“I think it’s a little late for that.” Stone scratched his chest. The insects left them alone but the tree pollen was thick in here. “Lithe and Shade said they and the others at Opal Night couldn’t hear the Fell. Shade couldn’t hear that thing in the forerunner city that was speaking to the Fell.”
Moon saw where that thought was going. “So maybe some Fell-Raksuran crossbreeds can’t hear the progenitor, even when they’re raised as Fell, so the progenitor can’t control them. The progenitors are so used to having absolute control over the flight, they don’t realize it until it’s too late.”
“And something happened when the Fellborn queen took in that baby kethel,” Stone added. “The progenitor lost control over it.”
Consolation, Moon thought. The captive consort who had sired her must have had very few choices, but Moon couldn’t imagine the progenitor had forced him to name his offspring. “Don’t call it a baby,” he said. He had enough problems handling all of this. Stone didn’t reply, and after a moment Moon added, “The Fellborn queen is maybe more queen than Fell. Maybe . . . It sounds like what Malachite did to destroy the flight that attacked Opal Night’s eastern colony. She took control of the progenitor.”
Stone let out a frustrated sigh. “Go to sleep.”
Jade stood in the hold of the wind-ship, contemplating the meal of dried fruit and grain that the Golden Islanders were preparing. The sun was setting and she was going to have to try to sleep, though it was the last thing she wanted to do. She was so tense it took effort just to keep her spines from flaring.
Most of the others were already asleep, except for the warriors outside on watch. Or at least she hoped they were asleep. Since Malachite had left with Consolation and the half-Fell flight, they had all had nothing to do but worry about what might be happening in the Reaches. It almost overwhelmed her worry for Moon and Stone. Almost. But she wasn’t angry at the Reaches for racing off alone into unknown territory knowing it was being followed by Fell, which added a whole different level to the emotion.
Along with Shade and Lithe, Malachite had left them with five of her warriors, Flicker, Saffron, Flash, Spark, and Deft. Jade had sent the whole bunch hunting early this morning, and then made them and her own warriors eat their fill. They had to stay fed and rested, ready for flight at any moment, in case they came upon the Hians or the Fell found them. Now she needed to take her own advice. She grimaced to herself, admitting it was unlikely.
Diar had warned them that the maps indicated a nearby groundling trading town in the forested hills, so Jade couldn’t even do a fast flight around the wind-ship to work off some of her nerves. Dranam had said the tracking moss for Moon and Stone had split again, so they must have left another message somewhere in the town. Jade just hoped the horticultural could locate it quickly; if they were delayed by a long search, her last nerve would snap.
Lithe wandered in from the corridor, a shawl wrapped around her shoulders, but she looked wide awake. “Anything?” Jade asked her.
Lithe shook her head, frustrated and weary. “I keep seeing the sea breaking on a beach, and having the feeling that we should hurry. And I can’t tell if the latter part is from the vision or just common sense.” They both spoke Altanic, for the benefit of the Golden Islanders in the cabin, but the groundlings were more interested in preparing the meal than listening. Probably because Jade and Lithe had been having this same conversation for the past few days. “I’m still not getting anything about the Reaches, either.”
That might be good news, Jade thought. It might mean Malachite still had time to beat the Fell there.
Lithe added, “I was going to make tea. Would you like some?”
“You should try to get some rest,” Jade said. She didn’t expect Lithe to listen. It felt like she had been telling mentors to rest all her life and none of them ever listened. They were as bad as feral consorts and line-grandfathers.
“So should you.” Lithe smothered a yawn. “And I need to be awake, so I can have more useless visions.”
Those words pricked a memory, and Jade said, “You know, Merit kept getting visions of the sea, when we were close to the foundation builder city and he had trouble scrying—”
Then River leaned in the doorway and said, “Jade? Something’s wrong ahead. Rorra said to get you.”
Jade hissed and whipped out of the cabin. She passed River on the steps up to the deck.
Outside the breeze carried the scent of running water, greenery, and wood smoke with something foul under it. Rotting flesh, Jade realized, startled. The fires were consuming dead bodies. She went first to the rail and saw they approached a groundling settlement built across a series of tall hills or mounds, set between the curve of a river and two raised stone trade roads. The sun was sinking past the horizon, turning the clouds cloaking the huge flying island formation to the south every shade of gold.
The flicker of fire seemed to be mostly on the outskirts of the town, but it was in orderly rows. Lights gleamed in windows and doorways in the hills and in the tents below. Boats and barges were tied up at the river docks. Jade tasted the air deeply. There might be some Fell stench, but it was too faint to be nearby, or buried under the harsh wood smoke.
She reached the steering cabin and found Rorra and Niran. Diar was in the bow, focusing a distance-glass on the town. “Was it a Fell attack?” Niran asked her. “Can you smell them?”
“A little, maybe. They’re not here now,” Jade said, concentrating on the scents, trying to sort them out. “And if they were here, I don’t know why so many groundlings are still alive.”
Rorra’s expression was tight with worry. “Maybe Moon and Stone drove the Fell away.”
Jade imagined the two of them taking on a whole Fell flight and suppressed a growl of unease. If they had fought the flight and one of them had been captured, and that was why the moss showed a split again . . .
Diar turned away from the bow. “We’ll know soon. There are trade flags for a caravanserai, and I think I see message poles.” She explained to Jade, “We saw these in Kish. Messages are tied to the tops of the poles to make it easy for flying craft to collect them. If the consorts left us a message, it may be there.”
“Yes, it’s a handy system,” Rorra added.
“I will recommend it for ports in the east, if we survive long enough to return there,” Niran said.
Diar sighed. “My sibling the optimist.”
Jade turned at a faint sound. Lithe had followed her to the steering cabin. The mentor stood, one hand on the wall, and the dying sunlight made her eyes into white reflective pools. No, that wasn’t the light, that was a mentor caught in a vision. Jade said softly, “Lithe? What do you see?”
Lithe hissed out a slow breath. “Fast,” she said. Then she shook herself and blinked, her eyes a soft brown again. “We need to move fast. We have to get to the coast before—Before something happens.” She grimaced. “I don’t know what.”
Niran turned the steering device and the wind-ship angled down to the message poles.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The Court of Indigo Cloud in The Reaches
Frost was hiding in the little chamber adjacent to the queens’ hall, the one consorts were supposed to wait in before they went out to greet visiting royal Aeriat. Her plan worked well, until Ember came down the steps from the upper passage and there was nowhere to go.
He stopped, startled to see her. “Frost, what are you doing here?”
Disgruntled, Frost said, “I’m waiting for the queens.” She realized Ember must also use this room as a quick private route down from his bower in the consorts’ level to Pearl’s. She should have thought of that. He was dressed for the greeting, in a sleeveless dark blue shirt and pants of the best silky cloth Indigo Cloud could produce, with armbands, a heavy gold bracelet, anklets, and gold chains with sunstones braided through his hair.
“Why?” he said, eyes narrowing suspiciously.
Frost stirred mutinously. Ember wasn’t First Consor
t like Moon, but being rude to him would definitely fall under the category of something an immature fledgling would do, and not a daughter queen ready for responsibilities. And he was always nice, and she didn’t want to be rude. But she knew he would tell her to go back to the nurseries. She said, unwillingly, “Jade’s not here and there’s no other sister or daughter queens.”
Ember folded his arms. “You were just going to walk in on a formal meeting of queens making an alliance to defend the Reaches and demand to participate?”
Put in those terms, it did sound bad. “I wasn’t going to jump out at them. I was going to wait until Pearl came out, and then ask her.” She had meant to do it just before the other queens came in, when it was too late to order her to leave without causing a disturbance. Looking up at Ember’s disapproving expression, Frost decided not to explain that part. “Pearl can’t meet them alone. We’ll look bad.”
Ember pointed out, “Celadon is here.”
Frost knew that. It was the flaw in her otherwise carefully thought out reasoning. She said, “She doesn’t live here. She’s Malachite’s daughter queen, not Pearl’s.” Of course, Frost wasn’t, either. The bloodline tie through Moon made Celadon more part of Indigo Cloud than Frost. But Sky Copper and everyone in it was dead, and Frost would be a daughter queen of Indigo Cloud. Frost added, “I live here.”
Ember studied her a moment. “You know it’s a bad idea to surprise Pearl.”
Frost didn’t know that. She didn’t see Pearl much, except when Pearl came to the nurseries to visit the new clutches. “I like surprises,” Frost said.
“Grown-up queens usually don’t,” Ember said.
Frost flicked her spines, glumly resigned. Maybe it hadn’t been a very good idea. Then Ember added, “You should ask her if you can be present. Come on.”
He took her wrist and walked her out into the queens’ hall. The teachers Dream and Bead stood near the hearth, studying the arrangement of the cushions and the tea service with critical eyes. They were too occupied to notice Ember and Frost. Which was good, because Frost’s spines had started to flick nervously and if they saw that they would tell Rill and no one would believe she was grown enough to be a real daughter queen.
Ember led her into Pearl’s bower. Some warriors were there, and so was Gold, the teacher who was best at making jewelry. She was sorting through a pile of polished gems with silver settings, choosing pieces for Pearl to wear. Pearl was curled on a cushion near the hearth. Everyone looked up at Ember and Frost.
The first time Frost had seen Pearl was burned into her brain, when Moon had told them to run and Frost had known the Fell would kill him, when suddenly Pearl and Jade had slammed down out of the sky to rescue them all. But seeing her here, resting in her bower with warriors and Arbora in attendance, Frost remembered being brought to her birthqueen’s bower to listen to the Arbora read stories, and the scents came back to her, of the court and the members of their mingled bloodlines who she would never see again. She couldn’t do anything but stand there and hold on to Ember. He nudged her forward, gently.
Frost gathered herself. “Reigning queen, I—” Her voice came out high and squeaky, and she had to force it lower. “I want to be at the meeting with you. Jade isn’t here. I want to be—Like a daughter queen.” She gave up and stood there miserably. The prepared speech in her head sounded much better; she had no idea how it had come out that way.
Everyone looked at Pearl. Her spines flicked in annoyance, which Frost didn’t think was a good sign. She looked over Frost’s head, at Ember, then down at Frost. Frost’s spines tensed and she braced herself.
Then Pearl said, “Your behavior has not always warranted such favors.”
Frost felt her spines sink. Then Pearl added, “But Blossom has told me how much you’ve improved. If you can keep quiet, and speak only when you’re spoken to, you may stay.”
So not long later, Frost sat on a cushion next to Celadon, with Bone, Heart, Bell, and Knell, all watching Pearl as they waited for the other queens. Frost’s frills were still wet because once Pearl had given her permission to stay, Gold had hauled Frost over to the bathing pool at the back of Pearl’s bower and made her wash all over. Mindful of staying on her best behavior, Frost hadn’t even protested that she was already clean. Frost had put on all her good jewelry back in the nurseries, but Gold had made her take off two bracelets and had quickly polished the copper disks of her necklace for her. Then Gold had hugged her and whispered, “Your first time at a formal greeting! It’s so exciting!”
Frost was beginning to realize how lucky she was that Ember had caught her. It was better to have this given to her instead of trying to take it. Once the other queens came, she would have to move over to sit with the Arbora, but Celadon had said Frost could sit with her until they arrived.
The lights caught the polished blue stones of Celadon’s belt and necklace, and the deep green of her scales. She had three warriors with her, who waited in the back of the hall with Floret and the Indigo Cloud warriors. Celadon’s close resemblance to Moon was reassuring and Frost had already met her in the nurseries when Ember had brought her down to visit the new royal clutch. Celadon said, “I was much older than you when I went to my first formal meeting.”
Frost tried not to show how gratifying that was. “Was there a war with the Fell?”
“No.” Celadon’s spines flicked a little in amusement. “It was about trading ball fruit.” She looked down at Frost and said a little cautiously, “The Fell war happened when I was much younger.”
Frost said, “Moon told us. They came and killed everyone. It happened to us, too.”
Celadon squeezed her wrist. “It will never happen again.”
Frost’s spines flicked and her throat went dry suddenly. It won’t, it won’t happen again, she thought fiercely. She was bigger now, and she could fight them if they came to the nurseries. She leaned against Celadon’s solid warmth and thought, never again.
Bone was saying to Pearl, “Don’t forget to talk about supplies.”
Pearl tilted her head toward him. “Somehow I’ll manage to recall it, being reminded of it every other breath.”
Then Coil came in and whispered to Floret, and she told Pearl, “The other queens are coming.”
Frost had moved over to sit with the Arbora, and not long later, she was suppressing the urge to yawn. After getting through the greetings, they had been talking about supplies, the way Bone had wanted, and how many warriors each court would send to defend the Reaches. Frost hadn’t seen any of the queens before, except Zephyr of Sunset Water, who had come several times for trade visits. She was an older sister queen, with a strong build, her scales amber webbed with green. Flame of Ocean Winter sat beside her, and had light green scales with a silver web. Tempest of Emerald Twilight was the most intimidating, but also the youngest, the same age as Jade, with light blue scales and a gold web.
Then Pearl said, “If a Fell flight truly means to attack, we have to meet them outside the Reaches.”
Flame’s and Zephyr’s spines flicked in surprise. Celadon said, “I agree.”
Tempest tilted her head toward Celadon. Frost knew why; even she could tell Celadon and Pearl must have talked about this earlier. Tempest said, “I don’t. It would be giving up our advantage.”
Pearl said, “Our advantage is their advantage. We can’t pin them down in the Reaches. There’s too good a chance they can get past us and reach a colony.”
Tempest’s spines flicked. “They don’t know the fringe the way we do.”
Celadon put in, “Opal Night doesn’t know the eastern fringe. Does Emerald Twilight?”
The end of Tempest’s tail curled in ironic amusement. “We know it better than Fell who have never been here.”
Then Pearl said, “Which of you has had a colony taken from you by the Fell?”
The words dropped into a sudden silence. Everyone’s spines went still. Frost’s throat was suddenly almost too tight to swallow.
Pearl
’s voice was hard and cold. “I have stood in a room filled with my dead Arbora and warriors. I will not do that again. Indigo Cloud will meet the Fell outside the Reaches.”
Celadon locked gazes with Tempest. Celadon doesn’t like her, Frost realized. And not in the way queens and other Aeriat sometimes disliked each other for no reason. Celadon said, “In this, Opal Night and Indigo Cloud are as one.”
Tempest’s calm was tinged with contempt. “Opal Night and Indigo Cloud appear to be one in other things, too.”
Celadon’s head tilted slowly. “Oh?”
Pearl seemed more amused than angry. She cocked her spines inquiringly. “Yes, please explain. We always await Emerald Twilight’s pronouncements with the greatest of interest.”
Frost saw Bone bury his face in his hands.
Tempest said to her, “When Indigo Cloud made its way back to the Reaches, it spread the word about the Fell’s new trick of capturing Arbora and consorts to breed with.” Her gaze went to Celadon again. “That Opal Night retrieved and kept the issue of these acts was a fact it shared only with Indigo Cloud.”
Frost leaned over to Bell and whispered, “Nobody’s supposed to know that.”
“We know,” Bell whispered grimly, and squeezed her wrist.
Knell muttered, “Idiot warriors can’t keep their mouths shut . . .” Heart poked him in the side and hissed, “Shut up!”
Pearl glanced at Celadon, her spines tilted in ironic comment. Pearl knew this would happen and warned her, but Celadon didn’t think it would, Frost interpreted, and was startled by how certain she was that she was right.
Celadon sat there in silence until Frost’s scales prickled with nerves. Then Celadon bared her fangs and said, “This is none of Emerald Twilight’s concern.”
Frost conquered the urge to leap up and bare her own fangs at Tempest, but it wasn’t easy.