Free The Lost Heir by Tui T. Sutherland Page B

and tucked her tail around her back talons. She wished Anemone would stop staring at her.
She must hate me,
she thought.
I would if I were her. She must know I want the throne she thought was hers.
    But not yet. Now was the time for getting to know her mother.
    “Can we talk alone?” Tsunami asked. The ten dragons were still perched like creepy sentinels, with Shark the creepiest of all.
    “Of course,” said the queen. “Council, you are dismissed. Moray, send a message to Queen Blister and see how quickly she can get here. As for you, creature, go back to your guard outpost and stay there until someone actually wants to see you.”
    Riptide crouched, nodding, and dove over the edge. Tsunami leaned out to watch him swimming into the tunnel.
    “What’s wrong with Riptide?” she asked as the other ten dragons also flew away in a thunderclap of wingbeats. “I thought he was nice.”
    “Oh,
no
,” Queen Coral said with a shudder. “He can’t be trusted. Webs is his father. Their bloodline is tainted with betrayal.”
    Tsunami felt like a giant wave had just knocked her over. “Webs is his
father
?” But she’d liked Riptide — and all along he was the son of her kidnapper. Which he’d carefully never mentioned. What else hadn’t he told her?
    “Nasty family,” Coral went on. She lashed her tail, nearly hitting Anemone in the head. “Not fitting company for royalty by any means. We keep him as far away from us as possible.”
    Poor Riptide,
Tsunami thought. It wasn’t his fault his father had turned traitor, but he suffered for it anyway.
    And yet, he
had
hidden the truth from her, and she didn’t like that at all.
    Was Queen Coral right about him? Surely she knew her own subjects better than Tsunami did.
    But there was still a part of Tsunami that hoped she’d see him again.
    She glanced at Anemone. “So — we were saying — alone — ?”
    “Oh, no, Anemone never leaves my side,” Queen Coral said. She reached over and lovingly patted the little dragonet’s head. “I finally got a living daughter, and I’m keeping her that way.”
    “By watching me
every second
,” Anemone said. She widened her eyes at Tsunami, who wondered if she’d imagined a hint of sarcasm in her sister’s words.
    “And now I have two daughters!” Queen Coral said proudly. “Possibly four by the end of next week, if Tortoise does her job right.” She gave Tsunami a worried look. “Maybe we should make a harness for you, too, dear.”
    “Oh, no, that’s all right,” Tsunami said, eyeing the straps that lashed Coral and Anemone together. “I’ve managed to take care of myself up to now. I promise I’ll stay alive.” Much as she already loved her mother, she could not imagine being attached to anyone every moment of every day.
    “Hmmm,” said the queen. “Well, we’ll think about it.” She studied Tsunami’s shoulders as if she was mentally measuring her for a harness anyway.
    “I have to tell you something,” Tsunami said, hoping to change the subject. “I — I don’t know the underwater language. Webs never taught it to me.”
    Queen Coral stared at her. “What is wrong with that dragon?” she growled. “It’s all right, sweetheart. We’ll have Whirlpool teach you — he’s a terrific teacher. Right, Anemone?”
    Anemone shrugged.
    “So what
do
you know?” Queen Coral asked. “Did they teach you anything?”
    “Of course!” Tsunami said. She didn’t want her mother to think she was unfit to be queen. “We had lots of battle training. And Webs taught us the history of Pyrrhia. We learned all about the Scorching and how the tribes were founded and how we nearly wiped out the scavengers. Um, and he did geography, too. Dune taught us hunting. Kestrel was supposed to teach different tribe strengths and weaknesses, but mostly she just yelled and tried to set us on fire a lot.”
    Anemone’s eyes were bright with interest. “Why don’t I get to learn those things, Mother?” she