Page 8 (1/2)
Luthor leads allery with double doors Unlike the entryway, this roo the objects inside
“ What is this?” I whisper Canvases hang from the walls, illuminated by the s Sculptures dot the tiled floor; a“It’s the art froens,” Luthor says He steps inside, and while I just stand there, gazing around, he watches er to see if he’s pleased me
“II didn’t know,” I say, awed And I didn’t It’s not that the Recorder Hall is banned or kept hidden—although you do have to have permission to see the books It’s that it never occurred to me that a ship led by Eldest could hold such treasures
“And look,” Luthor says, stepping over to the wall, where an electronic box is eh the room
“These were all made by people who lived on this ship,” he says
I close my eyes and listen
The singer is a soprano, like s about impossibilities: stars within reach, solid earth at her feet, and oceanfades to static, I open my eyes
Luthor’sat nize “Let’s make this our studio,” he says suddenly “You andhis lips “Together ”
I think about the adoration Harley showers on Kayleigh, the way Kayleigh’s mouth twitches whenever he tries to snatch her hand in his I think of the way Bartie hung back to stay with Victria
“Yes, ” I say, and in thatstrains of thebetween us
5
Orion gave us a wholestarted An opportunity to dedicate our days to the arts we love has been rare in the Hospital, and none of us is taking that that ti , but only she knohat Harley has decided that he needs to work outside too, to keep his fresco wet, and the two of theh likes to swim in
Bartie tags along wherever Victria goes, and Victria wanders through the fields and to the City, scribbling in the little leather-bound book that Orion gave her after she told him her idea for a collection of poetry It aln the object of his affection blindly no matter where she leads him Still, I suspect Bartie would be devastated to discover what her notebook actually contains—uess is that more than half her poems are in fact dedicated to Orion
And Luthor and I? We , before the solar laether
“I ’lad you didn’t decide to ith Bartie,” he says after the first week