Page 29 of A Kingdom Restored

Her words were met with silence, and she looked around to see Elfin staring at her, his face showing astonishment and a hint of anger.

“You’re the infamous trainee from Tilssted? The one who’s been causing all kinds of trouble for the Center?”

She gave a weary smile, too crushed by her disappointment to care what was being said of her around Hemssted.

“Not nearly as much trouble as I’d like, given the things I’ve discovered about our virtuous Center.”

She half expected to be thrown from the house in a rage, but again Elfin was silent. When she raised her eyes to his once more, he was frowning thoughtfully at her.

“Explain that, please.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think I can. I wouldn’t even know where to start, and it doesn’t matter, anyway. I’ve learned what I came to learn.” Yet she made no move to leave, her eyes lingering on the names before her. “How did your niece die?” she asked softly.

“With her parents.” Elfin’s voice was curt. “I regularly offered for them to leave her with our children’s nurse, but they were determined to take her with them everywhere they went.” He scowled. “Even outside the barrier. Not even a year old, and they took her out into the deep ocean.” Abruptly, he ran a hand through his long, brown-streaked hair. “She also was killed by the rays. Although...” His words were suddenly too casual, his demeanor changing as his eyes passed to Merletta, seeming to pierce right through her. “Unlike her parents, her body was lost to the ocean.”

Merletta looked up, startled. “You never saw Merleisha’s body?”

“That’s right,” he said, his eyes still keen. “And we didn’t call her Merleisha. It was a family name, but Merminia found it too long and formal. In everyday use, she called her daughter what she said she would have liked to name her if conventions gave her total freedom. We all got into the habit as well.”

“What…what was the name?” Merletta asked, her lips numb.

“Letta,” Elfin said calmly. “She was called Letta.”

Merletta passed a hand over her face, trying to master her swirling thoughts.

“Why did you come here?” Elfin asked urgently. “I’ve been thinking about you all week. I couldn’t shake the familiarity of your face. I told you that you had a look of Merminia about you, and it wasn’t a lie.”

“You…you suspected last week that…?” Merletta couldn’t finish the question, but Elfin was already shaking his head.

“I suspected nothing consciously. I just couldn’t get our conversation out of my mind. And then when you asked today if my brother had any children…How old are you, Merletta?”

“I turned nineteen not long ago,” she said faintly.

Elfin digested this information in silence. “What led you to this house?” he demanded. “What prompted you to ask questions about my brother?”

Merletta found she was shaking, and clasped her hands together to try to still them. “I found a record of my name,” she said. “In the Center. It was in a section marked Orphan Records. It had been damaged, so that I couldn’t read the details. But it looked like there had been names for my parents, rather than the blank entry there should have been if I truly had been abandoned anonymously. And then, later, I was baited with an undamaged copy of that record. It was designed to rattle me, and I had no way to know if it was accurate—I still don’t know. But it listed my name, alongside the parents Elric and Elminia of Hemssted.”

“Who would create a false record like that just to unnerve you?” Elfin demanded, his face pale. “And why would they choose my brother and his wife?”

Merletta gave a hollow laugh. “If you knew as much as I know about the Center, you wouldn’t find it hard to believe.”

He was still staring at her, and she looked away, unable to withstand the intensity of his expression.

“I would say it’s harder to believe that you could be…” He trailed off. “But we all wondered how her body had been lost, when Elric’s and Merminia’s were recovered.” He was whispering now. “But the guard told me himself that he saw her die.”

“Who was this guard?” Merletta asked sharply. “Maybe I can speak to him, ask what he remembers.”

Elfin shook his head. “He was in his older middle age at the time, and that was nearly two decades ago. I suspect he’s gone by now.” He frowned slightly. “I did know his name, but it was a long time ago. He was a Center guard, but originally from Hemssted, as I recall. Part of the Den family. Denford, perhaps?”

“Denton?” Merletta asked, another wave of shock washing over her.

“Yes, that’s it,” Elfin said. He took in her expression. “What is it?”

“I…I knew him,” Merletta said disbelievingly. “He volunteered at the charity home. He’s the one who taught me to read and write. He’s the only reason I made it into the program.” She shook her head. “He even told me once that he used to be a guard.”

“But…I don’t understand,” said Elfin.

“I think I do.” Merletta’s thoughts darkened. “A Center guard, you said? Two adults were one thing, but he couldn’t bring himself to murder a baby. Instead he condemned me to a life of cruelty and poverty, assuaging his conscience by teaching me to read.”

---