Moon had been hoping that was her plan. “Especially if we know who’s fighting the Fell there.”
Rorra whispered, “Can it be Malachite?”
Jade’s expression was grim. “That’s what I’m hoping.”
Reluctantly, Kalam said, “Perhaps I should stay here, and make sure Gathin tells the truth to the conclave?”
Rorra didn’t hesitate. “No. I’m not leaving you alone here.”
Jade seconded that with a lash of her tail. “You’re staying with us until I can hand you back to Callumkal.”
Kalam didn’t object, and Moon suspected he didn’t want to stay here and argue with the conclave or the speakers or whatever anymore than Moon did. Kalam added, “We should still talk to the Jandera speaker, like Rorra said.”
Jade shared a glance with Rorra. “I’ll ask for that.”
Stone hadn’t said anything. Jade eyed him, almost warily, and asked, “Any objection?”
Stone said, “No.”
Jade turned back to Ceilinel to tell her they would go.
The flying boat preparing to leave for the border was large and, like Lavinat’s flying boat, burdened with four fire weapon stations, two in the bow and two in the stern. Jade and Kalam stayed behind with Ceilinel to talk to the speaker for Jandera, and Moon, Stone, and Rorra went with Vata, Ceilinel’s nervous retainer, onto the boat. The one bright spot Moon could see was that they wouldn’t have to talk to Gathin again.
They boarded from a ramp extending out from the walkway that circled the dome, following Vata across the deck under the gaze of a not quite openly hostile Kishan crew. Moon didn’t notice any Jandera; most of the crew had tough grey-blue skin and headcrests like Ceilinel’s, but their hair was long and thick, braided in different patterns. They wore mostly small scraps of dyed leather, with heavy belts around their waists and brief kilts, with harnesses for their weapons and flying packs.
Vata led them through the boat with three crew following. They would have seemed like guards, except they weren’t armed and Rorra was, but they were intensely wary. Rorra asked Vata, “This is a Solkis ship, from the interior?”
“Yes,” Vata admitted, with a cautious glance at Moon and Stone. “This crew patrols the western border. They have a . . . great deal of experience with Fell.”
Rorra’s brow furrowed. “Then they know Raksura and Fell are not the same.”
Vata made an equivocal gesture which was somehow not reassuring. Moon controlled a hiss. Maybe he was out of practice at dealing with groundlings like this, but it was hard to accept the hostility without reacting.
The inside of the flying boat was different than the others, the corridors wider and higher-ceilinged. The center was an open chamber with a walkway spiraling up to different branching corridors. They were led up two levels to a suite of four interconnected cabins, with low beds in the center of the rooms. The moss walls were hidden by drapes of dark blue and gold fabric and the floor was a smooth surface that felt like tile. The attached bathing room and latrine was larger and had basins set at different levels, as if meant to accommodate different kinds of species. Most importantly, the two outer rooms had large windows, the crystal covers designed to lift up and slide aside. Having a quick escape route made Moon feel better about the whole thing.
As Moon dropped down onto the first bed, Stone said, “I’ll be happy if we never see the inside of one of these things again.”
“From the design, it’s meant for personal travel for the speakers and conclave members,” Rorra said, glancing around critically. The groundling who had greeted Vata had tried to offer Rorra and Kalam separate quarters, as if the two might have been looking for a chance to escape the Raksura. Rorra had ignored it. “It’ll be fast, maybe faster than Niran and Diar’s wind-ship.”
“Good, then we can get this over with,” Stone said, and stretched.
There was a cough outside the door, and Vata said in Kedaic, “If you need anything, please ask.”
“Food and tea?” Moon asked, remembering the others had had a long day looking for him. “Like what you brought me at Ceilinel’s house.”
Vata seemed relieved at the commonplace request. “How much?”
Moon eyed Stone. “A lot.”
Vata withdrew hurriedly. Rorra sat down heavily on the bed and took out the fabric map again. Moon crawled over to look over her shoulder as she estimated distance on it with her fingers. The scrawled writing on the cloth was in a language he didn’t recognize, and Moon wondered if she had been keeping track of her route since she had first left Kedmar with Callumkal. She said, “The question is, did Malachite encounter Fell on the way to the Reaches and stop to attack them, or did she pursue them from the Reaches, or is this an entirely different group of Raksura and Fell?”
Stone sat down on her other side. “Sounds like too many warriors to be the first option. I’m betting on the second.” Then he leaned over and nipped Rorra on the ear.
Rorra smiled at her map, distracted. Deciding to leave them to the conversation and whatever else they were going to do, Moon rolled off the bed and headed for the innermost chamber.
From that window he could see Jade and Kalam with Ceilinel, Gathin, and a Jandera. Everything looked calm, and Kalam gestured toward the Hians emphatically. It was tempting to stand here and watch the activity in the dock, but being horizontal again was also tempting, and Moon fell into the bed.
The next time he woke late afternoon light streamed in through the window, and the warm body against his back was Stone’s.
Moon shoved upright. Stone growled in his sleep but didn’t wake. The boat was moving and he climbed to his feet and padded across the floor to the window. The sky was streaked with clouds and the wind scented with distant rain and dust. They were traveling over lush open country marked by long stretches of planted fields, gardens, and orchards. In the distance were the tall conical rooftops of a small settlement, partially shielded by a stand of trees.
Stone had rolled over and buried his face in the cushions, suggesting he wasn’t planning on getting up anytime soon. Moon went through to the next cabin and found Kalam asleep on that bed, and Rorra sitting on the floor, cleaning a disassembled moss weapon. Her boots were off, and her legs were folded, the stump at the end of her right leg propped on the remaining fin on her left. Moon asked, “Where’s Jade?”
“She’s asleep in the front room.” Rorra glanced up at him, brow furrowed. “Are you all right? You slept like a dead body.”
“Sure.” He was still achy in places, and the burns still pulled at the muscles in his chest, but it was an improvement over the last couple of days. He stretched, wincing as his back protested.
Moon went into the front room and found Jade curled asleep on the bed in her Arbora form, her spines softened in sleep. His first impulse was to get in with her, but empty plates were stacked near the doorway and a carafe with some tea still in it sat on a low table. Moon had drained it and set it with the other empty dishes when Jade suddenly sat bolt upright, spines flared, already shifted to her winged form.
She stared at him as if she thought she was dreaming, then slumped back on the bed, burying her face in her hands. Moon went to sit beside her, asking, “Are you all right?” She didn’t look all right.
“I’m fine. Just tired of talking to groundlings.” She slid an arm around his waist, but he could sense the tension in her muscles.
He leaned into her warmth. There were things he wanted to talk about, like what had happened in the forerunner ruin, and where the wind-ship might be now, and how likely it was that Malachite was involved with these Raksura chasing Fell on the Kish border. But her scent overwhelmed him and all he wanted to do was nuzzle her neck. She didn’t react, except to squeeze his waist.
There was a cough and an embarrassed rustle from the door. Vata, who must have been hovering in the corridor waiting for signs of life, said, “Ceilinel would like to speak to you, please.”
It took them a while, since Stone and Kalam were
slow to wake and everyone needed a little time in the bathing room, but Vata made it clear the summons wasn’t urgent. They hadn’t brought Moon’s pack from the wind-ship, so he was wearing the clothes he had left Ceilinel’s house in. Stone was still wearing the drylands robe over his own clothes. Rorra apologized for her scent and not having time to wash her clothes, and Moon managed not to tell her it was all right because she mostly smelled like Stone.
Vata led them up the spiral stair and forward down a corridor to a steering cabin. It had large windows giving it a good view off the bow, and from its position the two forward fire weapon emplacements must be atop it. Two doors opened to the main deck and the breeze, heavily scented with wet foliage and loam, was cool and welcoming. They were passing over scattered trees and gardens around another small settlement, but a river gleamed in the distance with a heavy jungle beyond it.
Three crew members operated an elaborate set of steering levers at the back of the cabin. Near the front, Ceilinel waited with a tall, heavily muscled Solkis. Ceilinel greeted them all formally, then said, “This is Captain Thiest. She has fought Fell before, mostly along the Karad border.”
“It was some turns ago,” Thiest said, her expression cool. She nodded to Jade. “The two males are also Raksura?”
Jade’s spines, which had been resting at neutral, twitched in pure irritation. Rorra made an annoyed snorting noise. Her Kedaic icily correct, Jade said, “They are consorts.”
Thiest said, “May I be permitted to see their other forms?”
Silence radiated off Jade in a cold wave, and her spines started to lift and spread. Ceilinel’s brow was beginning to furrow and she said, “Perhaps this is not permitted.”
“Jade.” Moon said in Raksuran, “She’s trying to provoke you to see if you can be provoked.”
“I know that,” Jade said, tightly, in the same language.
Kalam said, “I know it seems like a rude request,” this was pointedly aimed toward Thiest, “but maybe it would help. All this talk of the resemblance of Raksura to Fell rulers is exaggerated.”
“I agree,” Rorra added.
Stone hadn’t reacted. He said, in Kedaic, “I wouldn’t fit in this room.”
Thiest’s mouth drew down, as if she suspected it was a bad joke. Ceilinel explained, “He is a line-grandfather, and his other form is . . . very large.”
This was getting ridiculous, and Moon was torn between just shifting and possibly making Jade even angrier than she already was, or standing here while the tension with Thiest grew. He wished he had shifted earlier, before it became a battle of wills between Jade and the Solkis captain. Finally Jade said in Raksuran, “Moon, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to.”
Moon shifted, snapped his spines out and partially extended his wings, then furled them.
Thiest blinked, though Moon couldn’t tell if she was impressed or not. She said, “I see. Thank you.”
Impatiently, Ceilinel said, “Now that that’s done, can we move on?” She turned to Jade. “We wished to speak with you about the Hians, and what they did in the floating ruin to cause the deaths in Jandera.”
Jade flicked a look at Moon and said in Raksuran, “Go out on deck.” Her gaze went to Stone, but she didn’t say anything. Stone was wearing his opaque face.
Moon didn’t want them to look any worse in front of Thiest than they already did, so he shifted to groundling and went out on deck. Stone followed, and after a moment so did Kalam. They leaned on the railing in the bright sunlight as the Solkis on watch in the bow and the fire weapon stations studied them with wary hostility. “Rorra made me leave,” Kalam reported, sounding annoyed. “She says I’m too emotional. I don’t know what they could say that I shouldn’t hear; I’ve been with all of you almost the whole time.”
“There’s a lot of that going around.” Moon tried not to sound sulky. Jade was more tense even than what their current situation warranted, and he was beginning to think he knew what the problem was.
Moon knew he hadn’t exactly made a smart choice to run off into the depths of the forerunner ruin with Kethel and get nearly burned to death trying to stop the Hians. But it didn’t mean he had suddenly lost all ability to take care of himself. He and Jade had come to the understanding a long time ago that Moon couldn’t pretend to be something he wasn’t. This felt like she didn’t trust him anymore.
Stone, leaning on the railing, just sighed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Moon spent the day and night mostly sleeping, continuing to recover. This was helped by Vata making sure that food was brought to them every few hours. Even Stone was starting to get full.
In the morning, Vata, still not venturing any nearer than the door to the corridor, told them the boat should be close to the Imperial border, so they went up on deck to wait. The jungle below was deep now, covering low hills cut through with the occasional rocky gorge or silver stream. There was no sign of groundling settlements. As the trees below sloped down into a valley, Stone tasted the air. He said, “Fell, coming from the west.”
Jade hissed, and Rorra checked the moss canister on her weapon. Kalam pushed away from the railing. “I’ll tell Thiest.”
From the number of armed Solkis on deck and in the large fire weapon stations, Moon figured Thiest already knew.
Soon they sighted a border emplacement standing up out of the heavy jungle. It was a cluster of conical towers with fire weapons mounted atop their roofs. A broad balcony and pier extended out from the side of the largest tower, with a stairway and scaffold on the end, presumably for docking flying boats. “There’s Fell everywhere,” Stone muttered.
Moon hissed in agreement. The stench hung in the air, a foul taste in the back of his throat. He would have thought that traveling with Kethel for so long would make him used to it, but obviously that wasn’t the case. Kethel just hadn’t smelled that bad compared to this.
Rorra tightened her grip on the handle of her fire weapon. “Should we send Kalam inside?”
Stone shook his head a little. “I want both of you near us, in case we have to get away in a hurry.”
Kalam leaned around Moon’s elbow, his own fire weapon cradled in his arms. “I don’t want to go inside.”
“Hush.” Stone tilted his head, listening.
As the flying boat turned to ease down toward the emplacement, Jade went to stand with Ceilinel and Thiest. Moon stayed at the railing with the others. It was a better angle to watch Jade’s back.
The boat angled down to bring itself level with the pier, a cumbersome process. Moon stepped sideways, just far enough to get a glimpse of the boarding scaffold. Three groundlings waited there, two with gray skin and headcrests, similar to the Solkis, and one a dark-skinned Janderi. All wore leather harnesses with fire weapons over their clothing. So they’re alive in there, Moon thought. No one else was visible in the windows in the curved walls, or at the fire weapon stations atop the towers. With Fell in the area it made sense for the groundlings to keep inside. Moon didn’t know why there were cold prickles of unease traveling up and down his back, his prey reflex making him want to twitch.
Someone called out from below and the flying boat shivered as its motivator thumped to a halt. The Solkis on deck opened a gate in the railing and fastened lines to the ramp that extended out from the emplacement’s boarding scaffold. The three groundlings hurried across, their steps drumming on the wooden planks. They stopped on the deck, dumbfounded at the sight of Jade. Ceilinel moved forward with Captain Thiest, who said, “We’ve come from the conclave to view the situation and to render what assistance we can. Which of you is the warden of this march?”
“Our warden was killed,” the larger gray groundling said, and cast an uneasy glance at Jade. “I’m Neline, and as her second, I’ve been given charge. These are Ualck,” he nodded to the other gray groundling, and then the Janderi, “and Pathial. I hope you’ve sent more help than this.”
“Two more ships are following,” Thiest assured him.
“What’s happened here?” Ceilinel asked. “We know of the sightings of Fell—”
Neline interrupted, “There’s been more than just sightings. The Fell are all up and down this march, attacking settlements, border stations, and traders.”
Thiest threw an opaque glance at Ceilinel. “We heard they were being driven off by Raksura.”
The Janderi Pathial said, “They’re allied with the Raksura.”
Jade’s spines twitched. “That’s not possible.”
Pathial and Ualck stared at her, obviously shocked that she could talk. Neline said, “We have a trader who’s witnessed it.” He asked Theist, “You have Raksura prisoners?”
“No.” Ceilinel didn’t bother to expand on that. “You have an arcanist in this station? Or an esoter? A horticultural?”
“The esoter was killed with our warden.” Neline gestured sharply toward Jade. “It’s dangerous to have these creatures aboard your ship.”
Stone hissed under his breath, his gaze on the sky. He wasn’t the only one. A number of Solkis were on the walk atop the upper cabins, handheld fire weapons aimed upward, guarding the larger weapon stations at bow and stern. “They’re here somewhere,” he muttered.
Thiest was asking, “How were the warden and esoter killed? Was the station attacked?” Moon understood the confusion. He couldn’t catch any scent indicating a battle had taken place. No groundling blood, no rotting bodies, and no lingering scent of the discharge of fire weapons. The only sign was that heavy Fell stench. Someone else was coming up the boarding ramp, hidden by the angle of the boat.
Pathial said, “During the attack.”
Ceilinel’s frustration was clear. “When did this attack take place?”
Neline seemed offended by the question. “If you don’t believe us, the witness is coming now.”
“We didn’t ask to see your witness,” Ceilinel said, an edge to her voice. “I’m asking you for a coherent report.”
Moon belatedly put together the idea of confused groundlings unable to answer direct questions and single surviving witness. He said, “Jade, it’s a—” at the same time Stone said, “Jade, they’re—”