For Darkness Shows the Stars (27 page)

T
HE
L
UDDITES WHO’D COME
to the horse race were a varied lot. It had been so long since the Norths had thrown a house party, Elliot hardly knew what to expect—but the assembled group surprised her. Down in the Channel, things must be changing as quickly as Benedict and the Fleet Posts had hinted at. It was interesting to note which of the visiting Luddites embraced the Post styles and which resisted, more interesting still to see the reactions of the more conservative when Baron North and Tatiana came out in their new, bright velvet clothes. Eyes widened, eyebrows raised, and there were definite whispers among the assembled crowd.

“This is what comes of taking Post money,” was one comment that Elliot managed to make out.

“I’d never have thought it of the Norths, but desperate times, I suppose,” was another.

And, “Harbinger of the end times, if you ask me. Knew it as soon as I saw the invite. Innovation horses, indeed!” rounded out the bunch.

Her family didn’t seem to notice. “One positive of your little outburst this morning,” Tatiana hissed in Elliot’s ear as they walked through the crowd, “is it allowed us to be fashionably late to our own party.”

Elliot tugged on the sleeves of her dress and said nothing. Her hair, too, was arranged in braids and looped up over her head. Her dress was old—it had been her mother’s—and a pale orchid color. She caught the approving nods of some of the harsher critics and inwardly cringed. Little did they know, beneath the Luddite dress, she was more of a radical than anyone in her family.

The Fleet had also arrived, and had concocted a marvelous system of heated pavilions attached to the sun-carts. The Innovations and Groves sat inside, watching the festivities and staying toasty warm. Perhaps the only good thing to come of this spectacle was Olivia’s first appearance in public since her accident. Elliot hadn’t been able to bring herself to visit her yet, for fear of running into Kai, but Tatiana had gone on several occasions. Her sister had reported back that Olivia was as pretty as ever, but had grown “a bit odd.” She was quieter than she used to be and preferred to stay close to her brother.

“Give my regards to the tenants, Elliot,” Baron North said—or rather ordered. “And invite Horatio Grove to sit in our pavilion.”

“Yes, father.” She doubted he would leave his sister’s side, though, nor that he’d prefer the smoky smudge pots in the Luddites’ pavilion to the clear air in the Fleet’s.

As Elliot approached the Post pavilion, she saw that several Luddites sat there, too. Elliot supposed they were former patrons of the admiral’s.

“Good morning, Elliot,” said Felicia. She was dressed in magenta today, and sat on a giant marigold cushion she shared with her husband. Kai stood behind her. “You look lovely in that dress. Its color suits you so well. But I am surprised to see you here today. I thought you might be staying with your grandfather.”

Elliot swallowed and kept her eyes averted from Kai’s face, though he wasn’t doing the same for hers. Indeed, she worried she might melt under the directness of his too-bright gaze. He’d stayed away from her since the night of her grandfather’s death. She wished she could say she was grateful.

“I seem to have warring duties, ma’am. My father sends his regards. You know he has high hopes for your horses.” How many weeks had she longed for him to look her way? Now she dreaded the sensation. His dark eyes seemed to bore right through her and it was all she could do to pay attention to the adults.

“As well the baron might,” said the Luddite woman sitting nearest the admiral. “I am Baroness Channel, Miss Elliot. I don’t believe I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting Baron North’s youngest daughter before.”

Elliot shook the woman’s hand. She was dressed in shell-pink velvet, marrying the best in Post fashion with Luddite sensibilities. Her matching hat had a shimmering half-veil that shielded the woman’s eyes from the sun. Elliot remembered her name from Nicodemus’s letter of introduction. “Nice to meet you.”

At the racetrack, the riders were being announced, and each stepped forward, leading their horses by the reins. Elliot heard her sister’s name called, and then Benedict’s.

“I was so sorry to hear about your recent loss. Chancellor Boatwright was a great man. I used to do lots of business with him, before he shuttered his business and the admiral here approached me about starting his Fleet. I am happy that I could be here to celebrate his life.”

“Thank you,” said Elliot.

Felicia lifted a small set of binoculars to her eyes to observe the horses as they paraded them around the track. Many of the other attendees had similar devices. “Three Innovation horses in this race. I see the Record family has brought Zeus.”

The baroness turned to the admiral. “I remember I was a bit skeptical when you first approached me. A Post, wanting to build a fleet of ships to explore with? But by that time, you had already become quite well known for the horses. They were the first fruits of your exploration, were they not, Nicodemus?”

Felicia laid her hand on top of the admiral’s, and he smiled at her as he said, “Ah, yes. Our first expedition. And what luck we had, didn’t we, dear?”

“The island didn’t have a name,” said Felicia. “I don’t think it was ever inhabited. Just wild horses, everywhere. We brought back a pair to start the breeding program.”

“And the money we made was enough to begin to finance the Fleet,” the admiral finished. “That was so many years ago now. Our late daughter—she was little more than a child at the time.”

Elliot nodded once more to the Innovations and the baroness and, hoping to escape Kai’s steady gaze, she moved toward the cushions where the Groves sat with the Phoenixes. Even if he followed her here, she was sure Olivia would distract him. The girl sat propped up on cushions near her brother and Donovan and Kai didn’t move from his place near Felicia. Elliot supposed they couldn’t spend every waking moment together.

He didn’t stop watching her, either.

“Elliot,” said Donovan. “What a pleasure to see you in our humble tent.” A string-box sat in his lap and he plucked idly at it as he spoke. Olivia wore a dreamy half smile at the sound of the music.

“She’s jumpier than she used to be,” Horatio explained in a low voice. “Too many people, too much noise. She’d been refusing to come at all until Donovan offered to bring an instrument. The music soothes her somehow.”

“Only when Donovan plays,” said Olivia, with a slur in her voice Elliot had never heard before. “He’s so good at it.”

“You’re doing so well,” Elliot managed to tell the younger girl. “It is so good to see you again.” She’d been too hasty, casting aspersions on Kai for visiting Olivia first. The poor girl had been through so much. Who knew if she’d ever really recover? And of course Kai would blame himself—this wouldn’t have happened if he and Donovan weren’t playing on the cliffs.

This wouldn’t have happened if he and Donovan didn’t have abilities no human should possess. Even at the time, Andromeda had tried to stop them, tried to warn them.

Now, Andromeda wouldn’t even look her way. Elliot wanted to groan aloud. What had she done to offend the older girl this time? She sat stiff as a rod on her cushion, her crystalline eyes staring, unfocused, on the blanket before her, her lips pursed into a thin line. A set of binoculars lay forgotten near her feet. Elliot supposed they must be for show, anyway. With her eyes, Andromeda would never need them. Elliot was tempted to ask if the Post girl was all right, but Andromeda would likely only snap at her, as always.

As she exchanged pleasantries with the others, Elliot listened with half an ear to the conversation going on at her back. Baroness Channel was still curious about the Innovation horses.

“But with the horses being so rare and valuable, I have often wondered why you never returned to retrieve more.”

The admiral chuckled. “Can’t flood the market, can we? The Innovation Horse remains our biggest moneymaker, in part because they are so rare.”

Felicia laughed, too. “In truth, Baroness, we did. But something must have gone wrong one winter on the island. The horses were gone. Died out. It’s a mystery.”

Something in her tone rang false to Elliot’s ears. Was it truly a mystery? Had they killed off the other horses to make sure they had the only supply? She cast a glance back at the older guests on their cushions. That didn’t seem like either of the Innovations—to wipe out an island of horses. They were explorers, not destroyers. They were the only explorers, too, so it was unlikely anyone else would go get the horses instead.

“Indeed!” the baroness exclaimed. Beneath the shade of her veil, her mouth formed a perfect O. “How lucky, then, that you were able to preserve the breed.”

“Yes,” said Felicia. “We were very lucky.”

Lucky . . . and convenient. That Felicia with her prodigious medical knowledge could take advantage of such a fortunate find. That Kai and his mechanical training had happened upon sun-carts that only he was capable of readying for buyers.

Elliot’s blood ran cold as the truth cut through her like a scythe on a blade of wheat. She turned to stare at the Innovations in shock.

Felicia winked at the admiral. “To get the only two horses like that in all of existence.”

Of course they were the only two. The Innovations had never discovered any horses—any enormous, incredibly fast, impossibly beautiful, amazingly strong horses.

They’d made them.

“O
H LOOK,” SAID THE
baroness. “The race is about to start.” Most of the people in the pavilion turned their attention to the track, but Elliot was too distracted. She looked full on at Felicia, unable to hide the expression of shock on her face.

But of course. Why should she be surprised? They were willing to experiment on human beings. Why not horses? And then, to pass them off as an undiscovered breed, as a product of their totally legal explorations . . .

She pressed a hand to her cheeks. Her flesh burned, and once again she felt the need to run. Here, surrounded by a large contingent of Luddite society, they were about to witness the triumph of abominations. They were about to cheer them on. Did no one else suspect? Or did they just not care? Like her family, so many of these Luddites had taken Post money and wore Post clothes. They drove Post sun-carts and accepted Post hospitality. Was the hypocrisy of the Luddites so embedded that they didn’t mind who broke the protocols as long as there was money and amusement in it?

If they knew what the Fleet Posts had done, would the Luddites condemn them, or feel tempted to follow in their footsteps?

Elliot was a hypocrite, too. She liked Felicia. She liked the admiral. She’d sympathized with their desire to cure their daughter, and no matter what they did, she didn’t want to see them hanged for their actions. She hated to admit it, but she believed in their goals too much.

She shuddered as new realizations swept through her. If she was a false Luddite, was she not alone? Was there anything keeping their way of life afloat aside from lies and a lust for power?

Everyone’s eyes were on the race as Elliot stumbled blindly from the pavilion. She forgot her father’s instructions. She just needed to get away. She was two steps past the back of the sun-carts when she broke into a run, and halfway across the nearest wheat field when she collapsed in a heap. The ends of her skirts twisted around her ankles when she tried to stand, so she just pounded the dirt in frustration.

“Elliot,” said Kai. “Don’t say anything. Please.”

She spun to see him standing over her. Of course he’d come after her. He’d been staring at her since she entered the tent. Was it his duty to see what deception of the Fleet’s she’d uncover next? Had Felicia given him mind-reading abilities to help him along, or was Elliot simply that easy for him to read?

“Is any of it true?” she asked as he knelt in the dust at her side. Around them, hay bales still stood. They were shielded from the sights and sounds of the race. “Any of it at all? Are you really a Fleet? Are you really explorers? Did you really go forth at all,
Captain Wentforth
, or do you all just invent things and then claim you found them? Are you just a roving band of science experiments and liars?”

He looked at her with his too-bright eyes. “Are you a Luddite, or did you invent a breed of high-yield wheat?”

“Who told you?” she cried.

“I can figure things out on my own, too,” he replied. “When you wouldn’t talk to me the other night, I decided to do just that.” He shook his head. “I don’t know whether to be shocked or proud.”

“I’ll take shock.”

“You don’t get to choose.” His face was kind, and Elliot wanted to smack it. He hesitated for a second, and when he spoke again, he sounded almost nervous. “Are you proud of me? I have to admit, I wondered when I saw you driving the sun-cart, all those months ago.”

She felt like a fool. The Fleet had made fools of them all. Naturally, there were no island lots filled with abandoned sun-carts. They were the invention of her oldest friend. The controls looked like the tractor controls because that’s what Kai had been used to. He wasn’t restoring them for buyers; he was building them.

“Even then, I was glad you liked it. I wondered what you’d think if you knew I’d made it.”

She gritted her teeth. She’d been proud enough when she’d thought he’d merely
found
them. But how could she countenance this? “Don’t change the subject.”

He lifted his shoulder. “Fine. What happened to your wheat?”

“That wasn’t what I meant.”

But Kai wouldn’t let up. “What happened?”

She gestured back at the pavilions. “The racetrack.”

He nodded. She didn’t need to say anything more. He knew what the baron was like. “What were you thinking, Elliot? I’d never have expected it from a Luddite. Even you.”

“We needed to survive,” Elliot said, ignoring his “even you.” How did this become about her? A field of cross-bred wheat paled in comparison to illegal inventions and abominable animals. “Now you explain. This isn’t about Sophia this time.”

“No, it’s bigger than that. It’s about every Post on the islands. Yes, the Innovations lied. And your kind ate it up with a spoon. Look at the Luddites—beholden to their high-minded ideals, yet so desperate for something new, something better, that they don’t even ask basic questions.”

“Our naiveté is no justification for your deception,” said Elliot. “Are they all lies? Everything?”

Kai hesitated, then sighed. “We do go to nearby uninhabited islands. But they aren’t filled with miraculous inventions and highly convenient livestock, just off the coast. Or rather, they are, but it’s because we make them there.”

Elliot’s breath broke on a sob. “So if it’s all lies, what have you been building in my grandfather’s shipyard?” What had she been a party to?

“A ship!” Kai responded. “A real, ocean-going ship. It’s the truth this time. That’s why we’ve done all of this. For the money. For the support. The ships we have won’t take us beyond the islands. We need to make a new one—one that can harness the power of the sun to travel faster than sails. And a few other vehicles to help us on our journey. Everything we’ve done has been in preparation for this.” He leaned forward. “You know me, Elliot. I’ve always wanted to get away.”

“And go where?”

“Anywhere other than here.” He stood. “We don’t know what’s out there, beyond these islands. Are there people? Are there other people who have overcome the Reduction? Are there people who have cured it? I want to find out.”

“You sound like we did when we were children.”

“When we were children,” Kai said, “we were right.”

Elliot looked down into the dirt.

“You think we should, too, Elliot. I know you do. But the Luddites would never let us if they knew. So we bring them back little presents, make them think there’s treasure out there to find if only they help us. And there is—but it’s not the kind of treasure that will ever help them.”

She shook her head in defeat. He was right. She hated it, but more than that, she hated the bone-deep ache of envy that threatened to crush her at the thought of Kai’s mission.

Kai was silent for a few moments. “What bothers you most?”

She looked up at him and laughed mirthlessly. Like she’d ever admit it. “What bothers me most about the abominations you’ve created? About the laws you’ve broken? About the way you’ve made fools of us all?”

“Ah,” he said, nodding in triumph. “What bothers you most is that you didn’t sniff us out sooner.”

“No, I—”

“No, you’re a Luddite?” he asked. “No, you don’t think the Reduced should be cured? No, you hate the idea of new experiments? No, you would never lie to a Luddite lord to give everyone—including the Luddites—something they needed? I know you weren’t going to say anything like that.”

Elliot pressed her lips together. The wind tugged at her hair and cooled her cheeks.

His tone was insistent. “We rented the shipyard to build a ship, just as we said. A ship worthy of taking us across the ocean. We needed your facilities to do that—they are the only ones on the island that would have worked.” He shrugged. “If there was anywhere else I could have gone, don’t you think I would have? I would never have come back here by choice.”

Elliot buried her hands in her lap, hoping the folds of her skirt would hide the way they trembled. Would she have been better off if he’d never come back? If she could have just remembered him as he was instead of realizing that he’d achieved everything he’d ever wanted—and that he’d done it without her? No, more than simply without her. He’d done it
because
he’d left her behind. “I suppose then, you wouldn’t want to stay.” He would take Olivia away with him. That, at least, would be a relief.

“What?”

“Here. With Olivia.”

“Of course not! I told you—” He rubbed at his forehead in frustration. “This is all a nightmare.”

A nightmare. Of course. It was also her home. Elliot stood and turned away from him, looking back at the brightness of the pavilions. Her eyes narrowed. There, behind the sun-carts, hidden from the others by a flap of the tents, stood Andromeda Phoenix. Elliot did not have superhuman eyes. She could not see like Kai; she could not hear like Donovan. But it was impossible to mistake.

Andromeda was sobbing.