Page 6 of A Kingdom Restored

He strode off, leaving Jasmine and Leonora to wrestle with that thought however they chose. Much as Jasmine had tried to take it back, he was still stung by Leonora’s suggestion that he didn’t care sufficiently about Percival’s fate. It was all he cared about.

His magic rose up at once to contradict the false assertion. Unbidden, his connection with Merletta activated itself, and he saw her face as it currently was. She was underwater, of course, and for a moment panic flared within him as he realized she was fighting with her spear. He forced his vision outward with an effort—he still struggled to see her wider surroundings most times—and was relieved to see what appeared to be a training yard.

Not a literal tussle to the death, then.

Letting the image shrink back to the edge of his mind—where it remained ever-present—Heath covered the last distance to the crown prince’s study. The guards gave him a curt nod, and he knocked.

“Enter,” came Lachlan’s weary voice.

Heath walked into the room, noting that his second cousin looked as worn as he felt.

“Heath,” said Lachlan, gesturing him into a chair. “I’m sorry, I forgot we were supposed to meet now.” He looked up distractedly from the pile of reports in front of him.

“I won’t waste your time, then,” Heath said. “I don’t have anything new.”

He squirmed slightly inside, thinking of the one suspicion he hadn’t told Lachlan. But it was probably an absurd thought—surely the faint trace of power he’d felt when Percival was attacked, and indeed when Heath was almost killed by a collapsing chimney, couldn’t have belonged to merpeople wandering around Valoria with legs. Merletta had told him time and again how big a shock it was to discover that leaving the water led not to death as she’d been taught but to transformation to human form. So far she hadn’t encountered anyone else who seemed to know about it.

And the interaction between Heath and Merletta had occurred by chance, far away from Valoria’s shores. There was no reason to think that anyone else from her world even knew about Valoria, let alone had been there. And if they had, why would they want to attack Percival? Besides, he argued with himself, he hadn’t sensed that power at the fire. Whoever had set the blaze had been long gone by the time he arrived. So there was nothing concrete to connect it with the previous attacks.

None of that was the reason Heath had kept this vague fear to himself, however. The reason was that he couldn’t reveal the possibility—the very faint, unlikely possibility—without exposing Merletta’s secrets, and endangering her civilization even more than he’d already done.

But what if it was enough to save Percival?

The thought niggled uncomfortably in Heath’s mind, causing him to shift in his seat. The last thing he wanted to do was be forced to choose between his brother’s safety and Merletta’s. Perhaps, if things came to a true crisis point…if a date was actually set for Percival’s execution…

Well, he’d have to reassess if that day ever came. And in the meantime, he was going to try not to allow it to reach that pass.

“I don’t have anything new either,” Lachlan told him. “I wish I could tell you that my father’s anger is cooling. But I can’t honestly say it is. At least he’s made no mention of setting an execution date. He appears to still be honoring his promise to wait until the formal investigation is complete. But he’s not allowing me any involvement in that investigation.”

“You do believe my father, don’t you?” Heath said. “That there’s no deception in Percival’s words when he says he had no role in the attack on your father?”

“I do,” Lachlan assured him gravely. “Honestly, I think that’s why my father won’t let me near the investigation.” He paused for a moment, then laid down his quill. “To be frank, Heath, I wouldn’t have been entirely surprised if your brother had attacked my father. He’s seemed angry enough to do it many times. But I don’t doubt your father’s assurances. Besides which, I have the honesty to acknowledge that it’s not in Percival’s style to knock guards out from behind and lock someone in a burning building. If he was to lose control, I think he’d attack openly.”

“Yes,” Heath agreed ruefully. “Although I truly don’t think he’d ever actually hurt the king.”

Lachlan nodded, his hand straying back toward his quill.

“I’ll leave you,” said Heath quickly. “You know where to reach me if anything new comes up.”

He slipped from the study, his thoughts troubled as he made for a back stairway. He knew his mother would be waiting hopefully for news, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave the castle without speaking to Percival. He’d almost reached the top of the stairs when two familiar figures emerged from the stairwell.

“Heath!” Bianca said, looking surprised.

“Hi Bianca, Brody,” Heath said. The castle seemed to be crawling with his cousins today. “Have you been to see Percival?”

They nodded, expressions sober.

“Is that where you’re going?” Brody asked. He frowned slightly. “What brings you this way?” He cast his eyes up the corridor behind Heath, and his eyes narrowed. “Been holed up with the prince, haven’t you?”

“Brody,” Bianca sighed.

“Are you really going to pretend you’re fine with it?” her twin demanded.

“Don’t start, Brody,” Heath said shortly. “I’ve already had an earful from Jasmine and Leonora about how I’m apparently not taking Percival’s plight enough to heart, and how my lack of magic means I’m not a true part of the family.”

“I doubt that’s quite what they said, and we don’t think those things are true either,” said Bianca firmly. She glared at Brody. “Do we?”

Her brother’s brow was still heavy. “No. It’s not your magic that’s the problem. It’s your loyalty. How you can be working with the crown prince when—”

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