The Serpent Sea

by Martha Wells

  Fortunately Stone seemed to know how to approach the colony. He flew unerringly toward a big wreath of vines that turned out to be marking a sizable gap in the thorns. Stone slowed further, and they followed him through the green tunnel.

  Once inside they could see the central trunk of the thorn, bristling with branches and platforms, some formed naturally on the nested branches but many others constructed. There was a big one, near the center of the trunk, that had to mark the main entrance. More warriors flew around in this interior space, and Arbora were out on the platforms, working in the gardens or stopping to watch the visitors’ arrival. This court was obviously much larger than Indigo Cloud.

  They landed on the big platform, and Stone set Flower down. Moon folded his wings and managed to shift to groundling in time with the others. Only Jade stayed in her winged form. The arch of thornvines and leaves high overhead dappled the sunlight, and the air was scented with flowers. There was a narrow waterfall in the carved trunk, the flow controlled by small platforms somehow fixed at intervals down the tree’s wall, each forming a little pond stocked with flowering water plants.

  Chime leaned over to whisper to Moon, “We should do that in our tree. If we can stay in our tree, I mean.”

  Moon nodded, feeling overwhelmed. Again. The others were trying to look as if none of this was the least bit impressive, though Stone was the only one who managed it convincingly. Jade kept her expression blank, but Moon could read the tension in her shoulders and spines.

  Arbora stood on the surrounding platforms, and Aeriat perched up in the branches, all watching them. Before it got more uncomfortable, a warrior dropped down from an upper balcony, cupping her wings to land lightly. She shifted to groundling, turning into a tall slim woman with dark bronze skin, and dark hair that was just beginning to lighten with age. Her sleeveless tunic and skirt were silky blue, trimmed with tiny silver-gray pearls.

  Moon was suddenly glad they had taken the time to bathe in a stream and change clothes this morning. The warriors were dressed in the fine weaving of the Arbora, shirts over loose trousers, in soft blues and greens, dark rich browns, and Flower wore a dark blue robe. Moon’s clothes were black, except for the sash over his knife belt, which was shot through with red. Jade wore a belt, pectoral, bracelets, and armbands of silver with dark blue stones and deep-water pearls. Stone looked like he always did, having made absolutely no concession to their hosts but then, as a line-grandfather, he didn’t have to.

  Looking around at the Emerald Twilight Arbora and warriors, Moon suspected they were still going to seem poor compared to these people, but at least they were clean. The warrior said, “I’m Willow, of Emerald Twilight.”

  It was normal for female warriors to greet strangers, and it had to be a good sign that one had come forward so readily. If Emerald Twilight had really wanted to be rude, the warriors could have simply ignored them. At least they’re open to visitors, Moon thought. Maybe this wouldn’t be too difficult.

  Balm stepped forward to answer her. “I’m Balm, of Indigo Cloud. Our sister queen has come to greet your queen.”

  “Indigo Cloud?” Willow lifted her brows, startled. There was a stir from the watching Arbora and Aeriat, a wary flutter.

  Damn it, Moon thought, biting his lip to control his expression. It didn’t appear Emerald Twilight had forgotten Indigo Cloud, even after all these turns.

  “Yes.” Balm, with commendable self-possession, managed to look as if she thought the reaction was surprise due to hearing that a new court had arrived in the Reaches. “We’ve recently returned to our old colony, some five days flight from here.”

  “Oh.” Willow hesitated, then seemed to decide that pretending ignorance of any past history between the courts was best for the moment. “Come into our greeting hall.”

  They followed her across the platform, through an arbor and a short tunnel into the trunk. The hall was a round high-ceilinged cavern, but it wasn’t as impressive in size as the one at Indigo Cloud; the central well only went up six levels, with balconies looking down. It was softly lit and vines grew all around the balcony railings, the flowers purple, white, and blue. There was a shallow pool in the center, the bottom inlaid with polished white stones. It took Moon a moment to realize where the light was coming from. It wasn’t the stones or shells or moss, it was the flowers.

  On this level, three tall archways led off into the depths of the trunk. A queen walked out of the center one, still in her winged form, her light blue scales webbed with gold. Trailed by several warriors, she crossed toward them to stand in front of Jade. The two queens stared at each other for a moment and Moon found himself holding his breath. Then both shifted to Arbora.

  Behind him, Moon heard Chime sigh with relief. Being acknowledged by a sister queen was the second big obstacle and it seemed they might get past it.

  The new queen said, “Tempest, sister queen of Emerald Twilight.”

  “Jade, sister queen of Indigo Cloud.” She inclined her head toward Stone and Flower. “Our line-grandfather, Stone. And Flower, who is a mentor, and our elder of Arbora.”

  “We’re honored.” Then Tempest looked at Moon. He kept his expression neutral, though he felt a flush creep up the back of his neck. Her glance seemed critical, which made it harder to bear. He had never seen another adult consort except for Stone, who was apparently not the best example, so he had no idea if he looked like he was supposed to or not.

  Jade and Flower had explained that young consorts were only introduced to courts that were friends or allies. Since they had brought him, it was a sign that Indigo Cloud wanted to be friends, but the formalities would have to be gotten through first. Flower had also indicated that Emerald Twilight might possibly attempt to thwart that process by trying to skip the formalities, just to put Indigo Cloud in a weaker position. One way to do that was to try to provoke them to introduce Moon before it was time. It was all just as hideously complicated as he had feared. He knew he was going to fumble the etiquette at some point. He just wanted to get it over with.

  He had been lucky when he had been brought to Indigo Cloud by Stone. There was no etiquette for solitaries, even if they were consorts.

  After a moment that stretched Moon’s nerves even further, Tempest gave in, and turned deliberately back to Jade. “We were aware another court had arrived in the Reaches. Our scouts reported that you came here in a strange way.” She managed to convey the fact that she was bringing up a delicate subject. She had to mean the flying boats.

  Jade said, easily, “We had wounded, and the wind-ships were the best way to move them. We fought the Fell at our old colony. We defeated them, but…” She flicked her spines in a slight shrug. “It was impossible to remain there.”

  Tempest tilted her head, suddenly genuinely interested. “The Fell attacked you?”

  “We’re a small court. Our colony was vulnerable.” Jade’s face tightened, as if it cost her something to make that admission to another queen. “They destroyed our closest ally, Sky Copper, a small court in the grass plains to the east. Then they attacked us.” She hesitated, exchanged a glance with Flower, then continued, “This Fell flight had a scheme for interbreeding with Raksura. Apparently they had been carrying it out for some time.”

  The Emerald Twilight warriors stared, openly appalled. Tempest dropped her formal pose, leaned forward, and said in shock, “How? I mean— Is that even possible?”

  Jade tilted her head to Flower, who said dryly, “It caught us by surprise, too.”

  Tempest and the others listened intently as Flower told the brief version of the story, of the Fell attack on the colony, the crossbreed mentordakti and their powers, the pursuit to the Dwei hive, and the crossbreed queen, Ranea. Flower left out any mention of how Moon had actually come to Indigo Cloud, and said only that the Fell poison had come from a groundling tribe in the far east. She did say that he had been badly wounded by the Fell after freeing the Arbora captives. Moon saw Tempest glance at him again, this time with a trace
of sympathy. She was probably thinking, So that’s what’s wrong with him.

  Then Flower pressed a hand to her lower back and winced. Jade said, in mild reproach, “We’ve come a long way.”

  Tempest flicked her spines in annoyance. Moon thought they had just scored a point, either because Tempest had been lured into a breach of etiquette by keeping them standing out here, or that she had treated them like people by engaging in a real conversation, and now had to either continue it or be deliberately rude. Whichever it was, Tempest said, not too grudgingly, “Come into our queens’ hall. The others can wait over here, and be comfortable.”

  That was what they had been hoping for. Tempest led Jade, Flower, and Stone on through the big archway, and Willow took Moon and the others over to the side of the hall, furnished with cushions and a little metal brazier shaped like a berryvine leaf. They dropped their packs and took seats, and Willow retreated a short distance, politely out of earshot.

  Aeriat and a few Arbora, all mostly in groundling form, wandered through the hall, or appeared briefly on the balconies above to snatch curious glances. Moon felt the pressure of their stares, and forced himself not to twitch nervously. He had always hated being stared at; in most of the places he had traveled, being singled out for curiosity was never a good thing.

  “The warriors aren’t coming to talk to us,” Floret said. She folded her arms and looked uncomfortable. “They did when we visited at Sky Copper.”

  “Yes, but we’d known them for turns and turns,” Balm told her. She sounded more like her old self. Being out of the colony and having something important to do was obviously good for her. “We’ve just met these people.”

  Song looked around, trying to be casual about it. “So you don’t think we’ll be invited to eat with the Arbora?”

  “Be patient.” The taller Vine dropped an arm around Floret’s neck. “They haven’t even gotten through the queens’ greeting yet. It’s going to be a while.”

  Then Balm murmured, “What’s this? The queens should all be inside.” Moon turned to look.

  Another queen glided down from an upper balcony to land in the hall. Her scales were silver-gray, with a web-tracery of brilliant green. Moon expected to see her turn down one of the passages, but instead she furled her wings and started toward them.

  Her pace was deliberate and she lashed her tail lazily. Sounding bewildered, Song whispered, “What is she doing?” Vine and Chime shushed her. The queen had the attention of the whole hall, everyone staring. At least the Raksura who lived here seemed to be just as taken aback by this as they were. Willow actually looked alarmed.

  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 w
eren’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.