He blinked awake, his red eyes wide and his face as pale as it’d been earlier. But maybe being unconscious helped him recover more quickly this time, for he grabbed me by the sleeve. “You must have a death wish, Shiori. Didn’t Aunt Nahma tell you to play along?” He groaned, rubbing the singed scales on his spine. “Never mind. Get on. The sharks will be on our tails shortly.”
“What happened back there with your grandfather?” I asked shakily. “I thought dragons couldn’t harm each other, but he…he—”
“Grandfather is a god of dragons,” Seryu replied. “He created the oath; he is not bound by it. Which is why we need to get someplace safe. Now.”
I understood. But first: “We have to rescue Kiki.”
“Did you hear a word I said?” Seryu’s exasperation manifested in a grumble. “It’s bad enough you went back for the stone boy. Forget about Kiki.”
“Forget about her? You know what Kiki means to me. She has a piece of my soul.”
“Had,” Seryu corrected. “And it was a small piece. You won’t die without it. You will die, however, if you keep arguing.”
“But—”
“We can look for her when the search storms recede.” He cocked his head at a whirling column of water and air by the palace, twisting and churning as it scanned every rock, creature, and leaf for Seryu and me. “They’ll catch you in their current and take you to Grandfather if we don’t hurry.”
He grabbed my arm, but I struggled, trying to wade through the seagrass. My knees knocked against stone, and I gasped.
“There’s Gen!” I cried. “Oh, thank the Strands, I think he’s still breathing. We need to bring him too.”
“We don’t have time for him,” Seryu huffed.
“No arguments.” I was already trying to heave Gen onto Seryu’s enormous back. “He’ll die if he stays out here.”
“Why should you care?”
“He’s a child! Every day he’s here is a month his family wonders what’s happened to him.” I thought of how much misery I must have brought Father when my brothers and I disappeared. “We have to help him.”
“This is your only chance to go home. To be with your beloved lordling and your brothers. Isn’t that what you’ve been agonizing over this entire week?”
It was. And I mourned the precious, precious time that I would never get back. But Raikama had sacrificed far more than time for me. I would do right by her.
“I came here to find the Wraith,” I replied. “If I leave, the journey will have been for nothing.”
“Grandfather isn’t going to tell—”
“Elang knows who the Wraith is,” I said, cutting him off.
Surprise sprang on Seryu’s brow, but he shook his head. “Visiting Elang is out of the question. He despises humans. He’d never welcome you.”
“If you won’t come, then I’ll go on my own.”
“On your own?” Seryu laughed. “You can’t even swim to the surface on your own.”
A beaked whale loomed above us, blanketing the seagrass in shadow. Seryu shoved me down to my stomach. “Quiet,” he whispered.
The water rippled, and the shape of a sea maid disembarked from the whale and began swimming toward us. When I saw who it was, I tensed reflexively.
Seryu, on the other hand, shot up. “You were supposed to stay in the palace. What are you doing here?”
Nahma opened her palms, and Kiki burst out, flying into my face. “A little bird showed me the way.”
“Kiki!” I cried. I pressed my bird to my cheek and stroked her beak. Tears of relief welled in my eyes.
“She’s a clever bird,” allowed Nahma. “She swallowed the elixir, but managed to keep it lodged within her throat. She wouldn’t wake until I eased it out of her.”
It was Seryu’s idea, said Kiki. I’m better at keeping secrets than you think.
I didn’t understand. “Seryu’s idea?”
The dragon wouldn’t look at me.
I pursed my lips tight, not knowing what to say to him—or to Nahma. I regarded Nahma first. “I thought you’d betrayed me.”
“My deception was a necessary one,” she replied. “It’s taken me centuries to earn Lady Solzaya’s trust. I could not risk her discovering that I was helping you.”
“You’re sure you weren’t followed?” Seryu asked her.
“I’ve been slipping out of the palace since before you were born, Seryu,” chided Nahma. “Don’t forget I’m your elder. And as your elder, I suggest you take Shiori to Elang. He can save the boy. More than that, he will know where to find the Wraith.”
“He won’t help us,” Seryu scoffed.
Nahma reached into her cloak for what looked like a pewter plate. No, a dragon scale. “Show him this.”
Seryu’s eyes flew up in disbelief. “You have his token?”
She merely nodded. “He will not be able to refuse. Use it to help the boy.”
After some hesitation, Seryu took the scale, then nicked off one of his own and placed the emerald scale into Nahma’s waiting hands.
“Your token is exchanged for mine in thanks,” he said, uttering words I assumed were part of a dragon tradition. His lips drew thin and tight. “A favor for a favor.”
Nahma pocketed the scale and made a low call for her whale.
“Wait,” said Seryu. “You won’t make it back to the palace undetected. The search storms will find you, and Grandfather will punish you.”
“Come with us,” I said. “Come with me back to the surface.”
“I can’t.” Nahma smiled kindly. “I would not leave my children. I have two—both dragons like their father. Besides, I belong here now.” She touched my arm, then buttoned the collar of my dress the way a mother would. “The Westerly Seas are cold. Go swiftly and be safe.”
She turned then to Seryu. “As for Nazayun, he won’t believe I helped you—if you make it convincing enough.”
Seryu seemed to know exactly what that meant. “Back away, Shiori.”
As I obeyed, he wrapped his tail around his aunt’s neck and touched her forehead with a claw. Immediately Nahma went limp, falling into the seagrass with a soft thud.
Kiki gasped. Did you kill her?
“Of course not!” said Seryu, clearly offended. “It’s a simple sleeping spell. An old dragon trick—works best when it’s not anticipated.” He flashed a wicked grin at me. “You should test it on Kiki when she gets seasick.”
Don’t you dare, Kiki warned.