Edge of Worlds (The Books of the Raksura) (11 page)

Moon grimaced. Stone had a point. No one else heard except Delin, who rubbed his eyes wearily.

Trying to pick up the fallen threads of the conversation, Callumkal told Jade, “As Delin suspected, we hoped to ask some of you to travel with us to the city, to help us enter it.” He looked around at the others, his expression conveying exasperation. “I hoped to work my way up to this request more gracefully, but there you have it.”

Jade settled her spines deliberately. Sounding more reasonable, she said, “You haven’t mentioned the signs of Fell presence.”

At least none of the groundlings glared at Delin this time. Callumkal said, “There is no proof that the Fell were in the area because of the ancient city, or that they were still there by the time we arrived. The settlements that were destroyed were travelers’ outposts, as far as we could tell.”

“Travelers’ outposts?” Moon asked.

Vendoin answered, “We couldn’t identify them from the . . . remains. It may have been a sea-going race who seeded the settlements as supply depots as they moved through the area. Some do this to extend their reach through the oceans or the empty seas, where there are no other ports or habitations, like stepping stones, you see?”

Moon did. It meant these people would return at some point and find their friends dead and no fresh supplies. It was a grim picture to imagine.

The scales of Jade’s brow furrowed thoughtfully. Heart took up the questioning, asking, “Did you find the destroyed settlements on your way there, or the way back?”

Chime added, “And could you tell how long ago they had been destroyed?”

“The way back,” Callumkal said.

Vendoin answered Chime, “We couldn’t tell how long. The remains had been exposed to weather and carrion feeders.” Anticipating the next question, she said, “We knew it was Fell because there were dead dakti, also partially eaten.”

Moon exchanged a look with Stone. So the Fell could have followed the Kishan ships out to sea, and fed on the settlements while they waited for the groundlings to find the way into the city.

Sounding frustrated, Rorra said, “But if the Fell are there, and want the city, why haven’t they entered it already? They are fliers like you, they could have made it through the winds at the top of the escarpment.”

Jade managed not to sound too annoyed. “They might be in the city already. We don’t know that any more than you do.”

In Raksuran, Stone muttered, “Or they can’t get in because they don’t have a key.”

A key. A forerunner or someone enough like one to open it for them. Also in Raksuran, Moon said, “Maybe they don’t know what they need.”

Chime turned to them. “In which case, if we go there, and can’t get through the entrance, we’ll know there’s something terrible inside, and that we shouldn’t keep trying.”

Following the conversation closely, Delin waggled his hands. “That is a point. But I am not sure the logic follows completely.”

Jade flicked a warning spine at them. Callumkal’s expression was impatient. In Altanic, she told him, “They’re discussing the idea that the Fell may not know how to enter, so are waiting for you to open it for them.”

Callumkal clearly didn’t think it worth discussing. “That’s assuming the city is sealed in some way. The entrance may simply be hidden.”

Jade tilted her head. “We’re all making a great many assumptions.”

Callumkal glanced at Vendoin. Moon had the idea they hadn’t expected a Raksuran queen to be quite so interested in debating their conclusions and theories, at least during this discussion. Callumkal said, “I . . . assume you will want some time to make a decision. I hope you will not refuse us outright but will take some—”

“I’ll return here to tell you our decision tomorrow morning.” Jade twitched her spines, a signal to the warriors, who all immediately moved to the edges of the platform and leapt into flight. Chime and Heart shifted, and Chime stood and picked her up.

Jade nodded to Delin. “Are you coming with us or staying?”

“For tonight, I will stay with them.” Delin got to his feet. “I will see you in the morning.”

Vendoin hastily knelt down to pick up the map and fold it. Stone just got up and walked off the edge of the platform. Callumkal stared after him, but Stone didn’t reappear; Moon guessed he had shifted lower down and didn’t want the groundlings to see his other form right now.

Jade turned and strode for the edge of the platform. Moon followed with Chime and Heart, not wanting to spoil the abruptness of Jade’s exit.

“So we’re going,” Chime said, low-voiced. “To the city, I mean.”

Heart, her claws hooked around Chime’s collar flange, said, “We were always going. There wasn’t really another choice.”

Moon said, “I hope Pearl knows that.” He shifted, heard a startled gasp from someone behind him, and leapt into flight after Jade.

They flew back to the colony tree and went on through to the greeting hall, where many curious warriors and Arbora waited to hear what had happened at the meeting. Moon shifted back to his groundling form and stretched, trying to shed some of the tension while Jade and Balm answered the anxious questions.

Chime murmured to Moon, “Well, that was interesting. Why did Jade get so angry?”

“I don’t know.” Moon kept his voice low, watching Jade to make certain no spines pointed in his direction. “She wasn’t when we got there.” Thinking about it in retrospect, Jade had contributed almost as much hostility to the situation as Rorra had. Delin hadn’t exactly been his usual even-tempered self, either.

Jade left the warriors and turned to Chime, motioning Heart to draw near. She asked them, “You can make a copy of that map?”

Heart nodded and glanced at Chime. “We should each do one separately, and then compare them to make sure we’re accurate.”

“We’ll be accurate,” Chime said, perfectly confident.

“When you’re certain, make three copies,” Jade told them. Then she turned to Moon, “Now, I’m going to talk to Pearl. After that, I want you to write a letter to your mother.”

She didn’t stay for an answer, immediately leaping straight up to catch the edge of a balcony. Moon let out a breath in annoyance, watching her start the climb up the well toward the queens’ level.

Chime murmured, “I don’t know which of those things is more frightening.” Heart, apparently meaning to demonstrate how unfunny she found that remark, gave him a little punch in the ribs. Chime shied away from her and said, “Ow. Don’t hit when I’m in groundling form.”

Moon was betting on the encounter with Pearl being worse. He said, grimly, “I’ll tell you later.”

Chime and Heart started down to the lower level workrooms to make the maps. Knowing the talk with Pearl was going to take a while, Moon followed but turned off at the teachers’ hall to visit the nurseries.

Moon spent some time playing with his own fledglings, as well as all the others who were awake. He ended up stretched out on the floor, watching Sapphire, Fern, Solace, Cloud, and Rain roll around trying to kill each other and their companions.

Over by the nearest pool, the teachers Bark and Bead were discussing who they wanted to clutch with. This involved a detailed examination of the good and bad traits of various bloodlines, and who was related too closely to whom. Within the court, breeding was serious business but sex was easy and friendly and casual, a welcome change from some of the places Moon had lived in the past. Warriors were all infertile, and queens and female Arbora could control their fertility at will, so there was no possibility of unwanted babies. Royal Aeriat took warrior lovers, and consorts were expected to have clutches with Arbora to encourage mentor births. Moon hadn’t done that so far, mostly because Jade’s clutching had been so nerve-racking that he couldn’t bring himself to do another one yet.

Bitter and Thorn plopped down next to him, both in groundling form. The two consorts were a little too old now to play with quite such reckless abandon as the younger kids. Over the past season Moon had started to teach them and Frost the basics of fighting, and how to handle their claws, which was easier now that Bitter had actually admitted that he could fly. Moon said, “Where’s Frost?”

Bitter made an elaborate shrug, as if indifferent to Frost’s location. Thorn said, “The hunters are working on hides today and she wanted to watch.”

Moon frowned. “She wants to learn how to tan hides?” He approved, but found it a little odd that Frost was interested.

Bitter gave him a wry look, clearly sad at how naive Moon was. Thorn said, patiently, “No, she wants to hear all about everything that’s going on with the groundlings and the flying boat, and she knows that the hunters will be talking about it.”

That made a lot more sense. “Oh. You know about that?”

Bitter sighed and rolled his eyes, and Thorn said, “Everyone knows. Part of it, anyway. Frost will come and tell us the rest when she finds out.” Regarding Moon seriously, he said, “You’re going off to fight some Fell, before they get into an old groundling city and then come here to attack us, like in the dream everyone had.”

Moon shook his head. “I don’t know yet if I’m going.”

Thorn and Bitter stared. Then Bitter reached over and poked Moon in the head. Thorn said, “You have to go. What if something happens to Jade? Is Chime going?” Bitter leaned over and whispered in Thorn’s ear. Thorn translated, “Bitter says the last time you let them go somewhere without you, something terrible happened.”

Moon winced. “Thorn . . .” Thorn was gentle and perceptive and relentless, all good qualities for a consort, unless you didn’t want to talk about something he wanted you to talk about.

“Are you worried about leaving us and your other clutch?” Thorn continued. “They’re really too young to understand things like that yet. They’ll miss you, but when you come back they won’t be mad, and they won’t really remember how long you were gone. That’s how it was for us at that age.”

“That’s good to know,” Moon said.
So if I get killed, it won’t bother them too much
. That wasn’t exactly an encouraging thought.

Bitter leaned in to whisper a remark, and Thorn said, “Bitter thinks you’re worried about leaving us. We don’t like it when you go away. But it’s been a long time since you’ve had to go. So . . . I think it’s all right with us.”

Then Sapphire galloped over, flung a ragged doll at Bitter’s chest, and galloped off again. Cloud slammed in to retrieve the doll, and then Bitter and Thorn were enveloped in a mass of fledglings and Arbora babies.

After a while, Moon reluctantly decided enough time had passed that Jade would have finished talking to Pearl, and started up to the queens’ level.

He found Jade in her bower with the writing materials out, impatiently waiting for him. “How was Pearl?” he asked her, taking a seat by the hearth.

“Angry.” Jade’s expression indicated that she realized that was nothing new. “She didn’t give me an answer yet. Ember is in there with her, to nod and say reasonable things, so that’s the best we can hope for.”

Ember was good at nodding and saying reasonable things to queens. It was a large part of a consort’s duty, one Moon didn’t feel he was particularly good at. But speaking of which, he asked Jade, “Why were you so angry with that Captain Rorra? Do you hate sealings for some reason?”

“Of course not. I’ve never seen a live sealing before.” Jade bared her fangs briefly in exasperation. “I don’t know, exactly. Something was just . . . odd . . . about her. I wanted to slam her off that platform before she even said anything.”

Moon realized she was right, he had felt Rorra was aggressive and threatening before she had spoken. If he took the emotion out of it, all she had done at first was be cautious and watchful, which was presumably part of the job she did for Callumkal and the other scholars. “Huh.”

Jade waved off the topic. “Now we need to write these letters. I’m going to write to Emerald Twilight and Sunset Water, but you should write to Malachite.”

After a lot of practice, Moon could read Raksuran fairly well. But his handwriting was still terrible, so what Jade actually meant was that he would talk and she would write it down.

This was how Moon answered letters from Shade and his clutchmate Celadon, usually getting Chime to do the writing part. The letters were carried from court to court along the trade network, so it sometimes took them months to arrive. This letter would be taken directly to Opal Night by Indigo Cloud warriors. And for something this serious, Moon didn’t think he should be involved. This seemed more like a queen thing. He said, “She’s going to know you’re the one writing it. You should just write it and tell her it’s from you.”

Jade put the pen down in exasperation. She had the pressed paper spread out on the floor and a cake of ink in a small bowl, all ready. “How would Malachite know that?”

Moon lifted a brow. It was always best to assume that Malachite knew everything. It was the only way to cope with her.

Jade growled under her breath and picked up the pen. “You’re right, you’re right.”

He watched her write for a moment. “Are you telling her you’re going?”

She stopped and scratched the pen through the ink again. “Yes.”

“Without getting Pearl’s permission?”

Jade’s expression was dry. “I won’t be able to send this for another day or so. By that time, I’ll have her permission. Or not.”

It would take that long for the warrior-messengers to get together supplies for their long trip. “Are you sending her one of the map copies?”

“Yes. Someone else needs to know where we’re going, and what we think we’ll find. Someone all the other courts will listen to. Someone with the resources to do something about it, if it turns out we’re right.” Moon drew breath and Jade said, “Do not ask me how long you think it will take Pearl to decide.”

Moon let the breath out. Stone wandered in and sat down beside the hearth. He asked, “Any word yet?”

“No.” Jade kept writing. “You weren’t very much help.”

“This is between you and her, and you know it.” Stone picked up the teapot and studied the contents critically. “Me trying to put a claw in would have just turned her against you. She would have gotten over it, but we don’t have the time to waste.” He set the pot aside and scrubbed both hands through his gray hair. “I’m too old for this.”