The Books of the Raksura: The Complete Raksura Series

by Martha Wells

  The queen came closer, focusing on Moon and ignoring the others. She stopped only a pace away, her gaze a threat and a challenge. Moon’s shoulders tensed, his back itching to lift spines he didn’t have at the moment. Then she said, “What a pretty thing. I’m surprised your queen leaves you unguarded.”

  Moon pushed to his feet, the movement slow and deliberate. She was a little shorter than him, which meant she was younger than Jade. He said, “Maybe she thought this was a civilized place.” Behind him he heard a startled snort, possibly from Floret.

  Surprised, the queen lifted her spines sharply. He realized she had expected him to be too intimidated to respond. Compared to Pearl, she just wasn’t that intimidating. She snarled, “This is a civilized place. But if you’re foolish enough to challenge me, don’t think I’ll spare you.”

  Behind him, the others stood now. They had the attention of the entire nervously silent hall. It occurred to Moon belatedly that he should have ignored the queen. He hadn’t been introduced yet and no one from Emerald Twilight was supposed to be talking to him, so the breach of etiquette would have been all on her side. It was too late now. He tilted his head. “If you want to fight, then attack me.” As a queen she could keep him from shifting, or at least try to, but if she fell on him while he was trapped in groundling form he doubted it would reflect well on Emerald Twilight.

  She leaned toward him and hissed in fury. “If I thought you were serious—”

  A dark shape dropped from an upper balcony, and landed lightly on the floor just a few paces away. The queen flinched back from Moon, and the others twitched away, startled. Song shifted to her winged form, then shifted back when Balm hissed at her. Moon didn’t move. The newcomer was another consort.

  He was nearly half a head taller than Moon, his shoulders broader. His black scales gleamed in the soft light with a faint red undersheen, and his eyes were a dark, deep brown. He dropped his spines and folded his half-furled wings, his hard gaze never leaving the young queen. Then he shifted to groundling.

  He had even, handsome features, dark bronze skin, and was lean but strongly built. He was dressed in dark clothes and wore a gold band around his upper arm, over the silken material of his shirt, that was studded with polished red stones. Small gold hoops pierced his ears, all the way up the curves. He tilted his head at the queen and said, dryly, “Ash. What are you doing?”

  She flared her spines. “Since when do you greet unwanted guests?”

  He didn’t respond to that obvious attempt at distraction. “Must I speak to your mother of this?”

  Ash hesitated, half-snarling, then turned abruptly away and strode out of the greeting hall toward the outer platform.

  The consort turned to Moon, eyeing him thoughtfully. Then he stepped closer. It should have been threatening, but Moon had to still the impulse to lean toward him. There was something about him, that ability to draw you in, the same power that Pearl had. With the consort it was easier to resist, and Moon couldn’t tell if he was doing it consciously or not. He touched Moon under the chin, a light pressure that made Moon lift his head slightly. It was a challenge, but Moon didn’t growl, didn’t twitch away. He might still know little about how Raksura behaved, but he knew this wasn’t that kind of challenge.

  Then the consort said, “You’re feral.”

  Behind Moon, there was a startled stir, and somebody hissed, offended. Apparently it was fine for Indigo Cloud to say it, but no one else was allowed. Chime started to say, “He isn’t. He’s—”

  The consort flicked a look at them, and they all went still. I wish I could do that, Moon thought, not taking his eyes off the other man. The way he had said it had been a statement of fact, not an accusation. And it seemed to mean something else besides the usual insult. Moon replied, “A little.”

  There was a brief glint in the other consort’s eyes, possibly amusement, but it was hard to tell. He let Moon go and stepped back. “But you’re taken?”

  Consorts couldn’t tell, couldn’t scent the marker that queens left on the consorts they took for their own. Moon said, “By Jade, sister queen of Indigo Cloud. I’m Moon.”

  “She must be brave.” He considered a moment, watching Moon intently. “Will you come sit with me?”

  It might be a bad mistake. This was a game Moon didn’t understand and he had already made a serious error, just sitting here. But he didn’t want this man to walk away without him. “Yes.”

  The warriors exchanged glances, worried and confused, as if they would like to object but knew better. Chime stared urgently at Balm, and she stepped forward and said, “What do we tell his queen when she asks where he is?”

  “Say he is with Shadow, first consort to Ice, the reigning queen.” Shadow shifted and leapt straight up to cling to the wall high above. Moon shifted and leapt after him.

  They climbed all the way up to the fourth level, then Shadow slung himself up onto a balcony and shifted back to groundling. Moon followed, shifting as they started down the passage. Unlike the Indigo Cloud tree, the walls here weren’t solid wood, but were made of dark brown vines, woven together. It left gaps for air to pass through, and Moon could catch glimpses of the rooms and passages to either side.

  He could also hear movement, the slight rustling of wings and spines, pacing them. There was a faint chance Shadow could be walking him into an ambush, but if so, the ambushers weren’t doing a good job of concealing their presence.

  As they walked, Shadow asked, “Why did you leave your birthcourt?” That was an easy question, at least. “I didn’t. They all died, when I was too young to remember.”

  Shadow’s brow creased in a wince, but he didn’t offer sympathy. “How did you survive at that age?”

  “There were others at first, a female warrior and four younger Arbora.

  Later they were killed, too.” He didn’t add that he had thought the warrior was his mother and the others his siblings, until Stone had told him that was impossible.

  The passage wound around, then opened into a larger hall. It was an irregular shape, with sections curving off out of sight, lit by more of the spelled flowers. It took Moon a moment to realize those were bowers suspended from the ceiling, formed of large globes or half-shells of woven vines. They dripped rich fabrics in jewel-like colors, reds, golds, shimmering in the light. Seating cushions and furs were scattered on the floor below them. The place smelled of jasmine and Moon heard water running, somewhere out of sight.

  A dark shape climbed across the ceiling, then clung with its claws to the vines and hung upside down to watch them pass: another consort. Faces peered out of some of the bowers, some of them shifted to Raksura before climbing out. The back of Moon’s neck itched with nerves. Everyone he saw was male, and when they shifted they had black scales. All consorts, and from the movement he could hear, there were a lot of them.

  Moon had felt self-conscious plenty of times, but these were Raksura. They would be able to smell the sweat breaking out all over his body.

  Shadow led the way through the confusing space toward the outer wall of the trunk, ignoring the curious stares. A doorway there let in greentinted sunlight, and they went through and out to a broad open balcony.

  It was protected by the arch of thorn vines and partly enclosed by the spreading canopies of smaller trees growing in the big branch just below. In a shallow pool lined with polished stone, tiny water-lizards skittered across and away at their approach.

  Dark gray furs were spread near the pool. Shadow gestured for Moon to sit and settled across from him. Moon sat on the fur, trying to look calm, or at least neutral. From here he had a good view of the sculpture above the pool, where the whole side of the trunk had been turned into an elaborate carving. It was made up of small figures of Raksura, Aeriat and Arbora. They were all different, all picked out in delicate detail. Beneath the figures were rows of twisty writing, the same language he had seen in the mentors’ books.

  Watching him, Shadow said, “You have never seen this desig
n before?”

  “No. What does it say?”

  He knew immediately it was a mistake. Shadow flicked a thoughtful sideways glance at him. “It’s a myth, of how the Raksura came to be.”

  Intensely self-conscious, Moon managed not to twitch. He should have been able to read that for himself, obviously, even if he hadn’t recognized the carving. Idiot.

  Shadow continued, “It explains that in the beginning, the Aeriat were shifters so that they might hide among groundlings and deceive them.”

  “To kill them,” Moon said. “I’ve heard that part before.” Just don’t ask me where, he thought. He wondered if the myth mentioned the connection between the Aeriat and the Fell or if it ignored that aspect, but he wasn’t going to ask.

  Shadow nodded. “And that the Aeriat came to these forest Reaches, to the mountain-trees, where they met another tribe of shifters, the Arbora. That in joining with them they changed their ways, and both became stronger.”

  Moon had heard that part too, but not quite phrased that way. “It happened here? In this forest?”

  “That is what the legends say.”

  A few other consorts drifted out onto the balcony, all in groundling form, watching curiously. Shadow glanced at them and apparently his expression made it clear that they weren’t invited to get any closer; they kept their distance. They were all younger than Moon, with strong slender builds, dark hair, slightly pointed features. Two of them bore a strong resemblance to Shadow, with darker skin and broader shoulders. They all wore dark silky clothes, in deep blues or black, all wore jewelry, gold or silvery metals. Moon felt even more dirty and awkward than he had before, if that was possible. He was starting to get an inkling of the difference between what he was supposed to be and what he actually was, and it wasn’t pleasant. Shadow turned back to him, and asked, “What was your birthcourt called?”

  “I don’t know.” It was clear Shadow probably wouldn’t have taken any interest in Moon at all, except that he was curious to meet a solitary. “It was somewhere to the east.”

  A young consort carried out a lacquered tray and set it between Moon and Shadow. It held two delicate green glazed cups, and a kettle ornamented with writhing serpentine forms. He poured out tea, then sat back, as if planning to stay. Shadow regarded him, lifting a brow. The younger consort held out for a moment, then stood and retreated with a reproachful hiss. Shadow picked up a cup and handed it to Moon. As if the interruption hadn’t occurred, he said, “The other consorts at Indigo Cloud did not object to you?”

  “Uh, no. Not really.” Moon waited until Shadow had lifted his own cup before he tasted the light yellow tea. Admitting that there were no other consorts except Stone and the fledglings would just suggest that Indigo Cloud was desperate and hadn’t had a choice. It was true, but Moon didn’t want to suggest it. “The line-grandfather found me and brought me to the court.”

  Shadow turned his cup, as if admiring the glaze on the pottery. “So. Does Indigo Cloud visit only to make an alliance?”

  This was the tricky part. Moon felt free to give information about himself, but he wasn’t sure if he should say anything about their mission yet. It didn’t help that he was fairly sure his dilemma was crystal clear to Shadow. Moon struggled for a moment, but he felt any attempt he made to avoid answering the question would be clumsy and probably unintentionally offensive. Feeling like he was jumping off a cliff without shifting, he said, “No. We need help. When we got to the Indigo Cloud colony tree, the seed was missing.”

  “The seed?” Startled, Shadow listened as Moon took a lesson from Flower and told the story as briefly as possible, telling him about the damage to the tree, the dead groundlings near the outer door, and what little the Kek had seen. Shadow finally shook his head, saying, “These groundlings must have come from some distance. If they were native to these Reaches we, or the Kek, would have heard of them before. But then how did they know where the tree was, or that the seed was even there?”

  “That’s what we thought. Our mentor thinks they wanted it for groundling magic.”

  Shadow frowned as he thought it over. “It seems the only explanation.”

  There was a faint commotion from the door into the consorts’ bowers, then Stone strolled out, as casually as if he had just happened to be in the area. The young consorts watched him warily as he crossed the balcony and took a seat near Moon and Shadow. Shadow greeted his arrival with a somewhat ironic nod. If he had said, You’re here and I can’t do anything about it, so I might as well accept it, it couldn’t have been any clearer. He said, “Are they talking yet?”

  Stone regarded Shadow thoughtfully. “They’re getting there.”

  “I told him about the seed,” Moon said, figuring if it was the wrong choice, they might as well get the consequences over with.

  Apparently it wasn’t, because Stone just grunted an acknowledgment.

  Shadow said, “I was just realizing how little I know about the seeds. No one has needed to create a new colony tree for uncounted turns, so there has been little reason to speak about them.”

  Stone nodded. “Got any extras?”

  “I’m sure we must have.”

  

  They went further down inside the mountain-thorn’s trunk, a level or so below the consorts’ bowers, toward a chamber where Stone said the queens were gathered. Shadow stopped at the intersection of the passage that led to it, saying, “Go on. I must speak to Ice first.”

  He took another doorway, and Moon and Stone started down the passage. Moon asked, low-voiced, “Is he going to help us?”

  Stone shrugged. “He’s going to tell his queen what we told him. It all depends on her.” He added, apparently serious, “When we left you in the greeting hall, I thought this might happen.”

  Moon threw him an exasperated look. “You did not.”

  The way opened into a big round chamber and, like the upper passages, the walls were closely woven branches, allowing air and light to pass through. The floor was made of squares of different woods, all smoothed and polished to show the grain. It didn’t seem elaborate enough for this court, until Moon glanced up. Between the two wells that opened into the domed roof hung a giant circular sculpture of queens in midair battle. It wasn’t a particularly good omen for this encounter.

  There were seating cushions scattered in the center of the room, and Jade, Flower, and the sister queen Tempest sat there, with three other queens. All four Emerald Twilight queens had consorts with them, all about Moon’s age, and from even a cursory glance he could tell that like the consorts up in the bowers, they were all better dressed and prettier than he was. At least Ash wasn’t present, which would save some embarrassment.

  As Moon and Stone stepped out of the passage, all the queens and consorts turned to look. Moon froze for a heartbeat, pinned by those concentrated stares.

  Jade touched an empty cushion next to her. Stone put a hand on Moon’s lower back and gave him a little push forward. Moon forced himself to move at an even pace, to walk to Jade and sit down. “Where were you?” she whispered.

  Settling next to Flower, Stone answered for him. “He got in a fight with a daughter queen then ran off with the reigning queen’s consort.”

  Jade stared at Stone. “What?”

  Flower leaned around Stone to frown at Moon. “Where was this?”

  Moon threw a glare at Stone. “I saw Shadow and he said—”

  But Tempest cleared her throat, making it obvious they were being rude. Jade turned back to face her and the other queens, her jaw tense as if she suppressed a hiss. Moon sat back on the cushion and tried to hide his impatience.

  Tempest formally introduced the other queens and consorts. Three of the other consorts had been born in different courts, Sky Cinnabar and Sunset Water. The way this was presented made it clear they represented very important alliances. Then it was Jade’s turn. She introduced Stone, and then said, “My consort, Moon of Indigo Cloud.”

  There was a short expectant silence.
Then one of the other queens tilted her head inquiringly. “Of a different bloodline within Indigo Cloud?”

  Oh, here we go, Moon thought, gritting his teeth. They had to know the answer already, either from someone who had seen the confrontation with Ash in the greeting hall or who had heard him talking to Shadow in the bowers. If Flower’s sardonic expression was any indication, she thought so, too. Stone just looked bored.

  Jade didn’t betray any irritation by so much as a single spine twitch. She said, “No. He’s the only survivor of a court that was destroyed almost forty turns ago.”

  There was another silence, this one far more uncomfortable. There weren’t many replies the other queens could make without calling Jade a liar, or calling Moon a liar and Jade a fool for believing him. Tempest flicked her tail and gave the queen who had spoken a look of reproof. Moon couldn’t tell if the reproof was for being rude or for presenting Jade with the opportunity to be rude back.

  Then a faint sound from above made everyone look up. Someone was climbing down the wall, and Moon didn’t need anyone to tell him that this was Ice, the reigning queen.

  She was easily twice Pearl’s size, and her scales looked pale, barely tinted with yellow, but reflected warm gold as the light struck them. She was so old she had started to lose her color. Her frills had grown long and wispy, like frayed silk. When she partly extended her wings to balance, Moon could see the bones outlined through the near-translucent skin.

  She had to be much older than Shadow, who was mature but hadn’t begun to show noticeable gray on his groundling skin. Moon wondered how many consorts she had outlived.

  She reached the floor, then Shadow half-dropped, half-glided down after her. He shifted to groundling and they both moved to join the other queens. Ice sat down on the cushions that waited for her, Shadow taking a seat beside her.