Page 41 of A Kingdom Restored

“I won’t pretend to fully understand why they hate us enough to wish to annihilate us,” she added. “No doubt you know the answer much better than I do, given you’re the primary keeper of our history.”

The Record Master drew in an unhurried pull of water, his eyes studying her in apparent fascination.

“I confess myself surprised at your candor,” he said at last.

“What?” Merletta’s irritation was rising rapidly. She’d braced herself for this conversation, imagining all kinds of dire outcomes and reactions. To have the Record Master treat the information like a barely interesting harvest update was more maddening than anything she’d pictured.

“You have so far been remarkably skilled—or perhaps fortunate—in escaping consequence from more than one potentially incriminating incident,” he said.

“I didn’t come here to talk about being framed for stealing non-existent records,” Merletta said impatiently. “Or being poisoned to look like I had the mythical land sickness. I came here to talk about the absolute disaster which is—”

“It is therefore not logical to me,” the Record Master interrupted, as if she hadn’t been speaking at all, “that you would choose to share information with me which implicates yourself. You have, in fact, acknowledged that it is you who have broughtcalamityupon us all.”

“Are you serious?” Merletta stared at him incredulously. “Did you not hear what I said? A colony of enraged dragons is coming to kill every last one of us, and you’re surprised that I’m not trying to keep it secret to save my own skin?”

“Yes,” he confirmed. “I am.”

She hardly knew how to answer him. “I think you failed in what should be a very basic rule for someone playing at your level—that is, to know your enemy. It seems you don’t have much of an idea who I am.”

“Evidently you are right,” he owned. “I thought you were a survivor first and foremost. But I understand my error now.” His eyes scanned the other three. “And you all have played your part in this situation, have you?”

“Their only connection to the whole disaster is me telling them about it,” Merletta cut in firmly. “None of them had any hand in alerting the dragons to our presence.”

“Hm.” The Record Master looked unconvinced, his gaze lingering longest on Sage.

Merletta pushed down the fear and guilt that threatened to claw its way up her throat. This was the Record Master’s own game, and he was clearly good at it. More likely than not, his accusations toward her friends were designed primarily to weaken her, not to punish them. But honestly, what power did he think he could exercise over her now? There was a reason she’d spoken so bluntly and forcefully. What did she have to lose—what did any of them have to lose if the dragons were going to wipe them out?

“If you truly don’t comprehend why I’m telling you this,” Merletta started resolutely, “then I can explain it. As the one in power, you have the best chance of responding effectively. Hopefully of actually preventing the threatened slaughter.”

“Do you think so?” he asked, his expression still neutral.

“Of course,” Merletta said impatiently. “If you tell everyone they need to flee into the ocean and hide, they’ll believe you. If I tell them that, most people will ignore it as the ravings of a brazen trainee with an overinflated ego.”

“Would they believe me?” the Record Master asked conversationally. “Faith in the accuracy and integrity of the Center’s teachings is a little low lately. Someone seems to have been throwing our work into question.”

“If you want me to apologize for that, then you’d better prepare yourself for disappointment,” Merletta snapped, losing her cool in the face of his apparent unconcern. “I’ve acknowledged my role in all this, but the Center is at least as much to blame. If they did what they were intended to do, accurately preserving our history and faithfully communicating the truth to the population, this situation would not have arisen.”

Again the thickset guard showed a flicker of emotion, his eyes narrowing as they rested on Merletta. The Record Master gave no such outward sign.

“It’s not just about whether everyone would believe you,” Merletta pressed on doggedly. “You also need to actually let them out. Everyone will get slaughtered if your guards keep them trapped inside cities which now have a target on them.”

“So your solution would be for the population of the triple kingdoms to flee into the deep ocean, scatter in small groups, and hope for the best?” The Record Master’s voice held no discernible tone, and yet disdain still managed to drip from every word.

“No,” Merletta retorted. “That’s a last resort at absolute best. The ideal solution would be to convince the dragons not to attack at all. And from what I understand, we can only do that if we demonstrate to them that they’re wrong about our origins. That’s another task which I figure the Center would be best placed to carry out, given that it’s supposed to have the answers about how our civilization came to be.”

The older merman considered her for a long and thoughtful moment. To Merletta’s surprise, the silence was broken by Emil.

“In my role as a record holder, I have been researching the question of our origins,” he said calmly. “I have been surprised to discover very little information beyond the simple tale told to the masses. Which, as everyone in this room must be aware, is not a very credible one.”

The Record Master’s scrutiny passed to Emil, and Merletta had to admire the way her friend continued to project total unconcern as the austere leader studied him unabashedly.

“Your understanding of your role appears to be underdeveloped,” he said at last. “Record holders are the keepers of our civilization’s history. They need not be concerned with what came before our civilization.”

Merletta made a noise of disbelief, but he gave her no chance to call him out on the absurd distinction.

“You seem to know a great deal, Trainee Merletta,” he said, his attention returning to her. “But to one with experience, your apparent knowledge is nothing more than an illusion. I have been studying dragon lore since before you were born. If you truly think it is possible to talk the beasts down from this course you say they have chosen, then you know nothing of them.”

“Dragon lore is one thing,” Merletta argued. “But actual dragons are something else altogether. You don’t know it’s hopeless. Maybe we only need to convince one dragon, or two. Maybe that’s all it would take, and they could convince the rest.”

---