"Ready to go?" Cedric called out as he entered the railcar. "I have the royal carriage ready for us."
Talia turned to him with a bright smile, lighting up his heart.
She and Devin were still perched on the sofa, looking out into his city with bright curious faces. They seemed to be fascinated with the people and the scenery.
"Just say the word. We're right behind you, ready to go." She picked up Devin and slung him on her hip.
"Say word." Devin repeated, hugging his precious Ben.
Cedric laughed. "Gather whatever things you need from this railcar and let's go."
"None of the things in this railcar is ours, Cedric. Other than Ben," she pointed to Devin's little worn brown bear, "we don't have anything."
Cedric gave a lopsided grin. "Love, this entire train is ours. Take what you want."
Vander raised an eyebrow. "Well, in that case, I'll grab another bottle of cognac we can share later on tonight." He reached into the cabinet and extracted one more bottle.
Cedric laughed. "If you like that stuff, I'll have someone pack the entire liquor cabinet and take it with us."
"Even better!" Vander tucked the bottle he had taken into one of his pockets.
The carriage was a curious mixture of a horse-drawn type of vehicle without the horses, but that wasn't a huge deal to Talia. It wasn't as if Talia was a stranger to electric vehicles, but still she had to ask.
"What form of energy does the carriage use?" She turned a quizzed eye at Cedric.
"It uses a fuel cell that absorbs the sun's energy."
"Ahhh." Talia nodded. "Solar batteries."
"Yes. When the fuel cell runs out of energy, the exhausted cell is taken out of the carriage and a new cell replaces it. The empty cell goes back to a solar farm to reabsorb sun energy and is then reused."
Talia nodded, impressed with the efficiency of the technology that Faria utilized for their vehicles. It was very similar to Earth's solar energy technology.
They all piled into the carriage and it began moving in a smooth silent fashion without the jolts and bumps that she expected to feel from a vehicle that was made of polished mahogany hardwood, creamy leather seats, purple velvet drapes, and gold tassel pulls.
The driver sat in a small cabin at the front, guiding the carriage with some control sticks that looked at once archaic and ultra-modern.
For a girl who had driven a car since she was a teenager, Talia could not contain her curiosity and interest. She kept looking at how the driver maneuvered the sticks to navigate the streets. It was even easier than her own car in New Orleans.
"You seem to like this carriage." Cedric mused.
He had seen her drive a vehicle, but that was in New Orleans, when she was still alone and mateless.
They were in Faria now and she no longer needed to drive herself anywhere. There were people to take care of her every need.
She was his precious mate. The only person he wanted her to care for was himself and Devin.
"It looks fun to drive!" Talia grinned, unable to stop looking at how the man moved his hands and feet to keep the vehicle moving.
"Fun to drive, eh?" Cedric laughed. "Maybe I can get a small one specially made for you so you can roam around the kingdom."
"Not too small! Make it big enough so I can drive you and Devin around." Her eyes brightened.
"Haha. Might as well make it large enough for four people so I can join in the fun." Vander laughed, twin flames danced merrily within his pupils.
Cedric pursed his lips. As if.
Faria truly was a sparkling prosperous city. The streets were clean and broad and smoothly paved. The buildings were gleaming and well-maintained.
All the snow had been continually shoveled away by the city workers in their shoveling vehicles so it was easy for carriages and people to get around. It seemed like a very well-governed place.
There were people everywhere, bundled up in their winter wear and carrying lanterns. Laughing children ran about playing tag and clustered in groups chattering and giggling.
Devin's eyes grew round with excitement and longing to be able to run out there and play with them.
"Once we get settled, I will take you out so you can run around and play a bit, Devin." Talia murmured into his ear.
"Run play." Devin repeated.
Cedric shook his head. "He can't do that."
"Why not?" She turned towards him with her violet blue eyes.
"He is a Prince. He is not allowed to run and play with the children of the commons."
Talia's eyes showed exactly what she thought about that.
"It's not what you think, Talia." Vander sighed. "It really is too dangerous for him to be running out there with the other children.
Cedric nodded. "Once people know he is a Prince, he is an instant target for hate crimes. There is so much jealousy out there that the only way to protect him is to keep him from commingling with the commoners."
"But he needs friends his own age." Talia insisted. "He can't live his life in isolation without a chance to meet anyone. How is he going to grow up normally?"
"He will have friends." Cedric assured her. "He does have a few cousins, and there are also other noble children around his age he can strike up friendships with."
"That's right. I forgot Cecil's wives have some children his age." Talia furrowed her brows. "Doesn't the ten-year-old Crown Prince have a couple of younger siblings?"
"He does, but they won't be able to associate with Devin."
"Why not?"
"Cecil is no longer Alpha King of Faria." Cedric's voice was harsh. "I have deposed him. He will have to take his family and leave."
"Oh my gosh!" Talia raised her eyebrows. "Where would they go?"
"He has land holdings scattered about. The only place he is banned from returning to is the capital city."
"But the young Crown Prince—" Talia spoke up.
"He is no longer Crown Prince. Once his father lost the Alpha King position, his title was also forfeited."
Vander shot Cedric a dry look.
"You feel comfortable with simply allowing Cecil to leave without taking him out on the arena platform?"
"I don't want to kill him. No matter what he has done, he is still my brother." Cedric's eyes narrowed.
"Given the chance, I have a feeling he would not hesitate to slip a silver blade through your heart." Vander warned.
"If he is foolish enough to try, he will find himself missing a head." Cedric bared his fangs.
"Who will be the new Crown Prince?" Talia asked.
"My son will take that position." Cedric's mouth set in a grim determined line.
"Your son?" Talia gasped. "I didn't know you had children!"
It had never occurred to her that he might have had consorts or concubines who would have given him children.
Cedric reached out and cradled the back of her head with a warm gentle hand.
"Not yet. But I'm hoping my mate will give me a few babies to love and raise."
Talia blushed. So that was what he meant.
"Don't get too excited." Vander gave a sardonic smile. "He's already an engaged man."
Cedric shot him a baleful glance. "Never you worry about something like that. Talia will be my FIRST and ONLY wife."
Vander raised an eyebrow. "I will believe it when I see it. That Evelyn woman is like a tar baby. The more you try to escape, the more entangled and stuck in her tar you will become."
"Are you giving me real-life experience advice Vander?" Cedric gave a light chuckle. "It's just like your own tar baby fiancée, eh?"
Talia's eyes sparkled. "So you both are engaged to 'tar-baby' fiancées? How interesting!"
"It's not that interesting." Cedric scowled. "It will be dealt with as soon as we reach the palace."
Vander bared his fangs and hissed. "It is also a non-issue for me."
The men turned away, each deep in thoughts about how to extricate themselves from their own tar babies in a way that would not affect the woman sitting beside them.
Meanwhile, Devin sat on Talia's lap, absorbing all the adult conversation swirling around him.
He began playing with Ben and singing a new song he had just created from only two words that he had just picked up.
It was a funny word that rolled around on his tongue and he enjoyed saying it. He knew what 'baby' meant, but had no idea what 'tar' was. ***
It didn't matter though. It was still fun to say.
He held up the worn fuzzy brown bear. "Taar-Baaby, taar-baaby, taar-baaby!"
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***Tar Baby: The Tar-Baby is the second of the Uncle Remus stories published in 1881; it is about a doll made of tar and turpentine used by the villainous Br'er Fox to entrap Br'er Rabbit. The more that Br'er Rabbit fights the Tar-Baby, the more entangled he becomes.