Page 32 of A Kingdom Restored

“But this matter is urgent,” she insisted. “A great deal is at stake!”

“And I’m sure the Record Master will be riveted by the details,” the merman said tartly. “This time next week.”

Merletta scowled, fully aware that it was useless to argue with this merman, who was nothing but a messenger. She turned away without thanking him, making it halfway across the lobby before Emil spoke.

“It’s a power play, Merletta, plain and simple. Nothing to become distressed over.”

“I’m not distressed.” There was a slight snap to Merletta’s voice which she hadn’t intended, and she deflated at once. “I’m sorry, I know you’re trying to reassure me. But it’s easy to think an extra week doesn’t matter when you’re not the one who’s geared yourself up to throw everything into a life-defining gamble.”

“If you think we didn’t have to gear ourselves up to be here, you must be seriously overestimating our nerve,” said Sage mildly. “At least in my case.”

Chastened, Merletta begged her pardon. The last thing she wanted was for her friends to think she undervalued the sacrifice they were making for her. And if she was completely honest, she had to admit to feeling some relief at the reprieve. It hadn’t escaped her notice that after the interaction with Elfin, she wasn’t in the best frame of mind for the coming confrontation.

“It’s just hard to do nothing,” she said, lowering her voice. “For all we know, the dragons could be planning to attack tomorrow.”

“From what we’ve been told, that’s unlikely,” Emil said in his calm way. “We’ll just have to hope that this Heath of yours finds a way to warn us if things become that desperate. And in the meantime, you’re not doing nothing. You’ve made an appointment with the Record Master.”

“I wish there was more I could do,” Merletta fretted. “But it seems like our only other hope is finding answers on Vazula. And I think it’s too dangerous for me to go there right now.”

“Definitely too dangerous,” Sage said firmly, as Emil nodded his agreement.

Merletta bit her lip. She would just have to trust August and the others to find anything worth finding. It wasn’t easy—she’d never been good at delegating.

As they moved toward the spire’s main exit, her eyes were drawn to the restricted records room halfway along one wall of the seabed level. Perhaps there was something more she could do after all. Vazula wasn’t the only place where information could theoretically be found about the merpeople’s history.

“Emil, have you found anything useful in your inquiries?” Merletta asked.

He shook his head. “Nothing of significance. I haven’t searched in there, though,” he added, following Merletta’s gaze. “I thought you’d scoured it when you were studying for your third year test.”

Merletta shook her head. “I did my best to focus on what I thought might be in the test, but I definitely didn’t cover everything. There are so many records in there.”

Her eyes strayed back to the records room as they exited the building, a tiny measure of the stress of inactivity lifting. Perhaps there was something she could do after all.

Chapter Ten

“What are we looking for, Heath?”

Heath didn’t turn at the sound of Brody’s impatient voice, instead continuing to stare dejectedly at the boarded up remains of a doorway that graced the grain house before him. He had no answers for his cousin.

“Seriously, there’s nothing here,” Brody pressed.

“I know.” With a sigh, Heath turned away from the building at last. “I’ve been back here three times before now, and I can’t find any clues as to who set Percival up. I just keep hoping there’s something I missed.”

“If there was anything to find, I doubt it’s still untouched,” Bianca said. “Surely the king’s guards have been all over this place as part of their investigation.”

“They have,” Heath admitted, glancing back at the charred doorway.

In his mind’s eye, he could still see the flames licking at the wood, smoke billowing into the sky as a muffled banging announced the presence of the king and his guards, trapped inside. All laid at Percival’s door.

“But they can’t sense magic,” he went on, “so you never know what they might have missed.”

“I thought the idea was to prove that Percival and his magical strengthdidn’tcommit the crime,” Brody drawled. He was making no effort to hide his impatience with Heath’s continued desire to clear Percival’s name properly, instead of spiriting him out of the kingdom.

“I’m not talking about Percival’s magic,” said Heath shortly.

“Whose, then?” demanded Bianca. “Surely you’re not suggesting dragons had anything to do with it? I mean, I know fire is sort of their signature, but I can’t imagine them doing anything so underhanded. Why would they need to?”

“Not the dragons,” Heath assured her. “No one dreams for a moment they were involved, least of all me.”

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