Seryu was deep in the middle of the Taijin Sea, probably lolling about in a palace carved of pearl and shell. He’d warned me he wouldn’t return until spring.
Feeling foolish, I turned back for the cave, almost wishing I had never left.
My brothers returned with beakfuls of fish and a basket overflowing with lettuce, tangerines, and half-eaten steamed buns. No paper or brush or ink, but they’d brought me new clothes—a cloak, a pair of mismatched socks, and gloves for the harsh winter ahead.
I gaped at them, gesturing at their own ragged clothes.
Hasho shrugged. “No one sees us at night.”
No one sees me in the day, either,I thought.
I’d been waiting all day for their return, anxious for my questions to be answered. Without a brush and ink, I settled for a more inventive way of communicating. I threw water over a patch of dirt and smoothed out the mud.
I hadn’t written in months, and my hand shook as I pressed the tip of my dagger into the damp earth.
Take me home? The guards won’t shoot me.
At the question, my brothers’ smiles faded. “It’s not so simple, Sister.”
My brow knotted with confusion. What wasn’t simple? We were together again, finally, after nearly all of autumn apart. They could fly, meaning we could easily reach the palace in a matter of days. Why were they so reluctant?
“Our stepmother has made things a bit more difficult for us. For one, Father wouldn’t recognize us, even if we were right in front of him in our human form.”
Bile rose to my throat. That dream I’d had of my stepmother’s glowing yellow eyes piercing into Father’s…had that been real?
How do we defeat her? Is there a way to break her enchantment?
“Yes, but it won’t be easy,” Andahai replied, rubbing hisnarrow chin. “Every day these last two months, we searched for you. We had no idea where Raikama had sent you. We split up and traveled to A’landi and Agoria, even to Balar.”
“We didn’t find you,” Benkai said, taking over the story. “But we did meet an enchanter—he said that the only way to break our curse is to take away our stepmother’s magic.”
I would have snorted if I could. That wasn’t helpful.
How?
Andahai hesitated, which worried me. My eldest brother was never at a loss for words. That he was nervous now made me nervous.
He straightened, but the way his eyes darted at the others made my gut sink. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like his next words.
“It appears that Raikama is in possession of a dragon pearl,” he said slowly. “And you, Shiori, you will have to stealit.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The edges of my vision blurred, my brother’s words ringing in my ears.
It was not out of alarm or shock that I was reeling. No, everything had suddenly become clear. That day I’d followed Raikama to the Tears of Emuri’en, I’d been looking for the source of her magic. I’d seen it—that mysteriously broken orb my stepmother kept hidden in her chest. It had glowed with power, like a bead of sunlight.
So, that had been adragonpearl.
I touched my heart, where the fragment of Seryu’s pearl rested, long forgotten. Then I rose to my feet, frantically circling my hands to ask:How do I get it?
“Sit, Shiori,” said Andahai, covering the mud with his hands before I could write. “Hear us out first.”
I sat, but I gripped my dagger hard, dozens of questions itching to get out.
“You need to weave a starstroke net,” Andahai said. “It’s the only thing powerful enough to subdue a dragon’s magic.”
I frowned. I’d never been the most diligent student of Kiatan lore, butthatstory I knew.
