After the Golden Age Read online

  “What have we done?” she said. “What’s she inherited? I’m going to be watching her every minute to see if she flies, or shoots lightning, or talks to animals. If she has a power … what are we going to do? What do we tell her? I’m so scared for her.”

  “I think that’s normal for any parent.”

  “I want her to be normal.”

  “You don’t get to make that choice.”

  She looked at Arthur. “You want her to have powers.”

  “Celia. I want her to be happy.”

  Anna stirred, opening her toothless mouth in a wide, wet yawn that made both parents smile.

  Celia couldn’t stop the tears this time, and her voice cracked. “I keep thinking he’d have been such a good grandfather.”

  “Perhaps.”

  The baby slept, for now.

  TOR BOOKS BY CARRIE VAUGHN

  Kitty Goes to War

  Discord’s Apple

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  AFTER THE GOLDEN AGE

  Copyright © 2011 by Carrie Vaughn, LLC

  All rights reserved.

  Edited by David G. Hartwell

  A Tor® eBook

  Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

  175 Fifth Avenue

  New York, NY 10010

  www.tor-forge.com

  Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Vaughn, Carrie.

  After the Golden Age / Carrie Vaughn.—1st ed.

  p. cm.

  “A Tom Doherty Associates book.”

  ISBN 978-0-7653-2555-6

  I. Title.

  PS3622.A9475A68 2011

  813'.6—dc22

  2010036541

  First Edition: April 2011

  eISBN 978-1-4299-6085-4

  First Tor eBook Edition: April 2011