Page 35 of A Kingdom Restored

Brody and Bianca exchanged a glance at this confirmation of Heath’s false answer, Brody’s brow raised incredulously at the claim that his evasive cousin was usually so honest.

With a sigh, Heath looked up at Reka. “I don’tknowthere’s a connection between Merletta and Percival’s situation. But I’ve wondered if it’s possible that whoever attacked Percival, and me, and presumably King Matlock, could be…from the same place she is.” He gave Reka a meaningful look, silently begging the dragon to understand the need for careful speech. “I didn’t mention it before because I was afraid of violating Merletta’s privacy.”

Reka leaned back on his haunches, understanding emanating from him. “I see,” he mused slowly. To Heath’s relief, he didn’t immediately blurt out anything revealing.

“It’s an interesting possibility,” said Reka thoughtfully. “I hadn’t considered that explanation for the power we both sensed at the first attack.”

“Hold on.” Bianca’s voice was sharp. “I thought you said you sensed magic at that attack. Are you saying Merletta is a power-wielder?”

“No,” said Heath quickly. “No, she’s not a power-wielder. She just…comes from a situation where there’s magic. It’s not easy to explain.”

“It’s very easy to explain,” Reka contradicted. “But Heath promised Merletta that he wouldn’t.”

Heath’s cousins both glared at him, but Reka ignored all three humans. He closed his eyes, and Heath felt power pulse from him. He suspected Reka was using his magic to reconstruct his memory of that first attack, the one where he’d sensed no power at the time, but had discovered it in his memory later.

“I think it’s very possible,” the dragon said a moment later, his voice amazed. “It is a similar type of signature, faint and foreign. But if so, it’s not any signature I’ve specifically encountered at any other time.”

Heath was silent, his thoughts exploding. He appreciated Reka’s restraint in using veiled speech. Heath understood perfectly. Reka agreed that the signature of magic they’d felt at the attack on Percival was akin to the type of power that lingered faintly around Merletta, and others of her kind. But if Reka hadn’t felt it elsewhere, then it wasn’t Merletta—obviously—or any of the guards from Vazula.

Was somebody else from Merletta’s world targeting Valoria?

The thought was absurd…and terrifying. And it placed Heath in an impossible situation. How could he keep Merletta’s secret now, without wronging his own people? He’d sworn that in concealing Vazula and the triple kingdoms, he wasn’t concealing a threat from his king, and he’d unequivocally believed it. But had he been wrong? Attacking Percival to inflame tensions—even targeting Heath—was one thing. But if someone from the triple kingdoms had tried to murder King Matlock…

But had they?Heath argued desperately with himself. He hadn’t sensed power at the fire. Just at the other two attacks.

The argument was weak, even in his own head. He had no real doubt that the same players were behind each of the attacks. Which meant that finding and identifying the true culprit—the only way to clear Percival’s name—would mean betraying Merletta’s secret and exposing the triple kingdoms.

It made sense, at least partially. Although he still didn’t understand why any merperson would want to create tensions in Valorian society, it explained the attack on Heath. If someone underwater had found out about his connection with Merletta, they might wish to remove him in order to protect their secret.

But that meant…

Heath drew in a sharp breath, horrified by the inevitable conclusion. If someone had found out about him, Merletta was in more danger than he was. How was she still alive so long after the attack on Heath?

He remembered that she’d become so visible she wasn’t easy to inconspicuously kill, but the thought did little to reassure him.

Heath reached inside himself, teasing out his magic in the way Reka had taught him to do. Perhaps because of the dragon’s proximity, his extra vision flared instantly to life, his image of Merletta encompassing not only her, but her surroundings.

She was in a room, the light dim under the water. The walls were made of stone, and stacks of some kind of large leaf were piled onto shelves which were cut into the stone at all levels. Not just within arm’s reach of the floor, either—the shelves extended all the way up and out of sight. Of course merpeople weren’t restricted to the ground like humans were.

As fascinating as it was to get a glimpse of an underwater building, Heath was more concerned with what Merletta was saying. She was speaking to her companion, the pink-tailed mermaid Heath had seen before.

Sage, her name was. Merletta had spoken of her often.

Right now her face was creased with concern, her dark eyes seeming to bore into Merletta as she listened to her friend.

It will be what it will be, Sage,Merletta was saying.I don’t think there’s really anything I can do to change whatever’s coming.She cast a furtive glance around, then continued.We both know that when I sit down with the Record Master—when I tell him about the dragons—I’ll be completely in his power.

What? Heath’s breath caught in his throat, his heart speeding up. Merletta was going to tell the top authority in her world about the threat of the dragon colony? If there was any hope they didn’t know about her connection with Heath, it wouldn’t survive that meeting. There was no way she could avoid confessing to things which would make them more determined than ever to be rid of her once and for all. A shudder went over Heath as he pictured the retribution that would surely follow. He had to talk her out of it somehow.

But how? He could hear her, but she had no idea he was watching at that moment. There was no way to get a message to her, not when she was deep underwater.

“Reka,” he said, pulling his attention back to his surroundings. “It’s Merletta.”

“What about her?” Brody demanded.

Heath looked at his cousin, vaguely surprised to be reminded of the twins’ presence. “We’re not finding anything of use to Percival here,” he said abruptly. “I have to go now. Will you take my horse back to the city?”

“But, Heath! You can’t drop something like that on us, and then just—”

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