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she
should
be queen,” Tsunami said stoutly. “That’s up to us, remember?”
    It looked for a moment like Riptide was trying not to smile.
    “Well,” Starflight stammered, “she is a pretty good — I mean, she’s the smart one — I think we’ll probably —”
    Tsunami tilted her head at him. What was he rattling on about? He snapped his mouth shut and went back to picking sand out of his scales.
    “Did you know Webs?” Clay asked Riptide.
    The SeaWing dropped his gaze. “Not really. He ran away during a battle when I was only two years old. But I’ve been hearing about his treachery my whole life.” He sighed. “I really can’t believe he never took you to the ocean in all that time.”
    “It’s true,” Tsunami said. “
And
he never taught me Aquatic. I wish I had all the Talons of Peace here so I could
bite
them.”
    “To be fair, the Talons were just keeping us safe,” Sunny interjected. “They needed us to survive to fulfill the prophecy.”
    Tsunami snorted, and Sunny gave her an injured look.
    “But the prophecy,” Riptide said. He pointed at Glory. “It calls for a SkyWing. She’s not a SkyWing.”
    “It’s a little complicated,” Tsunami said as a hint of sea green rippled across Glory’s scales. “Anyway, I’m not sure we really care about the prophecy. But we do care about finding the families we were stolen from.”
    “I care about the prophecy!” Sunny protested. She poked Clay’s side, and he nodded agreeably.
    Starflight cleared his throat, but Tsunami hurried on before he could start lecturing again.
His
egg hadn’t been stolen; the NightWings had handed it right over. So maybe he didn’t care about getting home, but she certainly did.
    “Only a few days ago, I found out I was stolen from the Royal Hatchery,” Tsunami said. “So . . . so I thought maybe my parents were looking for me. Like in
The Missing Princess
? Do you know that scroll?”
    Riptide definitely squashed a smile this time. “I do,” he said. “It’s required reading in school.”
    “School,” Starflight said in the wistful tones Clay used to talk about food.
    “Required reading?” Tsunami echoed. That was odd. It was a fairy tale, not a historical document. And not, perhaps, the best-written scroll she’d ever read, although it was still one of her favorites because of the story.
    “But I can’t take you to the palace,” Riptide said firmly. “Not with him along.” He jerked his head at Clay.
    “Weren’t you listening?” Tsunami said, exasperated. “He’s not a regular MudWing. He’s certainly not allied with Burn or the SkyWings. You can trust him.”
    “Perhaps you should stay here,” Riptide suggested, “and I’ll bring Queen Coral back to you.” He glanced across the water at the other island, where he’d met the green dragon with the black spiral patterns. Tsunami wondered if he was wishing for reinforcements.
    “Nope,” she said. “We’re all coming with you.”
    “I’m in enough trouble with Queen Coral,” Riptide protested. “That’s why I’m stuck patrolling all the way out here. If I bring a MudWing back to the palace, I might as well pull out my own teeth.”
    “Ew!” Sunny cried. “That’s not a real punishment, is it?”
    Tsunami didn’t want to know the answer to that. She wanted to meet her mother without images of horrible things in her head. “Think of it this way,” she said quickly. “What happens if Queen Coral finds out you met her missing daughter and
didn’t
bring her back to the palace?”
    Riptide squirmed and wrinkled his snout. “Can’t I bring you and leave the others?” he asked. “At least until Queen Coral gives her permission?”
    “No,” she said stoutly. “We all go together. She’ll understand once she realizes we’re the dragonets of destiny.”
    Riptide sighed. “All right, but he has to be blindfolded.” He looked at the other three, rubbing his chin. “It’d be better if they could all be