For Darkness Shows the Stars

perfectly controlled, and he somehow managed to weave in any misstep of the other players. It was a good thing Tatiana wasn’t here to listen or she’d be green as grass.
    “He’s amazing,” Elliot said, mostly to herself.
    “Yes.” Andromeda shrugged. “He’s got a special talent. And he’s been funneling everything into his music, lately. It’s the only thing left that gives him any peace.”
    “Was Sophia sick for a long time?”
    “Always,” Andromeda replied. “She was born blind, and she had a weak heart. Had she not been born a free Post, she probably would not have survived at all. The Innovations were able to properly provide for her. Whatever medical attention she needed, Felicia would find it. If it didn’t exist, Felicia would create it.”
    “Create it?” Elliot asked. That wasn’t a word she heard often.
    For a split second, Andromeda appeared discomposed. “Does that word frighten you, Luddite?”
    Elliot bristled. “Create” might not frighten her, but the way these Fleet Posts used “Luddite” as an epithet was beginning to. If only Andromeda knew what a bad Luddite Elliot was. “No.”
    “But you believe in the protocols.”
    “Of course I do.” Spoken like any good Luddite who didn’t have notes in the barn detailing the steps she’d taken to create some rather troubling wheat. She’d say nothing else—and certainly not to Andromeda Phoenix. Instead, she recited the lines given by every teacher she’d ever had. “They are there for our protection. Without them, humans would risk trying to become gods.”
    “And what if breaking them would have saved Sophia’s life? What if they’d save your grandfather’s?”
    At that moment, Elliot hated Andromeda. She hated being forced to play devil’s advocate for, of all things, the Luddite protocols! “Is there an answer here that wouldn’t bolster what you’ve already decided about me?”
    “Which is?” asked Andromeda with an evil glint in her odd eyes.
    Elliot wasn’t going to spell it out.
    Olivia’s song ended, but Donovan merely turned his music into something wilder, a more obvious dancing tune. A cheer went up from the assembled crowd. Several couples even rose from their picnic blankets to dance beneath the glowing lanterns. Kai gave his hand to Olivia to help her down from the porch steps. She tugged him toward the dancers, and after a moment, he joined her. Elliot stared down at her lap.
    “Aren’t they a lovely couple?” Andromeda said.
    “Please go away.”
    “As you pointed out, Miss Elliot, we rent these lands. We may do as we please.”
    Yet Elliot was not forced to remain, and she highly doubted that Felicia had invited her to the party that evening merely to receive sarcastic remarks from Andromeda. The older Post might imagine they could be friends, but Elliot knew better. She’d had a lifetime of experience learning how few people she could count on to be her friend.
    She rose and went over to the blankets occupied by Ro and the North Posts. Judging by the number of empty plates and mugs strewn about, they were enjoying the party immensely.
    Here, at least, were some true friends. “May I join you?”
    “Certainly!” Dee was sitting cross-legged, cradling her belly in her lap and keeping her eye on Jef, who was twirling with a few of the young Grove Posts several yards away. She lowered her voice and leaned in to Elliot. “I caught a few words of your talk with that Fleet girl. She’s not very fond of you, is she?”
    “Not that I can tell.”
    Dee chuckled. “Do I need to have words with her?”
    “She’d probably think I beat you into it.”
    Dee put a hand to her heart in mock shock. “You beat your CORs, Elliot North?”
    “Haven’t you heard?” Beside them, Ro clapped along to the music, watching the dancers with delight. Elliot wondered if she should have brought the girl a string-box from the stash she still kept safely stowed away in the barn. But then, Ro’s clumsy plucking might mess with the music, and Ro didn’t seem to mind.
    “Well, someone ought to enlighten her, and that’s a fact.”
    “I don’t care what Andromeda Phoenix thinks of me, Dee.”
    “And what of Captain Wentforth ?”
    Elliot hesitated. “What he thinks isn’t likely to be changed, is it?”
    “You did the right thing, Elliot. We all think so, and I’ve no qualms telling him as much, either.”
    “Please, Dee,” Elliot begged. “Don’t. We’re long past all that now.”
    “Not