For Darkness Shows the Stars

both.
    And then she walked away.

F OUR Y EARS A GO
     
    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 ship. 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 title 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 space 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.