The Lost Heir

This section further describes the SeaWing kingdom, culture, and internal conflicts and introduces other major SeaWing characters. The introductions of Queen Coral and Princess Anemone, as well as the SeaWing royal family history, add more layers to Tsunami’s thematic struggle with her Adoptive Family Versus Birth Family. Her fantasy of a triumphant return is quickly replaced with the reality of hierarchical tension and emotional ambivalence. Though Queen Coral welcomes Tsunami back with open arms, the act feels performative when Coral immediately shows Tsunami her publications, including The Missing Princess. This pivot frames Coral’s behavior as rooted in legacy rather than maternal instinct. Further, Anemone’s existence shakes Tsunami’s assumption that she was the long-lost—and only remaining—heir to the SeaWing throne: Another princess decreases Tsunami’s royal importance and her chance of taking her rightful place among the SeaWings. This destabilizes the core identity that Tsunami has been nurturing since learning of her royal bloodline, and she begins to question whether being special guarantees love.

Tsunami’s focus on her birth family and perceived conflicts with her adoptive siblings, the dragonets, seems to tilt her priorities in this section, but they can never fully tip the scale. The admission that Gill is dead and the realization that he was her birth father distance Tsunami from her birth family. Meanwhile, Coral’s declaration of vengeance against Webs and the discovery of Kestrel’s murdered corpse lead Tsunami to empathize with her adoptive family and reevaluate her antagonistic feelings toward her guardians and friends. Her grief and guilt are complicated by her own hand in killing Gill, creating a layered emotional terrain where no side feels like home. This confusion is further complicated by Tsunami’s growing affection toward Anemone and her growing understanding of Coral as a problematic parent. Coral may consider Tsunami too independent, but Tsunami also considers Coral too controlling, evidenced by Anemone’s harness. The dynamic between Coral and her daughters raises important questions about generational trauma and the limits of protection. Tsunami’s emotional pendulum—swinging between love and disappointment—underscores the novel’s resistance to easy binaries and highlights how fractured family loyalty can be, especially when complicated by power.

The introduction of the symbolism of stories as legacy and eggs as change further develops this theme. Queen Coral is fixated on both, but for different reasons. After Orca’s challenge for the throne, Coral has been obsessed with her reign and legacy. She is often more interested in writing and disseminating her fiction than in ruling her kingdom. These stories are more than escapism—they are a tool that Coral uses to immortalize a curated version of herself. Her admission that she wrote The Missing Princess specifically for Tsunami becomes jarring given that she quoted from the story to welcome Tsunami back. Tsunami’s return aligns with her curated self and the legacy she has built in fiction. That she has no genuine reaction in real time demonstrates her fixation on public perception rather than on her love for her daughters. By framing Tsunami’s life within fiction, Coral also effectively strips her daughter of narrative autonomy. Riptide’s comment that Coral’s work is required reading in SeaWing schools and Whirlpool and Moray’s desire to make Coral’s stories the most important school subject further compound the idea that Coral prefers to control the narrative rather than see reality. Coral’s use of fiction to shape perception parallels political propaganda, implying that even maternal love can be weaponized when filtered through the desire for control.

Coral’s fixation on her eggs further emphasizes her preoccupation with legacy and power. Royal succession occurs when a dragon queen’s daughter challenges her mother for the throne; only by killing the previous queen can a new queen ascend. Coral has already experienced one challenge from her eldest daughter, Orca, who died during the fight; ever since, Coral has sought to prevent another conflict or loss, keeping Anemone harnessed to her. This maternal surveillance masquerades as affection, but its true aim is regime preservation. At the same time, she is devastated when her daughter-eggs are killed: Though they have the potential to end her rule, they are now Gill’s final legacy. On a broader scale, dragon eggs signal change for the entire world. The dragonets of destiny were taken as eggs, and, according to the prophecy, will end the war, thereby deciding the fate of the world. Tsunami’s determination to protect Coral’s final egg thus aligns her with the idea of impending change, indicating a turning point both for her character and the plot. Protecting this egg becomes an act of reclamation: Tsunami begins to define family through choice and action, not just blood. Eggs become a loaded symbol—representing both legacy and threat, hope and undoing—and Tsunami’s choice to protect one marks her first real act of political and emotional agency in the kingdom.

This section also furthers the theme of Intrinsic Culture Versus Belonging as Tsunami becomes more immersed in SeaWing culture. Although she attempts to embrace her heritage, she fumbles constantly without proper training. She is often an afterthought in the queen’s entourage, tagging along without necessarily being invited. Her longing to belong is met with scrutiny, demonstrating that identity performance is often monitored and held to an impossibly high standard. At the same time, her status as an outsider helps her in unexpected ways. By not bowing to Coral’s command, she is able to develop her private relationship with Anemone and retains her empathy for regular citizens, such as the injured SeaWing soldiers. This dual positioning—as alien and insider—allows Tsunami to act as a cultural bridge, exposing the limits of inherited identity and the power of chosen kinship. Her decision to protect her unhatched sibling, foreshadowed by her placement in the “Dragonet Care” section in court, also indicates her loyalty to her SeaWing family, though she never truly disconnects herself from the dragonets of destiny. Tsunami’s selective belonging—both inside and outside of cultural spaces—reflects the layered reality of identity formation when navigating heritage from a distance.

The developing symbolism of language as identity heightens this thematic internal conflict. Determined to fit in with her fellow SeaWings, Tsunami tries to learn Aquatic. The two lessons she experiences highlight the differing perceptions of her among the SeaWings: Whirlpool, instructed to teach her by Queen Coral, has her follow rote repetition of Aquatic, teaching her nothing. The performance of teaching masks a deeper truth: Language is not shared freely when it defines who counts as an insider. On the other hand, Riptide’s proactive offer of practical Aquatic lessons demonstrates a willingness to embrace Tsunami as a SeaWing regardless of her upbringing. Riptide’s version of fluency includes emotion, empathy, and a genuine desire to help her belong. This alignment with common citizens is emphasized by her care for the injured soldiers and by Riptide’s translation of Shark’s secret intent to harm the dragonets of destiny, both of which were expressed in Aquatic. Tsunami’s primary use of the common dragon language, in contrast, keeps her aligned with her adoptive family even while she is physically distant from them. Her use of the common dragon language also suggests that equity is important to her as a future ruler. Aquatic, in this section, comes to represent gatekeeping; the refusal to properly teach it mirrors institutional exclusion, where cultural belonging is withheld through ritual and language. Language thus becomes a battleground for legitimacy and recognition.

This section places greater emphasis on the internal politicking of the SeaWing court, highlighting the theme of War and Power. Queen Coral seeks to maintain the stability of her reign by controlling the narrative of her legacy through stories. While her daughters could challenge her for power, as Orca did, the queen hopes that the harness will prevent it happening again with Anemone. Though Tsunami initially fears a conflict with Anemone, her growing disillusionment with the SeaWing court remains her focus in this section. Her withdrawal from this power game is both emotional and ideological. However, the court councilors seek to gain power by sucking up to the queen. Whirlpool and Moray are two such examples, acting as Coral’s enforcers rather than giving her constructive criticism. Thus, even in the isolationist Kingdom of the Sea, dragons still struggle for power, foreshadowing future conflict. Even in relative peace, political hierarchy breeds insecurity and opportunism. Tsunami’s slow realization that governance requires more than bloodline or good intentions mirrors the dragonets’ broader awakening to how deeply entrenched systems of power resist change.

The final symbol introduced in this section is animus magic as self and power. While animus magic is only briefly discussed here, it provides exposition for further development later in the story. Animus magic is powerful, but its overuse can lead to the wielder losing their soul and self. The use of animus magic to construct the Summer Palace indicates its great potential as a tool for power but also warns of the dangers of overexerting oneself and losing the self entirely. The magic’s risks—of soul erosion and loss of identity—parallel the larger costs of political ascension that Tsunami is beginning to understand. This idea is an important one; though brief, it foreshadows important events to come. In this sense, animus magic embodies a deeper question of how much of the self can be sacrificed in the pursuit of influence and at what cost.