The mountain tree canopy was huge and very far away from the ground. The branches were growing narrower and closer together the higher Chime flew, and navigating between them required aerobatic skill Chime still lacked. Moon was probably the only Raksura in Indigo Cloud who would would come up here willingly.

The fact that this was why Moon was in the canopy did nothing to soothe Chime's irritation. He landed on the bough, claws gripping tightly into the rough bark, and shifted to groundling.

He barely had a moment to think before the wind ruffled his hair, heralding Jade's arrival.

Thankfully, she didn't seem annoyed at Chime beating her to finding her consort.

Moon continued to sleep peacefully.

"Should we wake him?" asked Chime. "How long can we keep Sunset Water waiting?"

Jade flicked a spine. "Don't worry about them. Pearl and Ember can keep them occupied."

They watched Moon in silence for a moment.

"Do you think this means he's finally at home here?" Chime reached out to prod at Moon's sleeping form, but pulled back at Jade's disapproving hiss.

"I think it means he's tired," said Jade. She smiled at them indulgently.

"He wouldn't be able to sleep like this if he didn't feel safe, though," Chime insisted. Moon's first few turns sharing Chime's bed, every time he shifted Moon would come instantly awake. Sleeping in groundling form on a random branch high in Indigo Cloud's mountain tree had to be a sign of improvement.

"We do have three royal clutches in the Court at the moment," Jade reminded him. "Two of them his responsibility."

And there were plenty of Arbora clutches besides. Nobody in the Court was getting a lot of sleep right now. Chime sighed.

Moon stirred on the branch beneath them. Chime saw the moment he reached wakefulness, and watched in fascination as he continued to feign sleep as he evaluated the situation.

"I still think I'm right," said Chime. Jade snorted.

Evidently recognising their voices, Moon sat up. "Are you talking about me?"

"This is a terrible place to sleep. You're in groundling form! Anything could happen!" Chime fixed Moon with his best 'I'm a Mentor and I know best' glare. "You should sleep inside, where it's safe."

Moon shook his head. "The fledglings know where my bower is. They won't go up this high, so this is the best place to sleep."

Jade's flared her spines. "The Sky Copper clutch? They shouldn't be bothering you in your bower."

Moon shrugged. "I think Frost is jealous of the new clutches. She's not getting as much attention as she used to."

"And here we went and produced two consorts just for her," said Jade. "Ungrateful wretch."

"She's a queen," said Chime. At Jade's look, he quickly continued. "I mean, she's trying to exert her authority."

"Queens don't push consorts around. They protect and support them."

"Both of you push me around," protested Moon.

"You're different," said Chime. "You don't know the rules." Plus Moon could defend himself, and got huffy if you tried to coddle him.

"Neither do they. They're fledglings."

"Fledglings who are old enough to know better. I'll talk to Frost." Jade's expression did not bode well for the young queen.

Moon seemed to grudgingly accept this.

"Your sleep is important," Chime insisted.

"I know," said Moon pointedly. "That's why I came up here to do it."

"At least our clutch are sleeping the night through," muttered Jade. "And they'll have a stable environment to teach them how to behave properly."

"Delin said his people have a curse - it goes, may your children be just like their parents. Isn't that interesting?" said Chime conversationally.

Jade and Moon fixed him with near-identical unimpressed looks.

Moon got to his feet. "Was there a reason you're both here? How did you find me?"

"Stone," said Jade.

"I just circled the tree until I spotted you," said Chime quickly. Moon strongly resented any implication that he may be at all predictable, even though once you tilted the world in the right direction his actions were surprisingly easy to predict.

Moon, of course, latched onto the first explanation. "Stone... sent you to find me?"

Jade huffed impatiently. "Stone is how I found you. Sunset Water sent a delegation to pass on their congratulations, we can't greet them formally without you."

Moon eyed her sideways. "You don't seem to be in a hurry."

"I don't like them very much," said Jade.

"If you all hate each other so much, why do you have all these formal delegations? Nobody seems to enjoy them."

Chime had some sympathy for Moon's position. Since moving to the Reaches, there had been a constant stream of visitors, and barely a week went by without a delegation from Indigo Cloud flying off to some other Court. He wasn't exactly longing for the days when the Court was in decline, but was it too much to ask for some peace?

Jade sighed. "We don't all hate each other. Personal distaste is entirely different. And we have formal delegations to strengthen ties and foster diplomacy between Courts."

"If it were just up to the Queens, we'd never get new bloodlines into the Court because they'd be too busy sniping at each other. So we've come up with a lot of formal protocols to stop that from happening."

Jade's body language was starting to imply her patience for frank discussion of her people's failings was wearing thin. Chime decided to spare her the rest of thoughts on Raksuran formalities.

Moon shook his head. "So we need to do it."

"Yes, we do need to do it."

"Fine," said Moon. He shifted form, stretching his wings to their full span and almost knocking Chime off the branch. "Do I have to get changed?"

"Definitely yes," said Jade. "That's the other reason we're here."

"It won't be that bad," Chime pointed out. "They're here to admire your babies."

Moon brightened, because he was disgustingly predictable about the royal clutches. "All right. I'll come."

Jade disappeared as they got back down to the Consorts' bowers, throwing an excuse over her shoulder about telling Stone she'd found Moon. Apparently it was up to Chime to dress Moon for their audience.

He dug around in Moon's clothing basket until he found a suitable sash and pants. "Have you seen your blue tunic?" he asked, digging further into the pile. "The one with the embroidery of the vines."

Moon sheepishly opened the pack he'd been sleeping on and pulled out a slightly crumpled tunic. "This one?" At Chime's look, he bristled. "I needed something soft to sleep on."

Chime took the tunic and shook it out. "You get to explain to the Arbora why they need to redo all the embroidery on the left side," he told Moon, although in truth the embroidery looked no worse for the experience.

"Among the Taemi people, they use embroidery to cover up cheap fabric. It's plain colours that are a sign of wealth."

Chime rolled his eyes. "Well, here it means some Arbora spent hours stitching, so treat it with care."

Jade reappeared at the chamber entrance. "Aren't you ready yet?"

"I thought we weren't in a hurry," said Moon, muffled as he was pulling the tunic over his head.

"That was before," she said.

Chime tugged Moon's tunic down and quickly threw the sash around his waist. "You'll do."

"Do we have to dress the clutch up, too?" Moon asked, rearranging the sash according to some preference of his own.

"Not this time," said Jade. "At their first turn ceremony, though..."

Moon sighed.

"You'll like it," Chime reassured him. "Everyone brings gifts and you don't have to do anything other than smile and thank people when they pay you compliments. It's the easiest ceremony we have." Chime had been slowly reading up on what sort of trade and social visits they should be expecting now that their status in the Reaches was improving, and relaying it to Moon where appropriate. Thus far, Moon had accepted the knowledge with typical bemused impatience.

"Is there anything I need to know for this ceremony?" Moon asked.

Jade smiled. "Just let me lead. They have met you before."

"You can't possibly shock them any more than you already have," Chime added.

"They're going to be jealous," Jade said, pointedly looping her arm through Moon's.

"I don't need you to flatter me," grumbled Moon. "Can we go now?" He looked pleased all of a sudden. Chime suspected he had remembered their guests were there to admire the royal clutches.

"You should definitely go," said Chime. "Before Stone comes looking for you."