As they flew back up to the palace towers, Moon saw activity on the platform docks directly below the structure. A small flying boat, lanterns hanging from its prow and stern, was coming in to dock. A dozen or so Islanders cast lines to haul it in. Occupied as the men were, Moon didn’t think they had been seen, but Jade’s colors did catch the light.
They both landed on the roof above the inner open court. Moon crouched, listening for a moment. The lamps in the court had been put out, though light shone from the doorways, and he heard Chime’s voice, and Song’s. He nodded to Jade, then leapt down onto the court below.
Jade landed beside him and folded her wings, shaking her frills back into place. “What do you think the chances are?” she asked, keeping her voice low.
Moon shifted to groundling. “It was hard to tell.” He thought it depended on who had the most influence in the family, who marshaled the best arguments. Delin was obviously for them, Niran against, but it was impossible to tell about the others. “It could go either way.”
She folded her arms, twitching her spines in frustration. “Stone thinks it’s our only chance. Flower said he never wanted the court to move to this colony in the first place.”
Moon hesitated to ask, but Stone was such an enigma that he couldn’t pass up the chance. “Is that why he left the court for so long? He didn’t like the colony?”
Jade shook her head. “No, he left because his queen died. Her name was Azure. I don’t remember her. It was before I was born.” Her shoulders tensed, and he saw her claws flex against her scales. Not looking at him, she said abruptly, “I know you want to leave the court. I would ask you, that if you do... you would consider leaving me with a clutch.”
Moon went still. It should have been a terrible idea. But the first thing that flashed through his mind was to wonder if he could make it a condition that he keep one of the babies—or two. It would have to be two, to keep each other company. But he couldn’t raise them alone, and the moment of wild hope was abruptly over. He thought, Don’t be stupid. Even if it were possible, raising two fledglings outside a court would just brand them as solitaries, to live alone or try to beg their way into a colony.
No, it was impossible. His heart sank and he wondered if this was what Sorrow had felt, this need to have companionship so intense it made you willing to do anything. Almost anything. It wasn’t a comfortable thought.
But leaving a clutch behind to be raised in Indigo Cloud wasn’t a much better prospect. The court would eventually manage to negotiate for more consorts, and Moon’s clutch would become less important. If anything happened to Jade, the clutch would be left to Pearl’s mercy.
It clarified the situation completely, to realize that he didn’t want to father any children unless he could be there to kill anything that threatened them.
He could try to explain that to Jade, but after what had happened the last time he had refused a request for a baby... “I’ll think about it,” he finished, and knew he sounded guilty.
“No, you don’t have to answer—” Jade began, then abruptly cut herself off.
There was a new voice from inside. Listening hard, Moon realized it was Endell-liani. That’s not a coincidence. He whispered, “They saw us.”
Jade hissed in annoyance. “Let’s hope they saw us on the way back.” She caught his wrist and pulled him along, across the court and through the doorway.
All the others were there: Balm and Chime stood in the inner doorway with Endell-liani as if they had just stepped in, Song and Branch sat on the floor cushions, Root was in his Raksuran form, hanging from the ceiling. He saw them, dropped to the floor, and shifted back to groundling; he left huge gouges in the clay ceiling.
Endell-liani didn’t look startled to see them. She said, “I’m sorry to disturb you. The sentry on the docking platform thought he saw something in the air, and I wanted to make certain it was one of you.”
“Yes, we, ah, felt the urge to fly.” Jade smiled, careful not to show her teeth. “We’re newly mated.”
Moon didn’t have to fake looking flustered. He tugged his wrist free and went over to sit on a bench. Jade’s remark had been calculated to cut off any further request for explanation. With some groundling races the ploy wouldn’t have worked but, for the Islanders, it was evidently perfect. Endell-liani apologized again, already backing out of the room. Balm threw a startled look at Jade, and then followed Endell-liani out.
The others were quiet, and Moon realized they were staring at him. Chime craned his neck, making sure Endell-liani was out of earshot. Then he turned hopefully to Moon. “Did you really?”
Jade flared her spines, and Moon fled the room.
Moon climbed out a window and went up to sit on the roof. He watched the clouds travel across the night sky and the endless motion of the sea. The wind was turning cool, and the reed roof didn’t hold the day’s heat. When he heard the others settling down to sleep, he gave in to impulse and climbed back down the wall to go inside.
They had put all the lamps out, but he could see only one sleeping body in the room off the court, in a nest made up of floor cushions. Moon heard the others, and thought it was Branch on guard in the passage to the dock platform, while everyone else was in the next room.
Chime sat up and said, “Here.”
Moon hesitated. Chime should be with the other warriors and Moon shouldn’t be encouraging him to separate himself like this. Then he thought, Forget it. He didn’t know where he was going when he left Indigo Cloud and he wasn’t going to give up even one night of comfort and company. He shifted to groundling as Chime moved over.
As Moon stretched out on the cushions, Chime whispered, “Sorry about earlier. I realize I shouldn’t have said that.”
Moon settled on his side, wriggling to find a spot for his hipbone. “It’s all right.”
“I just... We’ve all been hoping—”
Moon set his jaw, exasperated. “You don’t have to hope. Once the court moves you can get a consort from Star Aster.”
Chime whispered harshly, “I don’t want a stuck-up consort from Star Aster acting as if he’s condescending to do us a huge favor. I want you.”
Moon rolled over and sat up. He leaned over Chime and hissed, “You’re not going to get me.”
Chime hadn’t been raised to be a warrior and didn’t give way as easily as Root and Branch. He shrank back a little in token submission, but immediately demanded, “Why not?”
With an annoyed growl, Moon gave up and lay back down. The others might not be able to hear what they were talking about, but everyone might wonder why they were snarling at each other. “Stone never thought this would work. He just needed a consort so the others would agree to move the court. You and Flower know that.”
Chime persisted, “We don’t know that, and you don’t know what Stone thinks. Nobody knows what Stone thinks.”
Moon gritted his teeth. “If you don’t be quiet, I’m going to bite you.”
He didn’t know if Chime believed him, but at least he stopped talking.
Chapter Nine
Moon woke to early dawn light and the cool air from the open door to the court. Chime, completely undeterred by their argument, was a warm presence against his back. Moon pushed himself up on one elbow and groaned under his breath. If Delin’s family decided against them, this was going to be an interesting day—interesting in the sense that he would like to just fly off and enjoy it in an entirely different part of the Three Worlds.