves off her tan hands, stretching out her fingers before setting them on her lap.
  Zinc was a neighboring kingdom in the southern part of the region, one who had extended a cry for help four months ago once the summer hit. The news spread to every territory in the desert at how Zinc had lost its crops; pictures of wilted wheat fields and dull orchards covered the front page, as well as articles from the royal family and their cause for concern. Luckily, Silver’s court reached out and proposed an offer: the northern kingdom of Silver was a growing hub for minerals, hence its ability to purchase whatever they needed regardless of environment. They had enough wealth to share and an alliance was born, the promise of resources guaranteed through marriage, with the offer of Princess Mercedes and Zinc’s own Prince Colton. A man Mercedes had only seen in pictures: tall, blonde, and pretty to boot. He was every woman’s dream supposedly.
  Her body jolted forward as the train whistle fumed, clouds of steam rolling past the windows as Mercedes glanced around. The train had stopped, and a loud dinging sound went off like an alarm. She peeked out the window and her mouth fell open, a long line of cattle was just outside the tracks. The herd was so big she could make out a rancher not far off in the distance, standing right behind the fly-covered bovines. Probably there to keep them from wandering. Either way, it would take much longer to reach Zinc if there were any more stops ahead. Hopefully.
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  The sun dipped lower into the Earth as the dark orange sky turned the deepest blue, hiding its last drop of sunlight behind the dry mountain peaks. The sea of shrubbery had long since faded, outrun by large rocks wedged into the dirt. They were almost to the canyons.
  Mercedes let out a groan, rubbing her eyes with her palms.There was no way she’d be comfortable until their final stop. Her neatly styled hair was losing its curl, and she wanted to get out of that waist-cinching corset. Hours had passed since tea time, and the second tray already made its stop. Dinner was surely well on its way but no amount of cheese, chicken, or chiffon pie was enough to steady her.
  She placed a hand over her chest, drawing a deep long breath. The soft grumble of the train was no help, so she chose to stare at the opposing wall instead.
  A sound echoed outside the door. Not the creak of a trolly cart, but the sound of feet. It scurried back and forth, first up close by the door only to repeat much further away. As if someone was running. Mercedes stood on her heels, reaching for the door and rolling it open. It was dark in the hall, but the light of the ceiling lamps made it possible to see who was standing in front of her. It wasn’t Lola, a maid, a guard, or even the engineers.
  It was a fair colored man with a visibly dirty face. Gray patches of dust covered his arms and cheeks, including hair, which was a woody brown color. His clothes were much better off, yet small trails of lint could be seen on his jacket and trousers. He looked at her with large eyes, as if completely astonished seeing the Princess of Silver in the cart. It took every ounce of self-discipline Mercedes could muster to keep herself together.
  “Lance Bridger! What are you doing here?! On this train!!” Her heart dropped down to the pit of her stomach before launching back though her chest. The train cart was empty so she could be as loud as she wanted. She jabbed a finger into the man’s chest, taking one step forward as he took one back.
  “How did you even get here? Were you here this whole time?!”
  “What–no!! I just got here, o-or wait no I have been here actually. But I swear this is not like that, I promise!”
  Mercedes didn’t utter a word. She could alert the guards, after all he was a stowaway on the Princess’s train, the buzzer just was under the windowsill. She could make it, but she blinked back the thought as quickly as it came.
  This man wasn’t a criminal, he was a friend. Someone she had known for a very long time. Someone she had not seen for a long time either.
  Lance worked as a horseman for the palace guard up until they were teenagers, Mercedes would always find time for the one person in her age limit. Until the announcement to Silver was made that the Princess was to be wed. It started as a passing thought at first, a bored conversation about wedding day jitters. She had laughed at it too. Until about three weeks ago, the trip was set in stone and Lance stopped coming around.
  Now, here he was, on a steam train barreling towards the biggest decision of Mercedes’s life.
  “Lance, I’ll give you the chance to explain. But, I need you to be honest. How did you get here?”
  He released a shaky breath, and her heart dropped for a minute. He looked like a sad puppy, but Mercedes mentally shook herself before looking him in the eyes.
  “Mercedes, look. First, I want to apologize for sneakin’ around. I didn’t mean to wait this long, honestly.” He held up his hand in oath. “I wanted to say goodbye. I’m sorry for not being around as much, and I shouldn’t have left in your time of need.”
  “I tried getting to the station early, but the train started shoving off.. So, well-”
  Lance shoved his hands into his pockets, making a beeline for the window. Mercedes took a step to the right.
  “So you played bandito and hopped right on?”
  “Okay okay I get it this looks bad! The crowd was massive, and I knew that if I didn't talk before you left, I’d regret it.” He said. “So I jumped on… but I wasn’t planning on hiding for long that’s for sure. But I didn’t want to get booted off either.”
  “Hmmmm.” Mercedes looked him in the eye. His voice was dripping in shame, but at least he was being honest. However, she remained silent.
  “So, if you’ve been here all this time, where were you hiding?
  “O-oh. I found a cleaner’s closet in the last cart. I snuck past everyone when the sun went down, but it took forever to get over here.”
  The train’s whistle broke their conversation as the two fell back onto the doorway. The wheels halted abruptly as the whistle blew for a second time, and a dim lighting flooded the cart.
  They were at the border. Mercedes grabbed Lance by the forearms, tucking him into the roomette and slammed the doors.
  “Mercedes, what are you-”
  “Shhh! We’re at the Zinc border. If you don’t, they’ll arrest you for trespassing!”
  Mercedes held their breath as the light outside grew brighter. She couldn’t see any faces, but a pair of gruff voices mumbled behind the walls.   The border patrol, or at least a few of them, were standing right outside.
  “Lance, whatever you need to say, please, just say it!”
Beads of sweat rolled down his dusty cheeks; “Okay.” He grabbed her by the hands, the soft pressure creasing her gloves.
  “Mercedes Alvarez, I never wanted to tell you this. At least here, but- Your highness, I love you!”
  “You have a duty to our people, and I understand that. You don’t need to come with me. But I love you, I really do!”
  Her heartbeat rang in her ears, the light of the cart growing dimmer with every word he said. He said he loved her, he actually said it. She stared at him, her lips stuck together as they stood. No one said anything.
Their hands jolted apart when a shrill voice squawked outside the doors. It was Lola, she was talking to the border patrol. Lance was still there.
  “Out the window. Hurry!”
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  Thundering hooves clashed with frantic cries, reaching the height of the canyon.
  “Nab ‘em! Go!!”
  “Don’t just stand there, move!!”
  “Grab him now, that bandit has the princess!!”

ELAINA JAIME is a university student at Arizona State University, having studied as a Creative Writing major for three years. Up until this coming year, where she is studying as a Literature major.