It was such a world-shattering discovery, that Merletta kept shying away from thinking about the implications of it. There was no way it was specific to her. That idea made no sense. The ability to change form must be universal to merpeople.
In fact, it explained the phenomenon of how her throat had always opened the moment her head broke the surface, allowing her to breathe water while below, and air while above. She’d never really questioned it before, but what would be the point of such an ability if mermaids were always mermaids, plain and simple? If they were restricted to just sticking their heads above water, they would surely have to just hold their breath while out of water, the way Heath held his while under it?
There were so many things like that, so many little details that kept coming to her, making her new reality seem almost obvious.
But it scared her to dwell on them. She’d discovered at a very young age that the carers at the charity home had no qualms about lying to the beneficiaries when it was convenient. The realization had been disillusioning at the time, but she had long since gotten over that discomfort.
Discovering that those in power at the Center also lied about basic aspects of the merpeople’s existence—even to trainees—had been considerably more disconcerting.
But this final piece of the puzzle took her disillusionment to a whole new level. Her mind spun every time she tried to comprehend the width and complexity of the lie that kept most merpeople believing that drying out meant instant death, and that land was as deadly to mermaids as a stonefish’s venom.
How many merpeople knew it was a lie? Did Ileana?
Did Sage?
Merletta sighed at the thought of the only other trainee she considered a friend. Sage had finished her second year, and begun her third before Merletta’s first year test. What was she thinking now? What, if anything, had Ileana told the others about what happened on that horrible day?
Merletta’s heart raced as she played with the idea of returning to the triple kingdoms. In one way, it was a simple thing. She knew the way like she knew her own fins. She could swim there in less than an hour. But in another way, it was the most terrifying choice she’d ever been faced with.
And if it was a mistake, it would almost certainly be the last she ever made.
But far from the first. She scowled to herself as she thought of her idiotic decision to lead the merguards to Vazula. If only she’d known Heath would be there.
She forced the thought down, focusing her mind back on the problem at hand. It was time to stop putting it off, and decide what in the ocean she was going to do. It would help if she had any idea what to make of the fact that no one had come looking for her. It might mean that everyone relevant thought she was dead. Or it might mean that no one was even aware of what happened. It wouldn’t be the first time that Ileana had kept an incriminating discovery about Merletta to herself, for inscrutable reasons.
When she had left the triple kingdoms, it had been the day after her successful test. Trainees who passed were always afforded a month of holiday after their tests, before commencing the next year’s study.
Merletta’s seventeenth birthday was only two days away, which meant that her month was almost up. And if, for a moment, she optimistically assumed that she wouldn’t be killed on arrival at the Center, there were still lots of people looking for her to fail. If she wanted to have any chance of continuing her studies, she needed to present herself on time to commence second year.
She looked around her at the beautiful paradise of Vazula. She had once wanted nothing more than to be free to explore its secrets. She had felt chafed at being restricted to the water. But now that she was up here, on the land, she realized her mistake.
It shouldn’t be a surprise. Going from the slums of Tilssted to the opulence of the Center hadn’t freed her from the necessity of proving that she deserved a chance. In the same way, switching from water to land hadn’t freed her from the sense of being trapped, being held back. If she was afraid to return to the water, she was no better off than she’d been in the triple kingdoms. Worse, in fact, since her island sanctuary was smaller and more isolated than the underwater cities.
She gripped her spear as she stared into the sunset. Her mind was made up. She had never allowed herself to make decisions out of fear, and she wasn’t going to start now.
She was going back.
CHAPTER THREE
“Not bad.”
Heath grunted his assent, raising a hand to hide a yawn. He hadn’t slept well the night before, plagued with his usual dreams about Merletta and the abandoned island kingdom.
But weariness aside, he had to agree with Percival’s assessment. Kynton, Kyona’s capital city, was an impressive sight. They had passed into the neighboring kingdom by way of the main highway that ran along the coast, south of the mountain range that separated Valoria and Kyona. Consequently, they had already been in Kyona for a few days as they traveled north again on their journey to Kynton.
It was a pleasant land, not unlike Valoria, but a little less rugged. The farmland had seemed almost endless—clearly it was a fertile kingdom.
“I’ll be glad to sleep in a proper bed tonight,” Percival said. “That inn last night wasn’t anything to speak of, was it?”
“If they have a bed for you,” muttered Heath.
Percival glowered at him. “If you mention one more time that I wasn’t invited,” he started menacingly. “You’re in no state to go wandering over the land alone.”
Heath raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, thinking it best not to remind his brother that in the midst of their twenty-person delegation, he wouldn’t exactly have been alone. He knew what Percival meant. And, generally speaking, he wouldn’t have minded his brother’s company. But these days, he so often just wanted to be alone.
Plus, he felt genuinely uneasy about the fact that Percival had inserted himself into the delegation. Unless Heath was mistaken, King Matlock hadn’t been especially eager about the idea, and he had no idea how King Eamon would respond. But no one could exactly tell Percival he wasn’t allowed to go, considering the primary purpose of Heath’s trip was to visit their grandparents.
No one except their parents, of course, and they seemed to think it was desirable for Heath to be shadowed like a fragile child. He scowled.