48. Ember and Stone at Emerald Twilight

Ember had known it would be strange to visit Emerald Twilight again, but he hadn't thought it would be this strange. 

The people he wanted to see, his warrior clutchmates, some of the younger consorts and daughter queens, and the warriors and Arbora he had been close to, would have to wait until this evening, after all the formal greeting was over with. For now he was supposed to sit in on the mountain-thorn's elegantly decorated and heavily protected consort hall, and speak with the other favored consorts.

Except Moon and Shadow had disappeared, leaving no one he particularly wanted to speak to. Considering some of the consorts here had belonged to Halcyon, there were a lot of conversations he was anxious to avoid. He could think of only one way to do that.

Stone had wandered through earlier and was now sitting by himself on one of the better balconies, with a good view of the platform gardens and the forests growing along the mountain-thorn's twisting vines. Ember braced himself, walked past the other consorts and warriors seated on furs and cushions in the hall, went out to the balcony and sat down across from Stone.

Stone's temper and reputation were well-known in Emerald Twilight, and it wasn't considered a good idea to approach any line-grandfather unless invited. Ember was conscious of the conversation in the hall going suddenly silent.  He could feel so many eyes on the back of his neck he had to suppress the urge to shift.

Stone didn't react in any way Ember could sense. It felt strange and rude to just sit here, so Ember cleared his throat and said, "Would you like more tea?"

The sideways glance Stone slid at him probably wasn't meant to be intimidating, but Ember found himself repressing a nervous twitch. He blurted, "I'm sorry to bother you. It's just...I needed..."

Stone eyed him, then flicked a look at the hall. Conversations abruptly started to resume, as clearly no one wanted to be caught staring. Stone said, "A place to sit where nobody will come and talk to you?"

Ember hesitated, very aware that the comment might be a rebuke. Stone had found a place where no one would bother him, but then here was Ember, bothering him. But while Stone could be subtle, he didn't usually employ that kind of dual-edged speech. Ember said, cautiously, "Yes. Just for a little."

Stone waved a hand at the nearby tea service. Ember didn't let himself slump in gratitude, but his tense muscles relaxed as he poured cups for both of them.  He added, "I wasn't expecting the formal greetings to seem like so...much."

Stone said, "Now you know how Moon feels."

"Oh, I don't think it's that bad." Stone lifted a brow and Ember hurried to explain, "I grew up here, I'm related to everyone. I'm just not used to being the one getting all the attention. There are a lot of consorts more important than me. All of them, actually, before I was taken by Pearl."  Ember hesitated. Stone seemed very forthcoming right now and he didn't want to waste the opportunity. "Is that how you feel, too?"

Stone's brow lowered.

"All right, obviously not," Ember said hastily. "It's just that Indigo Cloud, with only us and two adult queens, it's so...informal."

Stone's expression was more curious than anything else now. Ember took heart and continued, "Not that I don't like it. It's cozy and restful. Without so much formality to worry about, it feels like the consorts have more time for the fledglings, and for the Arbora. But it's not a good place for preparing for visits to courts like this."

Ember had gotten so used to talking to himself, he was startled when Stone said, "That's probably true."

Ember hesitated, then said daringly, "It might be a problem for the younger consorts, once they come out of the nurseries. Perhaps it might be a good idea to arrange informal visits to Sunset Water or Ocean Winter, so they could get used to larger courts." It was a good idea for a number of reasons.  For one, it wouldn't be nearly as nerve-racking to be sent to another court for a mating alliance if you had already visited a few times and met everyone.

Stone made a non-committal grunt and looked out at the view of the vine gardens again.  Then he said, "Not Opal Night?"

Ember admitted cautiously, "Opal Night would be an interesting challenge." The only consort Ember had met from there was Shade, and all he knew about the rest of the court was that Malachite was terrifying and the Arbora were intimidatingly well organized.  Then he caught Stone's eyebrow twitch. "Oh, that was a joke."

Stone set his cup aside. "It's not a bad idea. Talk to Moon about it."

That was gratifying and Ember decided not to push his luck any further. He sat there quietly with Stone, until Shadow and Moon reappeared.