by Martha Wells
The next day dawned cool and damp, with gray clouds obscuring the sky and ground mist winding through the trees below. Moon managed to communicate to the others, even Chime, that he preferred to be alone, and went up to sit on the railing of the prow. From there he could watch the forested valleys roll by under the ship.
The trees were tall with heavy foliage at the very top, with clumps of dark blue fruit. Big crab-like creatures with colorful shells clung to the top branches, eating the fruit. They were smaller than branch-spiders, but Moon found the resemblance close enough. They might be good to eat, though.
Absorbed in the view, he was still aware that one of the Islanders had come to sit on the deck ten paces or so behind him. He didn’t realize it was Delin until he heard the rustle of paper. He looked to see the old man sitting cross-legged, a light wooden tablet braced on his knees, sketching something with close concentration.
Moon hopped down to go look at it. He could scratch out the characters for Altanic and Kedaic in ways that were readable, but he had never been able to draw an image that even he could recognize. He crouched beside Delin, studying the sketch. It was the ship’s prow, with someone perched on it, and it took him a long moment to realize who it was. “That’s me?” He had seen his groundling form in clear water or glass or polished metal, but never from the side like this. Stone was right—he was all skin and bones.
“It is.” Delin smiled, adding a last few strokes with the charcoal stick. “I will add it to the book, and title it ‘Moon, Consort of Indigo Cloud.’”
He wanted to be in the book, but it should be the truth. “Maybe just title it ‘Moon.’”
Delin’s look was thoughtful. “You are not of the same court as the others?”
“No. I’m just... visiting.” There was no reason to say anything more, but Moon found himself admitting, “I don’t have a court.”
“I thought your people did not live alone.”
Moon shrugged. “They don’t, apparently.”
Delin nodded, taking that in. “I have read that young consorts are usually shy creatures, who do not venture far from their homes.” Moon couldn’t help a derisive snort. Delin added, with a touch of irony in his expression, “Perhaps they do not understand you.”
He was probably right, and it probably worked both ways.
After a while Delin went below, and Moon went back to the view.
Towards afternoon they were over the hills and the heavier jungle. Moon thought they were nearly to the river, with only a short distance to go.
Then Chime, who was taking in the view from the top of the mast, called out, “Someone’s coming!” Moon snapped around to look, and saw Chime pointed towards something ahead of them in the distance. A shape in the air headed their way. Moon shifted, standing up to taste the air. It was a Raksura.
Chime glided down from the mast to land next to Moon. “I can’t tell who it is yet.” He squinted into the distance, frowning. “I don’t know why they’re sending someone to us. They should know we’re on the way.”
Good question, Moon thought. Either Balm and Branch hadn’t arrived, or... something else had.
The warrior finally drew close enough for Chime to identify him as a young male called Sand. Jade, Root, and Song were waiting with Moon and Chime by the time Sand landed on the Valendera’s deck. He shifted to groundling, breathing hard from what must have been a hard, fast flight, and said to Jade, “Stone said not to bring the groundling boats any closer. The Fell have been to the colony again.”
Jade’s spines were already flared with agitation. At this she went deadly still. “What do you mean ‘been to the colony?’ They attacked?”
Sand shook his head hurriedly. “No, no. A ruler came again, with dakti. Pearl wanted to let them in to talk, but they wouldn’t. Flower said it was because they knew Stone was there. Then they left.”
Chime hissed; he looked sick. “You could have said that first.”
Moon looked away, keeping the relief off his face. Not too late; just hovering on the edge of disaster. As usual. He turned back to Sand. “Who knows about the wind-ships? Who did Balm and Branch tell?”
Sand looked uncertainly from Jade to Moon. “Just Stone and Flower, and me, so I could carry the message. They said not to tell anyone else.” He turned back to Jade. “Stone wants you to leave the boats out here and come in to meet him at the Blue Stone Temple.”
Chime told Moon, “That’s near the valley where we went hunting.”
Jade’s tail lashed. “Good. We’ll need a chance to make plans.” Moon hoped she meant, make plans so that we can load the ships without giving Pearl a chance to tell the Fell about it.
“What are we going to tell the Islanders?” Song asked, looking around the deck. They had been speaking in the Raksuran language, so no one had overheard. All three ships had stopped, and the Dathea and the Indala had drawn up alongside the Valendera. The crews were out on deck, waiting for news.
“The truth,” Jade said. She turned to where Delin, Niran, and Diar waited near the deck cabin.
They took the news well, though Niran folded his arms and looked as if this was no more than he had expected. But as Delin pointed out, if there were no danger from the Fell, then none of them would be here in the first place.
Diar seemed undisturbed as well. She said, “We can rig the ships the same way we do for storms. We find a clearing and tie off to sturdy trees or rocks, then winch the ships down out of the wind.”
“We’ll send someone to you soon,” Jade told her.
The Blue Stone Temple lay in the forest, just over the hills from the plain with the statues. It was a big square structure buried in the trees and half-covered by flowering vines. Made from solid slabs of stone, it was open on all four sides, with a large skylight in the flat roof. The large pool it was built over was its most unique feature. Its square edges had been softened by the forest’s mossy carpet. The blue-tinted stone blended into the shadows under the trees, and Moon would have been hard pressed to find it on his own.
As they circled down to it, Moon caught a strong stench of death; a large bloated carcass of a waterbeast floated in the pool.
As they landed on the temple’s roof, Moon spotted Stone’s distinctive shape dropping down out of the clouds. Two smaller shapes accompanied him.
“That’s Balm and Branch,” Jade said, sounding preoccupied. “If we can start the journey tomorrow...” She turned away and dropped down through the skylight into the temple.
Jumping down after her, Chime said, “I was thinking, if we can use the ships to cache some of our supplies away from the colony, then come back later—”
Root, Song, and Sand followed and Moon stood there a moment, shaking his head. None of them seemed to be thinking about what they were going to do about Pearl. They seemed to believe she would snap out of it once they got her away from the colony and her visits with the Fell.
He stepped over the edge of the opening and dropped down into the temple. Inside it was just a big empty space supported by square pillars, high-ceilinged and open. The light was tinted green by the screens of foliage, the stone stained dark with moss. The reliefs on the walls had been rubbed away by time and weather. Chime, shifted to groundling, was crouched on the paving, sketching out a map in the leaf mold while Jade, Song, Sand, and Root watched.
Moon walked toward the open side that faced the pool and stood at the edge of the platform. The water was dark green, thick with scum, the bloated waterbeast lying at the far edge. It looked as if something had killed it, dragged it here, then discarded it, and their arrival had driven away any scavengers. Insects skated across the water, but nothing else moved. The stench of the carcass was worse than the hunters’ tanning court.
Moon shifted to groundling so his sense of smell wouldn’t be as acute. If they were going to spend much time here, it might be worth it to try to move the thing, but if it fell apart it would be worse.
He heard the rush of air above as Stone arrived, and turned to see the dark
shape dropping through the skylight. He carried Flower in one big talon. He set her down and shifted to groundling. As Flower shook her hair out of her eyes and straightened her smock, Balm landed beside her. “I’ll keep watch up here,” Branch called to them, looking down through the skylight.
“You’ve done it,” Flower said to Jade, smiling. “We knew you would.”
Jade smiled back. She had tried to seem matter-of-fact about all this, but now she couldn’t help betraying a little pride over their achievement. She said, “So far. Now we’re trying to think how to get everyone on the ships as quickly as possible, before the Fell return.”
Chime looked up at Flower. “I thought we could get the hunters to cache the heavier supplies, maybe in the upper river caves. Then—”
Flower sat down opposite Chime to examine his map. Balm shifted to groundling and looked over her shoulder.
Stone stood apart, and Moon went over to him. He said, low-voiced, “They told you about the cloud-walker?”
“Yes.” Stone kept his eyes on the others. “The Fell didn’t come anywhere near the court until yesterday, and Pearl never left while you were gone.”
Moon couldn’t help feeling relieved. At least someone else was thinking about this. “But others did.”
“Yes. A third of the warriors and probably half the Arbora, like they do every day.” Stone’s expression was ironic. “But most of them didn’t know Jade was going to the Yellow Sea.”
“And you trust the ones who did?” Moon persisted.
Stone admitted, “I used to.”
Moon hissed in frustration. This wasn’t going to work, no matter how clever Chime, Flower and Jade’s plans were, unless they dealt with Pearl. And no one seemed to want to admit that Pearl needed dealing with. “When you get to the new colony she’ll just—”
“Wait.” Stone tilted his head, frowning. “Do you smell that?”
“Of course I smell that. Will you listen to me—”
“No, there’s something else—”
Moon heard a rush of wings overhead and spun around, looking toward the skylight. It sounded like a number of Raksura, but Branch hadn’t given a warning. He tried to shift... and nothing happened.
Startled, he looked at Stone. Stone muttered, “Oh, no. This is all we need.”
Pearl dropped through the skylight and landed on the stone floor, her scales a burst of brilliant gold and indigo against the stained paving.
Chapter Ten
Pearl stalked forward, her spines flaring. Half a dozen warriors landed behind her, shifting to groundling as they settled on the paving. Branch stood among them, as well as River and Drift.
Chime shoved to his feet, fell back a step, and threw a worried glance at Jade and Flower. Root and Song just looked confused. Everyone had shifted to groundling. Moon couldn’t tell if that was automatic deference to Pearl or if she had used her queen’s power to make them do it, the way she was keeping Moon from shifting back to Raksura. Jade just folded her arms and looked frustrated.
Pearl bared her teeth. “So here you all are, speaking in secret.”
Stone growled in pure exasperation. “Pearl, what are you doing?”
Desperate, Balm turned to Jade. “I didn’t tell—”
“I know it wasn’t you,” Jade said quietly.
That was when Moon registered the guilt on Branch’s young face. Stupid, stupid little... This was like a bad joke.
“Branch.” Flower didn’t raise her voice, but Branch flinched. “It was your idea to come here. Balm said we should meet at the cave above the Bird Valley, but you said this was better because it was further away.” She lifted a brow. “You fooled us very easily. We didn’t suspect a thing.”
Helplessly, Branch turned to Pearl. The queen said, “He was being loyal.”
“Loyal?” Jade’s spines flared. “We have to speak in secret because you keep telling the Fell everything we do!”
Pearl rounded on her in fury. “I’ve told the Fell nothing!” she snapped. “I’m trying to buy time.” She turned to glare at Stone. “By not letting them in to talk you’ve made them suspicious and more likely to attack.” Her gaze went to Moon. Her lips drew back in a sneer as she paced toward him.
Moon circled warily away from her, knowing better than to let her get within arm’s reach. His skin itched with the urge to shift, but he was trapped in groundling form. He saw River, standing back with Branch and the other warriors, smile derisively. Pearl stopped as Moon backed away. She tilted her head at Jade, saying, “So you didn’t take him yet. Having second thoughts about polluting our bloodline with a stray?”
Jade hissed between her teeth. How does she know that? Moon thought incredulously, torn between humiliation on his part and fury on Jade’s. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t tried.
“Buy time?” Stone repeated. “How? The Fell want to kill us all—”
Pearl shook her head. “That’s not what they want.”
In pointed disbelief, Jade said, “Then what do they want? Tell us. I’m sure we’ll be fascinated.”
“Fascinated isn’t the word.” Pearl hesitated, then drew in a sharp breath. “They want to join with us.”
Everyone stood there for a moment, still with surprise. A rustle of confusion flitted through the warriors, though none of them dared to speak. Even River and Branch and the others closest to Pearl looked uncertain, as if they hadn’t heard this before, and wished they weren’t hearing it now. Moon thought, That can’t mean what I think it means.
Flower stepped up to stand next to Jade, her expression caught between incredulity and dismay. She said, “The Fell told you this? When?”
“Not long ago. The first time they came to the colony,” Pearl said. Under the concentrated stares of Stone, Jade, and Flower, her spines seemed to droop a little. River and her other warriors didn’t look so confident anymore. Branch looked sick.
Stone shook his head, unwilling to understand. “By join, do you mean eat? Because...”
“No.” Pearl lifted a hand to her head, and for a heartbeat she looked exhausted. “Their flight is failing too. They said their progenitor died a few months ago. That’s when they first approached me.”
Before this, Moon would have given a lot to see something that shocked Stone, but he didn’t want it to be this something. Stone said, “You’re saying they want to breed with us.”
Pearl looked away.
The temple was quiet except for the buzz of flies from the pool. Even the trilling birdcalls from the forest seemed distant. Chime was the first to break the silence.
“That’s not possible,” he said, his voice thick with horror. He turned to Flower. “Is it?”
Everybody turned to Flower. She wet her lips, and said reluctantly, “It might be. The mentors who study the Fell have always believed that we came from the same source. That the similarities between us and the rulers are too pronounced to be coincidence.”
Moon had a terrible realization, and he had to ask, “Stone, at Sky Copper, you said the clutches were missing?” Though he kept his voice low, it snapped everyone’s attention to him as if he had shouted.
“I couldn’t find the bodies of the royal clutch in the nursery,” Stone answered, and rubbed his eyes. “The Fell took them.”
Took them alive, Moon thought, sick. Alive as prisoners of the Fell.
“How could you... how could you conceal this?” Jade stared at Pearl, and her voice came out in a low hiss. “I should rip your heart out.”
“I didn’t say yes, you stupid little child. I’m not insane.” Pearl bared her teeth. “But I didn’t say no, either. I knew what would happen if I did.” She stepped back, her tail lashing uneasily. “I didn’t expect them to attack Sky Copper. I thought they just wanted us.”
“Our nursery has Arbora and warriors, babies and fledglings.” Flower looked ill and old, the skin of her face so pale and translucent Moon thought he could see her bones. She pushed her hair off of her forehead and paced away a few steps. “Sky C
opper has... had at least one fledgling queen, and probably two younger consorts.”
“Why didn’t the Fell join with them then, if that’s what they wanted?” Chime burst out. “They must need Arbora, too. Why destroy...” He hesitated uneasily. “Unless they made Sky Copper the same offer.”
“And their queen said no,” Pearl finished, watching them. “That’s what I believe happened.”
Stone stared at her in helpless dismay. “Why didn’t you tell me this, Pearl? Or tell Flower or Jade, or Petal or Bone or Knell? You didn’t think we had a right to know?”
“Because I knew you didn’t trust me,” she said wearily. “You’d just accuse me of treating with the Fell again.”
Flower flung her hands in the air. “Pearl, I didn’t accuse you of that until you let a Fell ruler into the colony to speak to you. You told me nothing!”
Pearl hissed at her. “There was nothing you could do. Nothing to be done. This was my burden to bear. You’ve said your scrying is useless. You can’t see anything. None of the mentors can.”
Flower turned away from her with an angry shake of her head.
“You could set a trap!” Moon shouted, unable to stand it a moment more. “You have something they want, so you make them think they have you and then you kill them. You don’t negotiate, you don’t let them...”
Pearl snapped around to face him, the barely restrained violence making him fall back a step. “You little idiot, you don’t know anything!”
“Stop it!” Flower held up her hand. “All of you be quiet.” Her head was cocked, as if she was listening intently. “Stone, there’s something here.”
Stone turned away from Pearl, scanning the empty temple. “Where?”
Moon looked around too, hampered by trying to keep Pearl in his peripheral vision. Nothing moved in the still air. Through the archway he could see the pool, a cloud of insects humming above the scummy surface and the carcass. “The water.” The words came out before he finished the thought. The opaque water, that might be a pace deep, or twenty paces, thirty paces. The stench that concealed any trace of what might have passed through the temple...
