The Lost Heir (12 page)

“Has Blister arrived yet?” Riptide asked.

Tsunami shook her head. He took her front talons in his.

“Be wary of her,” he said. “She has her own plans, and I don’t think protecting SeaWings is high on her list.”

“I will,” Tsunami said. “Oh,” she added, freeing her talons. “What does this mean?” She tried to imitate the circular gesture Shark had made yesterday.

Riptide tilted his head at her. “If you mean this,” he said, doing it perfectly, “then it means something like
Not right now, we’ll finish this later
.”

Tsunami stared at him. “Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure,” Riptide said. “Why, who —”

“Yesterday, when I stopped Shark and the guards from kill ing my friends,” Tsunami said, jumping to her feet, “that’s the gesture he made to them. You’re telling me he was saying ‘we’ll just kill them later’?”

Riptide rubbed his snout. “Maybe,” he said unhappily. “But if Queen Coral hasn’t ordered it, then I’m sure —”

“How would I know?” Tsunami cried. “What if she has ordered it, and I didn’t understand her?” She ran to the mouth of the cave. “I have to go back. I have to check on them. I haven’t even seen them since yesterday.” She leaped into the air, catching the air currents.

“Be careful!” Riptide called after her. “I’ll be out here if you need me. Just —” The wind yanked away his last words.

Tsunami dove into the water, between the spiral dragon horn rocks. She powered through the kelp into the tunnel, shooting between the rock walls. She was going so fast, she didn’t see the dark shape waiting above her in one of the breathing holes.

She thought she was alone until talons slammed into her back and sharp claws closed around her neck.

Giant wings smashed Tsunami to the rock floor of the tunnel. She tried to twist around, but her attacker kicked her in the head and then shoved a hood that smelled of seaweed over her snout so she couldn’t see. Tsunami shouted and struggled, lashing out with her claws and tail. Her attacker was bigger than her, and heavier, so Tsunami could barely move under the weight. It seemed like he or she was wearing something to make them heavier; she felt something metallic clank against her spines.

Fishhook claws dug into her gills, and Tsunami shrieked with pain. She felt blood swirling away from her neck into the water.

I’m not going to die here!
she thought ferociously.
Killed by a coward I can’t even see! I don’t think so!

She remembered how Sunny always managed to wriggle free during their battle training sessions. The tiny dragonet used her small size to slip out of almost every hold Tsunami could think of.

Tsunami scrunched her legs and wings in close and ducked her head, rolling into a tight, spiky ball. Her attacker’s grip loosened around her neck and, as the dragon fumbled for Tsunami’s snout, Tsunami was able to squirm down and shove her opponent over her head. A blast of bubbles slammed into her as the dragon crashed into the wall.

Before she could pull her hood off, the talons were back, clutching her forearms. Tsunami kicked viciously at the underbelly that had to be in front of her and felt her claws snag painfully on metal rings. Her attacker made no sound, but a moment later the dragon’s tail hit Tsunami so hard she thought she heard bones crack.

The other dragon’s wings began to press her down toward the rock floor again. Whoever it was knew how to fight like a SeaWing; they had all the advantages of this world.
So use something they haven’t seen before.
Tsunami thought of how Glory used distraction whenever she fought Kestrel. Tsunami’s scales couldn’t change color, but she bet she could still be pretty distracting.

She flared her wings open and closed, open and closed, as fast as she could, stirring up the water around them. She felt her attacker pause as if confused. On her third flare open, Tsunami suddenly lit up all the stripes all over her body in what she hoped was a blinding flash.

Her attacker’s talons slipped, and Tsunami struck out with her claws again. Again she flared her stripes, as bright as she could make them, so she could even see the light through her hood. She reached to shove her attacker away, and suddenly whoever it was . . . was gone.

Tsunami flailed in the water for a moment, fending off the attacks she expected from every side, before she realized there was no one around her anymore. She reached up and yanked off the hood, then felt the movement of somebody coming up the tunnel from the outside.

She whirled around, ready to fight, and Riptide leaped back, waving his talons. Tsunami whipped her head back and forth, but there was no sign of anyone else.

All right?
Riptide signaled.

Who?
she signaled back with the stripes on her snout.
Who?
She didn’t have any of the other words she needed.

He spread his webbed claws.
I don’t know.
Then he pointed at her.
All right?
He lit up all his stripes, and she guessed he’d seen the light from outside.

She nodded impatiently. She didn’t have any way to explain that she was grateful he’d come, but she needed to chase down her attacker now.

All right,
she signaled back. Then she spun away, swimming fast down the tunnel toward the palace.

Tsunami burst out of the water into a scene of eerie calm. Dragons were lounging peacefully on beaches and cliff edges, or playing underwater and darting through the waterfalls. She searched the water and the pavilion with her gaze, looking for anyone who might have just been in a fight. Surely she had left some kind of mark on her attacker.

No one was acting suspicious. Tsunami glanced up and saw her mother’s tail poking off a level of the pavilion near the top — the library level. She beat her wings, rose out of the water, and flew up to her.

“Hello, dear,” Queen Coral said as Tsunami landed. She was surrounded by scrolls, several of them half unrolled. Anemone was curled on a curved white boulder beside her, looking bored out of her mind. “I’ve been reading out loud to your sister. It’s her favorite part of the day. We’ve just finished the story of how I chose Gill to be my husband.” She sighed gustily. “He adored my writing, too.”

“Mother —” Tsunami started.

“He was a perfect candidate for king,” Coral said. “He came from a very noble family. Nothing to worry about in
his
ancestry. A lot like Whirlpool in his intelligence, too.” Coral sighed again.

“Mother —” Tsunami said again.

“Luckily you’ve arrived just in time for my epic poem,
On the Differences Between Oysters and Clams
. It’s an elegantly well-crafted metaphor about class differences and genetic superiority, as Whirlpool always says.”

“Mother,”
Tsunami interrupted firmly. “Someone just tried to kill me.”

Queen Coral sat up, scattering drops of ink from her claws. “What? Who
dared
?”

“I don’t know, but they must be here now,” Tsunami said. “Somewhere in the palace. We should gather everyone and —”

“The eggs!” Queen Coral yelped. “The eggs must be in danger!” She started flinging scrolls back into cauldrons.

“What?” Tsunami said, bewildered. “What eggs?”

“Two eggs with female dragonets,” Anemone explained to Tsunami. “They’re in the Royal Hatchery, in the Deep Palace. They’re due to hatch in a couple of days.”

“And if someone attacked you, they’ll probably go after the eggs, too!” Queen Coral cried. She dashed to the edge of the pavilion. “Moray! Whirlpool! Hurry!”

“But my attacker is here,” Tsunami said. “I’m sure of it. Not at the Deep Palace.”

“So we have to get there first,” Queen Coral insisted.

“But we could catch them
here
.” Tsunami didn’t understand why her mother couldn’t see the obvious thing to do.

“Mother, what about Tortoise?” Anemone asked. “She’s supposed to guard them, isn’t she? That’s Mother’s Council chief of dragonet care,” she explained to Tsunami. “This week anyway.”

“The others have all failed me,” Queen Coral said with a grimace. “Tortoise probably will as well. She didn’t even want the job. Nobody wants it! The most important duty in the Kingdom of the Sea, and all my cowardly subjects hide from it. MORAY!” she bellowed.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Moray slithered up from the level below. Tsunami eyed her as she climbed onto the library floor. Did she look like she’d just been in a fight? Tsunami couldn’t tell. Moray wouldn’t look at her, but that wasn’t new.

“Moray, we must get to the Deep Palace at once,” Queen Coral said. “I feel that my eggs are in danger. My scales tell me so.”

“What about whoever attacked me?” Tsunami demanded. “We have to catch them and punish them!”

“It’s more important to stop them from hurting my eggs,” Queen Coral said grimly. “Someone has been kill ing my daughters for years. These are the last two Gill left me, and I won’t let anything happen to them.” She turned to Moray, who was sitting close beside her and gazing worshipfully at the queen. “I wish you would guard them, dear. You never fail me.”

“But every thing I do for your scrolls is so terribly important,” Moray said. “They’re like your other children, really. I couldn’t abandon them.”

“That’s true,” Queen Coral said. She patted her pearls and flicked her wings open. Behind her back, Tsunami caught Moray shooting a look full of hatred at Anemone.
Wow,
she thought.
I wonder what that’s for.

Do you hate all of Queen Coral’s daughters?

Enough to try to kill me?

“I sent Shark on ahead this morning after breakfast, but he never worries enough,” Queen Coral said, clicking her claws together. “He doesn’t even believe there’s an assassin. He thinks it’s all bad luck.” She shook herself with a hiss. “He even told me once that perhaps I wasn’t meant to have daughters. He’s lucky he’s my brother — and your father, Moray — so I let him live. WHIRLPOOL! WHERE ARE YOU?”

Anemone winced and put her talons over her ears.

“Stay very close to me in the Deep Palace,” the queen ordered Tsunami. “We really have to put a rush order on a harness for you. They’ve been working on two for the new dragonets, but clearly yours is an emergency.”

“I can take care of myself,” Tsunami said, ruffled. “Obviously. I’m still alive, so whoever attacked me failed.” She gave Moray a hard look, but the Council dragon only shifted her wings as if she didn’t care.

Pitter-patter, pitter-patter.

All the dragons glanced up at the canopy far overhead. Raindrops were spattering across the green leaves.

“Ah, the precipitation I predicted,” said Whirlpool, landing beside Coral. “My apologies for not appearing instantly, Your Majesty; I was distributing scrolls to the kitchen staff.” He didn’t look as if he’d been in a fight — and Tsunami didn’t really think the ridiculous dragon could have overpowered her for a moment.

“We’re going to the Deep Palace — now, as fast as we can.” Queen Coral dove over the edge so suddenly that Anemone was yanked off her talons after her. Tsunami followed and found herself in a swarm of dragons midair as all the Council members hurried after Queen Coral as well.

They crowded into the tunnel, tails smacking into snouts and wings tangling. Tsunami got pushed into the middle and found herself swimming beside Whirlpool.

Too late, she remembered she had meant to check on her friends.
Why can’t I be a better dragon?
she berated herself.

She tried to turn and go back, but Council dragons were there shoving her forward. After nearly getting clawed in the face a few times, she gave up.

Surely they’re all right. Especially if Shark is in the Deep Palace already. I’ll come right back and see them after we check on the eggs.

Out in the sea, Queen Coral immediately found a current and swept off. One by one, each of the dragons followed her.

Tsunami glanced around, scanning the coral reefs and underwater boulders. Her heart jumped a little as she caught a glimpse of sky-blue scales. Riptide was still out there, watching for her. She waited a moment until she saw him dart from one rock to another. He was following them — following
her
— to the Deep Palace.

Pleased, although she felt a bit silly about it, she swam into the current and let it carry her after the others. She was starting to get the trick of how to angle her wings so it could sweep her along as fast as possible. It was a bit like flying, but with a lot more to dodge. Then again, fish managed to get out of the way pretty fast when they saw the dragons coming.

Above them, rain pattered down harder and harder on the water’s surface. The light faded, and Tsunami imagined the dark clouds rolling in. She hoped her friends would be all right in the Summer Palace. Surely there were storms there all the time. At least they were in a cave, so they wouldn’t get wet.

Two giant sea turtles swam by, going in the other direction. They eyed the dragons warily, but nobody stopped to eat them. Explosions of tiny pink fish popped in and out of the waving anemones along the coral reefs. Something large and yellow was lying flat against the sand; it opened its eyes, stared at Tsunami, and closed them again.

After a while, an island loomed in front of them, with immense coral reefs clustered all around it. Orange branches twined around purple star-shaped clusters. Lacy fans the color of rust sprouted from pale pink umbrella shapes. Blue-and-silver fish darted in and out of the holes.

The SeaWings swam out of the current and around the bend of the reef, and then the lead dragons ducked into a canyon in the ocean floor.

Tsunami followed them down. As her eyes adjusted to the growing darkness, she saw a vast expanse of white-and-green coral reef spreading along the sides and floor of the canyon. It curled into caves and towers and underwater gardens full of glowing colors. In the center of the canyon, the coral spiraled up into an enormous palace, swarming with SeaWings.

SeaWings were every where — swimming in and out of the windows and doors of the palace, shooting up to the surface and diving to the bottom of the canyon, tending the gardens, gently cleaning the coral, lugging large fish in from the hunt, or sitting in small circles with groups of dragonets, reading from thin stone tablets.

The only signs of the war were a few troops drilling in formation around the palace, and a group of soldiers gathered in one of the gardens, each with terrible bandaged wounds. Tsunami saw two with missing feet, one with scorched holes where his eyes should have been, and several with black scars twisting their wings or tail. Several couldn’t swim anymore, but had to be helped through the water by nurse dragons.

As Queen Coral swam past, dragons snapped to attention, saluting or waving. She waved to each of them with a wide smile. Tsunami noticed that most of them waved to Anemone, too, and the little dragonet smiled and waved back.