Sunny was nervous. Very nervous. So nervous her scales felt like they were crawling with caterpillars. So nervous her wing muscles were beginning to cramp up, even though she'd been flying for the lesser part of a day. She was so nervous she was surprised she hadn't vomited up the breakfast of mangoes and bananas she'd had—or simply turned around and flew back to the rainforest.
But despite her apprehension, Sunny flew forward, nose aimed for Queen Moorhen's palace in the distance. She passed through a bank of clouds, the warm moisture leaving tiny drops of dew on her scales. The large, puffy cumulus clouds formed an ever-growing maze around her, broken occasionally by a streak of the blue sky above. Below, the lush greenery of the rainforest gave way to the sprawling lowlands of the Mud Kingdom. Swamps and patches of mud dotted the landscape, with boulders and bare trees strung with moss interrupting the constant brown. A lone heron flew past, flapping its wings lazily as if the two dragons flying above it didn't exist.
"Nervous?"
Sunny turned to her right. Webs flew beside her, his eyes filled with concern. He had volunteered to accompany Sunny on this diplomatic trip, saying that the others had more pressing issues to attend to in the rainforest. Tsunami and Glory were dubious at first, but Sunny spoke up for their former guardian. She couldn't help but feel bad for the aging Seawing, after all he had gone through after they'd escaped from under the mountain.
She nodded. "Talking to Queen Moorhen sounded a lot less scary back in the rainforest. Now that I'm going to her palace...I mean, from what I've seen of her in the dreamvisitor she seems like a good leader, but even so I still feel nervous."
Webs' snout crinkled in a wry smile. "I can hardly blame you. You and your friends haven't had the best experience with Pyrrhia's royalty."
"Yeah. I've spent so long thinking, 'Queen, danger!' that meeting with a queen on purpose feels like a death trap."
Sunny rubbed her claws together anxiously. "What if she won't see me? She sent some Mudwings to the peace meeting—she must know by now what happened. If she holds me responsible for Blister being queen, then she might not listen to anything no matter what. Oh, why didn't I think of that sooner? This sounded like a good idea at first, but now—"
"Sunny, don't worry," said Webs, his voice deep and calm. "Queen Moorhen will grant you an audience. She's acquired a better reputation for being reasonable. Of all the queens we could start with, I'd say Moorhen was the best choice."
Sunny smiled faintly. "Thanks, Webs...For what it's worth, I always thought you were nice to us. I know you think we all hate you, but really we don't. Even Glory and Tsunami like you. They'll never say it, but I know that they're glad you stuck with us."
Webs chuckled. "I may be getting old, Sunny, but I'm not senile yet. I know what Glory and Tsunami think of me—and, well, their perfectly correct. I haven't been a good guardian to the five of you. When I volunteered to help raise the you, I swore an oath to the Talons that I would protect you with my life. Kestrel and Dune made good on their oaths; I didn't, and you all suffered for it." He sighed heavily, before turning to meet Sunny's eyes.
"I'm hoping this will make up for it a little. You all sacrificed so much to try and end this war—you've more than earned my full support."
She saw an aching pain in the Seawing's eyes. Regret, guilt. The silence between them thickened.
"What were they like?"
He turned toward her slightly. "Who?"
"Kestrel and Dune. What were they like when you first met them? Before...before we came in."
Sunny saw his gills flatten. When he spoke a moment later his voice was quiet; Sunny had to fly closer to hear him.
"I can't say that I was close to them—none of us at the Talons were, since we were all dragons from different tribes and backgrounds. Kestrel was...head-strong." He smiled slightly. "That's the best way I can put it. She joined the talons shortly before Morrowseer made his prophecy, and jumped at the opportunity to raise the five of you. I didn't know what motivated her at the time, but now..."
