Page 111 of A Kingdom Restored

“I never had any especial desire to see you dead,” Wivell said with dignity. “I even disapproved of it when I learned, early in your studies, that orders were being given above my head to remove you in whatever way was practical. That’s not how things ought to be run within the program, in my opinion.”

“How generous,” Merletta said dryly. “But your disapproval didn’t extend so far as to actually protect me, did it? So I’m sure you’ll understand if I’m still surprised you did so just now.”

“I won’t pretend to have acted altruistically,” said Wivell calmly. “I see no benefit in dishonesty. I can read the current, and I realize you constitute one of the most likely avenues for the program’s future success.”

“The program?” Merletta demanded. “How can you care about the program when our civilization just came to the brink of destruction?”

“The program is one of the foundational pillars of our civilization,” Wivell said with familiar cold disapproval. “Its preservation is as important as the preservation of the lives of our kind.”

“There we’ll have to disagree,” Merletta said tartly. Weary, she closed her eyes for a moment, leaning her head back against the rough stone wall of the grotto. When she opened them again, it was to see disappointment clear on Wivell’s face. “Did you really think I would champion the program for you, after everything I experienced there? After the rot at its very core?”

“There may have been rot at the core of the Center,” Wivell said quickly. “But not within the program. It remains pure, and it serves a crucial function.”

Merletta made a noise in the back of her throat. “It wasdesignedto serve a crucial function,” she corrected. “But if you can’t see how far from that purpose it strayed, you’re more blinded even than I realized. The program was in tatters long before I entered it, Instructor. It began to fall apart the moment trainees were openly taught lies, and the process was completed when they were taught totelllies to the rest of the populace.”

Wivell’s lips were pressed in a thin line, and he didn’t immediately respond.

“She’s right, Wivell,” Agner said jovially. “The importance of the classroom teaching has always been exaggerated. Unless I’m mistaken, it’s my training that’s helped Merletta survive all this.”

Merletta turned her face away from him, unable to bear his cheerfulness in light of everything. “I want to get out of here,” she said, trying not to look at the unmoving body of the guard.

“Of course,” Agner said, ushering her out of the room.

He and Wivell swam beside her, and for a moment none of them spoke. Then suddenly it occurred to Merletta that she may not have such a clear opportunity to ask Wivell her questions again—whatever he seemed to think, she certainly had no intention of turning up for class the following morning.

“Did you know who my parents were?” she asked abruptly. “Did you know my story when I first arrived at the program?”

Agner’s look of surprise told her that he still didn’t know it, but Wivell was silent for a long moment before replying.

“Not the moment you arrived, but soon after,” he said. “I was made aware through official channels that you were the daughter of known dissenters who had been silenced, and that through an oversight, you had been relocated to a Tilssted charity home rather than joining your parents. I believe it was some years before the Center’s investigators learned of your existence, and by that time it was not considered necessary to eliminate you.”

“How nice,” Merletta said hollowly. It was gut-wrenching to hear him speak so calmly of the cold-blooded murder of her parents. Perhaps the worst part of it was that she no longer felt surprise, or even great disgust. It was all so familiar by now.

Wivell gave no reaction to her words. “Had they guessed you would succeed in winning a place in the program, I suspect a different decision would have been made. Given your parents’ history, there was some apprehension when you became a trainee, on top of the concern already felt at the admission of an applicant from Tilssted. But by then it was too late to prevent you from arriving. You had to be dealt with under different conditions.”

“And my parents really are dead?” Merletta asked, not much caring about the anxiety she’d apparently caused through her arrival.

“They are,” Wivell confirmed gravely. His lips were once again pressed together tightly. “Although I’m afraid you won’t find their fate in any record.” He shook his head, his tone suggesting they were discussing a poor harvest report. “A bad business. I never approved of such tactics.”

“But you never pushed back against them,” Merletta said swiftly. “Just like you didn’t actively obstruct my learning, but neither did you help me, or stop Ibsen from blocking me at every turn.”

Wivell gave no response, for the first time looking a little uncomfortable.

Merletta narrowed her eyes. “Speaking of Ibsen, did he know as well? About my parents, I mean? Was that why he was so determined to be rid of me?”

“No,” said Wivell unemotionally. “I hold the position of primary instructor. As a regular instructor, Instructor Ibsen was not senior enough to be notified either of your origins or of the order to be rid of you. He just hated you for your own sake.”

Merletta let out a strangled laugh, a hysterical edge to the sound. “At least he’s consistent,” she said.

They’d descended most of the way through the lobby by this time, and Merletta could hear some kind of hubbub outside. She drew in a weary pull of water, too overwhelmed to deal with any fresh drama.

“Your point is sound,” Wivell said unexpectedly, sounding like the words were difficult to say. “I did choose to be passive in the face of decisions I disapproved of. I thought in so doing, I was protecting the program—protecting our history. But it seems that the opposite was achieved. I did not anticipate the scale of disaster that would arise from the many layers of secrets kept locked within the Center. And I have the honesty to acknowledge that you did recognize that danger. You saw it with a swiftness that is truly impressive.”

Before Merletta could respond to this astonishingly positive comment, Wivell tempered it.

“Of course, it all arose because you were unwilling to leave matters alone. Had you kept your head down as a trainee is expected to do—”

“Then the Center’s cycle of murder and control would have continued indefinitely,” Merletta interrupted harshly. She piled enough guilt on herself—she refused to take it from the equally culpable merman beside her. “They killed my parents, and so many others, just for dreaming of going outside the barrier. And there’s no valid reason whatsoever that we can’t live outside the barrier—outside the water, even! Half of August’s patrol were killed just for seeing land. And silencing dissenters is the least of the Center’s violence.”

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