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I frowned. “How did you know that—the part about me drawing magic from Kiata?”

He shrugged. “I read a lot,” he said quickly. But before I could interrogate him further, he added, “Didn’t help me here, though. Even if I could undo this curse, I’d drown once I made it past Ai’long’s borders.”

“Why?”

“Well, for one—my sangi would run out.”

“Sangi?”

“The tea that the dragons poured down your throat so you can breathe underwater.” The young sorcerer wrinkled his nose. “Awfully bitter brew, worse than Nandun’s Tears. Back to my point, the waters past the borders aren’t enchanted like they are here. I can’t just glide around like I’m dancing on a cloud. I’d have to actually swim to keep from sinking. And I never learned to swim.”

Kiki slapped her head in disbelief. He can’t swim and he came into the dragon realm by choice?

“Don’t give up,” I said. “My friend is a prince of Ai’long. He can help.”

“Doubtful. He’s as much the Dragon King’s pawn as Lady Solzaya is.”

At the name, the mirrors suspended in the water around us pivoted to regard the boy.

“Lady Solzaya,” I repeated. “Who’s that?”

“The High Lady of the Easterly Seas. I’m sure you’ve met her, since you’re here. This room is where she tortures King Nazayun’s most troublesome guests. She turned the last prisoner in your spot into sea foam after he gave up his secrets. It really was quite gruesome. Stone is preferable to sea foam, as far as curses go.”

I swallowed. “The scarlet dragon.”

“There are plenty of scarlet dragons around here. I distinguish her by the mirror shards around her neck. You must have seen them.”

“I didn’t notice. I was too busy trying not to die.”

“You’ll notice them the next time. Now that you’re awake, you’ll need more sangi to keep breathing. Someone will be here soon to fetch you—very soon, I’d say. Nazayun’s been lusting after that broken pearl of yours for ages.”

“Lusting? He said he wanted to destroy it.”

“And you believed him?” The young sorcerer scoffed. “Dragons are bound to promises, not the truth.”

His eyes flickered yellow as he observed the floating pearl. “I can see why he’d covet it. It’s different from the others…. It reeks of power. Chaotic, uncontrollable power.”

“But it’s on the verge of breaking.”

“Reason has never stopped a dragon from coveting something it can’t have.” He tried to scratch his nose but couldn’t reach. “I used to want a dragon pearl myself. It’s what got me obsessed with Ai’long.”

“Is that why you’re here?” I said. “Were you trying to steal one?”

“Do you take me for an idiot? I wouldn’t try to steal a pearl…not as an apprentice, anyway. I’d wait until I was a full-fledged enchanter.”

I twisted my lips at the boy, both amused and mystified by his gall. “So why are you here?”

“A dragon came to me on land. He’d heard of my potential.” The boy grinned. “Gave me sangi and said he’d teach me the recipe if I borrowed something for him in Ai’long.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Borrowed—without permission?”

“Precisely. We enchanters aren’t meant to be common thieves, but knowledge is my weakness. Always has been. And no one’s been to Ai’long in centuries. I couldn’t resist—”

“You got caught,” I finished for him. “What happened to the dragon?”

“I don’t know,” he lamented. “I was a dolt and never got his name.”

He was a dolt, but he was young, and now that I’d heard his story, I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. “Do you have a name, young thief?”