“Of course I am, Father,” he said.
“Then this affects you as well,” the duke said calmly. “Whatever your level of magic.”
“I know it does,” Heath acknowledged. “I didn’t mean that I don’t care. But I don’t see why I need to be there. It’s not like I have any influence with the court.”
The duke regarded his youngest son for a long moment, his expression steady. “I have often found,” he said at last, “that it is difficult to assess our own influence. We do not have the perspective from within our own skin.”
Heath said nothing, not in the mood for platitudes.
“Come on Heath!” Percival said with a scowl. “What if your absence is taken to mean you have no objection to the proposed restrictions?”
“More likely it will be taken to mean that I don’t have magic, and I’m therefore not directly involved,” Heath said dryly.
“For the record,” his father said, cutting off Percival’s reply, “I also think it would be wise for you to be present for this event.” There was a moment of silence, then the duke sighed. “But I am not going to force you to attend.”
Heath lowered his gaze, unable to meet his father’s eye. The whole situation was unfortunate, to say the least. If it was any other time, he would have been more than willing to attend this hearing in support of his family. He would have insisted on it, whether it affected him directly or not.
But of course the king had to schedule the discussion for tomorrow. Heath simply couldn’t bring himself to miss his rendezvous with Merletta, not for anything. Quite apart from not being sure he could stand to wait another entire week, he wasn’t at all confident she would come a second time if he failed to show up as promised. And it wasn’t as though he could go looking for her under the ocean, to tell her why he’d been delayed. His family would simply have to manage without him.
And they would manage just fine. He was telling the truth when he said he had no influence. If he went, it would just be for moral support, and the absence of that wouldn’t make any real difference. Or so he told himself as he saw them off shortly afterward, trying to push down the guilty feeling threatening to rise within him.
“See you in a few days!” he called to his brother, waving half-heartedly.
Percival didn’t respond, just sent him a dark look as he pulled his horse ahead of the carriage carrying their parents. The sight of the carriage made Heath’s conscience twinge again. Even his mother was attending, although she certainly had no magic in her blood.
But he refused to dwell on it. He had other things to think about.
“Reka?” he called to the empty air, as soon as he was alone in the courtyard. “How soon can you come? If you’re up for it, I’m ready whenever you are.”
He turned back toward the house, hurrying to grab his things. He knew that if Reka was so inclined, he could be there within minutes. Merletta wouldn’t be returning until the following day, but that didn’t mean there was nothing to discover on Vazula.
He had at least three days without his family looking over his shoulder, and he intended to spend every possible minute of it on the island.
* * *
“You were here most of yesterday?” Merletta’s expression was hard to read.
“That’s right,” said Heath, watching her face with fascination. She had such expressive eyes. It made him feel inexplicably connected with her emotions, even when he was completely unable to guess her thoughts, as was the case now. “What is it?”
“I don’t know…” She swished her tail slightly from one side to the other, in a gesture he was already coming to recognize as her thinking stance. “It’s just strange to think of you being so close by, and me not knowing it.”
Heath smiled. “I found it strange, too.”
“You took long enough to mention it,” Merletta said, sounding a little disgruntled.
Heath smirked slightly. “Well, I thought if I showed you what I found, you might be too distracted to answer my questions about mermaids.”
“You found something?” Merletta had been floating on her back, her arms behind her head, and the droplets on her skin long since dried by the afternoon sun. But at his words, she instantly straightened, so she was bobbing upright in the water.
“I did.” Heath said, still grinning.
He leaned back, reaching across the rocks toward his rucksack. He had taken his boots off this time, and rolled his leggings up, so that he could dangle his legs in the water without getting his clothes saturated. He’d noticed how Merletta kept scrutinizing his feet when she thought he wasn’t looking, clearly fascinated by the unfamiliar appendages.
“Well, I found it, if we want to be precise,” interjected Reka, lifting his head lazily from where it was lying across the rocky shallows, along with the rest of him. The jagged surface didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest, the sharp edges clearly not able to penetrate his hide. He looked absurdly relaxed, taking up an enormous proportion of the lagoon’s edge as he stretched out like a cat in the sun. His tail dangled into the water, swishing peacefully from side to side in a gesture similar to Merletta’s.
Heath just rolled his eyes at the majestic image. “You did not. You directed me to the building, but I found the record.”
“Record?” Merletta repeated eagerly. “You found a written record?” She swam right up to Heath’s rocks, her eyes alight. “But how is it possible if this place has been abandoned for so long? Surely writing leaves don’t last that long, even above the surface.”