“So you were friends,” Sunny prompted.
“I thought so.” Her mother looked up at the tent ceiling for a moment, her eyes glittering.
“I have so many questions,” Sunny said softly. How did you know I would look weird? Why did you have to hide my egg for safety? What do the NightWings have to do with anything?
“So do I!” said Thorn. “I want to know everything about everything you’ve done for the last six years. And we should celebrate! Let me send all my brigands about their duties, and I’ll tell Armadillo to plan a party. Free roasted lizards and camel milk for the whole Scorpion Den tonight!” She grinned.
“Wait,” Sunny said. “I don’t need a party —”
“Perhaps not, but it’ll accomplish three things,” Thorn said briskly. “First, it’ll relieve the tension out there — all those dragons wondering what’ll happen with a prophecy dragonet in our midst. Second, it’ll let everyone know you’re my daughter, so they’ll treat you with respect and not just curiosity. And third, it’ll make it very clear that you’re under Outclaw protection, which you’re going to need in this city.”
“Oh,” Sunny said. For a moment she’d worried that her mother was like Blaze, just looking for any excuse for a party. It was reassuring to realize she had smart reasons for what she was doing.
A commotion erupted in the main tent: dragons yelling, something being knocked over. Thorn whirled around with her tail high, alert for any danger.
But when a SandWing burst through the flaps and threw himself at her feet, she relaxed and waved Qibli back.
“What is it?” Thorn asked.
“Reports of a dragonbite viper,” he gasped, “seen near the orphanage.”
“Are we sure?” Thorn demanded, grabbing a long spear made of three strands of metal twisted together and split into several sharp points at the end. “Have any Outclaws confirmed that it’s really there?”
“No,” he said, panting, “but someone panicked and set the nearest stalls on fire. The orphanage will go up in flames if we don’t put it out fast.”
“And so will the rest of the city,” Thorn said. “Sunny, I’m sorry, I have to take care of this.”
“Of course,” Sunny said, jumping up. “Can I help? What can I do?”
“You can stay here safely so I don’t have to worry about you,” Thorn said. “Please. Dragonbite vipers are not to be trifled with. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She snatched up a bag by the outer flap and ducked out of the tent, gone before the messenger could scramble to his feet and follow her.
Sunny and Qibli stared at each other for a few long moments. Sunny wondered if she should be upset that her mother had brushed aside her offer of help, but honestly, she wasn’t sure she’d have been much use. As the excitement of meeting her mother wore off, her wings began to feel like heavy boulders leaning against her sides. Her head was woozy from the strange smells and noises of the Scorpion Den.
“What’s a dragonbite viper?” Sunny finally asked.
“Really?” Qibli said. “It’s the most dangerous thing in the desert. Probably in all of Pyrrhia, but we get them more than most tribes. It’s the only snake in the world that can kill a dragon.”
“There’s a snake that can do that?” Sunny said. She shuddered from her horns to her wingtips. “Creepy.”
He nodded, and she tilted her head at him.
“Is Thorn your mother, too?” she asked.
“Ha!” he said, startled. He touched his snout self-consciously, where a few brown speckles stood out against his light yellow scales, much like the ones all over Thorn. “Moons, no. She saved me from my mother. Besides, the way I understand it, there’s only ever been one egg for Thorn, and that’s you — if you are who you say you are.”
“Nobody else?” Sunny asked. “I don’t have any brothers or sisters?”
He shook his head. “You’re better off. Mine are a pair of dung-snorting hippo-heads who’d rather stab me with their tails than share so much as a fig with me. Joke’s on them, now that I’m an Outclaw.” Qibli puffed his spines up and made a ferocious face. “And you better not be messing with Thorn either. There’s plenty of Outclaws lined up behind me who’ll make you sorry if you are.”
“I wouldn’t know how to mess with her,” Sunny said. “I promise, I’m really very nice.”
“Hmm,” Qibli said skeptically.
There was a tan camel-hair pillow next to one of the black tables that looked softer than anything Sunny had slept on in the last several days — and she hadn’t slept much, waking up frequently to make sure the NightWings hadn’t flown onward without her. She curled up on the cool sand and rested her head and front talons on the pillow. Qibli kept his dark eyes on her, his brow furrowed as if he hadn’t quite decided whether to trust her yet.