“Our apologies, sir.” Merletta cut her off with a slight shake of her head, pulling her friend along by the arm until they were out of the building.
“That was so unfair,” Sage started, frowning back toward the records hall.
“Never mind that,” said Merletta. “You did it! You’re a third year!”
Sage’s face brightened instantly. “I know! I can hardly believe it.”
Merletta smiled as they began to swim back toward their barracks. “I want to say tell me all about it, but I guess you can’t.”
A slight shudder passed over Sage’s tall figure. “I’m glad I’m not allowed to talk about it. I don’t want to at all.”
“Well, you can forget all about it now,” said Merletta. “You never have to do second year again.”
“Hooray for that,” agreed Sage emphatically. “Now let’s celebrate with dinner. I’m starving.”
Merletta readily agreed, and the two of them made their way to the dining hall, chatting brightly.
It wasn’t until the meal was almost over that Merletta suddenly realized what had been niggling in her mind ever since she’d left the records hall with Sage.
“What is it?” Sage asked, in response to Merletta’s sudden gasp. “What’s wrong?”
She glanced nervously over her shoulder, and some part of Merletta’s mind noted how much the test had shaken the normally placid mermaid. But she had no space to think about that now.
“My satchel!” Merletta shot up out of her seat. “I don’t have it. I think I left it in the records hall.”
“Oh,” said Sage vaguely, looking confused at Merletta’s reaction. “Well, we can go back and get it after the meal. The hall is open at any hour to trainees, remember.”
Merletta shook her head. “I need to go now.”
“But…what’s the hurry?” Sage looked utterly bewildered. “No one’s going to steal it, not in the Center.”
But Merletta was already halfway to the door. She didn’t want to explain it to Sage, but the thought of someone finding her satchel, with its illicit treasures, was one of her greatest fears.
She swam rapidly through the dark streets of the Center, reaching the records hall within minutes that felt like hours. She swam straight in, ignoring a disapproving look from the record holder who had scolded her earlier. A quick search was enough to confirm that her satchel was no longer there. Her heartbeat sped up.
“Excuse me, sir?” She approached the record holder, refusing to be put off by his glares. “I think I left a satchel here. Have you seen it?”
“I know nothing of any satchel,” sniffed the merman haughtily. “I am a record holder, young lady. It is not my role to pick up your things when you are so careless as to leave them behind!”
Merletta didn’t respond, a sick feeling rising in her stomach. She did another lap of the hall, now deserted except for the record holder, but there was still no sign of the satchel.
There was nothing for her to do but give up, returning to the dining hall with reluctant strokes. She cursed her own carelessness in leaving it behind. She usually carried it with her everywhere, but she’d been so distracted by Sage’s arrival that it had slipped her mind.
Quite apart from the danger of discovery, she was devastated at the thought of losing all her little treasures. The length of wood, the coconut…a lump rose in her throat…Heath’s knife. With two months of his absence, it had started to feel like her only link to the warm-hearted human.
“Did you find it?” Sage asked, as soon as she rejoined her friend at the round table.
Merletta shook her head, not trusting herself to speak with the lump still in her throat.
“Oh, that’s frustrating,” said Sage sympathetically. “Probably someone picked it up as lost, and it’ll find its way back to you soon enough.”
Merletta still didn’t respond. Sage, with her legacy status, and absence of anything to hide, clearly had no concept of why Merletta would be anxious about someone else having access to her belongings.
Their meal finished, they made their way to the barracks. Sage was still buzzing from her successful test, and Merletta didn’t want to bring her down. But she was so dismayed over the loss of her satchel that she felt ill.
“Oh, Merletta, there you are.”
Merletta looked up warily at the lazy greeting that met her as she passed into the female trainees’ sleeping quarters. It was never a good sign when Ileana was speaking to her by choice.