Secret numbers and hidden codes feature in this story about how cultural differences can affect even things that are supposed to be universally true. Originally published in Fantasy Magazine and reprinted in Looking Glass and Cosmos.
From dawn till dusk Zhen Dao gold farms in a cramped warehouse, row upon row of screens lighting the gloom. All she wants to do is to see the sky. Just once. When the opportunity arises, Zhen sees much more than she bargained for.
In the kingdom of Highfire, you can pack an entire house into one suitcase, grow a vegetable in a second, and have an intriguing conversation with a tree that is four times your size. If you are Aurelie Dranoir, the chosen heir to the Highfire throne, you might not find all these things as appealing as they sound.
Some people sing at night to drive back the darkness. Others sing to summon it. . . .Bron Jones was abandoned as a newborn. Thrown into foster care, he is rejected by one family after another, until he meets Olivia, a gifted and devoted high-school teacher who recognizes him for what he really is--what her people cal...
