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Sundew was in a bad mood.
Many dragons – some of whom Sundew even liked – would say that she was always in a bad mood, and Sundew would tell these dragons (well, most of them) to kindly fling themselves into the nearest Venus dragon-trap, because this time was different, and she was in an especially bad mood.
First of all, she was still stuck with Blue, Cricket, and Swordtail; she’d just spent the night cramped up with them in a musty fabric stall outside Jewel Hive – the wares were decomposing badly enough that Sundew couldn’t even tell if whatever destitute Silkwing owned the place was trying to sell carpets or curtains.
Second, despite the idyllic sleeping conditions, Sundew didn’t get anywhere near enough rest – because, naturally, her parents still wanted a report from her at dawn. Of course, third, delivering said report involved seeing her parents, which was itself enough to put Sundew in a bad mood, but it didn’t help that they weren’t the least bit appreciative that she’d gone to all the effort to deliver the flamesilk they’d requested.
Besides that, they also wouldn’t agree to delay their own revolutionary plans even slightly, and, fourth, that meant Sundew had only two days to pull off this ridiculous sunshine-and-rainbows ‘Free the Mind-Controlled Hivewings’ scheme – and if they missed the deadline, her parents were going to burn down Bloodworm Hive and restart the Tree Wars.
Not that Sundew was particularly against that outcome. She’d known since hatching that her destiny was to overthrow the Hivewings and save Pantala, after all, and they’d certainly burned enough of her home and slaughtered enough of her Leafwings, but…
Blue and Cricket would be upset, and Sundew hated that it mattered to her. It shouldn’t have mattered – the only good Hivewing was a dead Hivewing, that was what Sundew’s parents always told her.
The only good Hivewing was a dead Hivewing...
Hivewings, that brought Sundew to the fifth (and biggest) reason she was in a bad mood: She was about to have to pretend to be in love with one.
“This is stupid,” Sundew hissed at Cricket, padding along behind the Hivewing in a garish yellow cape and gaudy adornments that were supposed to pass her and her Leafwing features off as a Silkwing. “Why do I have to do this? You’re all melty over Blue, why couldn’t you go to the ball with him? Or–”
“Shhh!” Cricket hissed back at her, stealing a nervous look across the walkway before pivoting to pick up a trinket from a nearby market stall. “And how much for this one?” she asked innocently, holding the useless jewel-studded something-or-other up to her orange-tinted glasses.
“Fifty scales,” replied the Hivewing behind the well-worn countertop, eyeing Sundew suspiciously – Cricket wasn’t looking, and Sundew took the gratifying opportunity to bare her teeth at him, in a very un-Silkwing-like sort of way.
“Oh,” said Cricket, letting out a disappointed tut. “Hmmmm...” She drew out the sound, seeming to think it over – but Sundew followed her furtive glance to the other side of the walkway and realized what she’d spotted. Fortunately, the pair of Hivewing guards had since lost interest in the ditzy Hivewing shopper and her funny-looking Silkwing. “I think I’ll look somewhere else,” Cricket said eventually, turning to Sundew. “Selene, come.”
Selene, that was what Sundew had been told would be a good Silkwing name for her, while she was in disguise – well, while they were in disguise. Cricket had been dubbed “Mite”, and had hidden her identity under a similarly lurid costume; they’d certainly made an enemy of Queen Wasp by this point.
If they got caught?
Blue, he’d be enslaved for his flamesilk; Swordtail and Cricket would probably just be executed; and Sundew, as a Leafwing, would definitely be executed.
Despite the stakes, Sundew thought “Selene” was entirely too soft and Silkwing-ish a name for her, and she did not like it nor her costume one bit. She was also seriously glad they were already getting away from this awful Hivewing shopkeeper and all the thoroughly infuriating looks he kept giving her – but, of course, nothing about this day was going well for Sundew.
“I don’t like your Silkwing,” said Hivewing announced, in the disinterested drawl endemic to Jewel Hive. “She’s weird. She doesn’t behave herself.”
Sundew gritted her teeth and dug her claws into the ground, leaving deep, angry grooves in the treestuff flooring. She could think of at least a dozen different plants and insects she would like to use on this Hivewing, just in the pouches on her left flank, and all of them would result in an extremely painful death for him – but nooo, they needed to be all stealthy while they attended this stupid couples-only ball, because maybe they might be able to contact the Chrysalis there.
ARGHH.
If Willow were here, she’d probably admonish Sundew for getting so worked up over what a Hivewing thought of her, and... somehow, it’d probably succeed at calming her down, too. Willow always had her way of doing that.
But Willow wasn’t here – for now, all Sundew could do was press her jade frog to her chest, through its pouch and through her cape, and let herself be dragged off as Cricket stammered an apology and scurried away from the stall.
Before long, the pair were in the quieter outskirts of the little upper-level commercial sector – Jewel Hive’s renowned Glitterbazaar was supposedly much larger, but that was several levels beneath them. The crowds had thinned, and the two dragons were well on their way to the garden where the early-morning ball was taking place – Jewel Hive partied all night and all day, apparently.
They were just passing a stall selling books – apparently unpopular, despite its bright colors – when Cricket hesitated, and fell back half a step to walk alongside Sundew. “You aren’t being a very convincing Silkwing servant,” Cricket whispered near the Leafwing’s ear. “Or a convincing lover,” she added. “Once we get to that bit of the plan, anyway. You need to be more… docile.”
“I don’t do docile!” Sundew whisper-snarled back at her. “If you wanted docile, you should have taken Blue!”
“Blue and Swordtail aren’t as likely to be captured while checking the Salvation statue in the Glitterbazaar,” Cricket recited flatly; the same mantra she’d used the previous hundred times Sundew had complained about the situation. “If something goes wrong at the ball, you agreed it would be worse if Blue got captured, so he’s following the safer lead. And Swordtail–”
“Swordtail would be why something goes wrong,” Sundew grumbled.
“Yes,” said Cricket, stifling a giggle. “But don’t tell him I said that!” she quickly added, suddenly sounding mortified with herself. “He already doesn’t like me, I think, because of the whole, um… Being a Hivewing thing. And all.”
Sundew made a neutral noise of acknowledgment, and let her gaze wander over the last dredges of the market. Her eyes settled on a striking ruby-scaled Silkwing – he was set atop a chiseled stone plinth next to an expensive-looking jewelry stall, adorned in fabrics and gems and whatnot, and he was just… sitting there, looking pretty. Like he was nothing but another decoration to be ogled by passing Hivewings.
Sundew hurriedly averted her eyes, trying to ease the uncomfortable squishy-guilt feeling in her chest. They were just as bad as the Hivewings, she reminded herself. The Silkwings were pathetic. They didn’t do anything; they just rolled over and let Queen Wasp win. Just as bad...
But, still... Something about the way Hivewings were looking at that Silkwing; the way Hivewings were looking at Sundew, now that she was disguised as one–
“Do you always treat Silkwings like this?” Sundew asked curtly, turning to Cricket.
Cricket flinched. “Uh… m-me?”
“Yes, you Hivewings,” Sundew reiterated, flicking her tail irritably at repeating herself. “Do you treat Silkwings like this in all the hives?”
Cricket’s gaze fell to her foretalons guiltily. “Um. They’re actually treated worse than this, usually. Lady Jewel is more tolerant than Wasp or the other ladies, but... Sundew, I-I don’t–”
Sundew just scoffed at her. “This is tolerant? Hivewings – hah! They’re all the same.”
Cricket glanced up briefly, wearing an obviously hurt expression – most annoyingly, Sundew found herself caring about this, enough to correct herself. “I guess you’re okay, though,” she added gruffly.
“There are other Hivewings like me,” Cricket said quietly. “There… there have to be.”
By the time they were walking along the fence outside the ball, Sundew was having second thoughts about her earlier reluctant agreement to this plan.
“Are Silkwings even allowed to be in love in with Hivewings?” she asked Cricket, eyeing up the tall, elaborately wrought bars of metal that separated them from the garden and the ongoing party within it.
There were Silkwings present, sure – but Sundew was quickly noticing that all of them were behind tables serving drinks, or glued to pairs of dancing Hivewings like ornaments, following them over well-maintained lawns and around the marble wading pool the garden was centered about. Natural light streamed in through an array of skylights – this was the top level of the hive, after all – and Sundew was sure the grass was grateful for that, in that strange, buzzy way grass felt to her leafspeak.
“Hivewing-Silkwing mating pairs are extremely forbidden,” came Cricket’s reply, “which is really interesting, because why is Queen Wasp afraid of hybrids? Do you think it possibly has something to do with her mind control? Wait, can hybrid dragons even exist, scientifically? Maybe–”
“Cricket!” Sundew hissed at her. “Ball now, questions later, got it? So” – she jerked her head towards an orangey-brown Hivewing, standing guard at the entrance gate that had just come into view – “is he going to kill us for our beautiful inter-tribal romance, or no?”
“I-I don’t think a Hivewing being in love with a Silkwing by itself is technically banned?” Cricket offered meekly, and Sundew gave her a withering look. “It wasn’t like they were going to let two Silkwings in, okay!” Cricket snapped back, fluttering her wings nervously. “This was our best chance, and if you’re not happy about how risky it is, you can–”
“Oh, I’m not complaining,” Sundew said smugly. “I can get us past some Hivewing grunt either way, and if you’re not allowed to be in love with a Silkwing” – she shot a smirk at Cricket – “that means you and Blue are illegal, and you’re going to have to stop being so annoyingly in love with him in front of me.”
Whatever Cricket was about to say died on her tongue. Her wings shrunk into her sides, her head fell, and then she went quiet.
Sundew had a nagging feeling she might have just gone too far… but Blue and Cricket were really squishy and sappy and annoying together, alright! Besides, they were almost at the gate – the Hivewing guard was waving a wing at them now – so Sundew decided to just poke Cricket with her tail and get their collective attention back on the mission.
“U-uh, hello!” Cricket stammered, glancing up at the guard – a tall dragon, with mottled yellow-and-black scales. “We’re here for the ball?” she tried. “I-I mean, I– We’d like to come in, if that’s okay?”
That just made him laugh – the high-pitched, glittery sort of laugh that rang entirely hollow. “You may certainly come in, young miss,” he said, “but I’m afraid it is a couples ball.” He glanced around, skimming over Sundew, as though another Hivewing might suddenly appear. “Where’ve you left your partner?”
“I’m right here…” Sundew muttered.
Then the Hivewing gave Sundew a brief look of disapproval, before pointedly turning to address Cricket. “Are you wanting to enter her in our best-decorated Silkwing contest? There’s a ten scale entrance fee, but” – he leaned in closer to Cricket, putting on a sly voice – “between me and you, Silverfish has outdone herself this time! I wouldn’t fancy your odds against the dragons she’s entered.”
“N-no, that’s okay, um…” Cricket nudged Sundew with one of her wings. “Selene here’s… actually my partner. For the ball.”
The Hivewing stared blankly at them for a moment, and then narrowed his eyes at Cricket. “I don’t have time for jokes, dragonet,” he said, dropping the facade of politeness. “If you aren’t interested in attending, then I’m afraid you’re going to have to leave.”
“She isn’t joking,” Sundew spoke up, louder this time. “We’re a couple, and we’re going to this ball. You got a problem with that?”
“This doesn’t concern you!” the Hivewing snapped at her, before directing an outraged look at Cricket. “You let her speak for you?”
Cricket, to her credit, stood her ground, even if her wings were starting to tremble. “U-uh, sir? Can we please just go in?”
“Certainly!” said the guard. “If you’d care to introduce me to your partner when they arrive, that is. A Hivewing in love with a Silkwing? Hah!”
“They aren’t so different from us,” Cricket said quietly. “Sir, do you know any Silkwings?” she went on, slowly gaining confidence as she spoke. “I know you’ve been taught to think of them as beneath us, but if you tried talking to one, you’ll see they’re just dragons, the same as we are. They can be sweet and caring and perfect, a-and…” Cricket took a step towards the guard, suddenly flaring out her wings. “Maybe you’ll even fall in love with one,” she finished, looking up at him defiantly. “I don’t think that’s so strange.”
The Hivewing just scoffed. “Fall in love with a Silkwing? I don’t think so. How can you love one of them?” he asked, jabbing his wing at Sundew. “Isn’t it better to keep to your own kind? This isn’t real love, you must know you’re confused. We already treat them plenty well here, but to mix with them? That’s disgusting. It’s unnatural, it’s impure, it’s…”
He went on, but Cricket’s short-lived bravado had already collapsed, and she was shrinking away from the abuse like a guilty dragonet.
Sundew wasn’t listening anymore.
Keep to your own kind. Don’t mix with them. You’re confused. Not real love.
Those were things Sundew had heard before – or was terrified of hearing – about the Sapwings.
About Willow.
But…
Loving Willow had always felt real to her.
It didn’t feel like she was confused. No, it felt right – even if Sundew knew her parents would have an endless list of reasons why it wasn’t, if they ever found out. Sapwings were disgraceful, they were weak – false Leafwings, failed offshoots – for a true Leafwing like Sundew to love one? It was a betrayal, it was horribly, unthinkably wrong, and...
And this had never stopped Sundew from being in love with Willow. Not even for a moment.
Every Leafwing in the jungle could say whatever they wanted, and it would never be enough to stop Sundew from loving her perfect Sapwing – and she decided, then and there, that this meant Cricket was allowed to love whatever Silkwing she wanted, and Sundew wasn’t going to let any guard, lady, or queen stop her.
“Hey!” Sundew snapped, jade frog bouncing against her chest as she stepped in front of Cricket protectively. “Leave her alone, fungus-brain!”
The guard broke off from his rant, turning his glare down at Sundew. “I will not speak to you, Silkwing. How dare you corrupt her mind with this–”
“Look, Hivewing,” Sundew spat, glaring right back at him, “I don’t particularly care what you think about it, but we are in love. I don’t care if you think it’s wrong, or if it makes you uncomfortable, but this Hivewing” – Sundew flicked her tail in Cricket’s direction – “is proud to be in love with a Silkwing, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
The guard stayed silent, but he lashed his tail furiously at those words; ready to strike. Sundew could see he’d exposed the venomous stinger near the end of his tail – but she didn’t back down. “What was that?” Sundew taunted. “You still don’t understand? Still not talking? That’s okay, you don’t need to, because–”
Sundew turned to face Cricket – she had a miserable look about her, with her wings pinned to her flanks and her head held low – Sundew reached out and placed a talon under her chin. She tugged Cricket’s head around, looking her in the eyes, past her glasses and past the silk veil that was meant to hide her face – and Sundew shot a final glare at the guard. “I’ll just show you,” she hissed.
“Sundew?” Cricket whispered anxiously. “W-what are you–”
And then, before Sundew could think better of it – she leaned in, and she kissed Cricket.
She tasted sweet – like honey; like the kind of soft, delicate fruit that would never grow in the jungle – it was a foreign flavor, and Sundew was starting to like it, she needed more, Cricket was leaning into it, and–
And then Sundew realized what she was doing and tore back from the kiss. Cricket blinked back at her, with so much more than just confusion written onto her flushed face, and Sundew suddenly became aware of her own ears burning.
Sundew cleared her throat, hurriedly looking away at… well, anything else, but her eyes settled on the guard. He looked stunned; at a loss for words – and Sundew decided it was now safe to strut up to him, dragging Cricket along by a tail wrapped around her foreleg.
The guard still didn’t move, and Sundew took this as an invitation to waltz straight past him and through the gate, directing a grin with far too many teeth at him as she passed. “Thank you, sir,” she cooed, in her very best over-exaggerated ‘Polite Silkwing’ voice.
“S-stop!” the guard suddenly spluttered, shaking himself as he turned to follow – but the commotion had brought the eyes of every Hivewing and Silkwing in the garden upon him.
It didn’t take him long to think better of it. “Lady Jewel will hear of this!” the guard called after them, as Sundew walked off with Cricket in tow. She didn’t spare him a single backward glance.
The other dragons lost interest quickly enough, returning to their own partying – by the time Sundew had led Cricket to the white tiles that ran around the wading pool, it was as if nothing had happened at all.
Sundew relaxed her tail, releasing Cricket’s leg, and – because something had happened, and maybe it wasn’t exactly how the plan went – Sundew turned to her, speaking as sheepishly as a Leafwing warrior allowed herself. “I-I hope I haven’t just, um... Lady Jewel isn’t going to be a problem, is she?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” called a new voice, and Sundew’s head snapped around to spot a ruddy orange Hivewing walking up to them. He looked older; his snout dusted with black scales and lit up in a broad smile as he approached. “Lady Jewel’s chief steward is a Silkwing,” he went on, “and the entire hive figured out she’s in love with the Hivewing treasurer years ago – the lady herself even knows! Rumor has it our wonderful queen even found out – made Jewel promise to put a stop to it, have them punished severely – you know how she is.” He leaned, lowering his voice conspiratorially. “But last I heard, our lady’s never gotten around to it – but she did find time to give them medals for their excellent service the day after!” he finished, breaking into a bout of hearty laughter.
Sundew and Cricket exchanged glances, and the Hivewing shook himself out of it. “Oh, my apologies!” he exclaimed, suppressing a chuckle as he held out his talon. “Where are my manners? I’m Huhu.”
For a moment, nobody moved – but then, though she couldn’t quite fathom why, Sundew stepped forward. “Selene,” she replied, reaching out to shake his talon. “She’s Mite.”
Cricket offered him a weak smile – and Huhu grinned back at them. “Excellent! Will you two have a drink with me and my mate? I haven’t seen you before – let us introduce you to all the good drinks! You simply must try the wine Veil’s brought this time, it’s–”
He was already starting to walk off, but he now paused, glancing back over his shoulder expectantly. “Coming?”
“Uh, just a moment, sir!” Cricket called out, before turning to Sundew with a hushed whisper. “Should we? I-I don’t really understand what, um… B-but, anyway, we still need to look for places the Chrysalis might–”
“Might leave instructions on how to find them, yes,” Sundew finished for her. “Let’s go with him. We can search the place while he’s showing us around, can’t we?”
Cricket gave her an anxious look, crinkling her snout. “A-are you sure?”
“Just come,” Sundew hissed, before walking up to join Huhu. “We’ll go,” she announced curtly.
Huhu just beamed at her. “Wonderful, wonderful – come now!” He set off for a table across the lawn, where an indigo colored Silkwing was serving a drink to a bulky looking Hivewing – and Huhu didn’t get far before he started talking again. “Now that was quite a passionate speech back there, young Selene! That’s Atlas over there – oh, she’ll be keen to meet you – and Veil’s a Silkwing too, you know? He tells us so often we needn’t pay him here, but I always insist! He’s a bright young drake, and he makes the wine himself, so I hardly think it’s fair to…”
Sundew wasn’t quite sure what had come over her – but when Huhu started walking? She’d glanced over her shoulder to make sure Cricket was following, and then she’d set off right alongside him.
She was walking side-by-side with a Hivewing – not Cricket, no, one she’d just met – and she was listening to him attentively, and…
She couldn’t bring herself to hate him.
Half the day later, Sundew was still in a bad mood.
First of all, no matter how long they spent at the ball, neither Sundew nor Cricket were ever able to locate anything that might have been connected to the Chrysalis. They’d sampled nearly every drink in the place, and then they’d excused themselves from the suspiciously uneventful socializing – and they’d danced. Sure, they both moved like they had three left talons, but they’d spent a lot of time together, dancing around the garden… because it was a good way to cover ground without looking suspicious, that was all! It wasn’t like Sundew had enjoyed it or anything.
At any rate, despite all the dancing, they’d still left the ball empty-taloned – and that meant the plan depended entirely on the others finding something in the Glitterbazaar. Blue and Swordtail? Sundew didn’t like those odds.
Cricket had eventually led Sundew several levels down from the garden, and had then hidden them both away in the water tower where they’d agreed to meet the two Silkwings. Cricket had given them excruciatingly detailed instructions on how to find it, but Sundew was starting to think they might have gotten lost anyway – because, second, she and Cricket had now been cramped up in the dark, wet interior of the tower for a completely unreasonable amount of time.
But third, and most importantly – as Sundew sat there, on that rusty maintenance ledge – she couldn’t stop thinking back to Huhu.
He had all manner of stories to tell them, as he toured them around the garden – the exploits of his dragonethood, or the time Wasp had been in his head and had flown him all the way to Mantis Hive for some mission or another – yes, he was a normal, mind-controllable Hivewing, and he’d still been nothing but thoroughly, infuriatingly pleasant the whole time. He’d introduced them to his mate, Atlas – another Hivewing, of course. She was big and quiet and protective of her smaller partner – all things Sundew respected in a dragoness – so she couldn’t help but start liking Atlas, too!
ARGHH.
Huhu was too talkative and thus highly annoying. Atlas was huffy and overprotective and generally unpleasant to be around. Wasp could get into their heads at any time; they couldn’t be trusted – and they didn’t know Sundew was a Leafwing! If they’d known that, they would surely have hated her, she reminded herself. Just like every other Hivewing.
But… would they have hated her? The way they’d treated the Silkwings at the ball... It didn’t seem like–
Nope! Nope nope nope, Sundew shook herself from the traitorous thoughts, desperately whirling her head around in search of anything else to distract herself with.
Her eyes landed on Cricket, who had been awfully quiet since the ball. She was curled up on her chest next to Sundew, tail tucked under her chin – lost in thought, no doubt. She was often this way when she wasn’t bothering certain Leafwings with her endless streams of questions.
Despite this, Sundew’s sudden movement made Cricket lift her head curiously. “Sundew?”
“Um.” Sundew cleared her throat. “I’ve been thinking about Huhu,” she announced gruffly. “He seemed… not horrible. He was like you. You were right.”
Cricket made a small hum of agreement – and then one of her wings started twitching. Sundew knew what was coming next and just sighed in resignation.
“Why did you kiss me earlier?” Cricket then blurted out. “You know how I feel about Blue, and-and– You told me you had a one true love, too! You wouldn’t tell me who it was, but I-I hope it isn’t me, is it? Because I don’t think I feel like that about you, a-and–”
“Woah, woah!” Sundew interrupted. “Slow down, Cricket! It’s not you, don’t worry.”
“Sooo…” Cricket drew out the sound in anticipation. “Can you tell me who it is?”
“No,” Sundew said simply, feeling the familiar weight of a certain jade frog against her chest as she lowered her snout level with Cricket’s. “But... What that guard was saying about you and Silkwings, it reminded me of what my parents think about her. And–”
“Her?” Cricket interrupted, visibly perking up at the new piece of information.
“–and I think he and all those Hivewings needed to see that kiss,” Sundew continued, ignoring the ‘You Have Just Given Me a Million New Questions’ face Cricket was making at her. “You’re allowed to love Blue,” Sundew went on. “If it feels right to you, Cricket, that’s all that matters. Don’t let any Hivewing tell you otherwise.”
Cricket’s gaze drifted down to her claws, and she didn’t say anything for a moment – but then she looked up with a small smile. “I think I needed you to show me that, too,” she said softly, before hesitantly reaching out, until her claws were almost touching Sundew’s face. “Can I…?”
Sundew nodded, perhaps against her better judgment, and felt Cricket’s claws settle onto her scales – and then, before she knew what was happening, Cricket had leaned in to press a light kiss to the tip of Sundew’s snout.
Sundew could feel heat rising to her face again, and Cricket pulled back with a giggle. “I’ve been wanting to do that since the ball,” she admitted sheepishly. “It was nice being in love with you, Sundew, even if it was just pretend. Your one true love must be a lucky dragoness.”
All Sundew managed in response to that was a strangled grunting noise. She was sure she’d just flushed an embarrassing shade of red, and she decided this would be a good time to lie down with her side to Cricket, pointedly not looking at the Hivewing.
“And, um,” Cricket added after a moment. “I know you don’t like me asking,” she went on hopefully, “but if you happened to maybe be interested in telling another dragon about who this one true love–”
“No.”
“Right. Sorry.” Cricket shuffled a few claw-widths closer. “Sundew?”
“Hm?”
“Thank you,” Cricket said quietly. “For… everything.”
Sundew didn’t respond to that. But maybe Cricket had actually moved close enough to press herself up against Sundew’s flank – and maybe, as they lay there together, Sundew found she was perfectly content about being curled up with a Hivewing like this.
Maybe she might even have found Cricket’s tail with her own, after a while, and wrapped the two tightly together, as though they might never separate.
Blue and Swordtail eventually returned, and, thank Clearsight, they’d found a message inked onto a leaf and hidden in a gap under the Glitterbazaar’s Salvation statue: Midnight. Library. 5.
Cricket was sure those were instructions on how to find the Chrysalis – but even if Sundew wasn’t convinced, and nobody knew what the “5” meant; even if the water tower was twice as cramped now, with two other dragons; even if the timing meant Sundew had to wait in there with them, all the way until midnight?
Maybe she wasn’t in such a bad mood anymore.