Page 59 of A Kingdom Restored

“I will not allow this fear-mongering,” the Record Master said imperiously. “Guards, you know where to take her.”

The guards grabbed Merletta’s elbows, but a moment later one of them spun, weapon raised. Andre had barreled into him from the side, his spear still tucked into its sling across his back, but his fists raised. Sage and Emil were right behind him.

“And take these three into custody,” the Record Master said with a touch of impatience. “They are clearly her accomplices.”

“No!” Rowena’s cry rang out as guards seized all three of Merletta’s friends.

But the word had barely left her lips when she and everyone else in the training yard froze, each head snapping up toward the distant surface as the water was suddenly filled with a rock-shattering, reverberating roar.

Merletta’s heart leaped into her throat, horror momentarily freezing her in place. It was all too late. They were out of time.

Chapter Eighteen

Heath. Merletta’s familiar voice, although quiet in his ear, saturated every layer of Heath’s awareness. The breakfast table at Bexley Manor disappeared from his sight, his vision filled by the image of Merletta’s face, defeated and weary.

If you’re listening, or watching, or whatever it is you do…I think it’s very possible I’m going to be executed in an hour.

Heath heard a faint crash, some part of his mind noting in a detached way that it didn’t seem like an underwater sound. It took him a moment to realize it came from his world. He pushed impatiently at the awareness of his true surroundings as it tried to intrude on his extra sight. He was dimly conscious of servants bustling around to his side of the table, but it meant nothing to him. He didn’t care if he’d smashed a hundred pitchers of milk. Not after what Merletta had just said to him.

I know that’s…awful for you, Merletta went on.I wish…Her voice thickened.I wish we at least had the chance to say goodbye. Or that there was a way to protect you from it. But I think I’m out of options. I’ve reached the end of the line.

Even Heath’s farsight spun, and he reached out a hand, expecting to grip the pale bars of Merletta’s cell. But it was a solid wooden table that he grasped to steady himself. Had she said an hour? But that wasn’t long enough for him to reach her!

“Reka!” he cried, surging to his feet and upending his chair in the process.

A servant let out a cry as the sugar bowl joined the milk pitcher, its contents strewn across the rug. Heath ignored it all, striding out of the manor as he called once again for his friend.

He’d been feeling guilty for the last three days about hiding away at the manor instead of facing up to the difficult decision before him back in Bryford. He knew his family hadn’t approved of him leaving, with Percival still in the dungeons.

But now, he was fervently grateful that he’d gotten Reka to bring him home to Bexley Manor after their conversation in the garden. Not only was Heath closer to Vazula, but Reka was on hand as well. Presumably down by the cliffs, in his favorite spot.

Not that there was any point going to Vazula. That wasn’t where Merletta floated in a cell, awaiting imminent execution.

Without his permission, Heath’s farsight flickered to Percival, whose posture was unnervingly similar to the mermaid’s. A groan escaped Heath’s lips as Reka’s familiar form descended into the courtyard.

“What’s wrong, Heath?”

“Merletta,” Heath gasped. “We have to get to her. Right now.”

“We have discussed this,” Reka reminded him. “If I go to Vazula, the elders may well see where—”

“She’s not on Vazula,” Heath interrupted. “She’s underwater. She’s been arrested, and she thinks she’s going to be executed in an hour. Can you find the triple kingdoms, do you think? Can you get there quickly enough?”

Reka considered the matter, his demeanor maddeningly unhurried. “I do not anticipate that it will be difficult to find the cities. I may be able to fly there in an hour, particularly if I am not carrying a burden.”

Heath groaned again. He could hardly bear the idea of staying behind, but Reka was right. He would only be a burden, in more ways than one.

“All right,” he said. “She’s in some kind of holding cell, inside a building, I think.”

“I can find her,” Reka told him evenly. “I have become gradually more aware of her. My farsight locates her with relative ease now. But do you truly wish to risk the elders discovering the location of the hidden underwater cities this very day?”

Heath ran a hand over his hair, thinking rapidly. The frantic part of him wanted to throw caution to the winds. What did he care if the dragons attacked, so long as Reka got Merletta out safely?

But, quite apart from the fact that Merletta would probably hate him for the decision, it was an unforgivably selfish way to think. He wasn’t willing to just leave her to her fate. But for the sake of his own conscience as well as what she would feel, he had to at least try to protect the rest of the triple kingdoms.

“What can we do to hide your flight from the elders?” Heath demanded.

Reka did a rippling shrug. “I do not think I can hide from them. Their farsight is far superior to mine. Perhaps if I had the heart magic of concealment…but I do not believe there has been anyone with that ability in our colony for many human generations. It was for that reason I was so struck by the concealment magic displayed by your sister’s child.”

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