by Martha Wells
Voices sounded through the clearing as the words were passed on to the queens and warriors who had been too far away to hear. Some of the mentors present helpfully echoed Fluff’s cry of “Witnessed!”
Beryl snapped, “Wait!” but it was too late. Indigo turned away and jumped off the platform. Argent crouched and leapt into the air. Fall grabbed Cloud’s arm to keep him from following and pulled him back to Cerise’s side. Cerise set Fluff on his feet. She thought, I hope I’m right.
The queens from the other courts leapt into flight too, but only to move closer, gliding across to the other outer platforms of the colony tree. Ruby hopped over from the platform the warriors waited on to land next to Cerise. She said, “Did I hear right?”
“Yes.” Cerise kept her eyes on Indigo and Argent as they made wide circles around each other, gradually making their way out away from the platforms, into the open area where the colony tree’s canopy intertwined with the surrounding mountain-trees. Her own pulse was starting to pound in syncopation with their wingbeats.
Ruby cast a sideways look toward Beryl and Silver and their warriors, standing across the platform, their eyes on the two queens. Beryl was fuming, furious, and Silver’s spines flicked anxiously. Ruby said, “If it works, it’s brilliant.”
So Ruby had seen Indigo’s plan as well. “If she can bring it off,” Cerise said, sick with tension. Indigo and Argent circled closer now and the watching queens and warriors were silent, their spines moving in agitation like a field of tall grass in the wind. Paragon and Cinnabar and some of the others were probably watching from the consorts’ door. They would have a good view from there. Cerise hoped she hadn’t mistaken Indigo’s intentions, that Paragon wasn’t about to see his favorite daughter maimed or killed, and that this wouldn’t spark a war with Emerald Twilight.
Still frantic, Cloud said, “I understand Argent only accepted because she doesn’t want me, but—”
“But nothing. Be quiet.” Fall glanced at Cerise.
Cloud continued stubbornly, “Argent won’t give way. If Indigo wins, if Indigo has to kill her, Emerald Twilight will start a war.” He turned to Cerise. “If she’s injured, you won’t let Argent kill her—”
Cerise said, “She knows what she’s doing.” She hoped Indigo knew what she was doing. In the air, Argent darted in and Indigo twisted away.
Lapis hopped over from the other platform, followed by Tranquil. Lapis pushed past Fluff, close to Cerise’s side, her gaze on Indigo and Argent. Cerise asked her, “Did she discuss this with you?”
“No,” Lapis whispered. “If she gets herself killed—”
Cerise squeezed her wrist. Argent circled to recover from her miss and darted in again. This time Indigo met her.
They spun together, claws flashing, then broke apart. Both fell away from each other and flapped to stay in the air. Cerise couldn’t see any blood. Argent recovered first and dove toward Indigo. Indigo flapped like a fledgling finding her wings for the first time but somehow managed to drop and whip away at the last instant. Argent overshot and Indigo crossed her back, but the swipe was deflected by Argent’s spines. Argent twisted to grab at Indigo and the two queens went into a close skirmish, locked together, clawing at each other.
Indigo, if you’re going to do this—Cerise thought. Then Indigo broke from the skirmish and flapped awkwardly away, spiraled down toward a garden platform. “I yield!” she shouted.
There was a heartbeat of stunned, nonplussed silence from the watching courts. Then a whisper of voices as everyone turned to murmur to everyone else.
Argent broke off her dive and circled uncertainly above Indigo. Cerise saw her look down at her claws, checking for blood. Below her, Indigo dropped her spines submissively and shouted again, “I yield!”
“Go get her,” Cerise told Tranquil and Lapis. They leapt off the platform and dove out of sight. Some warriors from the other courts followed them, either ordered by their queens to offer help or told to go over and find out what in the name of the Three Worlds had just happened. Argent circled around again, hesitating, but Tranquil and Lapis landed near Indigo. Argent gave in and angled away back toward the Emerald Twilight camp.
Cloud lunged forward to go to Indigo and Fall caught him around the waist and dragged him back. “This isn’t over yet,” Fall hissed in his ear, just loud enough for only Cerise to hear. “Don’t ruin it!”
Cloud took a deep breath, seemed to regain his sense and self-control. He nodded. She let him go and stepped back. Cerise braced herself to catch him if it was a trick, but he stayed where he was.
Argent landed near Beryl and Silver, breathing hard. Her scales were scratched up a little and one spine was bent, but the injuries were minor at worst. Indigo had had excellent self-control, far better than Cerise would have given her credit for.
Beryl stepped forward, ignoring Argent to look toward the platform where Indigo had landed. Indigo was on her feet, shaking her spines out, while Lapis anxiously checked her back for injuries. Tranquil turned and raised one hand, a sign that all was well. Cerise had expected no less, but it was suddenly easier to breathe.
Argent’s expression was still furious, but with an element of confusion. She must know by now how she had been bested but she clearly still couldn’t believe it. Beryl turned toward her and said, dryly, “Well, you’ve won. Your pride is satisfied. Now hand the consort back over to his clutchmate, as agreed.”
Argent shook her head, spines flaring. “I barely touched her! It wasn’t fair.”
“But it was witnessed,” Fluff said, stepping forward.
Argent looked away and hissed in frustration. Cerise kept a grim smile to herself. Yes, Argent would never have sacrificed her pride just to get the best outcome for Cloud and all three courts involved.
Beryl just stood there, waiting, arms folded. Argent shook herself, shedding some of the tension in her spines. “She humiliated herself,” she said finally, sullen. “Why would she do that?”
Because being born a queen isn’t the only thing that makes a good leader, Cerise thought, but kept her mouth shut.
Fall, sensibly sticking to the most important point, said, “I mean to take my clutchmate home with me, as agreed. But a formal statement from you will go far to restore friendship between our courts.”
A light thump near Cerise made all the warriors flinch. Cerise turned to see the Opal Night queen. She was an impressive sight, not much older than Cerise but a half a head taller, her scales a deep emerald overlaid with a web of gold. The Opal Night queen said, deceptively mild, “Is there a problem? Our mentor witnessed the agreement; should I bring her over?” She added, with a touch of irony in her voice, “We’re assuming there is no need for a judgment now, but I am sure we’re willing to offer one if it’s still required.”
It was a pointed reminder that the other courts had been called here for a judgment and that Emerald Twilight had agreed to accept it, whatever it was. Argent was trapped all around.
Silver stepped close to Argent. Keeping her voice low, she said, “Yes, she’s humiliated herself and everyone has seen it. Be satisfied with that.”
Argent flicked her spines in grudging agreement. She said, formally, to Fall, “I return your clutchmate to you.” She didn’t look at Cloud, but turned and walked back into the shelter.
Silver followed her, and Beryl stayed only to tell Cerise, “We’ll leave as soon as we can.”
Cerise flicked her spines in acknowledgement. Fluff sighed in relief. Fall tugged on Cloud’s arm and together they leapt off the platform to fly back to the one where the Sunset Water warriors waited. Cerise flicked a glance at Ruby. Ruby nodded and leapt into flight too, signaling the Umber Shadow warriors to follow her as she curved down toward the knothole entrance.
The other courts were settling down, dispersing into groups to chat since it was clear the excitement was over and everyone would be leaving soon. The Opal Night queen was still standing there so Cerise said, “I’m not sure your intervention was need
ed, but it was timely. I thank you for it.”
The Opal Night queen shrugged her spines. “It was an entertaining performance. I didn’t want to see the ending ruined.” She flipped backward off the platform.
Indigo was flying toward the knothole with Tranquil and Lapis. It was time for everyone to withdraw with dignity mostly intact. Cerise shook her head and held out a hand for Fluff. “Come on, old man. Let’s go inside and get some tea.”
Fluff hopped into her arms. “Excellent idea.”
Cerise and Fluff were the last ones to enter the greeting hall, which was so full of chattering Arbora and warriors the echo of their voices off the wood walls made her ears hurt. She set Fluff on his feet and sang the first long note of the colony’s song. Everyone went instantly silent.
Cerise stalked over to where Indigo stood with Lapis and her other warriors. Indigo’s wounds were as minor as Argent’s had been; she had had worse from Lapis when the two had played too roughly as fledglings, before they knew how to control their claws. Fall and Cloud stood a little distance away with their warriors. Everyone, Aeriat and Arbora, radiated anxiety and relief. Except Indigo, who looked very satisfied with herself.
Arguably, she had a right to, but Cerise asked her, “When did you get the idea to do this?”
Indigo rubbed absently at a scratch on her arm. “A couple of days ago, I suppose. The goal was always to get Cloud free of Emerald Twilight. And this seemed the only way to avoid the thing that we were really worried about, that Argent just wanted to force someone to fight her, and would be too angry to fight like a rational person and someone would end up dead and we’d all go to war over it.” She added, “You were right about that—it took everything I had to hold her off without ripping her throat out!”
Ruby snorted amusement. Cerise tilted her head toward her and said, “This is not funny.”
“It wasn’t earlier, but it is now,” Ruby assured her.
“But I didn’t think it would work,” Indigo interposed hurriedly, as if that would make it better. “I had to wait for the right moment and I never thought I’d get the chance.”
Cerise snarled, letting out all the pent emotion. “You little idiot, if you ever, ever think of trying something like that again, I’ll kill you myself!”
Paragon landed in a rush of wings that sent several Arbora and warriors reeling. He stared down at Indigo, who had the sense to at least look chagrined. She said, “I’m sorry, but it was the only solution I could think of.”
He hissed through his fangs, then said, “If you ever do anything like that again, I’ll let your birthqueen kill you herself.”
“Indigo was always very goal-oriented, as a fledgling,” Fluff said rem-iniscently to Streak. “Watching her play flying games with the young warrior fledglings wore my nerves down to nubs.”
Cloud left Fall’s side and walked up to Indigo. He said, “Thank you. I know you didn’t do it for me, but … thank you.”
Indigo twitched her spines a little, in a gesture that was probably meant to be a shrug but that came across to Cerise as a release of tension. She said, “I got us into this trouble, I had to get us out of it.”
“No,” Cloud said, “I got us into this trouble, and you got us out.”
Cerise met Paragon’s gaze and nodded in relief. They were in for a busy evening. Many of the courts outside were bound to want to stay the night and would be asking permission to hunt, and some of the ones that weren’t already allied with Umber Shadow would probably want to come in and at least be greeted. It was going to be a busy afternoon.
It was sometime later, after everyone had settled down and the Arbora had provided a meal of fresh grasseater, flatbread, baked roots, citrus melon, and the baked snails that they brought out for every special occasion even though the warriors wouldn’t eat them, that Cerise finally took a deep breath and felt her spines actually relax. It had been a month of nothing but tension, and she was glad to see it done.
Warriors and Arbora were scattered around the hall, some still talking and eating, others falling asleep. Cerise sat near the hearth with Ruby and Fall, while the consorts had all withdrawn to talk among themselves. Indigo sat a little distance away with Lapis and Tranquil and some of the other female warriors. Indigo looked far more relaxed too. When she looked at Cloud, she smiled, and he met her gaze.
Cerise and the other queens had been pretending not to notice this. Now Fall sniffed a bowl full of snail, blinked, and set it aside. With an effort to sound casual, she said, “Cloud has told me that he has enjoyed visiting with your consorts. I hope we can count on your hospitality for a few days.”
Ruby smiled to herself and poured more tea. Cerise pretended that the request needed sober consideration, and after a suitable pause, said, “Of course. We can discuss trade, and so on.” Sunset Water still wanted an alliance, and still had a now notorious trouble-causing young consort to settle somewhere. Umber Shadow had a consort-stealing young queen who had just ruined her prospects with most of the courts who had seen her humiliate herself and default on a challenge. It seemed a perfect match.
Fall’s spines relaxed a little, relieved to have that settled. Then she ruined the subtlety of the moment by saying, “I’ll have to consult with my reigning queen, but I expect no difficulty.”
Cerise expected a great deal of difficulty, but she felt confident they would all get through it somehow.
EPILOGUE: MANY TURNS LATER
The story came to them during a trade exchange with Sunset Water, in a packet with copies of other courts’ books that the mentors had bargained for.
Moon sat on the floor of the teachers’ hall, where Heart, Blossom, and Chime examined the new acquisitions. The bulk of the trade goods were spread out across the greeting hall floor on the level above, being picked over and admired by the rest of the court. They had brought the books down here to look them over where it was more quiet.
Moon’s ability to read Raksuran was still rudimentary, but he had found a book with drawings and was carefully unrolling the pages, looking at delicately penned, detailed illustrations of plants from the suspended forest. He had no idea if the text was about their medicinal use or which ones were poisonous, or just describing them. Whatever it was, it had to come in handy.
Blossom stepped carefully across the book-littered floor, the list clutched in her hand. “Moon, what’s that one?”
He showed her the writing in the front, which he assumed identified the book somehow. Blossom angled her head to peer at it. “Oh, I didn’t think they’d send that one! Drawings like that are so hard to copy.”
Chime picked up another book from the collection, frowning. “I didn’t think Sunset Water would be so generous. I mean, there are more books here than what we asked for.” The court had been trying to trade for books almost since they had arrived here. When Indigo Cloud had returned to their original colony tree in the Reaches, it had become obvious that there was a huge disparity between the number of books the court owned compared to the size of the library. Even Stone wasn’t certain what had happened to them; there had been many disasters as the court had left the then-overcrowded Reaches and searched for a new colony. One by one, the missing books must have been lost or destroyed along the way.
Moon turned another page in the plant book. Blossom was right, someone had put a lot of effort into these drawings. “I wonder if they’re setting us up for something.”
Heart didn’t seem convinced. “I think you two are too suspicious.”
Blossom picked her way back across the room to hand Heart the list and added, “It just means that we’re obligated to share the volumes in our collection with them. That’s not a disadvantage.”
Chime was still frowning, unrolling the pages of the book he had picked up. “Like this one, it isn’t on the list. It looks like it’s a story– Wait.” He turned more pages, his expression becoming more and more incredulous.
Everyone was staring at him. Moon demanded impatiently, “Well, what is it?�
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Chime looked up. “This is the story of Indigo and Cloud!”
Heart and Blossom hurried over, but Moon had no idea what Chime was talking about. “The court?”
“Yes, well, the queen and consort the court was named after, when it left the Reaches.” Chime unrolled another page and bounced with excitement.
Heart leaned in to look. “It’s the story of how Indigo led the court out of the Reaches? Some of that’s in the histories, but we’re missing—”
Chime waved a hand. “No, no, it’s how Indigo stole Cloud from Emerald Twilight.”
Blossom stared. “I thought Stone made that up!”
Moon had known Stone hadn’t made it up. When they had arrived at Emerald Twilight hoping to find a replacement for the colony tree’s missing seed, it had been pretty obvious that Emerald Twilight hadn’t forgotten the incident. But Stone had been a fledgling when it happened, and hadn’t remembered or never known about many of the details. As a line-grandfather, he was the court’s oldest member, and his past was practically ancient history to this generation.
“No, it was true,” Heart told Blossom. She tried to tug the book out of Chime’s lap and he turned it so she could read it too. She said, “We found a mention of it in the histories later, but the whole story must have been in one of the books that was lost.”
Chime said, “There’s a note in the front.” With a catch in his voice, he read, “‘This is such an old story that no one remembers what happened anymore, and we know that in your travels you have lost some of the contents of your library and may not have it. But it is a favorite among our fledglings and young Arbora, and it should be among yours as well.’” He cleared his throat and managed to add, “It looks like Cloud’s birthcourt was Sunset Water.”
Moon carefully rolled up the plant book and set it aside. “So keep reading.” The story wouldn’t mean as much to him as it did to the others, but the idea of queens stealing consorts was intriguing for a number of reasons. It would be fascinating to hear what had actually happened.