33. Moon and Shadow at Indigo Cloud

Jade stepped out of the bathing pool and said, "Remember, he's from Emerald Twilight."

Moon put the kettle on the bowl hearth's heating stones, and said, "I know." They were in Jade's bower, and outside the colony tree it was barely dawn. Moon had given up telling everyone to calm down; last night it had taken forever to get all the anxious Arbora who needed reassurance out of the bower.

Jade, correctly assuming that Moon hadn't been listening, shook water out of her frills and added, "Just don't tell him anything."

That was going to limit the conversation. Moon picked up a block of tea and sniffed it. "About what?"

"I just don't want them to know how..." Jade's spines moved in frustration. "How this court is. Still is. Even after we've been settled in the Reaches for almost a turn. We need to keep our reputation."

"If anyone knows how this court is, it's Emerald Twilight," Moon said. "We're never going to convince them we're not idiots. Besides, Ember will tell Shadow anything he wants to know." If Moon was remembering the complex web of Emerald Twilight's royal Aeriat bloodline, Shadow was one of Ember's grandfathers. He just wasn't sure how close their relationship was, given how many clutches Shadow had. "Ember writes to Shadow, doesn't he?"

Jade said, "Ember knows more about the relationships and power balances and tensions between courts in this region than anyone else I've ever seen. And he had to learn it from someone, and it definitely wasn't Pearl." 

That was a good point. Moon crumpled tea into the pot. "So Shadow already knows everything I know so there's no point in me watching what I say."

"Moon..." Jade sighed. "I just don't want you to confide in him."

"I don't confide in anybody," Moon said. Then realized that was one of those things he probably shouldn't have said aloud.

Jade eyed him. "Well, there is that." 

***

Moon hadn't been in his bower for two days, since the Arbora had been paying particularly close attention to it in their effort to meticulously groom every inch of the tree before the Emerald Twilight visitors arrived.  Now, about to have a private meeting with Shadow in it, he was glad the Arbora had made the effort. He hadn't been nervous before, not until Chime, Balm, Heart, and Blossom had all managed to give him basically the same warning as Jade.

It felt like the only two people in the court who hadn't warned him were Ember and Stone, the only two adult consorts. In one way, it was nice, and in another, it made Moon feel like a member of a club that he didn't understand and hadn't known he was joining. But then, pretty much his entire time in the court had felt that way.

Shadow settled onto the fur on the other side of the bowl hearth and dismissed his accompanying warriors with a gesture so subtle Moon didn't even see it. Chime, Root, Song, Briar, and Serene had been hanging around Moon's bower for the sole purpose of being sent out at this point, and Moon turned and nodded to Chime for them to go too.

The warriors left without anybody tripping or walking into a wall, but Chime threw one last worried look back at Moon.

Shadow pretended not to see it, but his brow quirked. Moon had thought of several different things to say to open the conversation, and even in his head all of them sounded so obviously rehearsed that he hadn't been able to pick one. But before he could hesitate or obviously flounder, Shadow said, "You are doing well, then."

"Yes." Moon was so relieved to have the conversation started, the word sounded abrupt and rude. He added, "Uh, mostly."

Shadow was unperturbed. "But it has been hard?"

Moon looked at the bowl hearth. It was easy to say that Moon shouldn't trust Shadow, but he did, and Moon couldn't help it. Shadow was the first consort Moon had met after Stone, and the only one who had ever seemed to make any effort to understand what it was like to be shoved into a Raksuran court with no clue of what to do. "Sometimes, still."

Shadow studied him for a long moment, long enough it should have activated Moon's prey reflex, but it didn't. "You've done well with Ember."

Moon couldn't take credit for that. "I don't think I did anything with Ember. He's...perfect."

"He is a credit to our court." Shadow's expression said he was clearly aware that that was a stock phrase, something said about all consorts no matter how much of an idiot they might be. But he added, "I still think of him as a shy awkward fledgling."

Moon was willing to believe the shy part. It was the awkward part he couldn't imagine. "Really?"

"His sire died early, and in a large court like ours, that can be a disadvantage for a royal fledgling." Shadow admitted, "When Tempest chose him for Indigo Cloud, I could have intervened. But I thought it would be good for him."

"That's a surprise," Moon said, and winced as soon as the words were out. "I mean, I didn't think Emerald Twilight thought...much of Indigo Cloud, especially at that time."

Shadow flicked his fingers, apparently dismissing however many generations of enmity between the two courts as immaterial. "Indigo Cloud had survived a Fell attack and a journey across the Three Worlds. I felt its chances were good."

It was probably the best compliment Indigo Cloud had ever gotten from Emerald Twilight. Moon would have to tell Jade. And there was one thing Moon really wanted to know. "Did Tempest know you taught Ember so much about court politics?"

"Perhaps not." Shadow's smile had just a tinge of sardonic amusement. "I teach all my most promising fledglings about court politics. Ember was young for the lessons, but his understanding was excellent."

Moon thought he was getting a message, and that message was I didn't like what Tempest was doing, so I let her send Ember, who I had carefully trained to be a secret weapon for any queen willing to listen to him.  He decided to try to send one in return. "Ember told me you said not to be afraid of me." You knew how I'd take it, you knew I wouldn't understand, and that I'd be upset.

Shadow's nod was serious. "I'm glad he took my advice. He thinks highly of you, according to his letters." I knew you'd understand eventually. 

Moon realized the kettle was steaming, and that he had skipped several things the formal conversation was supposed to cover. He thought he and Shadow were well past that point, and that it was far too late to go back to it. "Oh, we're supposed to have tea now. And the Arbora want me to make sure you notice how nice the glaze on the pottery is."

"Tell them I said it was lovely." Shadow smiled.