Tobei sat tall and pretty on the lip of Slouch Hill’s tunnel, his legs, clad in form-fitting black trousers, dangling over the edge. The silver ribbing of his black corset vest, cinched tight, snagged the full moon’s light out of the air and scattered it through the night. His violin, Nani, was cradled against his neck, and she sang a sweet, aching melody into his ear.

“I know,” he lamented. “It’s the curse of beauty so breathtaking it burns itself into the back of every eye that beholds it. Kunin feels it, I feel it, and now you too.”

Nani’s wail was low and full to bursting.

Tobei had no qualm with covering his own face with the grinning white mask that curved over his features, hiding the high furrow of his brow—but hiding Nani in a glamour that made her appear no more than a common rapier was a sin. It was fucking criminal. He’d tried to explain to Kadie that no one ever remembered him on these little excursions—Daivad was so fucking big his form cast everyone around him in shadow. But Kadie had insisted that a movement practitioner with a violin as a weapon was just too memorable. He’d fought in the queen’s army, under Daivad’s command, and someone would remember.

Daivad was a hundred miles away and still his shadow dulled Tobei’s shine.

Suddenly, the air in the tunnel sucked at his dangling legs, and sure enough, he felt the vibrations. The train was coming.

“Soon,” Tobei promised Nani, “I’ll take you out again, let you shine as bright as that moon above, let everyone fill their eyes and ears with your beauty. I swear it.”

The rumbling grew, and an obnoxious, electric light shone out of the tunnel. Tobei tucked Nani’s body under his left arm and flourished her bladed bow with his right—and the train burst into the night, whipping the few little wisps of his hair that had escaped his careful braid around his mask. He sunk Nani’s blade into the ward that repelled magic off the train and it parted like soft, exposed skin. Lenna had been right—the train hadn’t had its runes renewed for quite a while. With just a little shift of his weight, he slipped off the tunnel lip and landed on the third car’s roof in a crouch, light as a cat.

Tobei straightened, the manacles that hung from his waistband clattering against each other. He flourished Nani’s bow, his silhouette atop the moonlit train striking—tall, dark, graceful, braid whipping in the wind. He took a moment to glance around at the landscape rushing past him. Lenna had certainly chosen a good ambush spot. They were in the middle of nowhere, and the flat terrain and light forest had been no challenge to traverse for people and horses used to Silvax Forest, but provided them adequate cover.

Though his mask hid it, Tobei frowned at the world around him. The train wasn’t even that fast—Kunin could outrun this thing without even working up a pant. It belched smelly smoke, made a hideous groaning rattle—and that was when it wasn’t blowing that earsplitting whistle, and it moved with the grace of a rockslide. Where was the art? Where was the elegance?

Tobei adjusted his high collar and dusted off the breast of his corset vest, making sure the smoke hadn’t dulled the silver embroidery. Even with Nani disguised, Tobei would show them elegance.

He twirled Nani’s blade and sliced the rest of the train’s warding to ribbons—and the train screamed like it was a beast that he’d just gutted. At first he thought it was that fucking whistle, but then he realized the scream was more in his own head than the air around him. It was an alarm woven into the warding, and he’d just triggered it.

Everyone knew he was here now. Tobei smiled, and leapt to the next car.

Raised voices tickled his monster’s ears as he dashed toward the cab—he was supposed to subdue the engineer and throw on the brakes before the rest of the crew knew what was happening, but oh well. Ahead, the engineer poked their brunette head out the door of the cab, holding a pistol that glinted in the moonlight, just as Tobei darted to the left to balance his way along the lip of the coal-car.

He pointed Nani’s bow at the coal and growled, “Don’t even think of touching my suit.”

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Tobei swung into the cab’s left side window, and before the engineer could even turn, he planted a hand on their back and shoved them out the door.

The engineer dropped their pistol and gave a yell that was quickly cut off as Tobei grabbed their collar and yanked them back. Brightly, he said, “Saved your life!”

And then a rifle butt to his skull bounced his brain around hard enough to scatter stars across his vision.

Right. The fireman.

Out of instinct far more than conscious thought, Tobei parried the barrel of the rifle away, slipped behind the burly fireman, and aimed an elbow braced with magic at their back, sending them crashing into the engineer. Before the two could get their feet fully back under them, Tobei yanked the rifle from the fireman’s grasp and chucked it too out the door.

“That was incredibly rude,” Tobei said. The fact that that fucking alarm was still screeching at him did not help the throbbing in his head. “And after I just saved your engineer’s life.” He scoffed. “Guns. Put one in a non-practitioner’s hands and all it does is swell their head. Which makes it real easy for your enemies to land a headshot, you know.”

Tobei patted the fireman’s left ear with the flat side of Nani’s blade to punctuate his point, and they slapped it away, fuming.

“You wishing for death, you masked freak?” the engineer spat at him. As Tobei blinked the sparkles from his vision, he could see they were really very pretty, with their round face and pouty little lips. “This train serves the queen, and she’ll damn you to the bellies of all the nightbeasts of the Arena when she hears of this!”

Tobei twirled his blade, making both of them flinch. “I, Ardrin of the Wilds, leader of the Free People, recognize no queen!” he invented. Kadie had suggested he come up with some sort of fake identity to lead the crown off Daivad’s trail, but he’d forgotten to do that until just now. “My people and I live beyond the law, as I name law the death of peace, joy, and love. It is only when we forego rules and restriction that we can find true freedom, that we can bare ourselves and come together as the pure, passionate animals we naturally are!”

The fireman scoffed. “You’re a bandit and a pervert.”

Tobei pointed his blade at the fireman’s face and declared, “That’s reductive! Though not entirely inaccurate. Now, I beg you kindly dress yourselves in these.” He tossed one pair of manacles to the fireman first, since they were the one who’d rattled his brain.

The manacles slapped the fireman in their wide chest, and clattered to the cab floor. For a moment everyone stood there, listening to the alarm still screaming and the wind whistling and the engine chugging obnoxiously beside them. And then the fireman lunged.

Even in close quarters, ducking, dodging, and batting these two around was easy enough that Tobei could have some fun with it. Putting the flat side of Nani’s blade to good use, he swatted their cheeks when he slipped by them—and sometimes he swatted their faces as well. Once again, the two crashed into each other, but this time the engineer was sent headfirst into the mess of pipes, gauges, and levers that were the controls before slipping slowly to the cab floor, dazed.

With a huge groan from the engine, the train began to pick up speed.

Uh oh.

“Tila!” The fireman fell to their knees and placed a gentle hand on the engineer’s cheek to examine the bump that was already forming on their temple.

Tobei took the opportunity to fetch the dropped manacles and clamp them on the fireman, who whirled and thrashed and tried to get back to their feet. “Relax, relax!” Tobei said, and with a hip-bump to the fireman’s shoulder, knocked them out of the way. “I, Aldrin the Wild, know healing magic.”

They snarled. “You named yourself Ardrin of the Wilds, not Aldrin the Wild.”

Tobei waved Nani’s blade dismissively. “My mouth can’t spell.”

“Keep hands off her!” The fireman struggled to get back upright with their hands behind their back as Tobei knelt before Tila.

Tobei tucked Nani under one arm and with the other hand traced a quick rune over the swelling on Tila’s head, making her eyes shift under sagging lids. He punctuated the rune with a little air kiss, then stood to examine the controls, his free hand propped on his hip. The train was still picking up speed, and he’d been supposed to get this big metal beast to start slowing as soon as possible.

“Alright!” he said. “Point me toward the brake.”

“Fuck you!” the fireman spat.

“Point me toward the brake,” Tobei said, aiming his grinning mask over his shoulder, “or I start throwing switches and pressing buttons until I find it.”

Tobei could hear Daivad’s irritated growl, insisting he quit dicking around and be responsible for once.

Tobei thought, Rich of you to give a lecture named Responsibility, Daivad—