For Darkness Shows the Stars

at the word “we.” It was too quick for the uninitiated to recognize. Still, Andromeda’s eyebrows rose.
    “The acoustics are legendary,” Andromeda said. “Donovan would adore it.”
    “Your brother is a musician as well as an explorer?”
    “My brother would prefer to be a musician, yes.”
    “How unusual for a Post.”
    “Certainly unusual in this area.” It was a pointed statement, given what had happened on the North estate during the bad time. Elliot looked away, into the hearth, remembering the bonfires piled high with illicit pipes and string-boxes—some of those instruments engineered by her own hand.
    And some by Kai’s.
    He must have heard of what had gone on here, Elliot realized. He must have been appalled.
    She took a breath. The fire was dying, and the light outside was fading. She should add more wood. She rose to tend the embers as the conversation went on around her. She couldn’t take this anymore. These subtle jabs, this sharp little dance of insults and put-downs. She couldn’t even place the blame squarely on Tatiana. Her sister was trying. Perhaps there was no common ground between a Luddite and a free Post.
    No wonder Kai wouldn’t even look at her.
    “Let me know when you wish to tour the star cavern, then,” Tatiana was saying. “I’ll invite our friends, the Groves, whose estate is southwest of here. Olivia Grove has a splendid voice. Very fine, and impeccably trained.”
    Even the window wasn’t far enough away. Elliot made a beeline for the door.
    The admiral followed, stopping her in the hall. “Miss Elliot.”
    She turned. “Excuse me, sir, I should really look in on my grandfather—”
    “I wanted a chance to speak with you,” he said, coming close and dropping his voice.
    Elliot bobbed her head. Perhaps he had something to say about Kai . . .
    “I know to whom I am really indebted to for this opportunity,” he said instead. “Your father’s was the signature on the bottom of the letter, but I’m not ignorant of the way things work on the North estate.”
    “Sir, I—” How did he know? If it was Kai who told him, then she was safe. But if rumors had spread beyond the boundary of the estate, if her father caught wind of them . . .
    “Your father isn’t even here to greet us. But you are.”
    “My father was called away . . .” But the lie faltered on her lips.
    “I appreciate your advocacy,” the admiral said quickly, as if he hadn’t noticed. “Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to make sure things run as smoothly as possible.”
    Now Elliot met his eyes—blue and watery, with the start of cataracts from staring too long into the glittering sea. The admiral smiled at her.
    “When I meet a Luddite like you, I have hope for our world.”
    Elliot blinked as his words stung someplace deep inside. A Luddite like her? Her father would argue she wasn’t one at all.

Six
     
    AT LAST SHE WAS alone, and of course she returned to the barn. The sky had turned the color of Post overcoats as the sun set, and now stars winked at the edge of the jagged black horizon. The barn was dark, and the familiar sound of lowing cattle had been replaced with the soft shuffling and snorts of the new horses. Elliot leaned her head against the door and sighed. The darkness was another relief. He hadn’t come here.
    Elliot lit a lantern. As always, her eyes went first to the knot of wood near the floor by the entrance. It was a habit she’d been unable to break in four years. And, just like every other time in the past four years, the knothole remained empty.
    The dairy equipment had been stacked neatly in a corner to make room for the newcomers, and Dee and the dairymaids had been instructed on the new routines. With luck, there’d be no break in the milk production, despite the reduced working space. They couldn’t afford that, even with the influx of money from the admiral’s rental. Everything else in the barn remained the same. The giant shadows of their few remaining pieces of machinery loomed from every corner. Perhaps she could use some of the money to buy replacement parts for the pieces that were broken beyond Elliot’s ability to repair them. After all, they’d been without a mechanic on the estate for four years.
    There was a sound from above—the creaking of boards, an unmistakable footfall. Elliot lifted her lantern, but could see nothing on the stairs. She heard a small meow, but that step was far too heavy to have been