The Fifth City by Liz Delton Page A

any stone she had ever seen.  It was more like shimmering black glass.
    She felt a presence behind her, and turned to see two men dressed in all black now following them down the stairs of the castle.  They were dressed just like that man, Barton, who had dragged her in front of Lady Naomi that first day.  Must be the Lady’s guards , Sylvia thought.
    Oliver led her into the street.  He was more jolly than usual today, and Sylvia stole glances at the silver earlink tucked in his ear as they walked through the street.
    There were a few people moving about, most heading in the direction that Oliver was leading her.  Sylvia watched them out of the corner of her eye.  Most wore fairly simple clothing, like what Medina had dressed her in today—and she spotted plenty of datawoven fabric—so the elegance of Lady Blackwater was probably limited to the castle.  That fact seemed to calm Sylvia somehow.  The people here weren’t really that different.
    The city reminded her of Skycity, with its buildings close together, lined up along the streets.  But then they turned a corner and she saw something blocking the way: tall as a villa, covered in shining black with thick glass windows, and slowly filling with people.  It hummed as if it were alive.  Sylvia cautiously followed Oliver up a short flight of stairs to the platform beside the contraption.
    “It’s called a train,” Oliver explained.  Sylvia stared.
    He stepped into the train and beckoned for her to follow.  Sylvia frowned as she entered, and wedged herself into the small crowd of people inside.  She wondered what they were all doing there, crammed into the narrow structure.
    Everyone seemed to be holding one of the horizontal rails that ran along the walls and ceiling of the train, so Sylvia grabbed one too.  Then, with no warning, and seemingly by magic, a door slid over the entrance she had just passed through.  Her nerves jumped, watching the door move by itself, but she kept her head.  Then, she felt a deep hum vibrate through the train, and they began to move forward.
    She gripped the railing and her heart pounded as she watched the platform disappear and they began to move east along the streets.  She gulped down several lungfuls of air after she realized she had been holding her breath, and watched buildings go by in a blur.  She barely remembered what she was heading towards as she registered the speed at which they were moving.
    Sylvia stifled a crazed laugh.  The train made her profession a joke!  This thing moved so quickly through the streets, and then emerged into the countryside—when it would take hours to travel so far by foot.
    So many thoughts tumbled about her head.  It was moving, really fast—how did it work?  Was something pulling it?
    As they left the city, Sylvia could focus on the wider countryside now streaming by.  Farms, fields of crops, copses of trees, and small clusters of more villas off in the distance spread out on the brightening island.  She stood motionless inside the train as it sped through the countryside.
    Eventually, Sylvia tore her eyes away from the window to study the inside of the train.  She noted that the two black-clad guards had followed them in, so they must be part of her escort to the ceremony.  Oliver casually gripped a handle and stared out at the field they were passing, then grinned at her when he noticed her gaze.
    She could see earlinks glinting from people’s ears, and some were tracing commands on sleeves or even thighs clad in datawoven fabric.  The silver threads winked at their touch.
    They continued on for perhaps half an hour until Sylvia felt as if the train were beginning to slow down.  From what she had seen through the windows, the journey would have taken her the better part of a day on foot.  No wonder Greyling had envied them so.
    The train was definitely beginning to slow, she was sure of it, but she could not see what they were approaching.
    Finally the train came