For Darkness Shows the Stars Part 24

Tatiana held out the bag. Her face was impa.s.sive. "That we don't want you to steal the workforce keeping our estate alive? The one we've protected and cared for, for generations? No, Elliot, I must say that I don't."

"Last chance, Elliot," said the baron.

Elliot looked at Ro. The girl still wouldn't look up, but tears dripped off the edge of her nose. On some level she understood. She must. "Ro, it's going to be all right," she said, as if she could convince them both.

And then she walked away.

FOUR YEARS AGO.

Dear Kai, Father is being unbearable tonight. He wants me to comb through all our ledgers. But I can be here till dawn and he won't find anything extra. I only know a little about how the farm works from watching my mother, but even I know what the problem is. The harvest numbers aren't good. Father didn't listen to his foreman about the crop rotation, and since he pulled down the orchards for a better view of the sea, he isn't going to get any help there, either. If it weren't for the stockpiles on my grandfather's estate, we'd be in real trouble this winter.

I know I should be more understanding-after all, it can't have been any easier on him to lose Mother than it was for us. I want to believe they loved each other, and sometimes, when we're down in the star-cavern sanctuary and all the lamps are off and he thinks we won't know, I've even seen him shed a tear.

But on nights like tonight, I think he doesn't miss her. He misses all the work she used to do for him.

Yours, Elliot Dear Elliot, I have heard rumblings that there might be food shortages this winter. All the Posts are scared. A few of us were visiting the Grove estate recently, and there was talk of trading with them, even over your father's objections. But the situation there isn't great, either. Have you heard Mr. Grove is ill now too?

Things are falling apart all over, it seems. It makes me wonder about the future. About whether being tied to an estate is a good idea at all.

Yours, Kai Dear Kai, I am worried for the future, too. Sometimes, I wish these gliders were big enough to carry us both away.

Yours, Elliot Dear Elliot, I can't build you a glider, but that doesn't mean we can't leave. Come to me tonight. I have a plan.

Yours, Kai.

Thirty-nine.

"HE BANISHED YOU?"

Elliot North stood on the steps of the Boatwright house-her house-with all her worldly possessions in her hands, and asked its residents for admittance. Both Innovations stood above her on the porch, their mouths slack.

"It is his favorite remedy for dealing with a threat to his property, it seems," she said, keeping her voice as light as possible. "He did the same thing to my cousin Benedict when it looked as if he'd claim his inheritance. It seems my inheritance is this estate."

Felicia blinked. "The Boatwright estate is . . . yours?"

"Mine in fact, as it's been for so long in practice," Elliot said. Perhaps this was how she'd survive. Act gracious and formal and pretend that her heart had not just been ripped out of her chest. "And yet my first act as owner is to beg you for a place to sleep."

"Of course!" said the admiral, beckoning to her. "We've bunked in far tighter quarters than your grandfather's house-your house, I should say. And we should get used to it, too. Soon enough we'll all be crowded together on the s.h.i.+p. We can find a place for you."

He led her up the steps of the porch. "After you, Miss Elliot-I mean Chancellor Boatwright."

Her new t.i.tle echoed in her ears and reverberated in her heart, and Elliot gripped the handle of her bag even more tightly as the weight of what she'd done settled like a mantle on her shoulders. There was no other choice. Not just for her sake and the sake of the laborers, not just to make her friends proud, but for the memory of her mother and her grandfather and every Boatwright who'd ever held these lands. She couldn't let them down.

Elliot dipped her head in thanks and entered her new home.

"IF YOU GIVE US a few hours, we can move out of the master bedroom," Felicia said.

Elliot shook her head. "That won't be necessary. If I find I want a bigger s.p.a.ce to sleep, I can wait until you've left for good."

Her tone remained even, but inwardly, Elliot quaked at the thought. Left for good. As hard as it was now, surrounded by Fleet Posts she could count on as friends and with the countryside full of Luddites she knew were on her side, how hard would it be when everyone left? When the nearest ally she had were the Groves a whole estate away and she was forced to face the consequences of her choice alone, completely cut off from the rest of the islands by her father's land.

But she couldn't back down now. She'd been alone before, and she'd managed. She'd do so again. Here, at least, she had a chance. If she gave in to her father, she'd have nothing. Not even the chance-distasteful as it was-that Benedict had offered her.

Even if she was forced to entertain that possibility-to save Ro and the others-she wouldn't consider it until the Fleet left. She couldn't bear for Kai to know. Not even now.

No sooner than she'd dropped her bag in a small back bedroom did she turn around and head out. There was so much to do. Though she longed to find Kai and get his take on things, other matters took precedence. She needed to make sure that all the Boatwright workers were informed as soon as possible, in case her father tried to expand his edict to those who belonged to her estate and trap them on the wrong side of the border. She needed to get in contact with Horatio Grove at once and let him know of the feud and the danger now posed by a North estate put entirely in the hands of Baron North. This needed to be resolved before the planting season started. It was already afternoon, so Horatio would likely be preparing for her grandfather's funeral . . .

Elliot stopped short. Wait. The Boatwright's body was on the North estate, but in order to send his pyre out to sea, they had to travel to her lands. The baron wouldn't ignore her grandfather's last wishes, would he? She hurried back to the porch to ask Felicia for use of one of the sun-carts to visit the Groves, but stopped when she saw an unfamiliar sun-cart parked on the lawn with a Post driver getting out from behind the wheel.

"I've a message for the baroness from Tatiana North," said the man, handing a note to Felicia.

The baroness was here, in the house? That made things simpler for Elliot.

"Thank you, Tev," said Felicia. "You may wait here this time. I imagine she'll want to return soon."

The Post nodded and looked pointedly at Elliot. "There might be a riot on the North estate tonight, ma'am. Word has spread about what your father did. Have you spoken to my mistress yet?"

Elliot's hands flew to her cheeks. "A riot? No, there mustn't be." Not with all the Luddites there. They had pistols, and they'd be obliged to go to her father's aid. Things could get messy, very fast. With a flash of horror, she remembered Benedict's prediction of revolution beginning at a bad estate. Would it be the North lands? And would Benedict be on the side of the Luddites? "Please, talk to the Posts on my behalf. Tell them to be patient . . ."

And what? She'd fix everything? She couldn't promise them that. She hung her head.

And then she felt a hand on her shoulder; warm, firm fingers that comforted as well as a hug. "There will be no riot." Felicia's voice floated above her. "I'll go speak to the North Posts if you want, Elliot. We can avert several acts of violence today."

"What do you mean?" Elliot looked at her in confusion. The driver Tev had returned to his sun-cart and was out of earshot.

Felicia hesitated. "I should not have spoken. You have already dealt with too much today."

Elliot laughed mirthlessly. "Yes. Inheritance, banishment, a marriage proposal . . ."

Felicia raised her eyebrows.

"From Benedict," Elliot clarified. "As soon as he heard my grandfather's will. Apparently, it was never the North estate he wanted." She sighed. "And the funny thing is-"

"Do you want to marry Benedict?" Felicia asked, her tone a little hard.

"No." Firm. Definite. She didn't want to, but it might be the best way to help the people on the North estate. Still . . . "I don't love him. And I don't think I can trust him."

"You're right not to trust him," said Felicia. "May I tell you something in confidence? Something I would only tell you in the interest of helping you right now?"

"You may tell me anything if it will help me." Elliot was desperate. And in return, somehow she'd find the words to tell Felicia everything, too. Weeks ago, she hadn't been brave enough to share confidences with Felicia. But now, with the fate of everyone on the North estate in question, she'd have to cobble together enough confidence to listen to the older woman. Through Kai, Elliot had learned so many of Felicia's secrets, and she'd been able to accept them all. It wasn't too much to hope that Felicia would do the same.

Felicia took a deep breath. "Baroness Channel is here to talk to the Phoenixes. I begged them to give this method a chance before taking out their grievances in a way that could get them hurt-or endanger our mission."

"Their grievances? Against Benedict?"

"You are aware, I suppose, of some of the more . . . unsavory things that happen in the Post enclaves."

"More unsavory than human experimentation?" Elliot asked, her tone pointed.

Felicia's response was utterly serious. "Much more. Not all the stories about the Post enclaves are propaganda designed to keep estate Posts from running away. Some of them, unfortunately, are true. There are bad people there. People who take advantage of those who have no one to turn to. Benedict North is one of those people."

Something soured in the pit of Elliot's stomach. And when Felicia went on, she found that she felt no surprise.

Felicia led her over to the chairs set up against one wall of the porch. Nearby, a small table held a pot of tea on a sun-warmer, and Felicia poured them two cups. "I told you once that Andromeda Phoenix was not used to life as a Free Post." When Elliot nodded, the older woman went on. "That's because despite leaving her estate as a young child, she hasn't been a Free Post for very long."

Elliot's eyes narrowed. "I don't understand. What does this have to do with Benedict?" Benedict, who'd proposed to her not an hour ago, who'd told her he wanted to support the Posts, who might be her only chance of rescuing the people she cared for most in the world.

"The Phoenixes-they were Ann and Don then-they were children. They had nothing. They had no one. It was nearly impossible for Ann to find someone who would hire her. I've seen so many of these children, Elliot. They've made me desperate offers."

"You've accepted some of them!" Elliot couldn't help but say. Felicia had experimented on Kai and the Phoenixes, and who knew how many other young Posts.

Felicia nodded gravely. "Yes, I have. Everyone who came to me knew the risks of what we were doing, and the benefits if we were successful. It's a dangerous job, but it's not an exploitive one."

But she couldn't be sure of that. None of them could. She might have doomed them all, unless they never married, never had children . . . Tatiana was right there. The Fleet Posts thought they were invincible. Posts always had Post children. But that was thanks to the protocols.

And maybe Tatiana hadn't been the only member of her family who was right. Perhaps her father had been right, too, so many years ago. The sourness in her stomach grew, like a bit of rot that could infest an entire bushel of fruit. "What was Benedict's offer?" she asked Felicia, though she could already guess.

"You must understand," said Felicia, "Ann was very desperate. And her brother-he was so young-and he was starving."

She'd been so quick to believe Benedict when he'd said her father had made up everything about his banishment. It made sense. It was something she could easily imagine her father doing.

But that didn't mean it was true.

"There is a house in Channel City," Felicia was saying. "It is filled with young women. Little girls. Posts, mostly, but there are Reduced as well. Benedict worked there. It was his job to find new recruits."

Elliot shuddered.

"He was perfect for the position. He was young, and handsome, and charming, and he pretended to be a Post, just like them. Called himself Ben."

"Stop," Elliot whispered. "I don't need to hear anymore." Of course he needed her help getting the North workforce to stay. An eight-year-old rumor was bad enough. But news of this business?

"Their work contracts, however, merely bonded the runaways into service to a new Luddite. And unlike the lords of the estates, these masters did not tolerate runaways," Felicia finished, her face drawn. "Andromeda has never trusted a Luddite since."

"Though I seem to be alone in that," came a voice from behind them. Elliot turned to see Andromeda in the doorway, her face pale and drawn, her glittering blue eyes red and swollen with tears. "First you send me off to tell my sob story to the dragon lady, and then you spill everything to the princess."

"Andromeda, I'm so sorry . . . ," Elliot began.

She snorted. "Pity from you? Save it. You've been harboring him a few kay away for a month."

"I didn't know . . ."

"No one knew," said Donovan, appearing behind his sister. "Until the race, no one had any idea that 'Ben' was Benedict North. Only Andromeda had ever seen him."

So that's why she'd been crying at the race. Elliot could imagine the shock the Post must have had to realize how close she'd been to her old tormentor. To realize that he was the heir to the North estate.

Baroness Channel and the admiral came out onto the porch, followed by Kai. His face was drawn, and there was murder in his dark eyes.

"My dear," the baroness said to Elliot, her veil shaking in indignation, "I just heard from Nicodemus what your father did. Are you all right?"

"I will be," said Elliot, "as soon as I can be a.s.sured that the people on the North estate are in good hands." It was even more important than before. Whatever faults her father had, he was not exploiting his workers. Once Benedict took over, there was no telling what he'd do.

Felicia called the baroness to deliver Tatiana's note, and Elliot looked at Kai. He stood apart from the others, leaning against the wall of the house and staring unabashedly at Elliot. His hands were clenched at his sides. Elliot caught her breath as she realized his anger was not on Andromeda's behalf. It was on hers.

"Where is Ro?" he asked her softly, as if they were the only two people on the porch.

"There." Elliot strangled the sob that rose in her throat. "My father made her watch me leave."

"I'll go get her."

"No," Elliot said. "He's promised to shoot any of the North workers who cross the border between our estates."

"I'll go fast."

"It's too dangerous."

"Very fast," Kai insisted.

"No, you won't," said Felicia, cutting in on their tete-a-tete. "Luddites have guns, don't you remember? We aren't going to risk either of you getting shot just to make a point. Even if you are successful, it will only incite the baron to be more unreasonable."

Kai shoved away from the wall. "He's always at a maximum level of unreasonable."

Felicia went on. "Ro isn't in any danger tonight."

"Oh really?" Andromeda drawled. "Even with Ben there?"

"Ann!" said Felicia sharply. "Stop it. You're just trying to scare Elliot now."

But Elliot wasn't scared. Not of Benedict and Ro. For he still wanted to marry Elliot and get his hands on the s.h.i.+pyard, a situation he was smart enough to realize would never happen if he did anything to hurt her Reduced friend. Still, she had no desire to leave Ro alone on the North estate in the long term.

"Fine, Felicia," she said. "What will we risk? We can't take my friends off the North estate by force, and even if we could, the rest of the estate would suffer."

"One crisis at a time, Miss Elliot," came the baroness's voice from across the porch. "And unfortunately for your little Reduced friend, this one takes precedence." She held out Tatiana's note.

Dear Baroness Channel, Due to unforeseen circ.u.mstances, the funeral for Chancellor Elliot Boatwright will not be able to proceed as planned. We are unable to gain access to the beach where the Boatwright's pyre is, and must therefore lay him in the North family tomb inside our star-cavern sanctuary. We hope to see you at the ceremony at sunset.

Sincerely, Tatiana North.