Lafayette Eloi always knew her parents thought differently from others. They kept their books buried beneath her motherтАЩs house. They spoke an old language in the dead of night, whispering behind closed doors and bolted shutters. She grew up in a village where no one was related to her, and she never knew why.
Then, after her mother died, her father came to fetch her. Now she and her motherтАЩs dog assist her father in his work. The work discussed in whispers in the dark. The work that had cost Lafayette so much all her young life.
But now she learns just how much her fatherтАЩs work means to their entire world. Only no one knows anything about it. Only her father. And only Lafayette.┬а
Because the work that consumed her fatherтАЩs entire life and her motherтАЩs too now nibbles at the fringes of LafayetteтАЩs own life. And she cannot refuse its call.
Kate MacLeod has written stories which have appeared in┬аAnalog,┬аStrange Horizons┬аand┬аMythic Delirium, among other places. She is also the author of two young adult science fictions series:┬аThe Travels of Scout Shannon, and┬аThe Ritchie and Fitz Sci-Fi Murder Mysteries. She also contributes to a serialized science fiction podcast called┬аThe Tales of the Chai Makhani Trio. She currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. You can learn more about her work at KateMacLeodWrites.com.