by Martha Wells
The sealing stared hard at him, eyes narrowed, as if trying see past his skin. “What are you?”
Moon swallowed an annoyed snarl and said, “She wants to scare us. Why don’t you just act scared?”
Kalam kept looking from Moon to Stone to the sealing, wide-eyed and deeply fascinated. At least somebody was having fun.
Still smiling easily, not betraying any impatience, Stone said, “I’m terrified. Want me to come down there and be terrified?”
The sealing looked from Stone to Moon to Kalam. Then she kicked once to glide to the far side of the pool. She leaned back against the edge and stretched her arms along it, claws displayed but relaxed. “Most of the groundling traders who come here defer to us. They’re afraid of sealing females.”
No one said we’re not groundlings though Moon felt it hang in the air. He said, “Our females would have pulled you out of there and ripped your skin off by now.”
“And that’s why we can’t be friends,” Stone said. “Now do you know anything about the waters in the sel-Selatra or do I need to go to the next pool and start over?”
She exhaled, a salty breath that made Moon wince. “We speak to the Viar, who live mostly on the surface, in floating colonies. They say they’ve seen an island that should have groundlings that is now empty. It was on the edge of the first sea-mount. The Viar are not . . .” She made an elegant gesture with her claws. “Like us. They have no limbs or ears, they see in different ways, they care about different things. But these groundlings gave them powdered grain they like in exchange for driving fish into their nets during a certain season, so the Viar noticed when they went there and found them gone. There is no taste of them in the water anymore. It was a strange story to hear, so it was passed on through our nets of speech.”
Moon thought that it meshed unpleasantly well with what they had already heard. Stone took it in thoughtfully. “Where did this happen?”
It took some time to figure out the location, as the directions and landmarks the sealings referenced were completely different from those used by water or air vessels, and were often seen only from below the surface. Both Stone and Moon had to ask a lot of questions, and Moon just hoped Kalam didn’t realize that they had a suspiciously accurate picture of the sel-Selatra considering they were only supposed to have seen the map once and briefly. But Kalam seemed more interested in the sealing’s descriptions of the sea bottom.
Finally they were able to leave, and climbing back up the stairs into the sunlight and clean wind and the crash of waves against the dock felt like stepping into a completely different world. It made Moon feel like they might just escape the port without anyone being murdered.
On the dock, Kalam hesitated. “Can we go to the trading station too? We’re so close and I hate to miss it—”
Moon started to say no but just then a groundling walked up from the station’s nearest stairwell carrying a paper wrap of something that smelled of sweet grease and salt. Stone shrugged and turned toward the station. “Sure.”
Moon was about to protest, but inspiration struck. He caught up with them and said, “If the Arbora find out we took Kalam to the trading station and not them, they’ll be furious.” This had the virtue of being completely true.
Stone paused, catching on immediately. He told Kalam, “You have to promise not to tell anybody we were here with you.”
Kalam, wisely realizing this would mean his father wouldn’t hear about his adventure in the sealing drug bar, said, “I won’t say anything to anyone.”
Moon didn’t expect their absence would go unnoticed, and when they had walked back up the tower’s ramp to the flying boat, Callumkal was waiting for them on the deck. His expression of relief on seeing Kalam was obvious. He said, “I was beginning to worry.”
“Sorry, it was so interesting, I stayed longer than I meant to,” Kalam said as they crossed the plank to the flying boat. He nodded to Moon and Stone. “I met them at the base of the tower.”
Moon hoped Callumkal hadn’t noticed that Kalam had delivered that information a little too readily. Callumkal said, “I’m glad it was interesting.” He looked at Moon and Stone and started to speak. Then Jade stepped forward and demanded, “What were you eating?” She looked appalled.
“Just the things from the food places down there,” Moon said. He walked down the deck with her, noting out of the corner of his eye that Stone had wandered in the opposite direction toward the bow. Callumkal was speaking to Kalam, but from the boy’s expansive gestures, Moon bet he was describing the trading station.
Jade said in Raksuran, “We’re waiting for the supplies to be ready. He’s going to let all the crew who are willing to help carry them up go to that market down there, but he wants to leave after that. He didn’t seem suspicious. I told them you wanted to see the market and Stone was keeping an eye on you, and he seemed to accept it. And really, what were you eating?”
“It’s like fried bread batter with boiled sugar cane,” Moon said. Jade winced. “We talked to a sealing, and they’ve heard of at least one disappearance of groundlings from an island in the sel-Selatra. It’s not anywhere near the places where Callumkal said they found signs of what could be Fell attack. It sounds like the Fell were wandering around out there for a while.”
Jade leaned on the railing and growled under her breath. “They’re looking for prey.”
Moon agreed. And he was afraid it meant that the Fell hadn’t followed the Kishan expedition, that they might have already been out there, scouting the city, for some time.
They wouldn’t know until they reached their goal.
The wind eased in the late afternoon, and the flying boat took advantage of it to cast off and head out to sea. The bladder boats still anchored to the tower must not be as powerful as the Kishan boat, and their crews watched enviously as it departed.
Callumkal had told them that the sealing city might be partially visible from the air, so all the Raksura and Delin were lined up at the railing of the main deck to look for it. Every crew member not occupied was out there too, though they took up places a little distance away. Only Kalam and Magrim had come over to stand next to Delin. Rorra was nowhere to be seen, but then somebody had to be steering the flying boat.
Chime, leaning on the rail next to Moon, said, “So the sealings were hard to talk to?”
“I think it’s just the way they act with other species.” Getting back here successfully with some more confirmation on the situation in the sel-Selatra had noticeably improved Moon’s mood. Or maybe it was just all the boiled dumplings and fried sugar dough eaten while walking around the trading station. Its multiple windows had allowed visitors to watch the waves crash against it on the upper level, and to look at underwater life on the lower. There had been raw material and goods trading going on with the sealings, but most of the groundlings had been there to see the place. “Or maybe just other species that want to buy their simples.”
“Well, I’m glad you and Stone got out of there safely.” Chime twitched his shoulders, unconsciously trying to convey his mood with the spines of his other form.
Moon thought about pointing out that as groundling cities go, the port was definitely one he would have classified as “safe.” If he had ever gotten this far northwest on his own and run across it, he would have planned to stay for a while.
The boat had already reached the shoreline and moved out over the docks and the bridges that connected the nearest islands. “There it is!” Balm said suddenly, pointing. “Past that island!”
The warriors climbed up on the railing and the two Arbora pressed against it. The islands were covered with heavy greenery, but around them the waves moved in an odd pattern, disrupted by whatever was just under the surface. Moon pulled himself up onto the railing and perched one hip on it.
As the boat drew closer, the outlines of walls, tops of towers, and other structures less easy to understand became visible just below the surface. The water was clear enough that in the intervals bet
ween waves Moon could see bodies swimming, flickering in and out among a forest of water plants. The sealing city lay between and around the six major islands in the bay, far larger than Moon had been expecting. “I wonder . . .” Chime muttered, staring intently. “I wonder if they made the islands too.”
Moon shrugged. He wondered if the sealings would have answered that question if asked. Maybe; it was probably more interesting than talking about drugs.
Down the deck, most of the Kishan crew were all straining to see. The boat was much closer before the crew started to exclaim at the wonders below the waves. Delin, who had been waiting more patiently, now started to sketch the outline of the city.
Jade moved over beside Moon, leaning on the railing to look down. “It’s five days to the edge of the sel-Selatra from here.”
Moon felt a stab of unease. By tomorrow they would be too far from the coast to fly back without help. Stone might be able to, but the further they went, the less likely it would be for him, too. Moon hadn’t felt much sense of inevitable commitment to this plan when they first boarded the flying boat, but soon it really would be too late to turn back. He thought about the clutch again, and wondered if they were upset about his prolonged absence or too busy playing to notice, as Thorn had predicted. At least the Sky Copper fledglings were old enough to understand the situation.
But there really had been no opportunity to turn back. The shared dream and the mentors’ augury had made the consequences of failure clear.
The flying boat sailed on over the islands, and the sealing city, until they were out of sight.
CHAPTER TEN
“It’s not going well,” Ember whispered.
He was crouched on the balcony of Rill’s bower, shielded from the sight of anyone in the greeting hall by the angle of the doorway.
Below, Malachite and Pearl confronted each other, loosely surrounded by an uneasy group of warriors and Arbora. Floret spoke for Pearl, and an older female warrior spoke for Malachite. So far they appeared to be making extremely awkward small talk, while Floret occasionally threw beseeching glances at Pearl, hoping for some sign that it was all right to invite the newcomers into the colony.
It wasn’t the first unexpected visit since the groundling flying boat had left. Niran and Diar from the Golden Isles had arrived in their wind-ship only six days later. The court had hosted them for the night, given them a copy of the Kish map and all the information they had, and sent them on their way. It had been a relief all around. At least Jade and the others would have friendly groundling allies whenever the Golden Isles wind-ship caught up with them.
Behind him, Rill asked Aura, “The same visions? All their mentors?”
“That’s what it sounded like from their descriptions.” Aura had led the warriors who had carried the message to Opal Night. “Malachite barely gave us time to eat and rest before we started back here.”
The thought that another court had experienced the same augury made Ember’s skin creep. Given the seriousness of the visions, it wasn’t a surprise that Malachite had come here. The problem was that along with a group of warriors, Malachite had brought Opal Night’s half-Fell consort and half-Fell mentor.
They were with her now, standing with the Opal Night warriors. The warriors seemed relaxed and confident, but the half-Fell consort, now in his groundling form, looked nervous. The mentor was nearly hiding behind one of the larger female warriors.
Ember could tell the situation was becoming increasingly tense. Watching Pearl, studying the subtle nuances of her body language, Ember thought it was indecision she was wrestling with more than disgust or anger. In a way he understood. Indigo Cloud had been nearly destroyed by a deliberately crossbred Fell-Raksuran queen who had taken over her Fell flight. The court of Sky Copper had been entirely destroyed except for one royal clutch. The same thing had happened to Opal Night’s eastern colony, turns and turns ago, and it must have been easy for Pearl to sympathize, even if she didn’t understand Malachite’s impulse to retrieve her consort’s half-Fell issue.
All of Indigo Cloud had known about them, and heard the story of what had happened when Moon had been taken to Opal Night a couple of turns ago. But seeing half-Fell in the Indigo Cloud colony was something else altogether. Ember didn’t know what to think or feel about it and he was certain not many of the others did either.
“It’s wrong,” Rill muttered, moving forward to crouch beside Ember. “Pearl should welcome them, too. They’re part of our first consort’s bloodline. That little consort is Moon’s half clutch-brother.”
“Did you see what that little consort’s scaled form looks like?” Aura’s spines moved uneasily. Ember hadn’t seen it. He had been down in the nurseries when the Opal Night party had arrived. Then she admitted, “But when we traveled with them, he was fine. They both were. It just took a while to get used to the idea.”
Rill glanced at Ember, her expression deeply concerned. “Not letting them in is . . . wrong. If we don’t accept them, the other courts will take it as an excuse not to accept them either.”
“I don’t think they’re going to do much visiting—” Aura began.
“What if there are others?” Rill’s concern turned to borderline fury. “Lost out there, like Moon was, but part Fell, and not knowing what to do, except look for a court to belong to. And if they’re turned away, or worse, killed, because—”
Ember squeezed her wrist, and she subsided, saying, “I’m just . . . What happened to the consorts and Arbora who were forced to make them is not their fault. We owe it to them to help.”
Aura groaned. “All right, fine, but . . . Malachite should have sent someone ahead with us, so they could talk to Pearl first. So she would have time to think about it before they got here.”
Aura was dead right about that, Ember knew. Pearl hated surprises, hated having her hand forced. He also knew that he would have been the one to have that conversation, and he didn’t know if he felt the way Rill did. Maybe in principle, but in reality, he was afraid.
Opal Night had great power and influence, but other courts didn’t know about the half-Fell fledglings Malachite had taken in. When they learned of it, they would have to make a decision whether to accept it or not. If Indigo Cloud accepted it, it wouldn’t obligate any other court to follow suit, but it would be a powerful pull on all the interconnected strings of alliance.
Just one step. Somebody had to take it. Ember knew whose job it was, and it made his stomach sour with nerves. This is what consorts are for. He said, aloud, “I know what I should do.”
Rill looked at him, holding her breath.
Ember stared at the half-Fell consort with the oddly pale groundling skin. The tension in his shoulders was clearly fear. Conflicting impulses said he’s half-Fell and but he’s a consort. Then he’s not only a consort, he’s your first consort’s half clutch-brother, just think about it that way. Failing to welcome Moon’s half clutch-brother would be offensive, a clear violation of etiquette, a terrible insult. But against that was . . . fear. The only thing holding him back was fear.
It couldn’t be any worse than being dragged off to a strange court in turmoil where it had been immediately obvious that no one wanted him. “All right,” Ember muttered to himself. “So then.”
He stood. “Aura, please go up and get the seating area outside my bower ready to receive someone. Use my best tea set.”
“Uh.” Aura blinked, the implications hitting her. “Uh, yes, I’ll do that.”
She climbed down from the railing to head for the bower’s doorway. Rill followed her, saying, “I’ll help. You won’t do it right.”
“I will do it right,” Aura protested and they disappeared down the passage.
Ember took a deep breath, and before he could talk himself out of it, shifted and leapt down to the greeting hall floor.
He landed and furled his wings, and the hall fell silent, all murmuring and whispering ceasing instantly. He walked toward the group at the center, managing not to lo
ok at Pearl and Malachite.
It was second nature to make it look graceful, though with every eye in the court on him and his insides roiling, it wasn’t easy. Whether this was a good idea or not, he had no idea. But Shadow, the first consort of Emerald Twilight, had told him that Raksuran courts had strict rules of etiquette so they wouldn’t kill each other. Now it seemed doubly important to follow those rules.
Close-up, the consort looked even more like someone who had frozen in place in terror and self-consciousness. Ember reached him, shifted to his groundling form, and said, “I’m Ember, consort to Pearl, the reigning queen.”
The consort stared, wide-eyed. The fact that he was just as afraid as Ember somehow made the situation easier. Ember prompted gently, “This is where you tell me your name.”
“Uh, yes,” the consort whispered. “I’m Shade, of Opal Night.”
Ember nodded. “Would you like to come up to the consorts’ quarters?”
In a bare whisper, Shade managed, “Yes.”
“Good.” Ember took a breath to steady his pounding heart. “Follow me.”
Shade said, “But I’ll have to shift.”
Ember hesitated. He didn’t have time to consider all the implications, and found himself falling back again on common politeness. Suggesting that anything about Shade was out of the ordinary or unwelcome would be something only done to challenge or deliberately offend another court. Against a court that was not only an ally but whose bloodline was now mingled with Indigo Cloud’s royal Aeriat, it was unthinkable. He said, “Yes, you’ll have to shift. But it’s all right.”
Shade met his gaze, clearly forced his shoulders to relax, and shifted in time with Ember.
Ember blinked. He had heard the descriptions, but it was still a shock to see the reality. Shade’s shifted form was big and muscular, though the proportions were clearly a consort’s. His scales were a reflective black, with no contrasting color undersheen and no banding on his claws. He had a smaller, less prominent Fell ruler’s armored crest and a mane of spines and frills sprouting from the base. He did look like the drawing of the forerunner from the ancient city that Delin had brought to show them. Heart had made a copy of it for the mentors’ library and most of the court had studied it curiously. Ember managed to say, “Follow me,” and he and Shade leapt up to the nearest balcony.