“We can’t go anywhere, Tsunami,” Sunny said as Starflight hurriedly adjusted his position. “We couldn’t leave Clay.” She pointed down at Clay’s talons.
Clay lifted his front talons with an apologetic expression. Silver chains ran around each ankle and were bolted to rings in the floor. He had them around his back talons as well.
Shock stabbed through Tsunami, followed by fury. Had her mother ordered this? If so, she must have known Clay could drown in the storm, and she didn’t care. She’d lied to Tsunami that her friends would be all right.
But maybe she didn’t know. Maybe this was Shark’s doing.
If that’s the case, I’ll rip him apart.
“I knew you’d come for us, though,” Sunny said. “I mean, I thought you’d come yesterday. Or this morning. Or when the storm started. But I knew you would come. Eventually. Well, I was pretty sure.”
“I was sure you wouldn’t,” Glory said. “Don’t you have a feast or a coronation or a beheading to attend?” She squinted at Tsunami. “Is that an egg? Wow, they work fast in the Kingdom of the Sea. Who’s the lucky father?”
“Glory, stop sniping at me for TWO SECONDS, please,” Tsunami said. She slung the harness off and carefully passed it up to Sunny. “Sunny, I need you to take care of this. It has to stay warm, and you’re the only one who can keep it that way.” She hoped the natural warmth from a SandWing’s scales would be similar to what the egg would have in the nursery.
“Me?” Sunny’s voice was filled with delight. “You want me to do something important?”
“Really important,” Tsunami said. “That’s the very last female dragonet Queen Coral may ever have. Somebody wants it dead, and we’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Sunny wrapped the harness around herself twice and nestled the egg into her warm scales. When Tsunami glanced up, she thought she saw a pulse of dark blue moving inside the egg. “So keep it warm and safe, and for goodness’ sake don’t break it, and don’t let Clay anywhere near it in case he accidentally sits on it.”
“I would never!” Clay protested. His stomach growled loudly.
“Haven’t they at least fed you?” Tsunami asked.
“We got some breakfast leftovers this morning,” Clay said with a sigh. “Very extremely tiny small crabs.”
“I am going to claw someone,” Tsunami snarled. So was Lagoon lying to Queen Coral? Or was she ne glecting the dragonets on the queen’s orders?
Tsunami crouched to study the chains. “Did you try melting them?” she asked Sunny and Starflight. “Like you did when you freed me, under the mountain?”
Starflight leaned over and pointed at a few blackened sections of the chain. “We tried,” he said. His voice sounded more deflated than usual. “It didn’t work. This metal must be like the SkyWing wires, reinforced in some way.”
Tsunami heard splashing behind her and whirled around, but it was only Riptide.
“How do we get these off?” she demanded.
He rubbed his snout ner vously. “You’ll need the key from the guards,” he said. “But they’ll never give it to you.”
“We’ll see about that,” Tsunami growled. “Hide if you need to,” she said to Riptide. “I might have to bring a guard back with me. By force, with my claws through his ears,” she muttered as she stomped out of the cave.
SeaWing faces disappeared all over the palace when they saw her glaring around. But she remembered the lower pavilion level where she’d seen guards resting and drinking from cauldrons. She could see a few huddled shapes there now. Perhaps they assumed they could watch the cave from over there, out of the rain.
Tsunami flapped over to the pavilion and landed next to a large cauldron that bubbled and smelled like green tea. Four guards were clustered around a low table, playing a game that involved rolling fish bones. They all froze when they heard her talons thud down. Slowly they turned toward her, and she guessed by their guilty faces that they weren’t supposed to leave the cave.
She couldn’t tell if they felt guilty about leaving her friends to drown, too, or if they were only worried about how the queen would react when she found out Tsunami had sauntered right into the dragonets’ cave.
“Give me the key,” she growled.
“Uh,” mumbled one of the guards. “What key?”
“Don’t make me bite you!” Tsunami shouted. “The key! Right now!” She stepped forward, lashing her tail threateningly.
Although all four of the guards were larger than her, they quailed backward. She wondered how many of them she could hurt, if she attacked quickly.
“We can’t!” protested a second guard. “We have orders!”
“Orders from whom?” Tsunami demanded.
“Our — our commander,” said the first guard.
“Shark?”
They all nodded fervently, as if they were hoping she’d now go away and yell at him instead of them.
“Too bad for him,” Tsunami said. “Key.” She held out her talon.
“But we can’t,” said the second guard again.
Tsunami studied his scales, looking for weak spots. She knew she was fast and strong, and she was pretty sure she could knock two guards over the side with her tail while she clawed a third in the face with her talons. Perhaps she could use her teeth on the fourth —
She remembered the feeling of SeaWing scales sliding under her claws and shuddered. She’d looked at Gill this way, too, in the arena, sizing him up so she could defeat him. What was she about to do? Hurt more dragons, just for being in her way?
Dragons she didn’t even know — dragons who could be her brothers, her cousins — dragons who had families, who were more than nameless guards to somebody.
Maybe her friends were right about her.
The guards looked terrified, as if they were waiting for her to attack them. But they also knew what Coral was capable of, and surely Shark as well. Tsunami couldn’t think of anything scarier than what her mother had done to Tortoise. She didn’t really want to try.
So if she couldn’t be more scary than her mother . . . maybe there was another way. Maybe she could convince the guards, instead of fighting them.
She remembered the dragons in the SkyWing prison, singing the song about the dragonets coming to save the day. Maybe these guards were like those dragons — believing in the prophecy, wanting it to come true. Maybe she could use that instead of just hitting them with her tail like she was tempted to.
“Listen,” she said fiercely. “Don’t you know about the prophecy?”
The guards exchanged glances. She guessed that the prophecy had been talked about plenty since the dragonets arrived.
“Great. So do you remember anything in the prophecy about a group of octopus heads letting the MudWing drown before he could save the world? Did I miss that part?” She lashed her tail. “Do you want to be the ones who ruined Pyrrhia’s only chance of stopping the war?”
“No,” blurted the third guard. “The war has to end.” He ducked his head. “You saved my brother today when you sent him to have his wounds tended. She would have kept him standing there for the rest of the Council meeting.”
Tsunami was shocked into silence for a moment. Was that true? Did Queen Coral let soldiers die like that? For no reason?
“Which one was your brother?” she asked.
He indicated his throat — the one with the gash and the blood coming from his gills.
“Oh,” Tsunami said. “What happened to his friend?”
All the guards shook their heads. “Too late,” said the first guard. She crushed the fish bones between her front claws and looked away.
“We want to help you,” said the third guard. “But if we support a new queen before the challenge is even made . . . it could go really badly for us.”
So somebody does see me as a potential queen, Tsunami thought, pleased.
“I told you, she can’t be our new queen,” said the first guard. “The dragonets in the prophecy have to
be outside the war to stop it.”
“Besides, Anemone is supposed to be our next queen,” growled the fourth guard.
“You don’t know what the prophecy means,” argued the third guard. “Maybe they’re all supposed to rule their tribes and stop the war that way.”
“That’s not possible,” insisted the second guard. “Two of them are male.”
Tsunami got the feeling they’d been having this argument for a while.
The third guard turned to her suddenly. “You tell us,” he said. “What’s your plan? If you really are the dragonets of the prophecy, how are you going to make it come true?”
Tsunami shifted her weight on her talons. That was the question she couldn’t answer. The Talons of Peace hadn’t taught them what to do. Nobody seemed to know. As much as she liked to talk about how the dragonets would choose the next SandWing queen, she couldn’t imagine how that would work. Who would listen to them? Even if they went around the whole continent saying “How about Blister, we like her. Let’s have Blister win,” what good would that do? It wouldn’t stop Burn and Blaze from fighting.
But some dragons believed in the prophecy — soldiers exactly like these four. She couldn’t let them see that she had no idea what she was doing.
“Listen,” she said. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to be the next SeaWing queen or not. Sometimes I think Queen Coral is doing every thing right, and then sometimes —” She stopped, remembering Tortoise. Would Anemone be a better queen, one day when she was old enough? Would Tsunami?
“But I do know this,” she went on. “We can’t fulfill the prophecy without Clay. He’s the heart of our group. Without him, the rest of us will fall apart, and we won’t be worthy of any destiny at all.”
She stepped toward the first guard, whose expression was wavering between belief and worry. “I know you don’t trust MudWings. I know you obey Shark in every thing. But we’re talking about the end of the war. You thought nothing you ever did could bring peace or save the dragons you care about, but right now you can make all the difference.” She took another step closer. “Just give me the key.”
The guard twisted her talons together and looked at the others. Two of them nodded; the fourth looked away, her tail twitching, as if she wanted to be left out of the blame.
“I’ll do every thing I can to protect you,” Tsunami promised.
The first guard reached into a niche in the table and pulled out a pair of heavy silver keys. She placed them carefully in Tsunami’s talons.
“Thank you,” Tsunami said. “What are your names?”
“Snail,” said the first guard. She pointed at the others. “Flounder, Herring, and Kelp. Please.” She paused. “If you do become queen, please remember us. Whatever she does to punish us, please take care of our families.”
“And stop the war,” Herring said fiercely. “Whatever you have to do.”
Tsunami stepped back, curling her claws around the keys, and saluted to the guards. She took off from the pavilion and flew back down to the cave.
The water was nearly up to her wings by now. Clay was standing, watching the rising water unhappily, with Sunny still perched on his back. Glory and Starflight were in the water with Riptide. They both looked tremendously irritated at how wet they were.
“Hooray!” Sunny yelped when Tsunami held up the keys.
“Wow,” Glory said. Swirling waves of bright yellow shifted through her scales. “I did not think that was going to work.”
Tsunami plunged her head under the water and lifted the shackles around Clay’s ankles. She found the lock for the front talons quickly, inserted one of the keys, and freed him. The other key unlocked the chains on his back talons. Clay kicked them away and shook out his wings as Tsunami stood up again.
“All better,” he said, grinning at her. His stomach roared in disagreement. “Well, almost all better,” he amended.
“Let’s find somewhere dry, and I’ll see about food,” Tsunami said. She herded them out of the cave ahead of her. Riptide paused, still in the shadows, and she turned to him.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “You saved my friends.”
“I didn’t do much,” he whispered back. “I could never boss anybody into doing what I want. You’re really good at it.”
“Well,” Tsunami said. “Sometimes bossing doesn’t work, and you have to try something else. It’d be much easier if everyone just did as I told them.”
He laughed. “I should get out of here before someone sees me.”
She nodded and wound her tail around his. “I’ll look for you again tomorrow, if I can. There’s a lot of Aquatic I still have to learn.”
He smiled and slipped out of the cave into the water. She waded onto the beach and watched his sky-blue scales vanish into the underwater tunnel. She was glad she’d found at least one dragon she could trust in the Kingdom of the Sea.
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,” Glory started.
“Don’t you dare,” Tsunami said, shoving her into the lake.
The RainWing squawked indignantly and flapped up into the air, showering them all with cold droplets. Rain was still dripping down through the canopy, and small waves scudded across the surface of the bay.
“Let’s try that cave,” Tsunami said, pointing to one far up the cliff. “If there’s anyone in it, I’ll clear them out.”
Glory snorted.
But the cave turned out to be empty and dry, and once they all huddled into it, it felt warm as well. Sunny immediately curled around the egg, stroking it and murmuring to it. Starflight blew a small spurt of flame into the air to heat them up.
“The dragonet can’t hear you,” Tsunami pointed out to Sunny.
“We don’t know that,” Sunny said. “She might be scared. I’m just telling her it’s all right, and we’ll take care of her.”
Tsunami hid a smile. She was glad Sunny had agreed to take the egg — she’d been a little worried that the little SandWing might still be too mad at Tsunami to want to help. But maybe she’d forgotten about Tsunami attacking the SkyWing soldier. Or maybe Sunny was always willing to help. She didn’t fight about every thing just to be difficult, like Glory did.
Clay nudged Tsunami with his snout. “We’re happy to see you,” he said. “Tell us about the tribe. Does everyone adore you? Are they good fighters? What do they eat?” he finished wistfully.
“Let me find you some food first,” Tsunami said, turning toward the cave entrance. She was surprised at how warm and happy she felt to be back with her friends again.
This was how she’d expected to feel among the SeaWings — like she was coming home.
So why don’t I?
Tsunami dropped three cauldrons on the cave floor — one packed with fish, one with clear water, and one with a seaweed-mushroom salad. She’d found them on the kitchen level, unguarded, so she thought they might as well go to the dragonets.
Sunny seized the salad cauldron and shoved her nose into it. Starflight peered at the fish, and then, without even asking the others if they’d mind, he shot a burst of fire into the cauldron, which left all the fish blackened and smoky tasting.
“Hey,” Tsunami protested. “I like them raw.”
“Overruled,” Glory said. “Raw fish is gross.”
“Raw fish is awesome,” Tsunami insisted.
“You have unreliable taste,” said Glory. “You think your terrifying mother is awesome.”
“She is not terrifying!” Tsunami said. “She’s a wonderful queen!”
“That is what all the scrolls say,” Starflight pointed out through a mouthful of charred fish.
Tsunami looked up at the cave ceiling and shifted from talon to talon. “Er,” she said. “Well. Apparently she . . . wrote a lot of those herself.”
“Really?” Starflight blinked in astonishment. “She’s a writer? I had no idea. That’s so — I mean, I wish I — do you think she’d read something I —” He stammered to a stop and fidgeted for a moment with the cauldron. “It’s
cool, is all,” he mumbled, shoving a fish in his mouth.
“Anyway, it’s not just the scrolls. Her subjects think she’s a great queen, too,” Tsunami said loyally. Most of them. I think.
“Compelling,” said Glory. “Except for the part where she’s kill ing off all her daughters.”
Tsunami stared at Glory, too shocked to respond.
“Well, wait,” Clay said. “That’s just a theory.”
“A good theory,” Starflight observed. “With her daughters dead, and no sisters either, no one will ever be able to challenge her for the throne. She could be queen for a hundred years and die peacefully in her sleep instead of in combat.”
Sunny pulled the egg closer to her and patted it reassuringly.
“No!” Tsunami blurted. “You’re so wrong! She would never — you haven’t seen how protective she is. I mean, look at how she takes care of Anemone.”
“Like a crazy dragon,” Glory interjected, waving a smoky fish at Tsunami.
“It’s a good way to make herself look innocent,” Starflight offered. “Besides, think about when the murders started.” He waited, with an “ isn’t it obvious?” look on his face.
“Oh dear,” Clay said, rubbing his head. “Did we really study this?”
“I don’t know either,” Sunny whispered to him.
“Starflight,” Tsunami growled. “Just tell us.”
“Very well,” he said. “It was right after the only challenge Queen Coral has ever faced. Her first clutch of eggs had one female in it —”
“Orca,” Tsunami guessed.
Starflight nodded with a pleased expression. “You do remember! She challenged the queen almost the moment she was full grown. I’m sure Coral was more shocked than anyone. Especially when Orca almost killed her. Queen Coral only won by accident, impaling Orca on that narwhal horn she has on the end of her tail.”
“So?” Tsunami said. “Why would that make her murder all her future daughters?”