Among the Nameless Stars Read Online Free PDF

good job, an honest job. Even if it’s for Pen. This girl never had a choice like that. Not when she was on her estate and not now.
    I’ve been worried that if I take this job, I’d lose myself. But today I saw what losing yourself looks like. She lives for her brother now. Who will I have if I lose myself?
    So I think she might be right. I’m good at the job Pen wants me to do, and it’s one I’ve always liked.
    If I remember that, perhaps I’ll be all right.
    But I’m still glad I’ll never send you this letter. I’m glad you’ll never know.
    Yours,
    Kai

    Among the Nameless Stars by Diana Peterfreund
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Seven
    If Kai had money like Pen, he’d live in nicer quarters than Pen did. He’d surround himself with fine art and comfortable furnishings. And books. Miles and miles of books. From what he could tell of Pen’s gloomy house, there were no books at all.
    Perhaps the bully couldn’t read.
    He was ushered into a large room where many Posts milled around, some playing cards or talking, others being served drinks and food by children Kai recognized from the metal-box village.
    At the head of the room, in a great chair Kai guessed Pen wanted to look like a throne, sat the man himself. Kai did his best not to limp as he crossed the long room to stand before him, and to show no reaction at all to the slow, vicious smile that spread across Pen’s face as he approached.
    “Ah, the mechanic. Come at last.”
    “Good morning, sir,” said Kai, his head held high.
    Pen snapped his fingers in the air. “What do you want, boy?”
    “I’ve come about the job you offered me.” As Kai watched, a young woman approached Pen’s chair, holding a sheaf of paper in her hands.
    “Yes. The job.” Pen’s smile widened. “How many days ago was that?”
    Kai swallowed. He was so hungry. “Ten, sir.”
    “Ten.” The man stood and came close to Kai, looming over him. Kai refused to shrink away.
    “Ten wasted days. What a shame, don’t you think?”
    Kai nodded.
    Pen’s fist connected with Kai’s jaw.

    Among the Nameless Stars by Diana Peterfreund
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    He was thrown to the floor, landing hard on his sore knee. His vision went fuzzy, but he swallowed his gasp of pain and blinked away the tears swimming in his eyes. As soon as he could, he stood again.
    And again, Pen knocked him to the floor.
    This time, Kai stayed down, coughing and rubbing his jaw. Pen hauled him up and punched him again. Kai dropped like a stone, and Pen kicked him hard, twice in the stomach, and then, when he rolled into a ball, on his back, on his legs, wherever he could reach. Kai cowered, covering his head with his hands.
    The room was silent. Blood roared in Kai’s ears, and he fought to keep from crying, or grunting, or screaming for mercy. He’d never been beaten before. Once, he was kicked by a horse in the barn, but no foreman and certainly none of the Norths had ever lifted a hand against him. He was not prepared for this.
    He was not prepared for any of it.
    After a long time, Kai heard Pen’s voice again, but this time from a distance, so he knew the man had returned to his chair. “Ten strikes, boy. One for every day you defied me. I hope I won’t have to repeat it.”
    Kai unrolled himself and struggled to stand. It took longer than he would have liked, and when he did, he saw that every eye in the room was upon him. He opened his mouth to reply, and pain shot through his swollen, bleeding jaw. “No, sir.”
    Pen gestured to the woman at his side. She was young and slight, and she stood hunched over the paper she held as if she, too, would be beaten if she moved a muscle without Pen’s say-so.
    “This is your contract. You can sign it with an X if you can’t write your name. We have plenty of witnesses.”

    Among the Nameless Stars by Diana Peterfreund
    | 34
    Kai took a deep, painful breath, hoping he hadn’t refractured his ribs. “What does it say?”
    Pen sneered. “The usual. You work for me and only for me until