They were sending everyone outside the train and Lyn moved to go with them. “Not you.” The man who spoke took her arm and guided her away from the doors and windows.

  A strong, weather-worn woman approached them. There was disgust in her voice as she said, “Both Lionhearts have escaped their cabins, your idiot warlock didn’t block up the windows.”

  The man holding her groaned and his grip tightened painfully on her arm, but Lyn resisted the urge to make a sound and draw attention to herself. She needed to keep her head on straight and do what she could to help Kayden and Kieran save the passengers. She didn’t for a second think that either man had abandoned them.

  “He’s young but strong, he’ll learn,” the man holding her said.

  “If we survive this, he’d better, these aren’t the kind of men to fuck with, Kevin.” The woman’s voice was hard and her gaze flicked to Lyn. She tilted her head then grabbed at Lyn’s arms, one at a time, sliding her sleeves up as if checking her wrists for something. Her hand came up toward her face and Lyn flinched away as far as she could with the man still holding her.

  “Hold still,” the woman commanded. She lifted Lyn’s hair on both sides, then looked at the man she’d called Kevin. “She’s not wearing his jewelry, are you sure she’s his?”

  “He ordered the cabin for her next to him and they were seen eating and conversing intimately together. We both trust the men we had on the train, Leah.”

  Lyn didn’t know what was going on but she would not volunteer anything. The woman turned her hard gaze on Lyn but before she could say anything, there was a commotion in the hallway that drew her attention.

  “What’s going on?” Kevin asked. He shifted behind Lyn, grabbing both her arms in his, as if to use her as a shield.

  “His warlock broke the enchantment sooner than anticipated. We outnumber them, it’ll be a quick victory as long as we can keep the Lionhearts off the train.”

  There was a thud on the roof and Lyn couldn’t help but look up along with the other two. No other sound came from above and Lyn dropped her gaze to do a quick scan of the room. They were in the dining car and she could feel the surrounding liquids: drinking water, wine, beer, juice. She made no move to use her magic just yet but knowing her options helped Lyn focus on something other than her predicament.

  After a moment, Leah turned her gaze back on Lyn and said, “Well, you must hold some value if they are coming back for you. Now, tell me, what is the nature of your relationship with King Lionheart?”

  Lyn pressed her lips together and stiffened her spine; she would not tell them anything.

  Kevin shifted behind her, lowering his hands on her arms. Before Lyn realized his intent, he twisted both her arms painfully behind her back. Despite herself, she let out a small cry. He leaned down. “Answer her.”

  Lyn gritted her teeth.

  A cruel smile crossed Leah’s lips and her words sent a chill down Lyn’s spine. “Pain won’t work on this one but maybe another kind of threat will?”

  No. A cold chill went down her spine at the thought of what the woman was suggesting. No! She wouldn’t let that happen to her again. Lyn was not defenseless. Maybe she didn’t have any of her magical jewelry on her but she was an elementalist. All she needed was the liquids in this room. She focused on the fluids behind the bar.

  Her two captors were discussing how they should extract the information out of her. She heard the words rape and torture. They threw it around like they were trying to scare her but these two weren’t as frightening as Relskald. Lyn allowed her features to get a worried look just to play along.

  It wasn’t a lie; she was worried. All they had to do was look up and see the gathering water over their head but they were too distracted.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  What could she do with it? It was as if the chill she’d experienced leached out in her magic as the water formed two huge snowballs above them. When they were big enough to engulf their heads, Lyn let them drop. The woman staggered, as if dazed, and then she clawed at the snow covering her. Fighting to get her head free. Lyn felt a pang of sympathy; the woman probably couldn’t breathe. Then she remembered what she’d said about getting information out of Lyn and her sympathy vanished.

  When the snow hit the man behind her, he let go of her arms and she ran. It was a split second decision but she headed towards the cabins. Maybe if she went back to her room and got her magical items?

  She gathered what water she could to herself and flung the door open, prepared to defend herself if someone was in there too. In the hall were two men she didn’t recognize; they were flinging ice knives down the corridor. One of Kayden’s guards was their target and he was trying to defend himself using his fire. The wood panels of the corridor caught fire and the guard put it out, letting some of the ice shards hit him in the arm.

  When the two men sent another volley of ice down the corridor, Lyn used the water she’d gathered to knock the volley aside. They both spun in her direction and Lyn took a step back, wondering what she was going to do now. There was nowhere to go and she didn’t have time to gather her magic again.

  Suddenly one man choked, blood sprouting from his mouth and when the other man turned, the guard slashed at his throat.

  “Lady Arelyn, are you alright?” The guard asked. There was the slightest hint of concern in his tone but otherwise his voice was stoic.

  Lyn mustered her strength. “I’m fine, thank you. There were two in the compartment behind me, the male is a fire elementalist. I mean, fire wielder. I’m certain they will be coming for me.” The door behind her rattled and Lyn gasped.

  “Pass by me, we’ve secured the back of the train. Stick with the warlock, you’ll be safe with him.”

  He helped her over the dead bodies and she headed into the next compartment. Glancing in the man’s direction one more time she saw him ready himself to fight whoever came through that door.

  Kayden’s warlock and a guard were in the room; there were three dead bodies piled against the door at the opposite end of the cabin. One body was another guard.

  There was a tense second where she thought they were going to attack her but when they relaxed Lyn said, “Kayden and Kieran got out of the train. We need to help them fight these people.”

  The men just stared at her and Lyn gritted her teeth; they weren’t used to taking orders from women and they likely wouldn’t start now, but she had to get them to do something. She couldn’t just sit in this room and wait for something to happen and she wasn’t trained for this.

  She turned to the warlock. “You’re a spellcaster. Can’t you do something?”

  “And what would you like me to do? Blast the train?” He shook his head, obviously not happy discussing this with a woman. “I gave what extra boost I can to the others. I can’t help King Lionheart or the Prince without being in close proximity.”

  “No, I don’t want you to blast the train, but maybe instead of hiding in here you help that guard take out the two in charge of this robbery?”

  “We don’t take orders from you, miss.” He crossed his arms. “And I’m not letting these fuckers take the horses.”

  “The horses?” Lyn couldn’t help the disbelief that came out in her words. “You’re more concerned about the horses than your King and your Prince?” She felt her temper rising. There was a large amount of water somewhere and it was gathering toward her. Lyn took a breath and was about to tell them she’d guard the horses but she didn’t have time to argue. “Fine,” she gritted out, “then I’ll help him.” She spun to the door she’d come through. It slid open with ease and she stepped through. Turning back, she said, “I’ll make sure they don’t harm you or the horses.” Slamming the door closed she coated it thickly with ice. They’d need a water or fire elementalist to open the door and Lyn didn’t really care. She was so angry and frustrated that she walked over the dead bodies as if they hadn’t been breathing a moment before.

  She heard a scream of pain coming from the cabin just as she reached the door. She didn’t know if it was Kayden’s guard or their enemy, but she hoped it was the latter. Stealing herself for whatever she was about to face, she opened the door.

  Kayden’s guard was fighting Leah with a sword and throwing fireballs to keep Kevin at bay. Since she wasn’t a warrior, the sword work was beyond her abilities, but she could fight fire.

  Releasing a torrent of water at Kevin, she distracted him long enough that Kayden’s guard—she really needed to find out the man’s name—could score a hit with his next volley of fireballs. Lyn sent a volley of ice shards at Kevin, not that she scored any hits but it was enough to have him focusing on her for the few moments it took for Kayden’s guard to kill the woman then turn on Kevin. The guard ended Kevin’s life quickly and then staggered back against the wall, still clasping his sword tightly.

  He was bleeding from multiple places and Lyn wasn’t sure how he was still standing. She approached, keeping well out of range of his sword. “Are you alright?” What she really wanted to know was if Kayden and Kieran were alright but she focused on his guard for now.