For Darkness Shows the Stars Part 20

"I'm still disappointed that I didn't get a tour of the s.h.i.+p that day," said Elliot. "You must promise to show it to me before you leave. How has construction been going?" There. It was the closest she'd dared come to asking after Kai.

Admiral Innovation snorted. "It would be coming along much more quickly if we still had our chief engineer. We lost Wentforth three weeks ago when an order for sun-carts came in. Had to send him down to Channel City to retrieve them."

Elliot gripped the handle of her mug. Kai was gone? Had been gone? For weeks? All this time, she thought he'd been tending to Olivia. All this time, she thought he'd been avoiding her, uninterested in hearing about her experiments, uninterested in exploring the fragile truce they'd come to back in Ro's cottage. But he hadn't been here at all.

In spite of the darkness, in spite of the cold, in spite of the hostile ground where she sat, hope bloomed in Elliot's heart.

Thirty-two.

"HOW AGGRAVATING," BENEDICT WAS saying. "Wasn't there anyone down in Channel City who could deliver the carts for you?"

Felicia broke in. "Malakai restores each of the carts by hand before delivering them to the purchaser. They were found in good condition, but we don't want to risk anything but the best for our Luddite clientele."

"Naturally," said Baron North.

"But you're right, young man," said Admiral Innovation. "Very aggravating for the project. Wentforth's the only one who knows every piece of the s.h.i.+p."

"What wonderful mechanical training he must have had," Tatiana drawled. "And what a great loss to his estate." She rolled her eyes in Elliot's direction.

But Elliot paid her no mind. Kai hadn't been avoiding her. He wasn't on the estate. Who cared about Tatiana's potshots?

"The s.h.i.+p, you see," said the admiral, becoming more animated now than he had for all the hours of tedious discussions on horseflesh, "it runs on the same principle as the carts."

"Wentforth was lucky to find them," Felicia said quickly, "and he studied them carefully to extrapolate the technology." She shot her husband a glance of warning, but it was too late.

The baron sniffed disapprovingly. "I wasn't aware that you were building a new kind of s.h.i.+p on my lands. Or rather, my father-in-law's. Are you sure you've cleared this with the tribunal?"

"Oh, it's not new," said Felicia, smiling. "We've merely extrapolated the design of the sun-carts for something larger and ocean going. It's no different than if Miss North here," she nodded in Tatiana's direction, "were to get one of her dress patterns made out of new material. Nothing wrong with that."

Benedict grinned while Tatiana, clad in Post velvets she'd had s.h.i.+pped all the way from Channel City, straightened her skirts and looked away.

"At any rate," said the admiral, clearly wis.h.i.+ng to change the subject, "Wentforth's been gone, and it was a hards.h.i.+p. Of course, he went reluctantly enough." He chuckled.

Reluctantly! Elliot squeezed her mug in suppressed glee.

"With his sweetheart awake, it took some real convincing on my part to tear him from her bedside."

"Did it?" Elliot blurted. "I mean-how lovely for Olivia." She yearned for him to say something useful, maybe estimate a time for Kai's return.

"Yes," said the admiral. "He's been quite glued to her side ever since he returned yesterday."

Her hopes withered on the vine. He was back, and he still hadn't come. Elliot dipped her head forward, praying no one could see the disappointment etched onto her features.

The admiral nodded. "It's wonderful to see such devotion in a teenager to a sick young woman. My captains seem particularly steadfast in this regard. I'm sure you've heard of my dear daughter. My Captain Phoenix-he cared for her very much, and did not let her sickliness sway him at any point." Felicia laid her hand on his, and they exchanged a soft, sad smile. "I love him for how much he loved my Sophia. I love him as the son-in-law he never got the chance to be."

Elliot blinked hard. They loved him because he'd risked his life to help their daughter. Of course, the risk wasn't without its rewards. She wondered how much of Donovan's musical talent the ERV procedure had been responsible for. Kai's voice hadn't changed, so perhaps Donovan's beautiful singing was natural talent. Surely, however, his violin skills were helped along significantly by the muscular grace and finesse his enhancement conferred.

"It seems as if Malakai Wentforth has the same love for the Grove girl."

Elliot had to agree. To fantasize otherwise would be foolish. She'd seen it with her own eyes, and it had been confirmed by everyone else she knew. Kai loved Olivia. As he should.

"Indeed," said Tatiana, raising her eyebrows. She'd lost any pretense of respect for Kai's relations.h.i.+p with Olivia now that she knew who he was. A rich Post originating from anyplace else was one thing, but a runaway North Post, parading about on these lands like a lord-that was something else entirely. "I imagine that's a bit premature."

It was, perhaps, the most supportive thing Elliot's sister had ever said. Even if it was by accident. But if Tatiana was her only ally, Elliot doubted there was any possibility of mistake.

"I wonder that Horatio Grove allows it," Tatiana added.

"Pardon?" the admiral asked.

"Captain Wentforth must be at least eighteen," Tatiana replied smoothly, though she knew his exact birthday. "Olivia is still a child. It's disgraceful."

"Not by Post standards," Felicia piped up. "But, I suppose, to each his own. For instance, the Posts are not so keen on close family relations. But it's common enough among Luddites." Her smile said it all. She knew Tatiana's complaint was not with Olivia's age, but rather with her admirer's ident.i.ty.

Later, after the Innovations had left, Tatiana let herself fume. "That Post woman forgets herself sometimes, I think."

"What is it to you," Elliot asked, "if she approves of a relations.h.i.+p between two people so unconnected to you?"

"It's the principle of the thing!" Tatiana exclaimed. "Olivia is a Luddite. No matter how rich these Posts are, they do not have the right bloodlines."

"And yet Mrs. Innovation implies otherwise," Benedict said. "You heard her disparaging the Luddite practice of family intermarriage." There was a cunning little smile playing about his lips as he addressed his two cousins. "She's quite bold."

"That's the problem with Posts," said Tatiana. "They think they're invincible because they overcame the Reduction. It lives inside of them. There is no escaping that." She gave a little sniff.

But what if there was? It was heresy to say it out loud, but the look on Benedict's face reflected the thoughts that were threatening to burst out of her. The Posts had come to believe that they had escaped it-that they had overcome the genetic taint of Reduction. They believed it so thoroughly that they would even risk ERV.

"Perhaps if they didn't think themselves so mighty," Tatiana continued, "Olivia would never have been injured."

She glared at Elliot, as if somehow she was responsible for anything Kai had done in the last four years.

At that moment Mags appeared in the doorway, her face pale and somber. "Miss Elliot," she said softly, and then remembered who it was she should be addressing. "Miss North."

Tatiana rolled her eyes. "What is it, Mags?"

"The Boatwright, miss. He's pa.s.sed."

IT WAS VERY LATE when Elliot was finally left to her own devices. She hadn't had a chance to do more than look upon the sheet-wrapped body of the Boatwright in the presence of her father and sister. She hadn't had a chance to go into her own room and cry. Tatiana had squeezed out a few ladylike tears in the parlor, but Elliot was not the type to quietly weep and dab at her face with a handkerchief while the baron and Benedict looked on. She couldn't let herself go in front of them. Just like with her mother's death, when she did cry, it would be volcanic.

And she had to do it alone. But she never got the chance to excuse herself and go to her room. Her father didn't seem to see why it was necessary. There were so many preparations to be made-the body needed to be moved and dressed, and adjustments had to be made for the party plans to accommodate a funeral. Elliot would have preferred to cancel, but her father wouldn't hear of it.

"People will want to come and pay their respects to the Boatwright," he argued. "Why not combine the events?"

He made the same argument, it seemed, whether Elliot's grandfather was alive or dead.

At last she knew that to get any real peace, she'd have to leave the house entirely. There was only one place to go. Elliot had long ago made peace with herself over the fact that, every time things in her house became too unbearable, she needed the barn. It was no great mystery. In the barn is where she'd known almost every moment of peace, happiness, and triumph in her life. It was her secret joy, her refuge . . . and her shame. She couldn't pa.s.s through the doors without her eyes going immediately to that little knothole as if, magically, a letter from Kai would be waiting as they used to be so many years ago. She couldn't enter without cursing her own body's memory.

One day she was going to get a new door put on the barn. No more knothole. No more ritual. No more pain, every time she pa.s.sed through and remembered all she'd lost. But for now she just wanted to escape to the little room in the loft and rest. Rest for a moment. Forget about everything that had changed and everything that hadn't. Lie down on the pallet that still sat on the floor, though all trace and scent of Kai had long ago been leached out of it. Look at the gliders that fluttered down from the beams-her final gift from Kai, though for all she knew, he'd left her their letters out of spite. Close her eyes and remember a time when her grandfather and her mother were here to temper things for them all. Just spend a few minutes not thinking about the estate, not being a North, not worrying about anything.

She made her way in silence across the floor of the dairy, past the machines Kai had repaired, past the stalls where the Innovation horses dozed, and headed toward the stairs that led to the loft.

Nero was waiting for her on the landing.

So was Kai.

He startled her, sitting there in the darkness, silent and unmoving even when she almost jumped out of her skin. The cat sat on his knees and he was scratching the animal's neck. Were it not for those tiny flicks of his fingers against the fur, Kai could have been a statue. She turned up the lantern, but he didn't blink in the sudden brightness.

Elliot composed herself, as much in response to his uncanny presence as to her raw reaction to seeing him again. "How's Olivia?" she forced herself to ask, though her voice broke on the words.

"I don't want to talk about Olivia right now." He studied her. "I heard about your grandfather, Elliot. I'm so sorry."

"Thank you." She stood still. His body blocked the stairs. She couldn't push past him. She didn't want to push past him. If she inadvertently touched him, she might dissolve. For weeks she'd waited for him. He hadn't sent word that he'd left the estate; he hadn't come to visit when he'd returned. And now, of all times, he came to her?

"I thought, maybe . . ."

"What?"

He waited. Took a breath. "I thought maybe you . . . needed to talk to someone."

"You mean like when my mother died?" The words fell like stones into the s.p.a.ce between them. That night. That wonderful, terrible night when her mother died and her whole world had been destroyed, when she realized she loved Kai and her whole world had been created anew. Now he wanted to take that night away from her, too? Her throat began to burn, and a vise squeezed at her heart. "I think you'll find, Malakai, that I'm a different person than I was then. I don't need anyone. The last four years are proof of that."

"So now when you come to the barn, it's to be alone?"

She stiffened. "Yes."

Kai stood and moved to the side of the stairwell so she could pa.s.s, but still she did not. He looked at the locked door to the loft, and back at Elliot. "Go ahead."

She didn't move. d.a.m.n him. He knew what she hid in there. He had to know. Or at least suspect. "I thought I told you to stay out of here."

"Go ahead, Elliot. Open the door."

She shook her head. No. If he saw she'd kept the letters, he'd know how much she still cared. She couldn't bear for him to see, not tonight, when she'd already lost so much.

"Why?"

"I don't owe you an answer." Did his unnatural eyes give him X-ray vision? Could he see through the boards of the door and tell what she was hiding inside? Had Felicia given him the power of flight? Had he levitated up to the window and peered inside?

Or did he just know her so well that he could guess?

"You told me you did experiments, Elliot." So he did believe her. "You must trust me. I came tonight because I knew you'd be here. Please, will you unlock the door now?"

It was too late for that. He might not hate her anymore, but that didn't mean she was ready to give up all her secrets. "Go back to Olivia," she said flatly. "She needs you more than I do."

SIX YEARS AGO.

Dear Kai, After giving it a lot of thought, I've decided that this will be my last little note to you. I've grown tired of playing with a boy who lives in a barn and only owns one pair of pants. I can't possibly imagine what you find so fascinating about bunches of rusted metal. It was a fun game while it lasted. But I'm bored now. Please don't ever talk to me again.

Not your friend, Elliot Dear Elliot, I really wish you'd stop coming and bothering me. I have lots of ch.o.r.es to do, because I'm a servant. I would much rather do the work I'm supposed to than waste everyone's time by playing with you. I'm twelve years old now, and that means I have to work my allotted twelve hours a day on the farm, and if I don't, I won't get fed. I'm sure you don't want me to starve. So leave me alone.

Not your friend, Kai Dear Kai, That was Tatiana. Don't worry. Mother has punished her.

Your friend, Elliot Dear Elliot, No kidding.

Your friend, Kai PS: Would you really let me starve?

Dear Kai, That was the craziest part of her letter. I had no idea you worked twelve hours a day. How do you have time to see me at all? How do you have time to read?

Your friend, Elliot Dear Elliot, What do you mean? There are twenty-four hours in a day. I only have to work for twelve.

Your friend, Kai.

Thirty-three.

"YOU'RE COMING TO THE race and that's final. The Reduced laborers can prepare grandfather's body without your supervision." Tatiana stood at the door of Elliot's room and slapped her riding crop impatiently against her thigh. Her dark hair was swept up in an elaborate system of braids that must have taken her maid hours to achieve, and her new riding habit was a deep, rich green velvet, complete with fringe, ta.s.sels, and gold b.u.t.tons. Elliot supposed if she was going to ride a Post horse, she might as well dress up in a Post costume.

The irony was lost on her sister though. Today she was hosting a party for her fellow Luddite lords, but every detail, including the money used to pay for the extravaganza, was Post. This funeral was already an embarra.s.sment. A horse race, to honor the Boatwright? It was ludicrous. Even a boat race would be preferable, but Tatiana and her father wouldn't triumph there, and there was a real danger that the Cloud Fleet captains would.

"If there is no need to supervise the Reduced, then why do we?" Elliot asked. "Why do we imprison them when they are pregnant? Why do we control their movements? Why do we keep them like slaves?"

Tatiana rolled her eyes. "Don't be dramatic, little sister. You know what I mean. We have set them a task and they can accomplish it quite well without your help. You are a daughter of Baron North and my sister, and you should be there to see me win this race. If you aren't there, everyone will wonder why."

"Or maybe they will think that I am in proper mourning for our grandfather." Unlike Tatiana, who insisted on riding in the race, despite Elliot's misgivings. After much more debate than Elliot would have thought possible, they'd come up with a solution that pleased three of the four of them: Benedict would ride one of the Innovation horses for the Norths, and Tatiana would ride the other in honor of her Boatwright heritage.

"The Fleet Posts are coming," Tatiana said, ignoring Elliot's remark. "You like them so much, I'm certain you'll want to see them. And Horatio is bringing Olivia. That means Captain Wentforth will be there." Her voice dripped with disdain over Kai's Post moniker. "Don't you want to see them?"

See them together? Tatiana was truly making a case for herself. "I know you'd prefer not to," Elliot said.

"If I were you," Tatiana replied, "I'd attach myself to Horatio as quickly as possible, lest Olivia and her Post friend try to take over the Grove estate."

Elliot was sick of this argument. Almost as sick as she was of imagining a future where Kai remained here permanently-with Olivia Grove. "The last thing Captain Wentforth needs is an estate. And the last thing we need is any more arranged marriages."

Tatiana raised her eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean? Who has arranged a marriage around here?"