Among the Nameless Stars

Post. My da taught me—”
    The girl nodded in understanding. “Ah, your da’s Luddite.”

    Among the Nameless Stars by Diana Peterfreund
    | 8
    Kai didn’t have the energy to disagree with her. The girl seemed to take such relationships for granted, but Kai had ever known only one Luddite who loved a Post. And in the end, love hadn’t been enough for Elliot.
    “I’m from the North Estate, originally,” Kai offered.
    She blinked at him.
    “It’s north of here, beyond the ruins. By the sea.”
    “Must be bad there, for you to leave.”
    Kai looked around, at the huts, at the bare, rocky earth with no gardens or even grass for the children to play on, at the skinny, illiterate people living here, and said nothing.
    Teb returned, bringing with him a woman Kai thought at first must be ancient, due to her weathered face and white hair, but when she came closer, he realized that beneath the creases and the dirt, she was probably closer to forty.
    “You Kai? You read?” This must be the promised Jin. She thrust a packet of paper into his hands. “Read this.”
    Every one of these odd, dusty Posts had stopped what they were doing and were staring at him. He shifted slightly, and his leg cried out in agony.
    “I’ll read it,” he said slowly. “But if I do, you have to help me. I hurt my leg and can’t walk. I need a healer.”
    “I can fix you,” said Jin. “But I can’t read. Please, we’ve had the letter for a month. It’s about my son.” She pointed at the words. “That’s him. S-I-D.”
    The envelope was labeled: To Jin, mother of Sid, Miner Estate, Fire Fields.
    Kai unfolded the envelope and scanned the letter. He looked up at the woman. “You want me to read this out loud? Here?”

    Among the Nameless Stars by Diana Peterfreund
    | 9
    The woman’s face turned to stone, as if she knew already what the letter contained. “Please,”
    she whispered. So Kai read:

    Dear Madam,
    My name is Bess, and I’m a Post in Channel City. Your son Sid and me worked together on the docks, Sid mostly digging, me cleaning fish when I couldn’t get any scribe work.
    I am sorry to inform you, but last night, Sid was killed in a fight with a Post named Pen. Pen is a very powerful man here in the enclave. He has a lot of workers of his own, Post though he may be, and he don’t take kindly to refusals. Sid and me, we refused him.
    I’m so sorry to deliver such bad news, madam, but I’m sorrier still for what I write next. Pen is still after me, and I don’t have anyone here to protect me from him, so I’m going back home. My old estate is in the South Island, at a place called Mountain Pass. It’s not horrible there, and I know at least I’ll be safe. I don’t think there’s much of a chance that you or any of Sid’s people will ever be down that far, but if you are, and if everything goes well, you’ll have a grandchild at Mountain Pass Estate. If it’s a boy, I’ll name him Sid.
    Fare well,
    Bess

    Jin nodded brusquely and took the paper back. She cradled it in her hands, like something sacred, then turned to Teb. “Get him in my hut, and find me a stick to use for a splint.” She looked down at Kai. “Thank you, boy. I’ll make sure the rest of your journey south’s as safe as can be.”
    “Ma’am,” he said, and laid his hand on her wrist. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

    Among the Nameless Stars by Diana Peterfreund
    | 10
    She jerked away from him, her face like rock. “Well. That’s what happens when you leave your estate.”

    Among the Nameless Stars by Diana Peterfreund
    | 11
    Three

    Dear Elliot,
    Today I leave the fire fields. Once, I thought nothing was more unbearable than those nights alone in the barn, with you just across the fields in the big house. Once, I thought I’d never survive another night on the North Estate.
    But now I know how much worse it can get. Now I know what it’s like to really face death.
    Now I know how cruel the Luddite Lords can be… .

    Kai was kept out of sight of the Luddites on the Miner Estate, though they came to the village often enough—an older man and three younger ones, all built like the volcano itself, massive and menacing, with skin burnished a deep red-brown and faces filled with frowns. Two of them he recognized when he glimpsed them through the cracks in the walls of Jin’s hut.
    They’d been the men who’d chased him down the ravine.
    They came to the village for the women. Kai asked Teb about it once,