Merletta lowered her head respectfully. She was far from convinced, but “ignorant” or not, she knew well enough that further defiance would achieve nothing useful in this instance.
“This is what happens when they let Tilssted trash into the program,” muttered Ileana to Jacobi.
Instructor Ibsen must have heard her, but his face remained impassive, and he made no move to chastise the third year mermaid. Merletta shook her head slightly, not sure whether to be angry or simply to laugh. If they thought they could deter her by rudeness or coldness, they had no idea of either her determination or the life she had led in the charity home. It would take a lot more than snide remarks to send her swimming.
“Ileana.” Ibsen broke the uncomfortable silence at last, and for a moment Merletta thought he would call Ileana into line after all. But he merely continued with his lesson. “We have discussed how the triple kingdoms came to be, and discussed the dangers of the open ocean.”
Not really, Merletta thought mutinously, but she kept her mouth shut.
“Explain the other key dangers we must warn our population about.”
“There are three great dangers to a merperson,” Ileana responded promptly. “The dangers of the open ocean we’ve covered, as you said, Instructor.”
She nodded to him, her tone obsequious, and Merletta barely refrained from rolling her eyes.
“Another,” Ileana continued, “is the danger of drying out. As this can only happen if every part of a merperson is out of the water, right down to the very tips of their fins, we are safe from that death if we simply stay under the surface.”
Merletta nodded along absently. She had long ago discovered that this information wasn’t really a secret. Everyone else knew how drying out worked—it was only the beneficiaries of the charity home who were taught a more restrictive definition.
“The third,” Ileana said importantly, “is land.”
Merletta stilled, her attention fully caught.
“Our ancestors were wise in establishing our triple kingdoms in the deep ocean. It is dangerous for merpeople to be settled near land, and not just because of the risk of drying out. It is also because of the presence of dragons on the land. They are barbaric creatures, and particularly enjoy the taste of merpeople. They will hunt us down if they see us—another reason for us to stay below the surface and inside the barrier unless we have essential business that takes us outside it, like the patrol guards, or the hunters.”
“Correct,” said Ibsen, his tone bored.
Merletta sat back, considering Ileana’s words. She was surprised. She had thought that the tales of the dragons’ aggression were an exaggeration, added to make bedtime stories more frightening.
“Are dragons really particularly aggressive toward mermaids?” she asked, forgetting for a moment that she wasn’t supposed to be asking questions.
Ibsen drew a long breath in through his nose, his irritation clear, but apparently her question wasn’t offensive enough to earn a chastisement.
“Yes,” he said shortly. “They are.”
“Are they also aggressive toward other creatures?” Merletta asked. “Or just mermaids?”
“They do not hunt other sea creatures,” said Ibsen. “They need land to settle on, so they don’t usually stray too far from it. Since they mostly stay on land or in the air, they do not generally dive below water looking for food. That is why we are only at risk if we go too close to land, and too close to the surface.”
“No, I meant are they aggressive toward creatures on land,” Merletta clarified. “Do land creatures live in fear of them like we do, growing up on tales of their violence?”
Ibsen frowned slightly at her. “Growing up on tales?” he repeated. “Of course not. I suppose, in as much as the fish fear the merhunter or the shark, land creatures might fear the dragons.” He observed Merletta for a moment. His scrutiny was sharp, and he seemed to realize that she wasn’t satisfied. His eyes narrowed. “But such animals can hardly tell tales. There are no intelligent creatures on land other than dragons. Only simple beasts, similar to the fish, or the turtle. As merpeople rule the sea in dominion over the simpler creatures, dragons rule the land and the air. And it is to the mutual benefit of us and them that our territories are separated by such impassable natural barriers.”
Ileana shifted slightly in her seat, but Merletta ignored her. She didn’t care whether the older girl was yet again glaring at her. There was too much to think about. She opened her mouth to contradict the instructor, but closed it again, remembering both her need to protect her secrets, and the fact that she had pushed him too far already today.
He narrowed his eyes again as he looked at her. She lowered her gaze under his scrutiny, and he turned away, apparently satisfied. But inside, Merletta’s mind was a maelstrom of confused questions. She didn’t know exactly what she’d seen the day before, on the land, but one thing was certain. It was built by something, and that something wasn’t dragons. And it was fully out of the water, so it couldn’t have been carved by mermaids, either.
But if neither dragons nor mermaids left it there, what did? And where were they now?
There was only one conclusion. She needed to get back there, and soon. There were a lot of questions to be answered.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Are you ready?”
Heath turned quickly, marveling for the hundredth time at how silently dragons could move, given their size. He hadn’t even heard Reka approach. And his eyes had been focused eastward, out over the seemingly endless expanse of ocean, so he hadn’t seen the dragon either, as he presumably wheeled in from the direction of Wyvern Islands more toward the north.
“Yes,” he replied, stepping up to meet his friend.