by Martha Wells
“That’s probably a good idea,” Stone agreed. He gathered up Frost and Thorn, while Bitter climbed up to cling to his shoulder.
“You need to find queens for Thorn and Bitter, and a consort for me,” Frost ordered.
“We’ll worry about that a little later,” Stone told her as he carried them out of the cabin.
Jade settled in comfortably next to Moon. She said, “There was talk of renaming the court, since so much has changed. Some of the hunters suggested Jade Moon, and I could see Pearl didn’t like that. I, thinking I was being diplomatic, suggested Pearl Rain.” Moon remembered that Rain had been Pearl’s consort, who had died turns ago. He hadn’t realized the courts were named after pairs of queens and consorts, but it made sense. Jade finished, “Then Pearl suggested Pearl Moon.” Her spines twitched at the memory.
He wasn’t going to ask if the others were going to accept him; as Chime had said, some would and some wouldn’t, and that was on Moon’s head, not Jade’s.
“What was the final decision?” he asked.
“We decided to keep Indigo Cloud.” She looked down at him, her eyes warm and serious all at once. “I can offer you the protection of a court, and hopefully a comfortable home, once we get where we’re going.”
After his last mistake, Moon wanted to be very specific about this. “As your consort?”
Jade sighed. “No, Moon, I thought we’d just be friends. After all, I just offered to rip Pearl’s head off over you.” She put her hand on his chest, warm through the silk, and it made him want to crawl into her lap. “Yes, as my consort.”
He was feeling guilty about Pearl. “Is she all right?”
“She’s fine,” Jade said, her voice dry. “She has River and plenty of other warriors to lick her wounds.” She shook her frills back. “There wasn’t very much actual clawing, just screaming.”
There was one thing he wanted to ask her, though now he thought he already knew the answer. He was beginning to get a better idea of how Raksuran courts worked, but he wanted to be certain. “Why didn’t you do the scent-thing on me?”
“I told you I wanted you to go to Wind Sun, if we couldn’t free the court. It would have been harder for them to find a queen for you if you were already taken.” She eyed him. “Why?”
He wasn’t going to tell her and re-start the whole fight with Pearl. “No reason.” Then he realized he hadn’t answered her question yet and said, “Yes.”
“Yes?”
He buried his face against her neck, suddenly self-conscious. “Yes, I’ll be your consort.”
“Good.” She sounded relieved, and a little overcome, as if there had been doubt. And there had been, but it didn’t seem to matter now. She ran her fingers through his hair. “Do you want anything? Jewels, gold…”
Apparently she was serious. “Fish?”
Appendix I
Excerpt from Observations of the Raksura: Volume Thirty-Seven of A Natural History by scholar-preeminent Delin-Evran-lindel
The Two Breeds of the Raksura
Arbora: Arbora have no wings but are agile climbers, and their scales appear in a variety of colors. They have long tails, sharp retractable claws, and manes of flexible spines and soft “frills,” characteristics that are common to all Raksura. They are expert artisans and are dexterous and creative in the arts they pursue for the court’s greater good. In their alternate form they are shorter than Aeriat Raksura and have stocky, powerful builds. Both male and female Arbora are fertile, and sometimes may have clutches that include warrior fledglings. This is attributed to queens and consorts blending their bloodlines with Arbora over many generations.
The four castes of the Arbora are:
Teachers - They supervise the nurseries and train the young of the court. They are also the primary artisans of the court, and tend the gardens that will be seen around any Raksuran colony.
Hunters -They take primary responsibility for providing food for the court. This includes hunting for game, and gathering wild plants.
Soldiers - They “guard the ground” and protect the colony and the surrounding area.
Mentors - They are Arbora born with arcane powers, who have skill in healing and augury. They also act as historians and record-keepers for the court, and usually advise the queens.
Aeriat: The winged Raksura. Like the Arbora, they have long tails, sharp retractable claws, and manes of flexible spines and soft frills.
Warriors - They act as scouts and guardians, and defend the colony from threats from the air, such as the Fell. Warriors are sterile and cannot breed, though they appear as male and female forms. Their scales are in any number of bright colors. Female warriors are usually somewhat stronger than male warriors. In their alternate form, they are always tall and slender. They are not as long-lived generally as queens, consorts, and Arbora.
Consorts -Consorts are fertile males, and their scales are always black, though there may be a tint or “undersheen” of gold, bronze, or blood red. At maturity they are stronger than warriors, and may be the longest lived of any Raksura. They are also the fastest and most powerful flyers, and this ability increases as they grow older. There is some evidence to suggest that consorts of great age may grow as large or larger than the major kethel of the Fell.
Queens - Queens are fertile females, and are the most powerful and deadly fighters of all the Aeriat. Their scales have two brilliant colors, the second in a pattern over the first. The queens’ alternate form resembles an Arbora, with no wings, but retaining the tail, and an abbreviated mane of spines and the softer frills. Queens mate with consorts to produce royal clutches, composed of queens, consorts, and warriors.
Appendix II
Excerpt from Additions to the List of Predatory Species by scholar-eminent-posthumous Venar-Inram-Alil.
Fell are migratory and prey on other intelligent species.
The Known Classes of Fell
Major kethel - The largest of the Fell, sometimes called harbingers, major kethel are often the first sign that a Fell flight is approaching. Their scales are black, like that of all the Fell, and they have an array of horns around their heads. They have a low level of intelligence and are believed to be always under the control of the rulers.
Minor dakti -The dakti are small, with armor plates on the back and shoulders, and webbed wings. They are somewhat cunning, but not much more intelligent than kethel, and fight in large swarms.
Rulers -Rulers are intelligent creatures that are believed to have some arcane powers of entrancement over other species. Rulers related by blood are also believed to share memories and experiences through some mental bond. They have complete control of the lesser Fell in their flights, and at times can speak through dakti and see through their eyes. (Addendum by scholar-preeminent Delin-Evran-lindel: Fell rulers in their winged form bear an unfortunate and superficial resemblance to Raksuran Consorts.)
There is believed to be a fourth class, or possibly a female variant of the Rulers, called the Progenitors.
Common lore holds that if a Fell ruler is killed, its head must be removed and stored in a cask of salt or yellow mud and buried on land in order to prevent drawing other Fell rulers to the site of its death. It is possible that only removing the head from the corpse may be enough to prevent this, but burying it is held to be the safest course.
THE
SERPENT SEA
MARTHA WELLS
VOLUME TWO OF THE BOOKS OF RAKSURA
Night Shade Books
An Imprint of Start Publishing LLC
New York, New York
The Serpent Sea
© 2012 by Martha Wells
This edition of The Serpent Sea
© 2012 by Night Shade Books
Cover illustration by Steve Argyle
Cover design by Rebecca Silvers
Interior layout and design by Amy Popovich
Edited by Janna Silverstein
All rights reserved
First Edition
ISBN: 978-1-5
9780-332-8
Night Shade Books
http://www.nightshadebooks.com
To Janna Silverstein
Chapter One
Moon had been consort to Jade, sister queen of the Indigo Cloud Court, for eleven days and nobody had tried to kill him yet. He thought it was going well so far.
On the twelfth day, the dawn sun was just breaking through the clouds when he walked out onto the deck of the Valendera. The air was damp and pleasantly cool, filled with the scent of the dense green forest the ship flew over. It was early enough that sleeping bodies still crowded the deck, most of them buried under blankets or piled up against the baskets and bags that held all the court’s belongings. A few people stirred somewhere toward the bow, where the look-outs were posted. On the central mast, the fan-shaped sails were still closed. Their companion ship, the Indala, floated a short distance off the starboard side, pacing them.
Moon heard someone stumble up the narrow stairs from below decks. Then Chime climbed out of the hatch and squinted at the dawn light. He said, “Oh good. Another nice day to spend on this flying torture device.”
Moon had been having variations on this conversation for days. Raksura weren’t meant to live on flying boats—that had been very well established by everybody—but there was no other way to move the court to the new colony.
Indigo Cloud had been in decline for a long time before Moon had arrived, with outbreaks of disease, attacks by predators, and the Fell influence that had caused fewer warrior births. When the Fell attack had forced them to finally abandon the old colony, there hadn’t been enough warriors to move the court in the normal way. Everyone knew they had been lucky to convince a Golden Islander trading family to let them pay for the use of the two flying boats. But while the Valendera was over two hundred paces long and the Indalaonly a little smaller, there just wasn’t enough room to do much of anything but sleep or sit. The situation was the worst for the wingless Arbora, who were used to spending their days hunting, tending their gardens, or in carving, weaving, or working metal. When the Aeriat were sick of the cramped quarters, they could always go flying.
Moon said, “Do you need me to say anything or do you just want me to stand here?”
“Yes, yes, I know, I know.” Chime rubbed his eyes and glared at the lightening sky. Moon and Chime were both Aeriat Raksura, but Chime was a warrior and Moon was a consort. In their groundling forms there wasn’t much difference between them; they were both tall and lean, both had the dark bronze skin common to many Raksura. Moon had dark hair and green eyes, and was used to blending in with real groundlings. Chime had fluffy, straw-colored hair, and had never had to live outside the closeknit court, though he had his own unique problem to deal with. Chime added, “I just can’t wait until we get to the Reaches. I’ve read all the old histories, but actually seeing it… Stone says we’re nearly there.”
Stone had been saying they were nearly there for three days, but Stone’s idea of “nearly” was different than anyone else’s. Moon just lifted a brow. Chime sighed, and said, “Yes, I know.”
They stood there a moment while Chime continued to grumble and Moon just enjoyed the predawn quiet. All everyone wanted to talk about, when they weren’t complaining about the conditions on the boats, was how excited they were to be going to the new colony. Courts didn’t move very often; Stone was the only one who could remember the last time Indigo Cloud had moved, turns and turns before any of the others had been born. But Moon had never looked at any place with the idea of living there forever. It was daunting, and he couldn’t even pretend to share everyone’s enthusiasm.
Moon felt something watching him, something not friendly. He looked toward the Indala and saw River, Drift, and two other warriors crouched along the railing, staring at him and Chime. They were all in Raksuran form, River’s green scales catching the morning light and reflecting their blue undersheen. River twitched his mane of spines and frills, a not-quite-deliberate challenge.
Now that Moon was Jade’s consort, River’s place as the lover of Pearl, the reigning queen, was safe. But it didn’t mean they were friends now.
Instead of hissing, Moon yawned, stretched extravagantly, and tried to look like a tempting target. A fight with a half-Fell half-Raksuran queen had left him with broken bones, but Raksura healed fast, and he was mostly recovered now. Though he was still a little stiff, especially in the mornings. A couple of days ago the mentors had all agreed that he was well enough to be up and around, and had given him his clothes back. The dark shirt and pants he had borrowed when he had first arrived at the colony were a little the worse for wear but cleaned of dirt and dried blood. Since then he had shifted a few times, and had done some easy flying around the boats, but nothing more strenuous yet. Beating River senseless and throwing him off theIndala would be a good test to see just how healthy Moon was.
But River didn’t take the bait, just lashed his tail in contempt and looked away.
“What are they looking at?” Chime said, but he faced toward the Valendera’s bow, and hadn’t noticed River and his cronies. Halfway down the deck, Bone, the chief of the Arbora’s hunter caste, and several other Arbora stood at the railing and stared down at something. Chime picked his way across the deck, stepping around the sleeping bodies. Any diversion being welcome, Moon followed him.
All the Arbora were shorter than the Aeriat and more heavily built in their groundling forms. Bone, despite the age revealed by his white hair and the ashy cast to his bronze-brown skin, was still heavily muscled and strong. He had a ridge of old scar tissue circling his neck, where something with big teeth had nearly bitten his head off.
Moon leaned on the railing next to him. All the Arbora tasted the air, their expressions intent. “What is it?”
Bone nudged him with an elbow and pointed. “There.”
They had been flying over increasingly dense forest for several days, the trees rising and falling in waves of vivid green fifty or so paces below the wooden hulls of the ships. Now a big shallow lake was just coming into view over the gently waving tops of the plume trees. A large herd of furry grasseaters grazed there, eating the reeds and flowering plants that grew in the water. Moon’s stomach growled; they had been able to hunt sporadically along the way, but for most of the trip they had been living off dwindling stores of salted meat, dried fruit, and wilting roots. And it felt like forever since he had been able to hunt.
The hard line of Bone’s mouth quirked in a smile. “I think everyone could do with a little fresh meat.”
One of the other Arbora snorted at the depth of that understatement.
Moon caught hold of the railing and slung himself up to crouch on it. He said, “Tell the others.” He leapt away from the boat, shifted to Raksuran form in midair and caught the wind.
Moon flew a long slow circle over the lake, playing the cool morning wind against his wings, to stretch his muscles and make certain he was well enough to stoop and dive. He didn’t want to be the first to fall on the herd, meaning to leave it to one of the others.
He had been a child the last time he had lived with his own people, so young he hadn’t known what they were called or where they came from. And this was the first time in his travels through the Three Worlds that he had even lived with other shifters. He hadn’t known anything about Raksura, and he hadn’t known he was a consort, the only fertile male Aeriat, born to be mated to a queen and to produce royal clutches and infertile warriors for the court. He had a great deal of experience trying to fit into various groundling tribes and settlements, just in search of a place to live. But trying to fit into a group where he actually belonged, and had an important role, was… still daunting. He nursed a lingering fear that he was somehow going to wreck it and get thrown out of the court. It wasn’t that odd a notion; he had gotten thrown out of a lot of places for various reasons.
By the time Moon had circled the lake twice, the decision had evidently been made to stop for a full-scale hunt. The two boats
slowed to a crawl, then dropped lines. Arbora climbed down to tie them off to tall plume trees. All the Aeriat took the opportunity to jump off the boats and fly over the lake.
Aeriat didn’t normally hunt for themselves unless they were traveling away from the colony; that was left to the Arbora hunters. Judging by everyone’s enthusiastic response, this definitely counted as traveling away from the colony. They circled above the lake, their scales in shades of blue, green, gold, brown, and copper-red. They all had retractable claws on hands and feet, long tails with a spade shape on the end, and manes of spines and frills down their backs. Moon was the only one here with black scales, the color that marked him as a consort, though he had a faint undersheen of bronze that caught the morning light.
The Arbora’s shifted forms looked much like the Aeriat, except they didn’t have wings. They climbed down from the boats on rope ladders so they could butcher the kills on the grassy shore above the lake. Normally this was a task reserved for the hunters, but Moon could see Arbora who were members of the other three castes joining in; teachers, soldiers, even a couple of young mentors, Heart and Merit, leapt enthusiastically into the job. Just another sign that the long trip and confined quarters had worn on everyone.
Another group of Arbora went after some of the grasseaters that had retreated into the trees, and the younger ones dug through the shallows for clusters of edible roots. It was just as well all the work could be done on the ground; early on in the journey, Niran, the groundling whose family owned both flying ships, had put his foot down about butchering kills on the ships’ decks. Moon could see his point; nearly all the woodwork, from planks to railings to masts, was now scored with claw marks, and would need to be sanded down eventually.