Above it she saw Oliver’s name, and Ileana’s, and Emil’s. Pulling Heath’s knife from her satchel, she propped herself on her elbows and added her own name, the metal carving it more deeply than whatever her predecessors had used. She drew back, delighted with her success, and let her hands fall back to the stone. She frowned as they landed on something. She’d missed it in her excitement at finding the stone sign, but something was lying across the rocky shelf in front of it.
Three spears, not as expensive as her own, but still clearly the property of guards. She frowned at them. Was this, then, the stolen item she was supposed to retrieve? But it was three items, not one.
She looked back up at the stone sign, hoping for a clue, and her eyes were drawn to two words she hadn’t noticed before, carved above the list of trainees.
Watchword: Vazula
Merletta stared at the words, her mouth hanging open. What did it mean? How was there a reference to Vazula, her Vazula, here of all places? What did it have to do with the guard test? Her hands closed unconsciously over the spear shafts as she gaped at the message, and she felt another hand close around her fins too late.
Turning, she saw through the churning wall of water the dim shape of two mermen, each seizing one of her fins. She tried to thrash out at them, but their grip was too strong. Before she knew what was happening, one had launched himself half out of the water, landing heavily on top of her and pinning her to the rock shelf. Before she could get her hands free, he forced something over her head, and everything went dark.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Merletta groaned, trying to master her wits. Her memory seemed to be a patchy jumble of darkness, churning water, and futile struggle. Where was she, and why was she relieved to feel the gentle familiar sway of the current around her?
The maelstrom! Her eyes flew open, and she tried to push herself upright from wherever she was lying. But hands seized her immediately, holding her down, as a firm voice said, “Easy.”
Merletta blinked up into a face she’d seen before, although it took her a moment to place the dark-haired merman.
“I recognize you,” she said slowly. Her eyes were drawn to his silvery-blue tail, swishing calmly back and forth in the water. She frowned as a memory of raging waves and rain-drenched shore jumped to mind. Suddenly the pieces fit together, and she gasped, trying once again to rise.
“You’re August! You are alive! I hoped so, but I was afraid it was just wishful thinking.”
The merman was so surprised, he loosened his grip, allowing her to sit up this time.
“You know my name?” he asked. “I recognize you, of course, but I didn’t know if you’d remember me. I certainly didn’t think you’d know my name.”
“The whole triple kingdoms knows your name,” said Merletta. “You’re a hero who died selflessly in the cause of protecting our boundaries.” Her voice turned dry. “Congratulations.”
August’s brow darkened, and for a moment he said nothing. Making the most of the opportunity, Merletta looked around her, trying to make sense of her surroundings.
There was little sense to make. She was lying on a slanted floor of what seemed to be wood. It was like a human building, something she might see on Vazula. Except it was underwater. The walls were crumbling and rotting, as one would expect of wood submerged at the bottom of the ocean. Why would anyone build such a dwelling down here?
“How did I get here?” Merletta demanded. “The last thing I remember, I was in the middle of the maelstrom. I saw three spears, and then someone grabbed me from behind.”
“That was us,” said August. Following his gaze, Merletta started at the sight of two other mermen floating nearby. She hadn’t even noticed them. “We saw the preparations being made, and we figured out there was a trainee test approaching. I was fairly sure it would be you. I saw you doing your practice test, when you found the cave I was living in at the time. Since then, we’ve been paying more attention to guard patrols out here. When we realized your test would be happening at the maelstrom, we decided to intervene.”
“But why?” Merletta protested. “I need to pass that test.” She looked upward frantically, trying to catch a glimpse of the light far above. “How long have I been here?”
“No time at all,” said August calmly. “We didn’t intend to knock you out, but unfortunately you got a bit battered in the struggle. A maelstrom isn’t the easiest place to kidnap someone.”
“I’m very impressed and all,” said Merletta in exasperation, “but why have you kidnapped me?”
“Why do you think?” snapped one of the other guards. “We want answers. We followed you out past the barrier, to stop you from getting yourself killed, and next thing we know, we’re facing land, and humans, and myths.”
“And we find ourselves hunted by our own people,” August added grimly. “Fleeing for our lives from Center guards.”
“Is that what happened?” Merletta demanded. “Center guards tried to kill you?”
“Well, we don’t know for certain they were Center guards,” said August reasonably. “They were masked, and none of us recognized them. But that’s our best guess.”
“Are they still hunting you?” Merletta asked sharply.
The guard shrugged. “We can’t be sure. We think they believe us to be dead. They took us outside the city to finish us off. We were all still delirious when we left the triple kingdoms, but I began to sober up before we’d gone far.”
“August was brilliant,” said the third guard gruffly. “He was the one who thought of pretending to still be hallucinating, and told us to do the same when we started to come out of it. Without that, we’d have been dead for sure.”
“As it was, we were hard pressed to fight them off,” said August. “We were all bleeding when we fled, and the sharks didn’t take long to find us.” His expression hardened, and Merletta felt a wave of sympathetic horror at the thought. “I suspect they were pretty confident we weren’t going to make it. But we’re tougher than they thought.”