54. Stone and Malachite at Opal Night

I was going to write something angry, but I ended up writing this instead.

As the night deepened, the agitation in the court of Opal Night gradually subsided into quiet, and the mentors in the consorts' hall retreated to a nearby bower to sink into exhausted sleep. Stone was still wide awake, sitting near the hearth, listening to Moon breathe.  Moon was curled up with his head pressed against Stone's shin, holding onto Stone's ankle, still deeply unconscious.

After so many turns, Stone didn't reveal his feelings easily, or at all, but he had had a bad scare tonight, and it would be a while before he could rest. Jade and Chime and the others had been ordered away, banished to the court's guest rooms. It was a relief; they could keep each other calm while Stone kept his attention on Moon and the mentors.

He had been watching the door by habit, so he felt the change in the air, the cold rush of prey/predator response run through his shoulders and chest, and knew Malachite was nearby. Keeping his voice low, he said, "So you're back, then."

She stepped out of the shadows just past the door and silently crossed the room, stopping at the edge of the pile of tumbled blankets where Moon lay.

There was no clue to her emotions, either in her spines or her eyes, so Stone gave her the benefit of the doubt. He said, "The mentors say he's going to be all right."

She still didn't even twitch a spine. "And what do you say?"

Stone kept his voice just as neutral. Always tricky dealing with an angry queen, and it had been a long time since he had been in a room with one this powerful. Though he was one of the few in this court that she couldn't physically threaten, he knew that didn't make her a safe opponent. "He's sleeping better."

She was silent for a long moment, but it felt like a waiting silence. She hadn't come here just to check on Moon. Then she said, "You were the one who found him."

It wasn't a question.

Stone could have made her pull it out of him bit by bit, but he had the feeling that was what she expected, so he said, "On a flying island, near the groundling camp he was living in." He knew she had heard at least that part of the story. As bait, he added, "I'd never seen a feral solitary who was a consort before."

She lifted her head and he saw one eye glint in the dimness. Stone snorted. "Oh, he was solitary and he was feral, all right. He didn't know what a Raksura was."

Her voice didn't change and her tail didn't twitch. "And you helpfully explained."

Stone knew a trap when he saw it. He admitted, "I didn't tell him he was a consort. I didn't want him to run away. Or kill me in my sleep."

"Yet you were bringing him back for your daughter queen."

She wanted him to justify himself. Well, maybe he owed her that. "I thought his court was dead. He didn't know what a court was. Should I have left him in the east, living with groundlings?"

He could feel the cold anger in her regard. She said, "You could have made his options clear."

Stone was too tired to seethe, too tired to argue with her. "I could have," Stone admitted. "We didn't have any options then. I just wanted to get the court, and him, out of there before the Fell attacked." Because she had asked for it, he added honestly, "If I could have stopped him from being brought here, I would have. Finding his birth court has brought us nothing but trouble."

There was a long silent moment. Then she said, "You'd fight me for him."

That bait, Stone didn't take. He said, easily, "If I thought it would do any good. But I won't have to. You can't keep him here if he doesn't want to stay, and you know it."

She did tilt a spine then, in ironic comment. "I know it. Do you?"

Outside the hall, one of the mentors stirred, and Malachite withdrew without a sound.