"I"m glad to see that the Norths have mended their breach with the Groves," Benedict was saying as they took the path through the forest. "I saw Horatio Grove down in Channel City last year, and I wasn"t sure if I should approach him or not."
"Relations have been good between us ever since Horatio and Olivia"s father died," said Elliot. "I always gathered that my father"s argument was with him, personally, but neither the Grove children nor my sister and I ever knew what it was about, so it seemed foolish to continue holding grudges from the last generation."
Benedict grinned. "You really don"t know? Well, I guess I"m here to reveal the truth behind all the family secrets, then."
Elliot stopped on the path. "What do you mean?"
He chuckled. "Elliot. You"re serious?" When she made no response, he continued. "It never occurred to you to wonder why your mother, who was as capable a woman as anyone ever knew, would marry a man like your father?"
Of course it had. "Are you saying that my mother was in love with old Mr. Grove?"
"I"m saying your mother was engaged to marry him." Benedict nodded as Elliot"s mouth gaped open. "Oh, yes. I remember going to their betrothal party when I was very, very young."
"Then why didn"t they get married?"
"Because my father died."
Elliot stared at him in disbelief, but there was no deception in his words or face.
"The North estate is the largest one on this side of the island."
"You"re saying my mother left Mr. Grove for my father because he was richer?" Little wonder Kai had offered to pay her off. She came from a long line of women for whom love was nothing in the face of money.
"No!" Benedict burst out laughing. "Because they all thought that marriage to her would help keep Uncle Zachariah in line. The Boatwrights and the Groves-they needed the North estate to survive. If it were to fail, then not only would the people living on the North lands starve, but everyone else would suffer as well. You know that. You"re just like your mother."
No, Benedict was surely not stupid. He knew precisely what to say. She used to lie awake nights, hoping her mother would have approved of the choice she"d made four years ago. Now she knew it for certain. She and her mother were the same-she"d given up the person she loved for the good of the North estate. And her father had never a.s.sociated with his neighbor because of Mr. Grove"s history with his wife.
"I can"t believe you didn"t know this. I thought it was the reason you"re still here."
Elliot swallowed. "What do you mean?" Had he heard, down in the enclaves, that she"d once promised Kai she"d run away? Did he know every secret her family had ever held?
"If you didn"t think you needed to remain here and work, wouldn"t you want to marry Horatio and get out from under your father"s thumb?"
Now it was Elliot"s turn to laugh. He must have been talking to Tatiana. "Horatio Grove?" she joked. "You think he"d marry me?"
Benedict"s voice was soft when he replied, "Anyone would marry you, Elliot."
Elliot was saved from responding by the sound of a horse"s hooves pounding down the path. A moment later, one of the giant Innovation horses came galloping toward them. Tatiana sat in the saddle. She pulled the beast up short before it mowed them down.
"Watch it!" she cried, scowling. Her sharp, pretty face looked pale. "What are you doing wandering around in the woods with Benedict?"
"We were going to the Boatwright house."
"Me, too," she said, flipping the reins in her hands. "We need Felicia back here at once. I hope she"s not so busy with Olivia that she can"t spare time for Grandfather."
"What happened?" Elliot asked. "Tatiana, what happened?"
Tatiana gave an aggravated snort. "He had a stroke this morning, Elliot. Maybe if you"d been home instead of out socializing, you"d know that."
TEN YEARS AGO.
Dear Kai, I"m sorry I can"t come see you today. My dad overheard me calling you and your dad Posts instead of CORs. He thinks I spend more time than is good for me with you and Ro. I don"t really understand it, personally. I mean, if we"re supposed to own the lands and take care of everyone who lives on it, doesn"t it make sense to be involved? To make sure we know every bit of the land and the people who work it as well as possible? My teachers are always going on and on about Luddite stuwart stewardship of the Earth-if that"s true, then shouldn"t we actually make sure that the Earth is being properly stewed?
I don"t think that"s the right word.
Your friend, Elliot Dear Elliot, No, it"s not.
I"m bored here today. Whenever the harvest is in, there"s nothing much to do and there aren"t any good books in the COR library right now. There never are.
Not that that"s a hint or anything.
Your friend, Kai Dear Kai, Here are some books. I think you"ll like the ones about the old inventors. I got them from our library. My dad must not know they are here. I"m sure he"d burn them if he did.
Your friend, Elliot Dear Elliot, These are amazing! I love these stories. I love the one about Tesla and Edison. And Marconi, and the Curies, and Einstein, and Watson and Crick, and Gavin and Carlotta. The world must have been such a fascinating place before the Reduction. Can you imagine being allowed to make anything you wanted? I wonder if there"s anyplace on Earth where they still can.
Your friend, Kai Dear Kai, I hope not! Can you imagine how dangerous that would be? Didn"t you read the part where Marie Curie died because of all the experiments she did with radiation? And Einstein was sorry he helped make the atomic bomb. Some experiments are okay, I guess, but there are too many that are way too dangerous.
Your friend, Elliot Dear Elliot, But you don"t know they are too dangerous until later. Like Watson and Crick and Gavin and Carlotta-they were just trying to help people. They had no idea it would cause the Reduction.
Your friend, Kai Dear Kai, My teachers say that"s why it"s best if you just don"t do anything that hasn"t been done before. That way you always know it"s safe.
Although now that I think about it, that"s kind of stupid. Nothing can ever be exactly the same. We plant wheat every year, year after year, but it"s always a bit different. Like a different tempratchure, or the amount of rain. And now we have CORs. When my grandfather was young, there weren"t any CORs. They were totally new, but we didn"t get rid of them.
And I"m really glad of that!
Your friend, Elliot Dear Elliot, Me too! I would like it if things changed. Not being able to do experiments seems very dull to me. I"ve been hearing stories about places where Posts live all by themselves without any Luddites telling them what to do. They get married, they go wherever they want without permission, they have their own businesses, they have solar-powered lights, and they all wear clothes in brite bright colors. I wonder if they do experiments too?
One day I want to go live there.
Your friend, Kai Dear Kai, Don"t go live in a Post enclave. I"d miss you if you went away.
We can do experiements here. We just have to keep them a secret from my father-or anyone that would tell on us. Like Tatiana.
Stay with me, Kai. I promise we can do whatever you want.
Your friend, Elliot.
Twenty-eight.
ELLIOT SAT IN A stiff-backed chair in the hallway outside her grandfather"s bedroom. The light coming through the window turned from white to yellow to orange, the Reduced servants came around with candles, and still, Felicia Innovation remained sequestered with the Boatwright.
She"d barely been able to meet the woman"s eyes when she arrived at the house. This woman, who was responsible for creating abominations with human faces. This woman, who had risked the life of the person she cared for most in the world. This woman, who broke the protocols and placed them all in danger of another Reduction. Felicia had been kind to Elliot, and Ro, and her grandfather. She clearly cared for the Cloud Fleet captains, despite what she"d done to them. And, if Kai was to be believed, she"d only done it to save her beloved daughter"s life.
But there was still no excuse. It was an atrocity. Love didn"t matter. Neither did life or death. It didn"t.
It didn"t.
Elliot squeezed her hands together and pressed them hard into her lap, digging the ridges of her knuckles into her thighs. Every moment, she made herself a new promise.
If Tatiana comes down the hall, I"ll stop her and make her kick Felicia out.
If Felicia tells me we can save my grandfather by breaking the protocols, I"ll let her.
If my father asks after my grandfather"s health, I"ll confess everything to him.
If the Cloud Fleet offers to help us, I"ll keep their secret forever.
No one came. Not her sister or her father, not Benedict or the Fleet Posts or even Admiral Innovation. No one appeared in the hall all afternoon but the mute, shuffling figures of the Reduced housemaids as they went about their ch.o.r.es. Time pa.s.sed, and Elliot sat in the chair, waiting for the verdict from Felicia.
How much of her life had she spent waiting? Waiting for a plant to sprout? Waiting for her father"s judgment? Waiting for another letter to appear in the knothole from Kai? Waiting for years after Kai left to feel at peace with her decision? She fed the Reduced, she did her ch.o.r.es, she avoided her father and her sister, and she waited. She did the duties she"d been taught as a Luddite, and she lied with every breath.
Her grandfather, the man she was named for, the last person who could remind her of her mother-he couldn"t die. He couldn"t die before the Fleet was finished and he had one more chance to see a ship-Kai"s ship-launched from the Boatwright docks. He couldn"t die here, in the North"s back guest room instead of his own bed. He couldn"t die and leave her alone with her father and Tatiana and two estates counting on her, only her.
And then, as the sun dipped low over the horizon, the door to the Boatwright"s chamber opened, and Felicia Innovation emerged.
Elliot rose to her feet and steeled herself for the news-whatever it may be.
But Felicia"s expression was grim. "The most I can do is make sure he"s comfortable for his final days."
"Really? Even you?" The words spilled out before Elliot could stop them.
Felicia gave a little shake of her head. "Your grandfather is very old, Elliot. He"s had many strokes. The damage to his brain-"
Elliot sighed in sudden relief. Felicia wasn"t even going to try, then. Good. She nodded brusquely. "I understand. Thank you for coming to see him."
Felicia appeared taken aback, and gave her a curious look. "You take disappointment too much in stride for someone so young, Elliot."
Elliot wasn"t sure how to respond. Was she expecting an argument? A confrontation? "I- didn"t have much hope. He"s been sick my whole life. I barely remember what it was like before. I didn"t think there was much you could do. Not with the protocols in place."
It was bait worthy of Tatiana, and Felicia blinked-a move that on any other woman would have been a flinch. "You should hope for more," she replied at last.
As she put on her coat, Elliot noticed that she didn"t move like the others. And earlier, she"d seen the admiral"s cataracts. So they, at least, had not been enhanced. And yet the young Posts had. Why was that? Were the enhancements too dangerous for Felicia to be willing to attempt on herself or her husband? Kai had mentioned something about second-generation Posts, like himself and Sophia. But the Phoenixes weren"t second-generation. Not if they had a Reduced mother and a Luddite father. She longed to ask, and was ashamed by it.
"You live in a wonderful time, Elliot-though perhaps you haven"t been taught to think of it as wonderful."
"I have not. But neither am I blind."
Now Felicia did flinch, and too late, Elliot remembered Sophia and her blindness. Her two halves warred within her. The Luddite she"d been raised to be wanted to hate this Post and the things she"d done to Kai and the others.
But the girl with the cross-bred wheat and the sick grandfather wanted only to understand. Felicia must have been just as desperate as Elliot. She shouldn"t be condemned for that.
But what if she"d killed them? What if she"d killed Kai with her experiments? What if they were dead already, their cells mutated with Reduction?
"I mean," Elliot said, "that I"m aware that things are changing. Maybe too fast."
Felicia gave a tiny laugh. "You are the only person your age I know who would say that. Most think it"s happening too slowly."
Most people Felicia knew were not Luddites.
"I should go see my grandfather," Elliot said quickly, but Felicia stepped in front of the door.
"You should let him rest." She regarded Elliot carefully. "You know, dear, he is an old man. He"s lived a long life. Most men would not choose to go on forever, even if they could. It is not in our nature."
""If they could,"" Elliot repeated coldly. Once they could, and did, and almost destroyed the world. "Where do you draw the line?"
"I don"t," said Felicia, and there was an edge of devil-may-care in her tone. Would she speak so freely in front of Tatiana? Was she trying to learn if Elliot planned to keep her promise to Kai? "Every person must draw his own line. How can I decide for another person what risks he"s willing to take? How can I be the one to decide if he should live or die?"
"The Lost decided for their children," Elliot said. "They made decisions that condemned their offspring to Reduction."
"They didn"t know. Don"t you think they would never have done it if they"d known?"
"Is that how you would work?" The words burst from Elliot"s lips. "Would you always know exactly what effect your therapies will have on the people you treat? What effect it will have on their descendants for hundreds of years? Would you be sure they knew the risks before they signed their children and their children"s children"s children up?"
Felicia stared at her for a long moment and Elliot was afraid she"d gone too far.
"If we are speaking in hypotheticals, I will say that it"s a wonder the protocols are not relaxed for those past childbearing age, like your grandfather. There is no risk to anyone, then."
If Felicia believed that, why didn"t she perform ERV on herself or her husband?
"I would say-but not to everyone, Elliot-that many Posts believe they"re born with the power to overcome Reduction. Their genes manifested a workaround from birth, and so the protocols don"t apply to them. They are safe."
"Safe!" Elliot scoffed.
"But we are not speaking in hypotheticals, are we?"
Elliot North stood straight as a rod and faced Felicia, her mouth a thin line. She would not speak. She couldn"t, even now. And maybe that"s why Felicia didn"t seem to be afraid. If Elliot had planned to betray her secret, surely she"d accuse her of it out loud, right? Instead, the youngest of the Norths simply stood in her ancestral home and made cowardly insinuations, because what she wanted to say was too unbearable to form into words.
Yes. The protocols should be relaxed. They should be broken for my grandfather.
Felicia looked at her sadly. "My husband would have me be circ.u.mspect. He"s not as radical as I am. And neither of us are as radical as the younger generation. Your generation."
"You mean your Fleet Posts," said Elliot. "I don"t think my sister is a radical."
"And what about you?"
Elliot said nothing.