gotten in a fight sooner or later. They expressed relief that the fight was with a queen who had the self-control not to hurt her badly, and that the consort she chose to harass was not one who was so sheltered as to be terrified by her. You weren’t terrified by her, were you?”
Moon eyed her. He couldn’t see much resemblance to Pearl, but this was one of the times when he could tell that Jade was descended from Stone. “No.”
So that seemed to be the end of it. It had all been mostly Moon’s fault but he had avoided any of the consequences, by virtue of being a consort. Except that all of Emerald Twilight thought he was a crazy savage, but he was used to that. “What does our court think about me?” Jade’s brows lifted at the unexpected question. She didn’t answer immediately, thinking it over. “The teachers and hunters like you. They’ve spent more time with you, they know you better. And they know what they owe you after you went into the Dwei hive after Heart and the others. The soldiers don’t like you, but then…”
Moon had figured that. “They blame me for bringing the Fell.” Jade pressed her lips together. “They’ll get over it.” Her tone suggested that they had better. “In the meantime, Knell will keep them from starting any trouble.”
That was a surprise. “Why? He told Stone he didn’t think I should be with the court.”
Jade gave him a dry look. “That was before you started showing interest in Chime. Chime is his clutchmate, and since he changed, he hasn’t had any status among the Aeriat. So becoming the favorite of a consort wasn’t something anyone expected for him.”
Moon had realized Chime’s lot in the court had improved by association with him. But he didn’t think Chime had calculated it. He thought Chime had just been drawn to someone who was also different, who was a misfit. “That must make it hard for Knell.”
“Knell can handle it. When Chime changed, it was a shock, but it finally convinced everyone who still had their heads buried in the dirt that something was wrong. All the doubters finally admitted that we needed to move to another colony. If a few of the others had changed too, it would probably have made it easier on Chime. He wouldn’t have stood out quite so much. But that won’t happen now.”
“Now that the court is away from the old colony, maybe Chime will change back.” If that happened, Moon was certain Chime would miss flying, but Chime had also made it clear that he would rather be an Arbora than a warrior.
“Flower didn’t think so.” Jade frowned absently. “It was strange enough that it happened once. But we’ll have to wait and see. We’re away from the Fell influence, we have plenty of food at the colony, and more room than we can fill.”
Moon looked out over the terrace. “If we can stay there.” She nodded, resigned. “If we can stay.”
Outside the walls of thorn, the dark of evening settled over the forest. Jade had gone back in some time ago, but Moon stayed, still wanting to avoid conversation with the others until the thrilling excitement of Jade fighting another queen over him had worn off.
He was going to have to get better at dealing with the pressure of others’ personalities. He had lived in crowded places before, but he had always been an outsider. With the Raksura he was still an outsider, but everything he did and said mattered so much more. He watched two warriors fly past the outer edge of the platform, the reflected light from the colony glinting off their scales. You have to get better at this, he told himself.
When the night insects sang in chorus and a light rain began to patter the leaves, he went back inside.
Stone was the only one sitting up. He was beside the hearth basin, nursing a cup of tea. No one had gone up into the bower beds; they were all dozing on the floor. Jade was curled up on a fur, but not asleep. She patted the spot next to her and Moon picked his way through the prone if not sleeping bodies.
He lay down beside her and she tugged him back against her chest and nuzzled his neck. His clothes were damp and the fabric cold with the night air. Her body heat