Page 51 of A Kingdom Restored

Merletta raised an eyebrow. “And we’re supposed to believe that? We heard you tell Andre you’d been directed to spy on me.”

“I was,” Indigo acknowledged. “But that was last year. I haven’t reported to anyone in months. No one knows I’m here.”

“What’s changed?” Sage asked suspiciously.

“I have, I suppose.” Indigo’s honest answer was disarming. “I’m sure you think I’m a traitor, like Andre does. But I never realized I was working against him. I thought he was doing the same as I was.”

“Yes, we heard all that,” Sage said, her voice still hard. “You thought his friendship with Merletta was a scam, designed to win her trust then betray her to the authorities.”

Irritation flickered across Indigo’s pale features, and Merletta found herself warming to the other mermaid a little in spite of herself. Indigo’s indignation made it easier to believe that she had genuinely thought herself to be doing the right thing.

“My point is, I never meant to betray Andre. He’s family. And I know him pretty well, I think—he’s not the type either to be easily deceived or to deceive me. I honestly didn’t know what to make of it all after you came back from wherever you’d exiled yourself. I would’ve asked Andre to explain it all better, but he refused to even come near me.”

Merletta winced. She couldn’t help it. Perhaps it was the absence of a family of her own, but she still felt horribly uncomfortable at the thought that she’d created rifts in the families of two of her closest friends.

“So I went to see August and Eloise,” Indigo said matter-of-factly.

Merletta stared at her. “You did?”

The other mermaid nodded. “They told me a very different tale from the official one. And it was pretty hard to dismiss their account as fanciful or exaggerated. I mean, have you met August?”

“He’s as credible as they come,” Merletta agreed. She studied the other mermaid. “They took a risk, trusting you with the truth.”

“Not really,” Indigo said. “I think you have the wrong idea about my level of involvement in…whatever all this is. I don’t have authority, and I’m not in anyone’s ear. I was just told to keep an eye on you, report back about your movements.”

Merletta frowned. “But I came here, a week after I passed my test. Does that mean the Center already knows about the others living here?” Fear flashed through her. Was that what happened to Tish? The guards thought she’d left voluntarily, but was it possible someone from the Center had actually gotten her?

But Indigo was shaking her head. “I never followed you outside the barrier. I never even followed you as far as the barrier. I usually just saw what city you were entering. Even if I’d known you were leaving the triple kingdoms, I wouldn’t have been brave enough to follow.” She glanced at the water around her. “This is the first time I’ve ever been outside the barrier.”

“Why did you follow this time?” Sage demanded.

“Because of you,” Indigo told her simply. “I saw you going with Merletta. I’ve watched her quite a bit, and…” Her gaze flicked to Merletta. “I knew that whatever your politics, you wouldn’t choose to endanger a friend. I figured it must be safer than I thought.”

For a moment there was silence as the two friends regarded her thoughtfully.

“So is it my turn for some answers?” Indigo asked, her tail flicking slightly.

Merletta couldn’t help smiling. It was clear that this forthright manner was more natural to Indigo than her chastened one of earlier, and Merletta found she liked her the better for it.

“Answers about what?” she asked innocently.

Indigo gave her an incredulous look. “What do you think? I just watched you both grow legs!”

“Oh, that,” said Merletta casually. “Yes, that’s what happens when you dry out. It’s probably the Center’s biggest lie.”

Indigo’s eyes were impossibly wide. “But surely they don’t know about it,” she said. “Surely they’d be as astonished as—”

Her words died away at the pitying look Sage was giving her. Indigo bit her lip, her mind clearly whirling.

“That’s what August meant, isn’t it?” she whispered. “He accused the Center of systematic deception. He even said they’re willing to murder anyone who threatens their lies.”

“Did he?” Merletta said, pleased. “Good on him for speaking so plainly.”

Indigo was silent for another moment, then her head came slowly up to meet Merletta’s eye.

“I’m on your side,” she said firmly. “Yours, and Andre’s, and August’s, and whoever else is trying to expose the truth. I don’t want to be part of the Center’s lies.”

“Just like that?” Merletta let out an incredulous laugh.

---