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"You've got to be kidding me," Moon said, in a flat voice.
"No," Jade said. "That really is his name. It has nothing to do with you."
She saw his reaction, and quickly rephrased. "If you're not interested, that's fine. I promised I would only take a second consort with your approval. I would never want to make you unhappy."
"I'm not unhappy," Moon said. "Just surprised. You were only away for ten days." It hardly seemed long enough to decide on what plant varieties to trade for, let alone think about bringing home a new consort. They hadn't even talked about looking for one. Moon had thought everything was going fine, with their first clutch in the nursery, and maybe a second sometime soon.
"I was surprised too," Jade said. A faint smile twitched her mouth. Moon tried to suppress a flare of jealousy. You're not being replaced, he told himself. Don't be an idiot this time.
"He must be something special then," Moon said gruffly.
Jade sensed his mood--he wasn't going to fool her--and rubbed her hand over the spot between his shoulder blades. "I think you'd like him if you met him."
Moon made a noncommittal noise.
***
The annoying thing was, everyone who had been in the trading party seemed to like him.
"Kind and thoughtful," Balm said.
"Really friendly! You can talk to him about anything!" Root said.
"He knows how to put you at ease," Song said.
Even Chime, who had a stubborn and possessive streak for a Raksura, said, "Well, he's nice."
Moon propped himself up on one elbow, exasperated. "That doesn't tell me anything." He tried not to feel betrayed. Chime was supposed to be on his side. "So he's a proper consort? Like Ember?"
"What? No. He's nothing like Ember."
"So he's like me then?" Moon tried not to imagine a consort who was tougher, stronger, and smarter than him. Someone better than Moon in every way.
"No, he's nothing like you either."
Moon threw up his hands in frustration. "You're talking nonsense. If he's not like Ember and he's not like me, then what kind of consort is he? Like Stone?"
"No, not like Stone either. I don't think there could be two of him." Chime looked thoughtful. "Maybe you should just meet him yourself, instead of playing twenty questions."
Moon growled, pulling the blanket over his head.
***
Moon joined the next expedition to Crystal Vale. His presence meant it wasn't just a trading party, but a formal delegation. It was extra pressure, but there wasn't any way of inviting an unattached consort to visit them.
"I hope you'll be comfortable here," said Carnelian, consort to the reigning queen. "We don't often get visitors."
He showed Moon to the consorts' hall and made introductions. The other consorts were older than Moon, and already taken by the sister queens. There was no sign of the consort he was looking for.
"Thank you for your hospitality," Moon remembered to say. He plunged on, "Isn't there another consort who lives in this court? The one my queen met last visit?"
"Ah," Carnelian said, with an indecipherable look. "I know who you mean. You can find him in the crystal garden."
***
Moon flew down the central well of the colony tree, and landed at the entrance to the nursery. Shouts of laughter and shrieks of delight came from within. It was always one of his own favourite places to visit, back home. He shifted back to groundling and peered through the archway.
It was not what he expected. Panes of coloured glass were set into the walls of the colony tree, making rainbow windows to the sky. Fruit vines flourished in abundance, and ferns and flowers carpeted the floor. Fledglings chased each other with wild glee, while smaller children toddled and tumbled. They were looked after by their teachers: half a dozen adults, all in their groundling form. No one with the black scales of a consort.
One of them noticed him, did a double take, and then bounded over. He had copper skin and golden hair, and a dusting of freckles across his nose.
"Hello!" he said cheerfully. "Can I help you?" He looked over Moon with open curiosity. It must be obvious he was a visitor to the court.
"My name is Moon, from Indigo Cloud," Moon said. He took a breath. "I'm looking for Sunshine."
The man lit up. "That's me!"
In retrospect, Moon should have been able to tell he was an Aeriat. He was tall and slim, in contrast to the shorter and stouter Arbora, although Moon had maybe half a head of height on him. His shirt and pants were finely woven but smudged with grass stains.
He was eyeing Moon too, despite being distracted by boisterous fledglings who demanded to be carried. He scooped them up in his muscled arms and onto his broad back. "Why don't you come inside?"
Moon found himself wandering through the halls, fledglings clustered around him, while Sunshine bounced alongside with exuberance. "Your queen told me so much about you. I hoped I might get to meet you!"
"I came to find you," Moon said. "You don't live with the other consorts?"
Sunshine shrugged, a little awkwardly. "My clutchmates have all gone to other courts. There's no one left I'm close to. I spend most of my time in the gardens anyway, so it's easier to stay down here."
Moon wondered what Sunshine wasn't saying. "Are you happy here? Would you rather stay here than be taken by a queen?" Some consorts did prefer to stay with their own courts, if their courts didn't need alliances desperately.
"Well," Sunshine said. "It's hard to visit other courts if you don't have a queen. But I love visitors!"
There was a longing in his voice that Moon yearned to satisfy. He ended up telling Sunshine about his travels, and rediscovering other Raksura, and battling the Fell.
Sunshine listened with avid interest, lips parted, cheeks flushed. "That's amazing. That you survived all that, and found a place you belong."
"Yes," Moon admitted. "I was lucky."
The teachers called the fledglings to come and eat. They burst into excited motion, half flying, half running, with a farewell wave to the consorts.
Sunshine said, diffidently, "I guess you'll be going back upstairs to rejoin your queen?"
"Actually," Moon said, "maybe you could show us both around?"
Sunshine broke into a radiant smile.
Moon thought, Oh.
***
Sunshine took Moon and Jade on a tour of the gardens of the colony tree. The murals he had helped paint in the courtyard of the nursery. The flower maze he had helped grow and tend. He seemed to be enthusiastically involved in a great many projects. Arbora projects, Moon thought, curiosity stirring.
They shared a midday meal in a grove of ancient trees heavy with bright orange fruit.
"This is kind of my secret hideout," Sunshine said. He pointed up at a nest of blankets draped in the fork of a tree. "If you wait long enough, these little lizards come out and take food from your hands."
Sunshine promised to fetch them the choicest fruit. He climbed to the highest branches, still in groundling form, lithe as a lizard himself. He was ridiculously energetic, but it was charming. No worry about elegance or dignity, no awareness he might be admired and courted. He was always considerate, but completely unselfconscious.
It was odd when you thought about it. No one seemed interested in chaperoning him, even around a foreign queen. He seemed to have an enviable freedom, unless you considered it might be neglect.
They swam together in the ornamental pond of one of the garden platforms, then stretched out on the warm rocks to dry themselves. Sunshine carefully moved a sleepy frog to a safer location, then shook droplets from his golden hair.
Moon stared, transfixed, a melting warmth in his chest. His feelings must have shown on his face, because Jade leaned close and murmured, "He's like someone out of a story, isn't he?"
Moon sighed. "He's impossibly good."
Jade looked amused. "You really like him, don't you?"
"Yes," Moon admitted. She had been right. "Fine. Go ahead."
***
Moon wasn't there when Jade offered Sunshine a courting gift. It could be awkward to have a big audience. Too much pressure. Jade had shown him the gift beforehand though. A necklace of blue stones, clear as crystal, set in a golden chain with golden discs suspended from it. It sparkled prettily in the light, catching the eye. Moon didn't know much about courting gifts, but it seemed a worthy offering.
Jade returned to the guest bower, the necklace trailing from her hand. She looked glum.
Moon scrambled over to her, from where he had been pacing. "Did he say no?"
"I didn't even get to finish asking!" Jade threw herself down onto the furs. "I offered him the necklace and started my speech. And then he blushed and stammered and ran away!"
That… didn't sound promising. But Sunshine wasn't normally hesitant about speaking up or sharing his opinion. "Did he seem upset, or just shy?"
"He seemed embarrassed. I don't know if it was shy embarrassment or horrified embarrassment." Jade stared up at the ceiling. "I just know that I'm two for two with consorts rejecting my gifts and trying to avoid me."
He should have felt relief at no longer having a rival. But he had grown fond of Sunshine. And he wanted Jade to be happy. He leaned against her side. "I'm here now. I'll talk to him and figure this out."
***
Moon found Sunshine curled up in the branches of the orange tree. He smiled when he saw Moon, but his eyes were pensive.
"Do you want company?" Moon said.
Sunshine waved a hand, presumably in assent. Moon shifted and flew up to join him. Sunshine tracked him with a melancholy gaze. Moon shifted back to match Sunshine, who was in his groundling form. "Did Jade upset you?"
"Oh no!" Sunshine said quickly. "She could never do that. Such a kind and beautiful queen. An honour--" He trailed off. "I should have said that to her. I don't even remember what I said. Probably something mortifying." He put his head in his hands.
"Not at all," Moon said. "Besides, she's already used to all the stupid things I come out with."
They watched tiny lizards skittering along the branches, scales flecked with iridescence in the sun.
Sunshine sighed. "She's not mad at me, is she?"
"Of course not. There's no pressure to say yes. She just likes you and wanted to ask you. I mean, I like you too. We both do. But if you prefer to stay with your court--if you're happy here--"
"It's not that. I like you both too. But you don't know everything about me." There was quiet resignation in his voice. "You haven't seen me in my shifted form. Haven't you wondered why?"
Surely he wasn't a Fell hybrid. Not pale enough for that, or with dark enough hair. "Honestly, I was enjoying myself too much to notice."
With a wistful smile, Sunshine shifted. Black scales all over, sleek and shiny; broad shoulders and strong arms, but--
"I have a bad wing," Sunshine said. "I can't fly properly." He stretched them out, fanning them sideways. One was visibly crooked, like the bones had been broken and healed not quite right. "I was in a serious accident when I was younger. The mentors did the best they could. I can glide short distances, but I'm much better at climbing. I played with the Arbora more than the Aeriat. I lived in the consorts' bowers for a while, but it was too hard to get to the places I spent the most time in. So I moved down to the teachers' bowers instead." He looked away. "I didn't mean to mislead you."
It was a lot to take in. Moon didn't know what to say. He wished someone else was here, to say something wiser than whatever he could come up with. But there was just him. What did he know about reassuring people?
But he did know something about secrets, and hiding who you were, and feeling like you didn't belong. He nudged Sunshine gently. "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. But I'm ready to listen if you do." He hesitated. "I can't pretend to know what it's been like for you. But I like you. I want to get to know you better."
Sunshine dipped his head for a moment. It was hard to see blushing against black scales. "But you're so--" he gestured at Moon--"and I'm just--" he gestured at himself. "Your queen already has someone as perfect as you. How could she possibly want me?"
A lot of people don't share your opinion, Moon thought dryly. He said, "Why don't you let Jade answer that for herself?"
***
Jade sat by the ornamental pond, skimming stones across the water. Moon paced anxiously beside her, to a loud chorus of frogs.
Sunshine floated down from the trees, steadying himself with a few uneven flaps. He landed in front of Jade and folded his wings with a rueful smile. He squared his shoulders, meeting her gaze. As if to say, Here I am.
Jade stood, facing Sunshine. She inhaled deeply.
"I want you," Jade said. "I want you as you are. If you want to be with me." Her voice held the rich resonance of a queen born to command, but also the raw honesty that was all Jade.
Sunshine swallowed. "I do." His smile turned hopeful. "I really do."
Moon knew the feeling the other consort must be feeling, but it was fascinating to watch it from the outside. The scent of desire, the spell of connection, the promise of lightning in the air.
He moved closer to join them. Jade wrapped her arms around them both, their tails twining around each other.
***
They couldn't head off to Indigo Cloud with Sunshine straight away. There were traditions to be observed: an official courtship, a formal offer, and an honour escort. There were preparations to be made on their end as well: readying a bower and arranging a feast, to welcome him to his new home.
Stone grunted at the news. "A second consort? Do I want to know what kind of consort you would approve?"
Moon imagined Sunshine meeting Stone, and decided he wanted to be there to witness it. He only said, "I think you'd like him if you met him."