“You don’t command me,” Tempest snarled back, but Frost thought it was an effort for her to keep her spines up. It wasn’t fear, or not all fear. It was as if Malachite was doing something that was forcing Tempest back . . .
Malachite bared an impressive array of fangs and Frost’s heart thumped.
Then Pearl shoved Tempest away and stepped in front of Malachite. Spines flared, she snarled, “Not here. Not now.”
Frost’s insides seized up, her throat closed on a squeak of alarm. Bell grabbed her arm, bracing to snatch her out of danger. The Indigo Cloud warriors all twitched in reaction; Floret held up a hand, the gesture telling them to hold back, her snarl soundless. Bone, Knell, and Heart all rocked up into a crouch, bracing to defend Pearl.
Malachite stared down at Pearl long enough for Frost’s lungs to run out of air. Malachite didn’t loom over Pearl the way she had Tempest, but she was taller than Pearl, her shoulders broader, her whole body more powerful.
Then Malachite whipped away, turning to face the wall.
Everyone flinched except Pearl. She tilted her head toward Tempest and bared her fangs. Tempest bared hers back, but briefly, then paced away to stand with Zephyr. Celadon took a step away, her spines rippling to shed tension. Pearl said, “Emerald Twilight will stay.”
Then Malachite turned back to face Pearl and said, “We have a few days, maybe more, to prepare. You mean to meet them in the open?”
Bone hissed out a breath in relief, and Heart and Knell sank back onto their cushions. Bell squeezed Frost’s wrist and relaxed. Frost started to breathe again.
As if nothing had happened, Pearl said, “Yes, that was my intention.” She turned and walked back deliberately to her cushion and took an unhurried seat, her tail curling around her feet. “We were discussing it just now.”
Zephyr and Flame sat down again, then Tempest, who was doing a good job of keeping her spines neutral, though she couldn’t quite stop her tail from snapping. One of the Opal Night warriors brought a cushion for Malachite, putting it next to Celadon. Celadon sat, and then Malachite took her seat, as unhurriedly as Pearl had.
Pearl glanced at Floret. Floret took a deep breath, then moved to the hearth. She poured a cup of tea, carried it over and set it in front of Malachite, then retreated to the other warriors. Sage and Drift stared at her in admiration.
Mostly still unruffled, Zephyr said, “With only a few days to prepare, I don’t see how we can meet them in the Reaches. It will be quicker to assemble our warriors in the fringe.”
Flame said, “Ocean Winter agrees.”
They were looking at Tempest. She flicked a spine, but said, “The presence of the Fell in the wetlands presents a compelling argument for swift movement. If the other queens are in agreement, then Emerald Twilight will support this plan.”
Malachite’s claws contracted, but she didn’t otherwise react.
Frost could sense the Arbora holding their breath, but instead of poking Tempest again, Pearl just turned to Bone and said, “We have a hunting shelter close to the fringe that can be used as a resting point, if it can be made ready quickly enough.”
“It can be done,” Bone said. His voice came out even and calm, but Frost could see the pulse still racing at his throat. “With a group of thirty or so Arbora, we can dig out more shelters and supply it for our warriors. There are other usable platforms nearby.”
Zephyr settled herself more comfortably on her cushion. “We should have several resting points, at intervals. Is there a map?”
Floret jerked her head at Coil, who leapt to fetch the map and carry it to Zephyr. Frost saw Vine take a deep breath and lean against Sage, who shook his head incredulously. Heart rubbed her face, and reached for the forgotten pot to refill the Arbora’s cups. Bell gave Frost a one-armed hug and she had to fight down the impulse to climb into his lap. If she did that, Pearl would never think she was old enough to attend a meeting again, not until Frost was older than Jade.
Celadon watched Malachite carefully, and after a moment Malachite picked up the tea cup and drank. Celadon reached over and squeezed Malachite’s free wrist.
Frost tried to pay attention for the rest of the meeting, but after that, it was almost dull, with all the talk being about how many warriors would go where and when, and what the Arbora needed to do to prepare.
Finally the talk was finished. Zephyr and Flame and Tempest would leave immediately to go to their courts and pass the alarm, and get their warriors ready. When they had left the queens’ hall, Malachite turned to Pearl and said, “I have much to tell you and Celadon and it must be done in private.”
Pearl flicked her spines in acknowledgement. “We’ll go to my bower. We won’t be overheard there.”
Celadon said, “If food could be brought . . .”
“Of course.” Pearl made a gesture to the Arbora, as she got to her feet.
As Celadon led Malachite away and the Opal Night warriors followed Floret, Knell leaned over to Bell, and whispered, “Food is a good idea. I don’t know what that was about, but the long flight probably didn’t help.”
Bell nodded grimly, and waved Coil over to ask him to take the request down to the teachers’ hall. As the Arbora got to their feet, Frost went to where Pearl stood by the hearth. Pearl absently looked down at the map, flicking her spines. Frost wrapped her hand around Pearl’s much bigger wrist. Pearl glanced down at her, spines and brow quirked in inquiry. Frost said, “I thought you were going to fight Malachite.”
Pearl flicked a spine dismissively. “We’re not friends, but our primary bloodlines are blended in Jade and Moon’s royal clutch. We can’t fight.”
Maybe, but Frost knew from everyone else’s reaction that something terrible might have happened. She said, “You can’t fight Tempest either, because of Ember.”
“No matter how tempting,” Pearl agreed.
Heart stepped up beside them, and Frost took her wrist too. Still looking at the map, Pearl said, “You should be down there telling the others to prepare.”
“In a moment,” Heart said. “What did Tempest do? Why did Malachite react like that?”
Now that Heart mentioned it, Frost wondered about it too. Tempest had been mad about Shade and Lithe coming to Indigo Cloud, which was none of her business, but Malachite hadn’t been here when Tempest had said that.
Pearl’s spines tilted in exasperation. “Tempest took Moon to Opal Night, when Malachite wanted him returned to her. There was some incident before the greeting took place, and Onyx, Malachite’s sister queen, ordered Tempest to leave the court at her consort’s request. It was done in a hurry, before Malachite had a chance to get scent of it and make it worse. So I suppose she’s been saving that up since then.”
Heart hissed out a breath. “That’s not good, Pearl.”
Pearl tilted her head at her. “It’s entertaining, but you’re right, the courts can’t afford these quarrels now.”
“That’s bad, getting thrown out of a court,” Frost said. It was mildly amazing to her that fully grown queens could still do things that got them in trouble. And not made-to-feel-guilty-by-Arbora trouble but serious fight-with-another-queen trouble.
“I suspect being thrown out of Opal Night is more common than not.” Pearl gave Frost a nudge. “Now go with Heart and Bell. It’s time you were back in the nurseries.”
Near the Southern Coast and the Cloudwalls
Now Moon and Stone had a kethel flying with them. Moon was trying not to think about what Jade would say about their choices and ability to make decisions and sense of survival. It didn’t help that he agreed with her.
With the Hians’ boat not far ahead, they flew through the day and late into the night, stopping only briefly to rest. The kethel kept pace with them easily, but having followed kethel before, Moon was unsurprised. It wasn’t like rulers or a progenitor would have had a great deal of concern for the kethels’ wellbeing. They probably killed the ones who couldn’t keep up and used them to feed the rest of the flight. He had seen a Fell nest made with part of a kethel’s carcass once, and for the first time wondered how that would affect a thinking being. He doubted it was done with the same reverence as when Reaches Raksura placed their dead in pockets in a colony tree so the wood would eventually grow around them.