Chime and Balm went last, and reluctantly. Moon heard the other Aeriat outside asking frustrated questions before Balm drove them off.
Pearl waited until the voices faded, then sat down, curling her tail around neatly. She didn’t look at Moon. He thought that was just as well. She said to Jade, “I take it you were successful.”
“We brought some of the poison and the knowledge to make it.” Jade flicked her tail restlessly and added, “We can’t risk anyone going near the colony. If Branch wasn’t the traitor, whoever it is—”
“I did follow that.” Pearl’s voice was acid. “Even if your poison works as it should, there’s still the power that kept the court from shifting. If it forces us into groundling form—”
“Then we’ll fight that way,” Jade finished tightly.
Pearl lifted a brow. “That’s easily said.”
Bone leaned forward. “We’ve got some skinning knives, and javelins, to use as weapons. If the dakti are sick and forced to shift to groundling, we’ll have a chance.” He hesitated. “We’ve sat here for days trying to think of a better plan, or how to seek help. We can’t leave the others to the Fell, even if it kills us all.”
“He’s right.” Flower hugged herself, tucking her hands under the sleeves of her smock. “We’ve discussed it at length, all of us. We won’t abandon the rest of the court.”
Pearl tapped her claws on the dirt, and added deliberately, “There’s something else to consider. All these days, the Fell haven’t bothered to search the valleys for us.” She fixed her gaze on Jade. “Why is that, do you think?”
Flower and Bone both started to speak, but Jade’s voice cut across theirs. “Wait.” Watching Pearl, Jade said, “The queen is about to tell us.”
Pearl tilted her head. “I think it’s because they want something very specific from us, and until now, that something hasn’t been here.”
Moon felt his skin start to crawl. It’s not me, he thought. It couldn’t be. This is not my fault.
Jade met her gaze, then let her breath out in a hiss. “It’s a possibility.” Pearl lifted a brow and Jade added, reluctantly, “Kathras followed us.”
Bone frowned, and Flower stared at Jade, blank with surprise. She said, “The ruler who came out to speak to Pearl?”
Jade didn’t look at Moon. “He followed us as far as the mountains. Moon killed him, but before he died he said enough to tell us that the Fell thought we were fleeing. The other rulers must have felt his death, seen something of what he saw, at least.”
Moon looked down at Stone, keeping his expression still. Maybe she wouldn’t have to tell the whole story. Stone was still conscious, and squinting at him suspiciously. That didn’t help.
“But how did Kathras follow you?” Flower asked. “By scent? Surely if he was that close...”
Jade spread her hands on the packed earth. “We didn’t scent him until we reached the mountains. And he must have started after we left, because he near flew himself to death to catch up with us. A more powerful ruler or group of rulers must have been forcing him on.” She shrugged uneasily. “It’s as if they have a mentor, whose augury can point them in the right direction. Kathras knew nothing of our plans, or the poison, but he knew which way to fly to find us.”
Flower hissed in anger, and rubbed her face. “I don’t understand this. There’s something we’re missing.”
“Are we missing something, Jade?” Pearl asked with deceptive lightness.
Jade hesitated, drawing her claws through the dirt. “There’s one more thing.”
Moon tensed, suddenly cold with dread. She hadn’t said she wouldn’t tell them. He reminded himself he hadn’t done anything wrong, he hadn’t betrayed anyone except himself, turns ago in Saraseil.
Reluctantly, Jade said, “This Fell flight knows Moon. A long time ago, in a groundling city, he killed a ruler they were related to. That’s why Kathras said he followed us.”
Flower and Bone stared at Moon. Stone groaned under his breath. Pearl just looked grimly satisfied.
She’s going to use this against us, Moon thought. He couldn’t let it look like Jade was shielding him. He said, “It was eighteen turns ago, when I didn’t know what I was. I let them catch me, then when I realized I wasn’t one of them, I killed a ruler and escaped.” He was a little startled at how easy it was to tell the story now. “Kathras sounded like he—they—felt betrayed.”
The two Arbora were quiet long enough to painfully stretch Moon’s nerves. Then Flower exchanged a rueful look with Bone, and said, “Well, I know what River would say to that.”
Jade cocked her head, a mild challenge. “Then let’s save the delight of hearing it now.”
“What does Stone say?” Bone asked soberly.
Stone’s eyes were closed now, but he said, “If he’s a Fell ally, he’s doing a bad job of it. He keeps killing them. He killed a bunch of dakti at Sky Copper.” With a grunt, he added, “Said we should eat them.”
“I did not, you sick bastard,” Moon snapped.
Flower shook her head, and the harsh line of Bone’s mouth tugged upward in a reluctant smile. He said, “That’s well enough for now, then.”
“We can talk about this later,” Jade told Pearl. “We need to start work on the poison.”
Pearl stood, looking down at them. “As you say. But we will talk of it.” She gave Jade an ironic nod, and walked out of the blind.
Jade twitched her spines and turned away, hissing to herself.
Bone got to his feet, saying, “When we free the court, we can settle all this. Until then—”
“I know,” Jade snarled. She shook herself, and added, more softly, “I know.”
Bone shook his head and followed Pearl outside.
Flower sighed and gave Moon a wry look. “You’re certainly a handful, aren’t you?”
He shrugged, defensive and uneasy. “I can’t help it.”
Jade settled her spines with difficulty, then turned back to face them. “Flower, have you been able to scry anything?”
Flower gave her a glare of pure frustration. “I only get asked that question ten times a day.” She carefully tucked the poison flask and the leaf back into the bag. “We know someone told the Fell we were meeting you at the Blue Stone Temple. I’ve bent my scrying on that, trying to make certain it was Branch. But all I see is an image of the colony.”
Jade frowned, thinking it over. “As if the one who actually betrayed us is trapped with the others?”
“Or something.” Flower shook her head wearily. “For a while now we’ve thought something was wrong in the colony, but no matter how hard the mentors looked, we never found any real sign of it. There was nothing solid, nothing but feelings, bad luck, bad omens. I’m starting to wonder.” She sighed. “I don’t know.”
“We’ll know more when we get back inside.” Jade sounded grimly certain.
“We can hope.” Flower pushed to her feet. “Now you two rest while we get this poison started.”
Flower slipped out through the woven branches, leaving them alone except for Stone, who was breathing deeply again. Moon could hear the Arbora moving around outside. They talked quietly, with hope and excitement about the plan.
There was a patch of bare dirt at his feet that looked very comfortable, so Moon lay down on it. Jade still sat there, staring grimly at nothing. He reached out to her, tugging on one of her frills. “Sleep.”
She growled, but came over to lie beside him, wrapped an arm around his waist, and pulled him against her. Moon tucked his head under her chin. It might have been easier when it was just the two of them, alone in the vast distances of the Three Worlds, but he had missed Chime and Flower and Balm and the Arbora. After a moment, Jade sighed and said, “It’s for the best.”