Free The Brightest Night by Tui T. Sutherland Page B

claws.
    REWARD REWARD REWARD
    For any information leading to the whereabouts of two NightWings once seen around the Scorpion Den, known as Morrowseer and Stonemover.
    For any information regarding the present location of a scarred SandWing named Dune, last seen frequenting the night market seven years ago.
    For any dragonet hatched in the last six years with unusual features.
    Come before Thorn at the Outclaw Pool with anything. Your safety guaranteed.
    REWARD REWARD REWARD
    Smaller drawings of Morrowseer and Dune accompanied the words, along with another drawing of a subdued-looking NightWing she guessed was Stonemover. She glanced at the other papers that Thorn was holding and saw similar pronouncements with slightly different words —”five years ago” or “in the last three years,” for instance. This wasn’t a new search, or a new reward. This was the latest update of an ongoing hunt.
    Sunny put the paper down slowly. Pieces were starting to come together in her mind, bubbling in a funny, hopeful, confused way.
    “You didn’t know about this?” Thorn asked.
    Sunny shook her head. “I haven’t been in the Kingdom of Sand in the last six years.” She took a deep breath, then let it all spill out of her. “My egg was found out in the desert, alone, by a dragon named Dune. That dragon.” She pointed to the picture on the wall as Thorn inhaled sharply. “He took me to be raised by the Talons of Peace, along with the other dragonets of destiny. After all, I fit the prophecy….” She hesitated, then added, “And my parents clearly didn’t want me.”
    She raised her head and met Thorn’s eyes. The leader of the Outclaws dropped the rest of the papers, stepped forward, and seized Sunny’s front talons in hers.
    “He didn’t find you,” she growled. “He stole you. He knew where I’d hidden you for your own safety, and he betrayed me.”
    Sunny felt as though she couldn’t breathe. The claws wrapped around hers, the dark eyes fixed on her. These were the only real things in the tent; everything else was blurring and sliding away.
    This is it, she thought wonderingly. This is the moment we all dreamed about, all those years under the mountain.
    “I wanted you,” Thorn said fiercely. “You were the only thing I wanted. I’ve done everything I could to find you.”
    Not fulfilling the prophecy … but finding our parents.
    Thorn gripped her claws tighter. “Sunny. You’re my daughter.”

Sunny’s scales felt as if they were fizzing and humming and trying to leap right off her. She flung herself into Thorn’s wings, which folded around her like sunbeams.
    “Hey!” Qibli barked, jumping up.
    “It’s all right, sit down,” Thorn said. She rested her head on top of Sunny’s and pulled her in more tightly.
    “I knew you didn’t really abandon me,” Sunny said, although she wasn’t sure how much she’d ever really known that.
    “ I knew I’d find you one day,” said Thorn. “I didn’t take over this city for nothing. Never thought you’d just come strolling into my tent, though. Chasing a trio of NightWings, no less.” She leaned back and smiled. “Funny brave little dragon.”
    It was warm, warm, warm, here in her mother’s wings, as warm as Sunny had always wanted to be.
    “Hang on,” Qibli interjected. “Thorn, begging your pardon, but how do you know? She could be anybody. She could be playing you. She could be a con artist!”
    “I’ve met enough con artists in the last six years,” Thorn said calmly, “swaggering in here, hoping to cheat me out of the reward. This is my daughter.”
    “Where’s my father?” Sunny asked. “It’s — it’s not Dune, is it?”
    “Bright smashing suns, no,” Thorn said. “What a horrifying thought. No.” She shot a glance at Qibli. “He’s … not around anymore. We can talk about that later. But speaking of Dune, if you can point me at him, he’s on this Needs To Be Violently Dismembered list I have.”
    “He’s already