Jade snapped, “Moon, quiet.”
Moon shut up, unwillingly. At least they seemed willing to believe him.
“It’s possible,” Flower said, her eyes narrowed in speculation. “Balm has no reason to betray us.”
“Of course I don’t!” Balm looked ready to weep.
“Anymore than Branch did,” Flower finished quietly.
Everyone was silent, watching Balm uneasily. Then River said with bitter satisfaction, “I told you it wasn’t Branch.”
The last place Moon wanted to be was on River’s side, but he was right. All the evidence against Branch could also be leveled at Balm. She had the same opportunities to slip away from the colony as Branch had. She had known they were going to the Golden Isles, known about the meeting at the Blue Stone Temple, known that flying boats had come back with them, but not how many. And she had known that Moon and Jade had flown toward the east, but hadn’t known they had gone for the poison until last night.
Flower folded her arms, still speculative. “Balm, will you let me see through your eyes?”
What? Moon thought, startled, but everyone else seemed to know what she meant. Balm looked around at them all. “Yes, I’ve nothing to hide.”
Flower nodded. “We’ll do it now. Come back to the blind.”
“I’m sorry,” Moon said to Jade, though he knew there was no help for it. It would have been better not to expose what had happened to Balm in front of the whole group—Moon knew that better than anybody—but that hadn’t been possible.
Jade shook her head, took Balm’s wrist and led her away after Flower and Pearl.
Moon followed with the others. The hunters spread out, but the Aeriat still pointedly surrounded him. He couldn’t keep his spines from flaring in response. It was mildly gratifying when they backed off a little, even River and Drift.
Moon found himself walking next to Chime, though he wasn’t sure if Chime had meant for it to happen or if it was just an accident. Moon had to ask, “Flower can see thoughts?”
“No, mentors can’t do that.” Chime frowned at the ground. “But she can see if there’s anything in Balm’s head that isn’t supposed to be there. It’s hard to describe. You look into someone’s eyes, past the surface, and you can see colors, and interpret them.” He added bitterly, “I did it once, before I turned into an Aeriat. It’s not easy, but Flower is very strong.”
They reached the blind, and a hiss from Bone sent most of the hunters scattering back to their watch positions. Niran waited at the entrance, a couple of waterskins slung over his shoulder.
“What happened?” he asked, looking around at all of them.
“It’s a long story,” Chime told him, nervously. “Wait out here for now.”
Niran grimaced in annoyance but turned to go back to the poison clearing.
Jade had already led Balm into the blind. Moon ducked under the branches and followed the others inside. In the main area, Stone still lay on the pallet, apparently deeply unconscious. Strike, his skin now completely mottled by the poison, curled up next to him. Stone must have been awake at some point, because he had moved his hand to rest on the boy’s shoulder.
Balm shifted to groundling and sat down by the hearth, as the others found places out of the way. She told Flower, “I’m ready.”
Then Pearl said, “Moon first.”
Moon hissed at her. Pearl tilted her head, staring at him coldly. He felt a pressure grow in his chest and behind his eyes, the pressure to shift to groundling. He resisted, too angry to give in.
It could have gone on for a while, Pearl refusing to give up and Moon trembling on the edge of shifting until he collapsed from exhaustion. But, sounding mortally exasperated, Jade said, “Moon, just do it. This won’t hurt you, and it’ll prove you aren’t under any Fell influence.”
He had to admit it sounded rational when she put it that way. His voice grating with the effort of resisting Pearl, he said, “Will Flower be able to do both of us?”
“Don’t worry about me,” Flower told him impatiently. “Now come on.”
Moon shifted to groundling just as his legs went weak, and he sat down hard on the bare dirt. Still glaring up at Pearl, he said, “Go ahead.”
The other Aeriat relaxed, and Pearl looked away. She tried to seem unaffected, but her stiff spines betrayed the effort of trying to force him to shift. He was bitterly glad to see it.
Flower knelt in front of him and tugged her smock into a more comfortable arrangement. “Now, just be still.” She put her hands on his face, a light touch. Her skin felt cool and dry. Moon waited, defensive and impatient and wondering why helping these people had ever seemed like a good idea. After a moment, she said, “Moon, stop fighting me.”
“I’m not fighting you,” he said, gritting his teeth. If I was fighting you, we’d all know it.
Flower gave him a hard stare. “If you keep it up, I won’t have enough strength left to look into Balm.”
Moon hissed in frustration. He wasn’t aware of resisting her and had no idea how to stop. “I don’t know what to do.”
“He’s stalling,” River said. “He’s deliberately—”
Jade snarled at him. “River, shut your mouth or I’ll shut it for you.”
Vine, the biggest male warrior, and a couple of others growled in agreement; apparently River was getting on their nerves, too. River looked at Pearl for help. Pearl just stared him down, and River unwillingly subsided.
Focused on Moon, Flower ignored the others. In a soothing voice, she said, “Just relax. Look into my eyes, think about something else.”
He looked into her eyes, dark brown like most of the Arbora’s, the edges rimmed with green and gold. All Moon could think about was that if she saw anything that wasn’t supposed to be there, the Aeriat would kill him. Or the bleak future he faced, living alone in a tree somewhere, if he survived the battle with the Fell.
Then he blinked, realizing he had lost a moment. Flower was getting to her feet. She ruffled his hair and told the others, “Clear as the day.”
Moon pulled away, twitching uneasily. It would have been less strange if he felt something, if some trace of the intrusion lingered. Fighting the urge to huddle in on himself, he looked up, but the others were all watching Balm. She struggled to keep her expression calm, but she looked strained and anxious.
Flower sat in front of her. Smiling reassuringly, she put her hands on Balm’s face, gently tilting her head back.
At first it didn’t look any different from what Flower had done to Moon. Then Flower’s eyes started to change, to turn silver and opaque, the way they had in the Blue Stone Temple. The others stirred uneasily, and Moon was unwillingly fascinated.
Suddenly Flower jerked back from Balm, sitting back on the dirt with a thump. She gasped, “It’s true.”
Jade hissed, her claws coming out. “The Fell? They’re controlling her?”
Flower nodded. “Their taint is in her mind. And I saw something, on the queens’ level of the colony.” The silver sheen slowly faded from her eyes, making Moon’s skin creep.
“No,” Balm protested, horrified. “I’d know. Wouldn’t I know?”
“This is strong, stronger than I’ve seen before.” Flower bared her teeth. “I couldn’t find the thing that was causing us harm, because it wasn’t here. It was somewhere else.”
Jade dropped down beside her, saying urgently, “Flower, what do you mean? What did you see on the queens’ level?”
“It’s a Fell—I’m not sure what kind. Like a ruler, but not.” She made an impatient gesture. “All I have is a hint of color from its mind. I’ll have to see it in the flesh before I can say. But it’s been watching us for turns. I saw the colony through it.”