Across a Star-Swept Sea (34 page)

“Do you miss your estate?” Persis asked politely. It was the most she’d heard Elliot speak in one go since they’d started out that morning, and she didn’t want to scare the other girl.

“Yes,” Elliot said. “I miss it desperately, but”—the older girl took a breath—“I spent four years missing Kai, and wishing I’d gone with him the last time he left us. So this time I made the other decision.” She looked at Persis and her eyes shone. “And it was the right one. For four years, I’d hoped I could do something for the people who live on my estate. And now I can do so much more than I ever would have even with the changes I’d made on my farm. Now we know there is a cure. It’s all Kai could have hoped.”

“Captain Wentforth,” Persis said. So far, their nonverbal communication and instant alliance on every issue had been the dominant personality traits she’d noticed in Kai and Elliot. Even the other captain, Andromeda, seemed powerless to argue against their combined force. “He chose that name himself, I hear?”

Elliot chuckled. “Yes. That’s what Posts do, where I’m from.”

Persis nodded. “It was a bit of a trend here among the regs before the cure as well. I’m named for one who did that. Persistence Helo, who invented the cure.”

“Justen’s grandmother, right?” Elliot looked impressed. “And he’s a medic, too, just like her.”

“Not entirely,” was all Persis could trust herself to say.

They rode in silence for a few moments. “So …” Elliot began, “you don’t do much farming on this estate?”

“Not this one, no,” said Persis, “but I can arrange for you to tour others if agriculture is what interests you.”

Elliot nodded. “And what do you do? Are you in school?”

“Not anymore.” She didn’t need to get into details with this foreigner.

“So you help your father with the fisheries?”

Persis laughed. “Not really. My father does serve an advisory position in the village, of course, but fishing isn’t his interest, either.” Her father had an excellent staff of biologists, gengineers, and aquaculturists working in the village and had always argued that the best landowners surrounded themselves with experts who were passionate about their pursuits. Torin himself was a scholar and had worked tirelessly in educational reform for as long as Persis could remember. More regs than ever were getting the chance to pursue the education and careers they desired, thanks to his and Heloise’s efforts, though their duties were curtailed somewhat by her mother’s illness at the moment.

“Oh.” Elliot was quiet again. What an odd girl. She seemed so attached to her strange way of life, the customs and habits of her homeland. She was almost painfully shy, clearly homesick, and utterly without pretense. A less likely candidate for sailing off into nothingness on the whim of a teenage boy Persis could hardly imagine. Then again, Persis wasn’t exactly what she appeared to be, either. Maybe this Elliot North had hidden depths. After all, there had to be something the dashing Captain Wentforth saw in her.

Unlike Persis and Justen, there seemed little reason for them to fake an affection for each other.

“I’m sorry if this all seems strange to you,” Persis said at last.

“No,” the visitor said. “It actually doesn’t seem that strange at all, in the end.”

T
HE LITTLE SKIFF THAT
pulled up to the base of the Scintillans cliffs did not go unnoticed by the denizens of the fishing village. There was a guard posted at the main lift to the estate, and when Vania applied for admittance as “a friend of Justen Helo’s” she was swiftly turned away. She eyed the switchback road with curiosity, but there didn’t seem to be any entrance that wasn’t being watched.

Fine. She’d approach the estate from the land side. There were plenty of ways into Scintillans, she was sure. Strange that they’d have increased the security so much since her last visit. Had they been plagued with spies and nanocams since the lovebirds’ infamous little cove kiss? Figured. These Albians didn’t have anything serious to employ their minds, like she did.

Returning to her skiff, she piloted it away from the docks and toward the west coast of the island, looking for an alternate entrance. The cliffs fell away on the convex coast of Albion, so perhaps she’d find an easier approach. She was rewarded about twenty minutes later when she reached the very farthest point of the peninsula and saw a tiny semicircular cove that looked dug from the cliff wall. A dark line zigzagged up the cliff face, and as she drew closer, she could see it was a staircase leading to the village beyond. Endlessly long ropes of vines fell down all around the staircase, tiny yellow flower heads looking ready to bloom any moment. When they did, the whole place would turn into some sort of enchanted bower. For a moment, Vania was struck dumb by its beauty. How long had it been since she’d stopped to consider how pretty anything was? Day after day, she’d traveled all over her own splendid island and seen nothing but whether or not the places she went were under her father’s control or still resisting the revolution. Night after night, she went to sleep in a palace once infamous for its opulent beauty, but considered nothing but her own ambition.

She shook her head. Perhaps it took leisure to appreciate beauty. This Persis Blake had all the time in the world to look at flowers and wear pretty dresses. She had nothing else going on. And now Justen was following in his little girlfriend’s useless footsteps. He’d probably forgotten all about his research in favor of … well, whatever it was he found to do with Persis Blake.

Vania was quite pleased she’d blocked Remy from sending or receiving messages from him on her oblet. The last thing she needed right now was to watch her little foster sister follow Justen’s dangerous, worthless path. He could have his communication privileges back when he stopped being so infuriating.

As she pulled into the cove, she saw two figures splashing around in the shallows. Like all Albians, they had brilliantly colored hair, but even that seemed somehow off as she drew closer. One of the young women, a few years older than her, had hair like sand, and the other, younger one’s was a dull, burnished red. Their skin was impossibly pale, and the red-haired one had a face full of freckles. They looked up at the sound of her engine, and kept staring as she ran her boat aground and tied a line to a rock.

“Hello,” she said. “I’m trying to get to Scintillans.”

“This is Scintillans,” the sandy-haired one said, though her pronunciation was truly bizarre. “But I don’t think you’re supposed to bring boats into the bathing area.”

The clear water lapping her toes was warmer than it ought to be, and Vania bit her lip. “My mistake.” She studied the two women. Neither had palmports in their pale, pinkish hands, and their clothes were certainly not the high fashions she’d seen Persis wearing. Their hair, too, was not the eye-melting shades so popular among the northern elite. They must be reg peasants, possibly with some sort of speech impediment. And the one had said “don’t think you’re supposed to” as if she didn’t know for sure.

“Does that staircase go up to the estate?”

The sandy-haired one looked at her companion as if weighing her answer. “I believe they’re looking for privacy now. If you want to visit, it’s best to apply at the lift.”

“I tried that,” Vania said. The other woman’s use of the word “they” had clinched it. Whoever these two were, they had no authority to stop her. “I’m here to visit my friend Justen Helo, but the last time I came, we had a bit of a fight. I’ve come to apologize, but I can’t if he won’t let me see him.”

“What’s your name?” the blonde asked.

“Vania. I’m an old friend of his from Galatea.”

“The southern island?”

Vania’s eyes narrowed. Where else?

“I’m Andromeda,” the light-haired one said. “And this is Tomorrow.” Bizarre names, for even stranger women. “I can give your message to Justen if you want.”

The red-haired one, Tomorrow, still hadn’t spoken, and as Vania watched, she wandered off without a word. Andromeda took no notice. Vania had never seen such odd behavior in a grown woman. Never seen it in anyone but a Reduced prisoner.

“Actually,” Vania said, “I want to see him. So I can take these stairs?”

Quick as a flash, Andromeda stood between Vania and the staircase. “I don’t think I’m supposed to let anyone up without permission. I understand we’re already a big imposition on the Blakes.”

Who were these two? Vania blinked at the other woman in shock. What kind of enhancements were they doing here in Albion? Andromeda’s skin, her speed, her shallow sea-colored eyes? She’d never seen anything like it. She knew Albians colored their hair—were skin and eyes the new trend? Was she going to find Justen up on the pali with lavender skin and bright pink irises?

But no matter who this Andromeda was, she wouldn’t distract Vania from her mission. “I’m afraid I was a little unfair to him the other day,” she lied smoothly. “Ever since the revolution, I’ve been a tiny bit prejudiced against aristos, so when I heard he was involved with one …”

“You’re one of those revolutionaries,” Andromeda said.

Vania straightened. “Yes. But I’m here on personal business, so—”

“Tell me more.” Andromeda leaned in. “The princess has been very forthcoming but also very uninterested in letting us see or talk to anyone else. And unlike a few other members of my party, I’m not the type to just blindly trust a lord, Luddite or otherwise.”

Vania blinked at her. “Pardon?”

“No one will tell me anything about Galatea but that it’s dangerous and we should steer clear.”

Typical aristo propaganda. Vania had no doubt the princess was using quite a lot of it. It was the only possible explanation for why the revolution hadn’t inspired their northern neighbors yet.

“No, indeed,” Vania explained. “The revolution is a beautiful and cleansing thing. We regs have never been given a proper chance before. Finally, we’re exerting our human rights. Honestly, do you think you’ve been given all the chances you ought, growing up here in Scintillans?”

Andromeda snorted. “I’m not from around here, but I agree with everything you say.”

“Oh, well then wherever you are from in Albion.”

“We’re not from Albion, either.” And then, as Vania’s eyes got wide and her mouth dropped open, the woman told her the craziest story she’d ever heard. “We didn’t even know these islands existed until a few days ago. We’re explorers on a mission to find other survivors from the wars. A few days ago, we landed here, and that Princess Isla and her guards have us holed up so we don’t cause a riot or something.” She leaned in and dropped her voice. “But if they don’t figure things out in a few more days, they’re going to have another revolution to deal with, if you know what I mean.”

Vania suppressed her look of shock and replaced it with a smile. “Oh, I so do. Please, tell me more.”

Twenty-five

I
T WAS LATE IN
the evening and the female captain and her Reduced friend were nowhere to be found on Scintillans. Their glider was still waiting on the lawn, but it didn’t keep Elliot North from pacing and wringing her hands. Justen watched her concern grow, unsure of what he could do to help the stranger relax. He had a variety of antianxiety prickers in his supply bag, but from what he understood of the aristo visitor’s personality, such a move would be tantamount to assault in her eyes. And then he’d have Captain Wentforth to deal with.

And Justen wasn’t the only one who’d noticed Elliot’s growing discomfort. Captain Wentforth’s expression swelled from worry to anger as he watched his girlfriend. At last, he strode over to Persis and demanded answers. “We were promised that if we did what you said, we’d be safe here. Where are my friends?”

Persis’s eyes were as round and innocent as an accomplished courtier like herself could manage as she answered. “Sincerely, Captain Wentforth, I don’t know. The last anyone saw them they were headed down to the sea to swim in our heated star cove—”

“So what?” Elliot broke in, her voice shuddering over the words. “Are you saying they were just swept out to sea?”

“Not from the cove,” Justen jumped to Persis’s defense. “It’s completely protected from undertows. No currents at all. Maybe someone from the fishing village offered to give them a tour. I know there’s a path cut into the rock that goes to the village—” He looked to Persis for assistance.

She’d closed her eyes. A moment later, several flutternotes erupted from her palm and zipped off to points unknown. Both Kai and Elliot stepped back.

“I’m sorry—did those scare you?” Persis asked.

“I will never get used to them,” Elliot said. She looked a bit green around the gills.

“You’re not alone,” Justen said. “They’ve been around for years and they still make me sick.”

“Oh, Justen!” cried Persis. “You’re such a luddite.”

Both visitors stiffened at her words. Persis cast Justen a confused glance.

“It’s their word for ‘aristos,’ remember?” Justen said.

“Right. Droll name.” She batted her eyelashes and Justen nearly groaned. “At any rate, I’ve just messaged Isla, as well as Andrine and Tero down in the fishing village, to tell them that your friends have vanished. I’m sure we’ll get word of their whereabouts soon. And don’t concern yourself for another moment about that cove. Nothing could be safer in the world. I myself have been swimming there since I could barely walk.”

Justen doubted this made Kai or Elliot feel any more comfortable.

When another hour passed with no reply from Persis’s contacts, Elliot went from concerned to frantic. “I’m the one who took her with us, Kai. I’m the one who put her in this danger. She would have been safe back home on the North Estate with Dee. She would have—” She broke off.

“She’s with Andromeda, Elliot. Nothing’s going to happen to her—Andromeda will make sure of it.”

Persis jumped into action, immediately offering to go down to the star cove and search herself, though Justen was sure the visitors found the idea as comical as he did. Persis Blake wasn’t suited to the job of retrieving missing people.