Page 94 of A Kingdom Restored

He checked, turning to find the source of the shout, and even from across the square she saw his eyebrows go up at sight of her.

Merletta closed the gap, pulling up in relief when she reached him. “Agner, I’m glad I found you. The guards will listen to you. We have to stop this! All these people will die if—”

“Oh, Merletta,” Agner cut her off, sounding exasperated. “This is so typical of you. You manage another absurdly unlikely escape, and within a week you’ve thrown yourself right back in it! You should have stayed away until this was all over. I was really hoping you would. Then there might have been a chance to patch things up for you.”

Merletta stared at him. “Patch things up? How would you do that if every last one of us is dead?”

Agner shifted his spear from one hand to the other, getting impatient. “Let’s not exaggerate. I know you don’t want this to happen. I don’t blame you—truth be told, I don’t really want it to happen, either. I like the grit of Tilssted folk. I always have. But sacrifices need to be made for the gain of everyone.”

“The gain of everyone?” Merletta could hardly believe her ears. “You’re not talking about the dragon attack, are you?” she said slowly. “You’re talking about the Record Master’s plan to provoke war by turning the other cities against Tilssted.”

Agner gave his usual chuckle—a sound that was singularly out of place in the midst of the battle zone. “I don’t know if the current Record Master should get quite that much credit,” he said dryly. “This type of conflict is how the triple kingdoms have handled population control for generations.” He shook his head, a stern look coming over his face. “You know I liked to see you shake things up a bit, but you never understood what you were interfering with. Stirring up trouble in all the cities will lead to no good—what if you’d triggered a larger scale cull, generations before it was necessary?”

Merletta’s blood pounded in her ears, horror washing over her. Agner was supposed to be the one instructor she could actually see eye to eye with, and here he was, openly admitting to knowledge of the mass murder that stained the Center’s history.

“That’s why the records don’t go back far enough to make sense,” she whispered, at long, long last realizing the full extent of the deception. “Like Andre’s family record, and the census accounts…whatever came before was wiped clean…they started fresh, and claimed that the written language hadn’t existed before then.”

The realization rocked her, as she finally grasped the true lengths to which the Center had gone, not just once, but probably many times. And the ocean had always been on their side, wiping away all record of their ancestors’ existence, like so much sand before the tide.

“You’re a fourth year trainee, Merletta, and much smarter than most,” Agner said firmly. “It’s time for you to stop fighting every little battle you come across, and start learning how to operate within the system.”

Merletta shook off the familiar crushing feeling of disillusionment, pulling herself back to her present reality with an effort. However abhorrent the practices of the past were, the current crisis was even more disastrous.

“None of that matters now,” she said. “There won’t be any system to operate in by the end of the day. Didn’t you hear what I said? The dragons are coming right now! They’ll kill every merperson they find.”

Agner gave her a long-suffering look. “Merletta, I don’t know how or why you got mixed up with the dragon who saved you from your trial. But I’m amazed you’ve let whatever tale you’ve been told sink in so deeply. The stories of dragon aggression are just part of the necessary narrative. They’re a scary tale to keep naughty children in line. There’s no way a colony of dragons is going to seek us out all the way down here just to—”

He cut off abruptly, and Merletta didn’t have to ask why. She heard it, too—the unmistakable escalation of the hysteria around them. Screams filled the water, and Merletta’s eyes darted upward. For the briefest of moments she allowed herself to hope that the enormous shapes streaking through the water were Rekavidur and his father, bringing good news from Vazula.

But the unfamiliarity of the dragons—not to mention their sheer number—quickly dashed that vain hope.

No more false alarms, no more last-minute escapes. They were out of options, and out of time.

The dragons had come to kill them all.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Heath’s heart was in his throat as he watched Merletta splash into the water. He had to twist around to see the others join her, as Reka was already wheeling northward, toward Vazula. Having dropped his own burdens, Elddreki followed his son.

It was hard to fight the feeling of panic, but Heath tried to keep it at bay. He needed a clear head. He called on his magic, expending no great effort to draw Merletta’s image to mind. She’d never been more central than this moment. He watched her and Sage dragging the chained Record Master through the water. Although he’d watched her in the triple kingdoms many times, he’d never before caught such an aerial view of the underwater world.

It was incredible, an otherworldly vista, the spires of the Center glowing slightly in the dim light. Whether it was from mollusk shells, luminescent plankton, or some latent magic, he couldn’t tell from the distance. But it was breathtaking. The Center was ringed by a beautiful reef, the bright array of sea creatures inhabiting it visible even from far above. And as Merletta and Sage moved across the drop off, he caught sight of many structures up ahead, where two cities merged into one mass of life.

His wonder faded, fear once again taking its place when Merletta and her companions entered the war zone Tilssted had become.

Heath started with surprise as his feet hit sand. He hadn’t realized they’d approached Vazula—he’d been fully engrossed in Merletta’s underwater experiences, marveling in the beautiful unfamiliarity of her world.

He was going to miss that when she was gone.

No!he shouted at himself, angry that he’d allowed his thoughts to take that direction, even for a moment. Merletta may not expect to emerge from the coming confrontation alive, but that didn’t mean there was no hope. He and Reka would find the proof they needed on Vazula—theyhadto.

And if they didn’t, and the worst came to it…well, Heath had no more desire to die than he had the day he’d been speared on this very beach. But he was just as willing to give his life to save Merletta’s, if such an exchange were possible.

More willing, in fact, because while he’d admired Merletta then, he was desperately and irrevocably in love with her now. As impossible as a future together had always seemed, his own future without her still seemed bleak and featureless.

“Heath!” The cry came from the tree line, as August emerged from the jungle, his wife close behind him. “What’s going on?” His eyes flicked to Rekavidur and Elddreki. “We saw the dragons flying past minutes ago. What’s happening?”

“We’re out of time,” Heath said grimly. “Rekavidur and his father, Elddreki, are here to help. But the rest of the dragons are on their way, and their only purpose is to empty the triple kingdoms.”

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