“Yes.” Moon frowned down at him. “How’d you know?”
“They said you and Jade went to get help from another court.” Stone snorted in derision, then flinched, as if it had pulled at his wounds. “I knew that was useless. When they told me what happened, I figured you’d try for the poison the groundlings used on you.”
Jade knelt beside them, touching Stone’s shoulder gently. She asked the others, “What about Pearl, and the other Aeriat? Are they watching the colony?”
“Yes. Not that there’s been much to watch,” Bone told her, sinking down beside the hearth with a weary grunt. The others were settling down, taking seats around the chamber, crowding together, listening anxiously. He added, “We’ve counted at least five kethel, but we’re not certain how many dakti or rulers.”
Jade nodded. “What about the rest of the court?” No one answered immediately and her voice tightened. “They’re alive?”
Moon waited for the answer, tensing. This can’t be for nothing. If we’re too late...
Flower had unrolled the leaf with the boiling instructions for the poison; she looked up with a grim expression. “As far as we know.”
Someone in the back added bleakly, “As far as we hope.”
Jade’s spines lifted in agitation. “You haven’t been able to get anyone inside the colony?”
“No.” Balm’s jaw tightened as she admitted the failure. “We could never get anyone in through the water channels under the platform, the way we planned before you left. They keep a kethel lying in the river down there.”
Moon slumped, a little relieved. At least they hadn’t found proof that the others were all dead.
Chime added, “We even thought of trying to get Niran inside, since he doesn’t need to shift, but the more we talked about it...” He turned to Niran with a shrug.
“The more foolish it sounded,” Niran finished, sounding ironic. He looked better than Moon would have expected for a groundling living rough in the forest with Raksura. His white hair was tied tightly back and he wore an oversized silk shirt over his own clothes, probably borrowed from one of the Arbora. “It was getting near the place at all that was the stumbling block, not what one could or couldn’t do once inside.”
“But we have seen the dakti bring in food,” Balm said. “Grasseater carcasses, and melon and roots from our own plantings: that’s food for Arbora and Aeriat, not Fell.”
So what are the Fell eating? Moon thought, sickened, but managed not to say it aloud.
Jade’s jaw tightened, as if the same thought had crossed her mind. She asked, “So there’s been no sign of anyone inside trying to escape?”
Bone lifted his hands, helpless and frustrated, and Moon had the feeling he and the others must have talked of little else while they waited here, debating the question from every angle.
“If no one in the court can shift,” Bone said, “they wouldn’t have any chance to run. The major kethel are always on the terraces and in the river.”
“In short, we don’t know anything,” Chime said with a wince.
Distracted, Flower shook the flask again. “How much of this do we need to make?” she asked. “Moon, how much did they give you?”
Moon thought back to that night with Ilane. Distance and a little revenge had made that memory less painful. “There couldn’t have been much, at first. It was in a small cup, and the odor wasn’t strong. I don’t remember anything after I drank it. It was morning when I started to come to, but I could hardly move. Then they forced some more down my throat.” He looked up to see they were all staring at him. “What?”
Appalled, Blossom said, “It sounds horrible. You lived with these people and they did this to you, just like that?”
Moon didn’t have an answer for her. It had been horrible, but after stealing the poison and scaring the Cordans all to pieces, he didn’t have much to complain about.
“We all thought you went to Star Aster to ask for help,” Balm told Jade. “Pearl sent Vine and me to Wind Sun. We only got back two days ago.”
“I don’t suppose they offered any?” Jade didn’t look particularly hopeful.
“No. It’s as we thought before you left. They said the survivors would be welcome to take refuge, but they wouldn’t send warriors.” Balm lifted a hand, frustrated. “They didn’t say so in so many words, but it was obvious they thought we brought this on ourselves.”
“Yes. We were certain Star Aster would say the same, so we tried for the poison instead.” Jade sounded grimly resigned. “And I don’t blame Wind Sun. We had no formal alliance, and they’re a small court. And they know if they had asked for our help, we would have said no.”
There was an uncomfortable moment as everyone absorbed that. In a small voice, one of the younger hunters said, “So we did bring it on ourselves?”
Stone stirred, lifting his head enough to say in a raw croak, “No. Nobody asks for something like this.”
Flower stoppered the poison flask and set it aside, saying in exasperation, “Stone, damn you, lie down or you’ll never get better.”
“I feel fine,” Stone insisted faintly, slumping back against Moon’s shoulder.
“We can tell,” Moon said, making his voice dry to hide his relief. If Stone felt well enough to argue, he couldn’t be as weak as he looked.
“Why isn’t he in a healing sleep?” Jade asked, moving around to help Moon lower Stone to the pallet again.
“With a consort, that’s easier said than done,” Flower told her. “He has to cooperate with me, and he won’t.”
Moon heard a rush of wings outside, like wind through the trees.
“That’s Pearl and the others,” Bone said, cocking his head to listen.
Moon flicked a quick look at Jade. This could still go badly wrong, if Pearl had changed her mind about their plan to use the poison. She’s been here all this time and hasn’t come up with any better idea.
A hunter ducked into the blind and said, “The queen’s back.” He pulled the branches aside and Pearl stepped in. She was still in her winged form, and her expression gave no hint to her mood. Moon caught a glimpse of the other Aeriat behind her, with River pushing forward to get a look into the blind.
Without glancing back at him, Pearl flared her spines to keep him out. She said, coolly, “We need to speak in private.”
Still sitting beside Stone, Jade inclined her head. “With the leaders of the Arbora.”
Flower exchanged a look with Bone, and told the others, “The rest of you start collecting this plant. It’s three-leafed purple bow, that grows in and near spiral tree boles. Chime and Blossom, organize everyone into groups. Salt and Strike, make sure nothing eats Niran.”
Niran snorted, as if this was a running joke. He got to his feet, telling Flower, “Thank you for your consideration.”
“Wait.” Jade held Pearl’s gaze. “Send two hunters back to watch the colony. Keep the Aeriat here.”
That was only good sense. Branch might have been the traitor, but Moon still had doubts. And if he wasn’t the traitor, it could be someone else here, especially the Aeriat who had come to the Blue Stone Temple with Pearl.
Pearl’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t question it. She turned her head to tell the Aeriat, “Do as she says. No one else is to leave this grove.”
Flower and Bone stayed where they sat. The other Arbora got up to leave the blind, some casting uneasy glances back. Moon started to get up, and Jade shook her head slightly. He eased back down, not sure if this was a good idea. It seemed a bad time to antagonize Pearl, when they should be focused on how best to get the poison into the Fell. But sitting here for this long had given his exhausted body a chance to stiffen up. He felt heavy, as if he was going to sink right into the earth.