“But it doesn’t make much sense.”
“No,” Esom admitted. He leaned forward, struck by a sudden thought. “Unless one of them secretly worked for Magister Lethen.”
“Maybe,” Moon said, and let Esom talk about it until he could pretend to be convinced. He was fairly certain he knew who had killed Ardan, but he didn’t want to be on this ship when he confronted the guilty party.
Since they were getting along with the groundlings, they spent another day and a night resting on the Klodifore. Moon slept through most of it, though he made sure someone was always watching Rift. River and Drift became unwilling allies in this, since they distrusted Rift far more than they disliked Moon, and never hesitated to take a turn guarding him.
Moon hadn’t spoken about his suspicions to anyone but Esom. The weather was good, windy but clear. The ship stopped at one point and settled down in the water to fill its tanks directly from the freshwater sea. It was a far more convenient system than having to fill jars or buckets and haul them up the side, the way the Golden Islanders did on their boats. It meant there was plenty of bathing water, which they all took advantage of. The basins were small, but capable of producing hot water, which made up for a lot.
The rest of Negal’s crew had adjusted reluctantly to the presence of the Raksura, though they were still obviously wary. They stared at them, and asked Karsis and Esom questions, most of which they had to pass along to Moon or Chime. Or to Floret, who had spent a while talking with Karsis while waiting at the camp in the abandoned tower. The crew was especially nervous of Stone at first, but he used his uncanny ability to disarm groundling fears, which to the untrained eye involved hanging around in their cooking room and asking about their food. By the evening they were so used to him that none of them seemed to mind when he fell asleep in front of the stove in their main sitting area. Esom tried hard to talk to Chime about groundling magic, and Chime resorted to hiding in their cabin, clinging to the ceiling above the doorway where no one could see him from the corridor.
Moon didn’t think these groundlings would ever be entirely comfortable with the presence of shifters, but maybe that was for the best. He hoped that the next time they left their isolated land, they would explore in a different direction.
On the morning of the second day aboard, Stone judged they were more than close enough for the warriors to make the flight to land. Moon stood on the highest deck with Chime. It was a sunny morning, and the groundlings had brought the ship to a hovering halt to make it easier for them to take off. On the deck just below, Jade spoke with Negal, formally taking their leave. The other warriors were still inside, with Balm tasked to make sure they were all prepared for the long flight.
Chime squinted toward the east, though they were a little too far out to see the shore. After the two days of rest, Chime was at least able to pretend to be like his usual self. He still hadn’t talked about Flower yet, the way the others did, sharing good memories, but Moon thought he just needed more time. Moon nudged him with a shoulder. “Ready to get home?”
“Of course,” Chime said, but he didn’t sound ready. It might just be the flight to shore. Moon didn’t think any of the warriors were looking forward to that.
“This is going to be interesting,” Stone muttered, and leaned over the rail to gauge the distance down. His size made launching from the boat problematic.
“I could carry you up in the air and drop you,” Moon offered, and dodged the resulting slap at his head.
Jade leapt up from below and swung over the railing. Balm and the other warriors clattered out of the hatch behind them, already shifted and ready to go. The groundlings came out onto the deck below to watch.
“Ready?” Jade asked, rippling her spines to test the wind. “The weather’s perfect.”
“It’s not the weather we’re waiting for,” Moon told her.
Stone growled. “Hold on.” He took a deep breath, and climbed up onto the railing. Then he flung himself forward. He shifted in mid-fall, eliciting gasps and cries of excitement from the groundlings. He flapped hard, wingtips brushing the water before he got enough lift to rise. Then he caught the wind and soared upward.
Moon and the others followed him over the rail. Karsis and Esom waved and called goodbyes, and Moon waved back.
It was an easier flight toward the shore than away from it, and they were able to ride the wind the whole way. Moon kept an eye on Rift, making sure he didn’t drop behind and turn back while the Klodifore was still in range.
It was late evening when they landed on the shore, about midway between the Kek city and the point where they had originally camped.
It was a grass-covered beach on the edge of the great forest, perfect for a night’s camp. Stone climbed up a mountain-tree sapling to sleep on one of its big branches, while the warriors stretched and got ready to go hunting. Back on the Klodifore, they had decided to send Stone ahead with the seed and the urn. The Emerald Twilight mentors had given them instructions for trying to re-attach the seed, and the process sounded like it would take at least a few days. His ordinary pace was twice as fast as even Moon and Jade could fly, and he could get the seed back to the colony tree much faster alone. They were all going to have a big meal and sleep here tonight, then take off at dawn.
As the warriors broke up into hunting parties, Vine jerked his head toward Rift. “Do we still need to watch him? I mean, aren’t we going to just let him go?” He looked from Jade to Moon, a little worried. “Or were we going to let him stay with us?” Rift was out of earshot, standing in the shadow of the trees, looking into the forest.
Jade lifted a brow at Moon, who said, “We’re going to let him go. I’ll take care of it.”
Jade cocked her head, a little surprised. “You weren’t—” She had clearly assumed Moon would want to at least ask Rift to stay. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. It’s all right.” He touched her hand in reassurance, and walked across the soft grass, into the forest shadow where Rift waited.
Rift glanced at Moon, and flattened his spines in deference. He said, “It’s good to be back.”
Moon didn’t see any reason to waste time. He said, “Why did you kill Ardan?”
Rift’s spines flicked, and he turned to face Moon. He shook his head, as if flustered. “Why do you think it was me? You said he was hit on the head. That’s the way a groundling kills, not the way we do it.”
Moon thought, So he did do it. He had been nearly certain, though there had been a slight chance that Esom’s spy theory was true. But Rift had formulated that objection too fast for an innocent person, as if he had already thought about what he would say if he was accused. “Esom was the only groundling nearby, and he says it wasn’t him. It could have been one of Ardan’s men, who managed not to get washed away by the flood, but I don’t think so.” He watched Rift thoughtfully. “He was hit on the head so whoever found him would think a groundling did it.”
Rift showed his teeth briefly. “And none of your friends are smart enough to think of that?”
“None of my friends would have bothered to hide it.” All the Indigo Cloud Raksura could have killed Ardan to protect the seed, but none of them would have thought of concealing the act. Moon shook his head. “Ardan helped you. He took care of you. You could have left when he took you back to the Reaches to look for the seed. He could have chained you up, put spells on you, but he didn’t. He didn’t need to. He’d made you his friend, and that was the only chain he thought he needed. But he didn’t really know you, did he?”