First Gear - Eve Langlais Page 0,4

they’d not even invented the wheel at that point.

Yet, the tests didn’t lie. He’d found an ancient cog of an unknown metal, and he was convinced there were more. It saddened him to realize he’d never fulfill the dream of finding them. Of discovering some ancient, forgotten ruin.

He slammed the book shut, suddenly angry.

It was unfair. So unfair. All the knowledge he had, the potential to discover more, snuffed short. At this point it was a matter of would the cough or starvation kill him first?

So why did he care about this place? In the end, all the written words in the world couldn’t help. Maybe it was best to not let anyone know of their folly.

Ignoring the books, and for once not leaving with one tucked under his arm, he set the candle on the shelf right before the stairs, close enough it already singed the cover on some government treatise that no one had opened since he’d begun using the library.

Then, before he could change his mind, he stepped out of the room and shut the door one final time.

2

Onaria bounced on the balls of her feet as she waited at the train station.

I’m leaving. Hopefully not alone. She half wondered if Jool might change his mind.

After all, he’d made it clear by never making a bold move that he considered her just a friend. A good friend. They shared almost everything. Having meals together. Seeing plays. Sometimes just talking for hours on end. The moments she cherished.

Then there was the obsessed Jool. The one who spent all his time in that damnable library of his, poring over old books that no one could read. Not even him. He preferred burying himself among things long dead, rather than live.

Time ticked. Faster and faster. So little time left and things left undone. She’d never properly kissed Jool. Or anything else. She’d never had a child. Never would. Would never dig her toes in the hot sands of Haedeez.

But even more than the things she would never do, she missed feeling the sun. It had been months since she’d caught a glimpse from her aunt’s farm at the end of the train line.

Longer still since she’d been able to take in a lungful of air that didn’t hurt. Not that she told Jool. He worried about her. Just not in the way she wanted.

Friends only, ever since that day they met over a book at an estate sale. He’d wanted it because it was a first edition. She’d felt nostalgic about it because her mother used to read it to her.

In the end, neither could afford it, but they forged a friendship from that moment on. She wanted something more. Had for quite some time, but Jool, with his head caught in a book, didn’t treat her like a woman. Never took advantage.

But she fully planned to that with the little bit of time they had left. The time for being shy had passed. If she wanted the man she loved, then she’d have to act.

If he showed up.

The train blared, a long pull of its horn that sent the few people still standing around the station scurrying for their cars. She clutched a pair of tickets and wondered if she’d be travelling alone.

Another warning and the huffing of the engine grew louder as it prepared to leave. She grabbed the handrail as she put her foot on the first step.

“Onaria!”

A glance over her shoulder showed Jool running for her, a knapsack slung from his shoulder, his long legs eating up the distance between them. She moved into the car, and he jumped on the bottom step and clambered after her. The train lurched, and he fell into her, causing a gasp of surprise.

“I’m sorry,” he stammered, his face turning red, probably because he’d noticed the location of his hand.

On her breast. Not by intention, but she didn’t mind the weight of it. He, on the other hand, snatched it away as if she were burning hot.

“I got us a cabin,” she noted as she led the way down the narrow passageway.

The small compartment consisted of two short benches barely wide enough to stretch out on, with shelves overhead for storage. Jool placed both their bags in them before choosing to sit across from her. He always sat at a distance.

“I can’t believe we’re actually doing this.” She clasped her hands, exhilarated and terrified all at once. She’d done it. Left the city. And somehow managed to bring Jool with