Bone nodded. “Stone told us of that. These must be the same rulers that destroyed Sky Copper, not that there was much doubt about it.”
“And we know the Fell share memories.” Flower leaned forward, flattening her hands on the ground. “The ability seems to come from the way they breed. There are only a few females, progenitors, who mate with the rulers. Rulers born of the same progenitor have a close connection to each other. They can speak through each other, see through each other’s eyes.” She looked at Moon, lifting her pale brows. “The rulers are said to be able to influence some groundlings. Have you seen that before?”
“Yes.” Moon rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. He had seen it from far too close. “Do you think that’s what this ruler did to Branch?”
Flower started to answer, then flicked a look at Pearl. “Maybe.”
River snarled, a full-throated sound despite his groundling form. “It wasn’t Branch.”
That was actually what Moon was most afraid of. He told River, “If it wasn’t him, then whoever it was is still with us.”
River tilted his head, leaning forward. “The Fell said it was you.”
Bone snorted. “‘The Fell said.’ Warrior, listening to anything the Fell say will get you killed.”
Moon pointedly turned to Jade, hoping River would go for his throat and give Moon the excuse to kill him.
“The poison I told you about, that the Cordans gave me—it kept me from shifting until it wore off. They said it was for Fell. Have you ever heard of anything like that?”
“No.” Jade looked startled. “You think this poison is how the Fell kept the court from shifting?”
“Maybe. The hunters said Knell called a warning. When the Cordans gave it to me, I didn’t even remember falling unconscious.” Moon couldn’t think of a way that the poison could be spread through water or air that wouldn’t have affected the Arbora working just outside the colony as well. “Stone said he had never heard of it either.”
“You brought a groundling here,” River said, making it sound like an accusation. “Does he know of this mythical poison?”
Moon had to let a little of his derision show. “All groundlings don’t know each other.”
“We can ask,” Jade cut across River’s reply. “But it’s doubtful. When I spoke to the Islanders’ leader, the only defense they seemed to have against the Fell was the distance the islands lay from shore.”
Balm watched Moon carefully. “Why did these Cordans poison you?”
Well, somebody would have to ask. Moon shrugged, as if it barely mattered. “One of them saw me shift. She thought I was a Fell.”
“There’s a coincidence,” River put in sourly.
Chime leaned forward. “To untutored groundlings, our consorts look like Fell rulers.” He added, pointedly, to River, “You may not have realized this, since you aren’t actually a consort, despite your sleeping habits.”
“Chime.” Balm reached over and caught his wrist, giving him a meaningful look. Chime pressed his lips together and sat back reluctantly. Bone passed a hand over his face and looked away. Jade just lifted a brow.
River ignored it all, looking at Pearl. “He could be lying. It could be as the Fell ruler said.”
Moon was tired of hearing it at this point. “Of course it could. That’s why the Fell said it.”
River started to reply, but with a growl in her voice, Pearl said, “That’s enough.”
River looked as if he might argue, but after a moment, subsided uneasily.
Jade drew a claw through the dirt. “I’m wondering, if the Fell had this power to stop an entire colony from shifting, why haven’t they used it before now? Raksura have fought Fell off and on since the Three Worlds first turned. Weakened courts have always had to be wary of attacks, but nothing in our histories has ever mentioned anything like this.”
“Because it must be something new,” Flower said, quietly.
“But they didn’t try to use it on us at the temple,” Balm said, with a glance at Jade. “So whatever it is, maybe there’s only one of it?”
Pearl eyed Flower. “Too bad there was no warning of this new thing. No visions, no augury...”
Yes, that’s helpful, Moon thought. Let’s share out the blame. But with effort he managed to keep his mouth shut.
Flower’s attention appeared to be on her toes, peeping out from under the ragged hem of her skirt. “For the past turn, my augury has said to follow Stone, to leave the colony and seek another to the west.” She lifted her head and deliberately met Pearl’s gaze. “Too bad no one listened.”
The silence grew tight as wire, then Pearl looked away, her lips peeled back in a grimace. “I did listen. I didn’t heed. That’s on my head.”
After a moment, Bone stirred. He said, bleakly, “We have a scatter of Arbora and a bare handful of Aeriat, to go against an entire flight of Fell who can keep us from shifting. If we attack as we are, we’ll die.” He looked from Pearl to Jade. “What about sending to another court for help?”
Jade flicked her claws. “It’s probably not worth asking Star Aster, and they’re the largest court we have contact with.” She took a deep breath. “Sky Copper was our only close ally.”
Bone grunted in agreement, but added, “We have blood relations with Wind Sun and Mist Silver.”
Pearl’s eyes went hooded. “Both are small, and too far away.”
With more than a trace of irony, Jade said, “And both are unlikely to want to help us, especially Wind Sun.”
Pearl’s voice was icy. “Dust is second consort to a reigning queen. He has nothing to complain of.”
Jade bared her teeth in something that wasn’t a smile. “And if we ask Wind Sun’s queen for warriors, whose voice will she give weight to: the consort who fathered two of her clutches or the queen who forced him out of his birthcourt for no reason?”
Pearl avoided her gaze, and said tightly, “I knew he would find a place there.”
Jade persisted, “He was young and inexperienced and not as sure of that as you were. Now when we could use the help—”
With a hint of a growl in his voice, Bone interrupted, “You’ve made your point, Jade.”
Jade ruffled her spines, but subsided.
After an uncomfortable moment, Pearl said, “But I think Wind Sun would give us refuge for the Arbora and the warriors, if asked.”
Everyone went still, startled. Then Flower said slowly, “You think it’s come to that?”
That it’s come to giving up, Moon thought. Going away and leaving the Raksura trapped in the colony with the Fell, the Arbora and warriors, the clutches of babies, the fledglings. Don’t, he wanted to say, somebody will think of something. Give it time. But he knew he couldn’t say it in any way that wouldn’t antagonize Pearl.
Pearl hesitated, then shook her head. “Not yet. Not until we know if the Fell are lying, if the others are already dead.”
It was deep twilight when Moon left the blind. Two of the warriors, Drift and Coil, were on watch up in the trees, along with several hunters on the ground, but he wanted to take a look around the area himself. He shifted but didn’t take to the air, walking among the ferns, tasting the breeze. He passed Root and Song under some tree roots, wrapped together while Root sobbed quietly on her shoulder. He must be mourning Branch, and the others trapped in the colony. Moon winced in sympathy, but didn’t pause.
He made his way through the undergrowth, while the birdcalls and buzz of insects faded away with the green-tinged light. He stepped over a group of small, bright-colored lumps that looked like mushrooms. They all stood up and ran away on stubby little legs.