The Harbors of the Sun

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

“There! There he is!” Heart said. She crouched on a flat rock half-buried in the heavily forested ground below the Kish towers, with First, the half-Fell dakti beside her. Vine and Serene perched in the branches above her. Parties of Indigo Cloud and Opal Night warriors hid all through the trees and heavy vegetation around them, trying to approach the Fell taking shelter in the emplacement. Heart called softly, “Stone, it’s us!”

Stone’s dark form flowed up on the rock and First retreated with a noise of alarm. Stone shifted to groundling and said, “I know it’s you, what are you doing here?”

He looked just the same, weathered and gray, but dressed in groundling clothes that had seen hard use. Heart flung herself into his arms. “I’m so glad you’re all right! We heard—And I had a vision—Is Moon all right?”

“He’s fine, he’s fighting Fell on the boat with Jade.” Stone grabbed her shoulders and looked down at her, baffled. “What are you doing here?”

Vine began, “There are Fell in the towers—”

Stone snapped, “I know there are Fell in the shitting towers!”

Serene finished, “—and we chased them here from the Reaches!”

“Pearl let you do this?” Stone demanded.

“Pearl’s leading us, with Malachite,” Heart told him.

Stone stared down at her, then slowly grimaced, still half incredulous. “Pearl?”

Heart felt a tug on her tail as First whispered, “Ruler has a groundling.”

Heart’s gaze snapped upward. Through the trees she saw a dark figure climb the outside of the nearest tower, a struggling figure tucked under its arm. She hissed in dismay.

“That’s Thiest, the groundling captain. I was looking for her,” Stone said. He shifted and leapt upward to batter the tree canopy aside.

Heart took the opportunity to tell Serene, “Better tell Pearl we’ve found Stone and Jade.”

Serene twitched her spines in acknowledgement and hopped into the foliage, disappearing with hardly a rustle. Vine edged sideways, his head craned to watch Stone.

Stone landed with the groundling in one hand and what was left of the ruler in the other. First sunk further behind the rock.

Stone set the groundling beside Heart and tossed away the ruler’s crushed body. He shifted out of his winged form as the groundling Theist stared at Heart in blank shock. She was gray-skinned with dark braided hair, her chest and shoulders badly scratched, bloody furrows from the ruler’s claws. She breathed hard and seemed stunned, though she clearly recognized Stone. He told her, “We can help your crew, but you have to tell them to stop the fire weapons so we can approach.”

She shuddered, then her expression cleared as she gained control of herself. She glanced at them all, then nodded sharply. “I can do that. Just get me back to the craft.”

Moon didn’t move, his heart pounding in his chest, suddenly aware he was dripping blood onto the floor. Jade let out a slow hiss. Ceilinel was still alive, her eyes wide, her face darkening as she was half-strangled by the progenitor’s grip. This was the biggest progenitor Moon had ever seen, towering over Jade. But he scented fresh blood on her, a smell that made his claws involuntarily contract with the urge to rend. She was wounded, terribly wounded, somewhere under the plates of her scales.

The progenitor said, “You attack us with consorts, too? You are so confident in our destruction.”

Moon held his spines flared though his heart had just contracted in hope. So there are Raksura here somewhere. Jade snarled, and didn’t correct the progenitor’s assumption. She said, “This place was a trap and you flew right into it. You should kill yourself now to save us the trouble.”

There’s two of us, Moon was thinking, we could take her. Maybe we could take her. If they could do it before more rulers or dakti arrived. But it would get Ceilinel killed. Ceilinel wasn’t his friend, but she was right there and still alive and Moon had seen too many groundlings torn apart by Fell.

The progenitor’s head tilted and Moon realized the roar of the flying boat’s weapons had ceased. Outside it was eerily quiet.

Then Pearl whipped down through the trapdoor and hit the floor in front of Moon and Jade.

Jade flinched back. Moon was so shocked he nearly screamed, but managed to keep the sound to a strangled gasp. Yes, that was really Pearl, facing down a progenitor, here somehow from across the Reaches.

Moon had never seen Pearl’s fully extended spines from this angle; when she was this angry, he was usually in front of her. Her growl was higher-pitched than Stone’s but it made his ears ring. Pearl was always impressive when she was fighting but the force of her presence now was hard and vital, the air around her charged like lightning.

The progenitor widened her jaw in a grin, revealing her fangs. “Where’s your companion?”

Pearl’s hiss was all sharp amusement. “Guess.”

Beside Moon, Jade’s growl was almost voiceless. A heartbeat later he realized Malachite stood behind the progenitor, that she had dropped out of the figured stonework above. Moon had a picture of it in his head, a dream image, but he couldn’t actually remember it happening.

“You want the groundling alive?” the progenitor said, and her voice was warm and even, as if she couldn’t give up the deception, the belief that they might still be seduced by her. She flexed her hand and Ceilinel made a keening sound. “What will you give me in exchange?”

Malachite said, “You’re weary, and hurt.”

Her power curled around Moon’s heart and his breath hitched.

The graceful coil of the progenitor’s body moved, turned to face Malachite. She opened her jaw to speak, but stopped, a sudden stillness in her body. Jade tensed to move but Pearl flicked her claws, a warning to be still.

Malachite’s head tilted and the progenitor’s head tilted with it. This is what she did, Moon realized, fascinated. When she had broken and killed the progenitor who had destroyed her court, when she had rescued Shade and Lithe and the others.

The progenitor’s grip on Ceilinel loosened, its claws leaving livid streaks on the soft gray flesh of her throat. She slid to the floor and half collapsed, catching herself with bloody palms braced on the floor. She tried to crawl away and Moon crouched down and sidled toward her.

The progenitor said, “We shouldn’t have run. We became prey.”

Malachite said, “There was nowhere to go. There was never anywhere to go.”

Moon caught Ceilinel’s arm and pulled her further away from the progenitor. He tucked her against his side and stayed in a crouch, ready to bolt. Ceilinel clung to his side, shivering with reaction.

The progenitor twitched, breaking the hold, and lifted her arm to strike.

But Malachite was already in motion. The crack of bone snapping made Ceilinel flinch and gasp.

The progenitor’s body slammed down on the paving and Malachite wrenched the head off with a single sharp twist.

“Finally,” Pearl snarled, impatient and irritable as always. She straightened and shook out her spines, as if they were in the colony and the Arbora were agitated about the tea harvest, and not at all as if she was facing the terror of the western Reaches over the mutilated body of a Fell progenitor. “Are you happy?” she asked Malachite.

Malachite said, “I’m mildly gratified.” She turned her attention to Moon, her cool gaze flicking over him.

“Then we can go.” Pearl turned to Jade. “Who else is with you?”

Jade snarled so hard her spines rattled. “What are you doing here? What—The court—”

Pearl’s spines rippled at Jade’s reaction, equal parts amusement and annoyance. Moon let out a pent breath, feeling light-head with relief. If the colony was attacked and the court fleeing in remnants, he doubted Pearl would find anything funny, no matter how much she enjoyed making Jade angry.

Rise and a dozen more warriors dropped down from the trapdoor. Moon spotted Fair, Sand, and Spring from Indigo Cloud, along with others he recognized from Opal Night. Malachite moved one spine and they dove down the stairwell. Pearl answered, “Celadon.” At Jade’s expression, Pearl dipped her spines in irony. “Yes, I’m sure Emerald Twilight will be throwing it in our faces ten generations from now. Are the others with you?”

Jade took a sharp breath and settled her spines. “Just Stone, and two groundlings. The rest are with Niran on the wind-ship, which went to Jandera for help. I sent Balm with some warriors back to the Reaches to tell you where we were.”

Pearl flicked her spines. “They missed us. We had news of you from someone else.”

Moon shifted to his groundling form so his scales wouldn’t poke Ceilinel. He stood and picked her up. He didn’t care who Pearl had left in charge of Indigo Cloud, it was just a relief to hear that all had been well when she and Malachite left. He interrupted the queenly posturing to say, “She needs help. Did you bring any mentors?”

Pearl’s spines angled with irritation, possibly because Moon was talking to her and thereby ruining her good mood. More Opal Night warriors poured down from the trapdoor, and Pearl said, “Heart will be below with the others, they came in through the lower level.”

Malachite, still eyeing Moon, moved a spine and a dozen warriors broke off to surround him as he carried Ceilinel down the wide stairwell. The Fell stench was fading but the smell of groundling death hung in the air. The remains of the Kish garrison must be all through these rooms.

“Are you all right, consort?” a female Opal Night warrior asked.

“Yes,” Moon said, having no idea how else to answer. “It’s been a long day.”

Ceilinel held onto his arm, and croaked, “Who were they?”

“The queens? The gold one was Pearl, Jade’s mother, the reigning queen of Indigo Cloud. The big scary one was Malachite, reigning queen of Opal Night, my mother,” Moon told her. She blinked up at him, not really comprehending. He added, “That was why it was a bad idea to hold me prisoner.”

“We weren’t holding you prisoner,” she muttered, stubbornly. “The conclave—”

“This way, consort,” another warrior said from below.

The stairs ended in a big space with double doors now open to the balcony and the boarding scaffold, or what was left of it after the flying boat had yanked itself free. Warriors were stationed around on guard at the windows and doorways, others dumped dead dakti out the window. Moon saw Heart first, hurrying toward him. There was a dakti behind her and Moon stopped short, startled, until he realized it wore a braided leather and red cord necklace that was clearly Arbora work. It must be one of the half-Fell dakti, wearing the necklace as a marker to prevent accidents.

Heart said, “Moon, we were so worried—” She shifted to her groundling form and pulled her bag off her shoulder, kneeling as he crouched to set Ceilinel down. “I’m so glad you’re alive.”

“Me too.” Moon hesitated. Malachite would have told Heart and the others about Song. “This is Heart,” he told Ceilinel in Kedaic. “She’s a mentor, a healer, and she’ll take care of you.”

Ceilinel nodded distractedly to Heart, then asked Moon, “Can those queens speak for the Reaches?”

“Parts of it,” Moon said. Ceilinel’s focused determination was almost as bad as an Arbora’s. He asked Heart, “Is the court all right? Did you leave any warriors there?”

“It was fine when we left. Celadon brought over two hundred warriors when she came. Plus Sunset Water and Emerald Twilight and the other courts were patrolling the fringe.” Heart gently turned Ceilinel’s face towards her, wincing at the gashes in the gray skin of her collarbone.

That was good to hear. Maybe Pearl and Malachite hadn’t lost their minds after all. Moon caught a glimpse of Stone and Rorra outside and pushed to his feet again. “I’ll be back.”

He went out onto the balcony. Kalam stood with Stone and Rorra, watching the broken flying boat. It still hovered in the air, though the stern rested in the tree canopy. The Solkis scrambled around on the broken deck, putting out the still smoldering fire. Thiest balanced atop the stern cabin, injured but alive, pointing and shouting orders.

Moon squinted up at the towers. Warriors had settled all over the sides and conical roofs, familiar faces from Indigo Cloud and strangers from Opal Night. Spines flicked everywhere as they sighted Moon. “They brought half the court,” Moon said, not sure if he was complaining or not.

Stone was not pleased. “And mentors. As if we don’t have enough Arbora running wild out here.”

Moon would hardly describe what Bramble and Merit had been doing as running wild, but Stone clearly wanted a post-battle argument and Moon had no intention of giving him one. He nodded toward the Solkis. “The mentors can help with their wounded.”

“We asked, they said no,” Kalam said, clearly not happy with the answer. He wiped a smudge of singed moss off his face. “It’s stupid.”

“It’s Solkis,” Rorra said with a glare at the boat. She asked Stone, “How did you get them to stop shooting so the Raksura could come in?”

“Took Thiest off the Fell ruler that had her.” Stone’s gaze was on the flying boat. Thiest strode across the cabin roof to stamp out another smoking patch of moss. “I wasn’t sure if she’d keep her word.”

That was a frightening thought. Moon rubbed his face, realizing he felt a little dizzy. He probably wasn’t as recovered as he thought he was. Then Kalam pointed and said, “Look!”

Moon braced for more Fell. But a large Kishan flying boat loomed into view over the treetops. It was built more like Callumkal’s ill-fated craft, with the ridge up the center. There were two more flying boats much higher in the air, their course intended to flank the emplacement.

“Reinforcements,” Rorra muttered. “This could be good or bad for us.”

A figure came out of the tower doors, the warriors parting for him with only a few growls, and Moon was startled to recognize Kethel. The skin of his chest now had a rippling scar pattern from the healed burns, but he didn’t move like he was hurt or ill. He was wearing a braided cord like the dakti, but his was blue and brown.

“You live,” he said to Moon. He glanced at Stone. “Old consort.”

Stone eyed him. “So you found your flight.”

Kethel scratched the scars on his chest. “It was easy. They were following a lot of Raksura.”

Moon knew what he wanted to say and there was no point in delaying. “I’m sorry I nearly got you killed. It was a bad idea.”

“I’m not dead. I had the bad idea too.” Kethel appeared unbothered by the whole thing. “She thanks you.”

Moon hadn’t seen the half-Fell queen, but she had to be here somewhere. “For what?”

“For not killing me.” Kethel squinted up at the top of a tower. Moon followed his gaze. A number of dakti huddled in the lee of the roof, out of sight of the groundlings, with some Opal Night warriors perched beside them. The braided cords were bright against their black scales. Kethel added, “She would tell you herself, but the big queen will kill her if she speaks to you.”

Moon could imagine. “What are you going to do now? Chase more Fell flights?”

Moon had never seen a Fell look happy before, so it was something of a shock to realize that was the expression on Kethel’s face. Kethel said, “The big queen has said we can have a place to live. A big tree.”

“A big—” Moon bit his lip, turning that thought over. “That . . . will be interesting.”

“In the Reaches?” Stone said, floored. “What have they been doing while I was gone?”

As Moon carried Ceilinel down the stairs, Jade turned to Pearl. “I need to speak to both of you in private.” She knew she should ask to speak to Malachite alone, but even after all the turns of aggravation and distrust in their relationship, Pearl was still her birthqueen and Jade wanted her here.

Malachite eyed her without any hint of expression in her face or spines, then flicked her claws. All the Opal Night warriors leapt, scrambled, climbed, or bolted out of the room.

Pearl’s spine flare and eye roll said eloquently what she thought of this display. She turned to Floret, “Take everyone outside.”

Floret gathered the Indigo Cloud warriors with a glance and they dropped down the stairwell. Jade saw Serene cast a worried glance back at her and tried not to react. Then the warriors were gone and they were left alone in the stink of Fell and dead groundlings.

Malachite nudged the dead progenitor with a thoughtful claw, then fixed her gaze on Jade. “We had word of how Moon was injured, lost, and taken away by groundlings.”

Jade’s jaw tightened. “How?”

Pearl said, “The half-Fell flight is with us. The kethel that followed Moon and Stone rejoined it some days ago, and we had its story from Consolation.” Pearl watched her critically, with a trace of impatient confusion in the line between her scaled brows. “I assume you retrieved your consort since he was just here. What is it? Just tell me, you know how I get.”

The Kethel obviously didn’t know about the bargain Lavinat had offered Jade, anymore than Moon did. The urge to pretend she had nothing else to say was for a heartbeat overwhelming; but Balm and Stone and River and the others knew. Shade, as close and loyal to Malachite as if she was his bloodline birthqueen, knew. And Jade couldn’t ask them all to lie for her.

Jade didn’t clear her throat though it felt like there were ashes on her tongue. “The Kethel told you about the weapon, how he and Moon were trapped by the Hian groundlings?” When Pearl flicked her spines in assent, she continued, “The Hian leader offered me a choice: if I let her use the weapon, she would spare Moon. I could save my consort or I could save the Reaches. I chose the Reaches.”

Malachite made a noise, a huff of breath like something had punched her in the chest. Pearl met Malachite’s gaze, and for once there was nothing of irony in her expression. The silence went on long enough that Jade was tempted to attack one of them just to break it. Then Malachite whipped away and was suddenly on the other side of the chamber, facing the stairwell, breathing hard.

Pearl let out a breath, but there was nothing tense in her demeanor. She seemed more resigned than anything else. With a sense of shock, Jade recognized Pearl’s I hate dealing with your emotions face. Pearl said, “We were on the fringe of the Reaches, fighting the Fell, when it happened. We saw it come over them in the wetlands, and Heart said it was a wave of death. We fled and it stopped in the fringe.”

“So close?” Jade managed. Cold prickled her spines. If she had stood in that chamber for another moment of indecision, if she had tried to bargain for Moon, the weapon’s effect would have spread further across the Three Worlds. It might have killed Pearl and Heart and everyone with them. How many more moments until it would have reached Indigo Cloud and the other courts of the eastern Reaches? It had been an excruciating decision but she had thought it the right one. Now she knew it was, but it didn’t help. She turned to Malachite. “Even if you kill me, believe there was nothing else I could have done.”

“She’s not going to kill you and spoil all this fun we’ve had,” Pearl said, dryly. Malachite turned her head enough to give Pearl a look that would have dropped a warrior dead on the spot. Pearl barred her fangs in amusement, then told Jade, “Go now and make sure the warriors aren’t doing anything stupid.”

Jade took a half-step away, the accord between Pearl and Malachite enough to make her reel. Then Malachite’s voice rasped out, “Does Moon know?”

Jade’s whole body went cold with dread. She made herself say evenly, “No.” It came to her that it would be better if Malachite knocked her across the room. This restraint was somehow more devastating. She wanted to say, “I’ll tell him,” but the words dried up in her throat.

Pearl flicked her spines in a clear order to go, and Jade went.

The flying boats had dropped to approach low over the treetops, so it was hard to see any detail from this angle. “We’re going to have to leave soon,” Moon told Stone.

Stone threw an impatient glance toward the tower and growled with annoyance. “When they’re done.”

Kethel followed his gaze and said, “Your queens talk to each other a lot.”

Compared to progenitors, they probably did.

Floret dropped out of a window to land beside Moon. She peered at him. “Are you all right?” He had shifted back to his winged form and the healed burns had left ridges on his scales.

Moon saw Stone tense but he was too distracted to wonder at it. “I’m fine. So . . . Pearl and Malachite like each other.”

“It’s terrifying,” Floret confided, keeping her voice low. “But it’s also kind of . . . attractive.”

Stone muttered, “They could have gotten half the court killed.”

Moon looked for some sign of Jade again and spotted her perched atop the roof of the next tower with Sage and Serene. He frowned, wondering why she hadn’t come down yet.

Then Pearl and Malachite dropped abruptly to the pavement. Warriors scattered and Kalam stumbled into Moon. Kethel backed away immediately, but Pearl told him, “Tell Consolation to take the half-Fell and withdraw to the camp.”

Kethel jerked his chin, a gesture of acknowledgement, then said to Moon and Stone, “I’m telling the others your stories.” He turned, vaulted the balcony railing, and disappeared into the trees below.

Jade extended her wings to glide down from the tower. She landed neatly, glanced once at Moon, then reported to Pearl, “The wind-ship is with them.”

Moon turned as Stone hissed in startled relief. The first Kishan flying boat had just angled down toward the towers’ landing pier. As its bulk moved aside, he saw the Golden Islander wind-ship trailing behind.

Kalam waved wildly at it and Rorra clapped a hand to her head and swore in relief. She added, “It must have reached Kish-Karad not long after we left.”

The sight of those three sets of fanfolded sails was more than welcome. That was Diar standing in the bow signaling to whoever was in the steering cabin. And Chime and Lithe at the railing with the warriors and crew. Moon let out his own hiss of relief. The two craft appeared to be in perfect accord, as the wind-ship turned to pull alongside the Kishan boat and dropped its own anchor cables.

Chime and Lithe saw them and called out, pointing. Bramble bounced into view, waving back at Kalam. Niran appeared on the deck, helping a tall Janderan . . .

Kalam gasped, recognizing that figure an instant before Moon did. It was Callumkal.

Moon shifted, grabbed Kalam, and bounced into the air. As he landed on the wind-ship’s deck he realized a dozen Opal Night warriors had followed him, surrounding him like a fledgling taking its first flight. That’s going to get old quick, he thought grimly, as he set Kalam on his feet.

Callumkal didn’t look well and had to lean heavily on Niran. But it was a huge improvement over the half-dead body Moon had retrieved from the Hians’ flying boat. As Kalam flung himself at his father, Moon was immediately surrounded by a noisy group of Raksura and Golden Islanders.

Chime wrapped his arms around Moon. “We thought you were dead,” he said, his face buried in Moon’s neck, his voice harsh with emotion.

Everyone kept saying that. Moon hugged him back, just enjoying the familiar scents. Over Chime’s shoulder, he spotted Bramble and Merit, bouncing excitedly, and Root, who looked guilty. “I’m fine,” he told them all. Chime stepped back, still keeping hold of Moon’s wrist.

“You don’t look fine.” Shade turned Moon to face him and studied him intently. “We really thought you were dead.”

Lithe stepped between them so she could examine the burns on Moon’s scales. “What happened to you? Does this still hurt?”

Then Kalam called, “Moon! Please come speak to my father.”

Moon gently pried Chime off and stepped away from his half-clutchmates. He shifted to groundling and reluctantly went to Callumkal.

The others must have told him how the artifact had ended up on the sunsailer, and Moon was aware of a tight knot of guilt sitting in his stomach. They hadn’t meant for any of it to happen but it had, and there was nothing to be done about it now.

Callumkal stepped forward to wrap his arms around Moon in a hug. Moon returned the embrace, partly to make sure Callumkal didn’t fall. Callumkal felt even more boney than a Janderan should and his scent still had a trace of sickness. Callumkal said, “There is no way to thank you for everything you did.”

Moon fought down a lump of emotion that tried to close his throat. He managed, “You know about the . . .”

“I know everything.” Callumkal stepped back, still gripping Moon’s arms. “I was the one who trusted Vendoin, who shared all my work with her, who brought her on the expedition.”

Moon shook his head. “That was . . . Not something anybody could have guessed.”

Vine landed on the deck with Rorra then, and Callumkal smiled to see her. “Captain! It’s good to see you well!”

Moon stepped aside to give Rorra room. Delin appeared at his side to say, “Vendoin is alive, did they tell you? We found her while you were at the forerunner ruin.”

“Alive?” Moon growled the word. “Are you serious?”

“We left her in Kish-Karad under guard, with the Jandera speaker to the conclave.” Delin’s expression was grimly satisfied. “It gave the Hians there much to explain. They said they didn’t know about Vendoin and Lavinat’s plans, and Callumkal and the others said it would take some time to decide what to do, if the Jandera were going to accept that. But the important thing is that the other Kish believed us.” He waved a hand. “We will tell you everything you missed on the way back to the Reaches.”

“Back to the Reaches?” Niran had arrived just in time to hear this, and looked aghast. He protested, “Grandfather—”

Delin waved a hand. “We must go back. Our friends are surely too tired to fly all that way.”

Jade stood with Pearl and Malachite on the open balcony below the big tower. Heart was nearby, Ceilinel leaning heavily on her. Jandera in flying harnesses lifted off from the newly arrived boat and landed several paces away. After a moment’s consultation, the lead Jandera came forward and said in Kedaic, “We wish to speak with the Raksura leader.”

Malachite twitched a spine and said in Raksuran to Pearl, “This is pointless.”

“For once I agree with you,” Pearl said.

Jade felt her spines tilt but she controlled her annoyance. “We have a chance to make an alliance with these groundlings.” Pearl’s expression said she was clearly unmoved by that statement. “You can’t ignore them because you don’t like to talk.”

“I can.” There was nothing ironic in the angle of Pearl’s spines.

Jade took a deep breath, all too aware of Malachite. “Pearl, I want Vendoin and her people held responsible for this. For Song. For—” Her gaze flicked to the wind-ship where Moon was. “For the groundlings they killed who were under my protection. For what they meant to do to the Reaches. If we leave, they will lie about us, about what happened.”

Malachite stared down at her. Pearl looked away, growling under her breath, her spines flicking. But Jade knew the whole variety of Pearl’s growls, and that one was the I’m angry that your argument has swayed my opinion growl. Pearl said, “Well, what do you want to do, then?”

Jade said, “Stay and talk. Make sure they listen to Callumkal, and Kalam and Rorra.”

Pearl gave Malachite a considering glare, then said to Jade, “I’ll agree, if you send your consort back to the Reaches with an escort of warriors.”

Jade controlled an irritated twitch. She had intended to do that anyway. “Of course. He can go on the wind-ship. The Golden Islanders will want to return with us.”

Pearl hissed, “Of course they do. We’ll never get rid of all these groundlings.”

Jade pressed the point. “Then I have your permission to speak.”

Pearl flicked her spines and Jade turned to the Jandera, and said in Kedaic, “You can speak to us.”

Moon finally got a chance to sit down in the common room with the others when Heart came aboard with Serene, and the greetings started again. No one quieted down until Heart told them the full story of what had happened in the Reaches.

Stone hissed when Heart explained about the plan to kill a certain dominant progenitor. Bramble bounced with nerves as Heart described building the fake hill in the ruin, and what had happened after, and how the queens had seen the Fell die.

That was too close, Moon thought, and felt all the tension he hadn’t realized he was carrying suddenly unclench. The others seemed to feel the same relief. Bramble scrubbed her face and shook out her hair, and Chime muttered, “I need a nap.” Moon squeezed his wrist.

As Merit told Heart what had happened to them, Rise appeared in the doorway. She signaled to Lithe, who went to her, then returned to say to Moon and Shade, “Malachite wants to talk to us.”

Moon had figured that was coming. He pushed to his feet and followed Shade up to the deck.

Serene had said that Jade, Pearl, and the Jandera had gone into the emplacement to talk, so Moon wasn’t surprised to see Opal Night warriors still keeping watch atop the towers. A second boat had come in low near the big tower, and groundlings in flying packs hovered around the damaged Solkis boat, poking in the smoldering ruins of the steering cabin.

Malachite waited for them in the stern, seated on the deck, and Moon sat down while Shade and Lithe enthusiastically greeted her. His half-clutchmates and Celadon had a completely different relationship with his birthqueen than he did, or anyone else did, as far as Moon could tell, and it was still strange to watch. He guessed it was a little like his own clutch would experience later, growing up with Pearl as their beloved reigning queen and having no idea why the older generation viewed her with such a mix of emotions.

Once Shade and Lithe had settled down, Malachite said, “You are all well?”

The question shouldn’t be as fraught with intimidation as it seemed, with Shade tucked into her side and Lithe sitting beside her knee, but this was still Malachite. Moon said, “Yes.”

“We’re fine,” Shade told her. Then added, “Whatever you heard, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds.”

Lithe agreed readily. “It was frightening, but Jade and the warriors kept us safe.”

Malachite was trying to bore into Moon’s skull with sheer force of personality. He tightened his jaw in irritation and said, “Yes, I was captured by groundlings and taken to Kish-Karad. But they didn’t hurt me. It was my own fault.”

Malachite’s eyes narrowed.

“What?” Moon demanded.

Shade squeezed her wrist and stared up at her, his brow furrowed. Malachite met his gaze. His expression said he was making an entreaty, but Moon couldn’t guess what it was. Of the two of them, Shade’s behavior had been correct for a consort, except for leading the warriors into the ruin to help Jade. Maybe that’s what he’s worried about, Moon thought. He glanced at Lithe but she seemed confused, as if she didn’t quite understand what Shade was asking either.

Malachite’s gaze went to Moon again, and he was startled to read just a trace of hesitation there. She said, “If you wish my help with anything, you need only ask.”

Moon found himself wanting to squirm with discomfort. He would have preferred to be castigated for almost getting himself killed. He rubbed at a claw mark on the deck and said, “Sure, I will.”

Shade said, “Lithe was very brave. Lithe, tell her what you and Chime did to break up the ruin.”

Moon had only heard this secondhand from Stone, so it was enough of a distraction to get past his discomfort. He still had the feeling he was missing something though.

With everyone telling him he looked like he was half-dead, and Bramble and Merit demanding his clothes because the cloth smelled like unfriendly groundlings, Moon gave in and retreated to their cabin. Surrounded by the familiar comforting scents that clung to the blankets, he fell asleep almost at once. When he woke, Jade was sitting next to him, holding his wrist.

He yawned hugely, feeling the first stirring of hunger. Stone was nowhere to be seen, but Chime and Merit were curled on blankets not far away. Moon said, “Are we ready to leave?” He could tell it was twilight, from his sense of the sun’s position, and the scent of the air drifting down the corridor.

Keeping her voice low, Jade said, “I’m going to have to stay here with Pearl and Malachite. You’ll go back on the wind-ship with an escort of warriors. I want to make sure these Kish hear our side of what happened. I don’t think it’ll have as much weight if I just leave Rorra and Kalam to speak for us.”

Moon struggled to sit up, trying to wake up enough to make a good argument. “No, we’ll wait for you.”

Jade squeezed his wrist. She sounded calm but Moon could feel desperate intensity in her touch. “I was lucky to get Pearl and Malachite to agree to this much. We’ll catch up before you get home. I just want you out of here.”

Moon stared at her. He couldn’t fault her reason for staying. It was better to settle this now, and maybe she could even get the Kishan to stop confusing Raksura with Fell. “Balm isn’t here. You don’t have a female warrior.” It was frustrating that he couldn’t stay with her, but he knew it would still be days before he was in any shape for long flights.

“I’m taking Saffron.”

Moon settled back. It wasn’t a bad choice, except personality-wise. But he wished Balm was here. “That’ll be fun. You don’t want Stone to stay with you?”

Her expression and her spines went neutral. “The only way this makes sense is if Stone stays with you and Shade. I can’t leave two consorts with no one to protect them.”

“Yes, but it’s me and Shade,” Moon said. And the mentors, the warriors, and Bramble, plus a crew of Golden Islanders armed with Kishan fire weapons. He couldn’t be much safer anywhere outside the Reaches. “It’s better if Stone stays with you—”

“You and Shade need protection too, whether you know it or not.”

“I just . . .” He captured her wrist again. “I want you to be careful.”

“I can be careful more easily if I know you’re safe.”

Moon let go of her and sat up to give himself a chance to control his expression.

But he looked at the signs of strain in her face, the tight angle of her spines. This wasn’t an argument to have now, while they were still in unfriendly groundling territory. So he said, “Just be careful.”

Moon got up to say goodbye to Rorra and Kalam, who had come aboard to collect their belongings.

Kalam hugged him and said, “Bramble has said we can come to visit. My father and I want there to be a formal alliance with Kedmar and your court.”

Moon had no idea how that would work but it sounded like Pearl’s problem. “Sure,” he said. He told Rorra, “You visit, too.”

Rorra gave him the frown that he knew by now meant that she was trying to hide how pleased she was. “Are you sure the other Raksura wouldn’t be bothered by—” She waved a hand, and Moon knew she meant her communication scent.

He said, “Stone will tell them not to be bothered by it.”

There was no one else to be left behind, since the wind-ship had left Dranam the horticultural back in Kedmar. It surprised Moon that the Kish had let the Golden Islanders keep the fire weapons. He had always heard that the Kish guarded those jealously. “Not the weapons, so much,” Delin said, when asked. “It’s the moss itself. We have no way to grow it, and no horticulturals to manipulate it if we did, so the weapons will cease to work as soon as it runs out.” He scratched his beard thoughtfully. “If we encounter any remnants of Fell flights on the way home from the Reaches, they will certainly come in handy.”

By the time Rorra and Kalam said their last goodbyes, it was full night. Moon sat up on the steering cabin with Chime as the wind-ship lifted away from the dark shapes of the towers and the Kish boats, and sailed away under the bright ocean of stars.