By the time Rorra and Kalam said their last goodbyes, it was full night. Moon sat up on the steering cabin with Chime as the wind-ship lifted away from the dark shapes of the towers and the Kish boats, and sailed away under the bright ocean of stars.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
After the next few days, Moon almost wished he could have spent the trip in a healing sleep. Waiting for Jade and the others to catch up made him edgy and there were too many things to worry about. And Stone was preoccupied, loitering in the stern, talking more to Delin or Diar than anyone else.
Once Moon convinced Chime that he was fully recovered, they started having sex late at night on top of the steering cabin. It was somewhat challenging, since they had to be quiet so Niran wouldn’t hear them and yell and bang on the ceiling. They were curled up together one night when Chime admitted, “I can’t stop thinking about the Reaches. If it got that far into Jandera territory, if Jade hadn’t stopped it in time . . .”
“But she did,” Moon said, and nipped his ear. He was pretending to be less affected by it than he actually was. Diar had managed to plot a rough map of the weapon’s effect, and how far it might have extended if it hadn’t been stopped. Stone had asked her not to show it to anyone else.
“I know, but—” Chime began, and Moon did something that distracted him from the topic for the rest of the night.
But by the next afternoon, Moon needed something else to think about, and he started to teach Shade how to fight like a groundling. Moon had been in many situations where he couldn’t risk revealing what he was by shifting but still had to defend himself. There was no reason to expect Shade ever would, but there was no point in not learning, either.
Shade was bemused at first and then increasingly interested. He had been taught the rudiments of fighting and hunting at Opal Night, but not how to use his strength in his groundling form. He was good at it; he was still built like a slender Aeriat but reaching maturity had added a lot of lean muscle.
They soon ended up with an audience of the warriors and everyone who wasn’t busy on the boat, with Delin sketching and taking notes. Bramble wanted to learn too, and Moon ended up teaching her, Lithe, and Merit. Chime got lessons too, though Bramble had to drag him down the deck. “I don’t need to learn,” Chime protested. “I’m never leaving the Reaches again!”
It helped pass the time and gave Moon something to think about besides Jade. He was worried about her for several different reasons, and wished they had had more of a chance to talk before the wind-ship departed.
She couldn’t be happy about the fact that he had left Chime, Shade, and Lithe to run off with a kethel and try to stop the Hians alone. It hadn’t worked, and he had almost gotten himself and Kethel killed, but since Moon hadn’t known if Jade and the others were trapped or dead, he didn’t see he had had much choice. But he was tired of worrying about it. They were on their way home, and he wanted everything to go back to the way it was. He figured if Jade was still angry when she got back, he could apologize and pretend convincingly to be sorry. He just wanted her to hurry up and get here so he could do it.
But they had come out of the jungles and crossed the grass plains, and were almost at the edge of the western wetlands before the queens and the rest of the warriors caught up with them.
When they were specks in the distance, Deft sighted them from the look-out post atop the mast. The larger group of Raksura continued on, but two specks broke off and flew toward the wind-ship. By the time they landed, everyone was on deck and Moon was trying not to vibrate with impatience.
“Are you all right?” he demanded as soon as Jade furled her wings.
“Yes.” She seemed startled to be asked. She looked tired and her scales were dusty. “We’re fine.”
“What happened?” Delin asked anxiously, proving Moon wasn’t the only one who had been worried. “Are our other friends well? Was there a resolution with the Kish?”
Jade said, “Yes. Pearl and Malachite are traveling with the half-Fell flight, so they’re going straight on to the Reaches.” Moon realized Malachite must not have wanted the Fellborn queen anywhere near him and Shade. Jade continued, “We have an agreement with the Kishan conclave, for what that’s worth.” She glanced at Saffron. “It was fairly boring.” Saffron twitched her spines in fervent agreement.
Jade’s spines were drooping a little and Moon thought she must be exhausted. He said, “You need to rest.”
That got Bramble moving, and she hustled Jade and Saffron below to where Flicker was already making tea.
Once they were sitting down, Jade still didn’t talk much, though Saffron gave more details. Stone sent River, Root, and Deft off to get a couple of grasseaters, then sat down on the edge of the group.
Moon, partly so Stone didn’t have to ask, said, “How was Rorra when you left?”
“She was ready to go back to Kedmar. So was Kalam.” Jade flicked a look at Stone, or at least in Stone’s direction. “I told her if Callumkal really does mean to visit us, she should come. She would be welcome.”
Stone didn’t say anything and the lack of response made for an awkward moment. That was when Moon added up all the hints and realized something was wrong between Jade and Stone. Diar asked a question about the Kishan conclave then and the talk went on.
Moon caught Jade alone in the sleeping room after she had eaten. She was leaning over, digging through her pack. He slid the light wooden door shut and said, “Did you want to talk about what happened?” He wasn’t sure what was wrong between her and Stone, but being angry with him probably couldn’t be helping. He wanted to give her a chance to yell at him in private before he apologized.
She glanced up at him. “With the conclave?”
Moon had been hoping not to have to spell it out. He felt badly enough about it as it was. “No, with Lavinat and the Hians, in the ruin.”
Jade burrowed deeper into the pack, not looking up at him. “I’d rather wait until we get back to the court.”
Moon hadn’t expected that. “You don’t want to talk.” He had rehearsed this moment and he just wanted to get it over with. Waiting would just make it worse; at least, it always had before.
Jade still didn’t look up. “No, not now.”
Moon set his jaw. “About anything?”
Frustrated, obviously trying to avoid having the conversation, Jade kept pretending to dig in the pack, which couldn’t have more than three things and a blanket in it. “Of course not. We can talk about something else.”
Moon folded his arms and tried to force down his irritation. “I told Bramble I’d have a clutch with her.”
Jade gave up on the pack and started pretending to arrange her blanket. “That’s fine. She’s a good choice.”
Moon had put off this decision for so long, out of a combination of inability to choose and nerves, and he was hoping for a little more excitement at finally having made it. The lack of it didn’t make this situation any less exasperating. He said, “We’re going to have five mentors. Maybe six.”
“Good.” Jade sat back on her heels, checking the blanket’s arrangement.
“We’re going to do it right now, out on the deck,” Moon added.
Jade gave in, stood up, and gripped his shoulders. “Moon, I’m just tired. We can talk about it when we get back to the court.”
Moon hated the image of the sullen spoiled consort who fled in dis-array when he didn’t get what he wanted, so he kept his face expressionless and did not shift and break the door into pieces when he walked away.