Merletta frowned. “You’re advising me to be openly defiant? I thought you agreed last time that I should keep my head down.”
Heath shook his head. “I’m not encouraging you to rock the boat regarding the Center’s lies,” he said quickly.
Merletta stared at him. “Rock the boat? What in the ocean does that mean?”
Heath laughed again. “Poor choice of words. I’m not saying I think you should be obvious about what you know. Just that you should make the most of your popularity. Make yourself, and your movements, so well known that it would be noticed if you disappeared.”
Merletta frowned, starting to grasp his meaning. “I think it would already be noticed,” she said, realizing it for the first time. It was still hard to see herself as a figurehead. “I see what you mean, about how that might have saved my life. I suppose it’s not such a simple thing to kill me off anymore. Not if whoever does it wants to avoid drawing attention to me.”
Heath nodded. “Precisely. You’ve made enough of a splash that—”
“I’ve what?” demanded Merletta, half laughing.
Heath gave a comical groan. “I forget what different worlds we come from. Water is clearly on my mind.”
Merletta smiled at his expression. She sometimes forgot it too, impossible as that seemed. But as she looked out toward the horizon, the smile slipped from her face.
“If I was killed off,” she said quietly, “I would have achieved nothing. Whoever is behind the lies would have won, because I haven’t uncovered their deceptions at all. I’m starting to think they’re already winning. Fear of attack has kept me quiet all this time.” She turned, willing Heath to meet her eyes. “The reason your brother is dangerous to the crown is that he’s outspoken. Everyone knows his attitude, and his abilities. If something happened to him as a result of that attitude, it wouldn’t just make his admirers angry. It would make them more determined to support his cause, wouldn’t it?”
Heath nodded slowly, warily, as if suspicious that she was leading him into a trap.
“Well, I haven’t done anything to make others take up my cause. They’ve noticed me because I’m from Tilssted, so it’s unusual for me to be in the Center. But if I disappeared, no one would rise up and challenge the Center on their lies. No one would know about them. I need to start sharing what I know.”
Heath looked troubled, but he didn’t actually contradict her, which surely meant he knew she was right.
“I need to do it carefully, of course,” Merletta assured him, unable to resist the mute appeal in his eyes. She still hadn’t gotten over the thrill of having someone care so much for her safety. “I just need to start encouraging others to question what we’ve been told. To see the things that don’t add up.” She felt her face set in grim lines. “And I know just where to start.”
“Just promise me you really will be careful,” Heath said, his voice pained. “I happen to like you being alive.”
“So do I,” grinned Merletta. She looked back at the horizon, suddenly unable to meet his eye. “And I’m glad you’re here. It’s the first time I’ve been back since we met here last, and I thought it was too much to hope that you’d be here as well.”
“Actually…” Heath sounded uncomfortable, and Merletta looked at him curiously. “Actually, I only came because I knew you were here. I…well, I saw you.”
“Saw me?” Merletta repeated blankly. “What do you mean?”
His voice half-apologetic, half-eager, Heath told her what had been happening with his sight. Merletta felt her mouth fall open as he spoke, her mind racing with the various implications.
“That’s incredible,” she said, when he fell silent. “That’s an unbelievable power, Heath. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me that straight away!”
Heath still looked hesitant. “You don’t mind?” he said. “You’re not offended that I was watching you?”
“Of course not,” said Merletta. “It sounds like you couldn’t really control it, and in any event, it could be so useful. We don’t have any other way to communicate, after all.”
She saw the relief on Heath’s face, and she smiled. It was like him to be sensitive to her feelings, but she wasn’t troubled in the least. She’d already gathered that privacy was much more important in Heath’s culture than in hers. It sounded like he even had his own room in his family’s home. Between the charity home and the trainees’ barracks, Merletta hadn’t slept in a room by herself in her entire life.
Besides, she liked the idea that Heath was following her progress from his world. It made her feel as though they were connected somehow, even when apart.
“Shame there’s no way to make the communication go both ways,” she mused. “Wouldn’t that be useful!”
“I can’t even get it to reliably work one way,” Heath said ruefully. “But I’ll keep working on it.”
She felt his eyes on her, and raised her eyebrows inquiringly. “What is it?”
That same warm smile was back on his face, the one she didn’t remember seeing before he’d returned to find her alive, and with legs.
“It’s just nice,” he said, “talking to you. I don’t have to worry what is and isn’t safe to say, or whether telling you about my power will have unintended consequences. I feel like I can never speak freely anymore. You have no idea what a relief it is.”
“Actually, I have a very good idea,” smiled Merletta. “There aren’t many I can trust in my world, and I’m afraid to endanger my friends. But you’re not at the mercy of my world.” She looked up to find his eyes boring into hers. “And I trust you completely,” she finished, her voice quiet.