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CHAPTER SEVEN
An hour after passing the test, Merletta was still in a state of euphoria. The time immediately after leaving the testing room was a blur. She vaguely remembered being shown to a sleeping area which she was apparently to share with the other female trainees. It had been empty at the time, except for the belongings of its other occupants and the seaweed hammocks strung all over the space, swaying gently with the current.
The mermaid who had showed her the way had raised a disapproving eyebrow when she saw that the small kelp satchel constituted Merletta’s only belongings, but Merletta had been far too elated to care about such things.
She was told where to find the dining hall used by the trainees, but given no other instructions. Apparently her orientation would start the following day. Merletta suspected that the mermaid who showed her to the sleeping room expected her to stay there and rest until the evening meal. But no one had expressly forbidden her to wander freely, and she had no intention of floating around all day.
She waited impatiently, barely able to keep her fins still while the mermaid fussed around, tidying the space. The feeling of restlessness was so familiar to Merletta that she glanced up toward the distant surface in an almost unconscious gesture. The impulse made her smile. She had escaped the home at last, but some things hadn’t changed. While she might not have brought many belongings, one thing she had definitely brought with her was the insatiable desire for exploration that had made her the despair of every carer who had ever tried to keep her contained.
Nevertheless, when the other mermaid finally left, and Merletta slipped outside the building, her gaze was no longer directed upward. For once it wasn’t undiscovered places beyond the borders of the cities that pulled at her. She had finally reached the one part of the triple kingdoms which she desperately wanted to explore, and she didn’t intend to waste the opportunity.
She swam slowly through the passages of the Center, taking in every detail this time. Although the quality of the buildings showed wealth, she was surprised to see that most of them were not covered with the showy decorations she’d observed in the city of Skulssted, while traveling from the home to the Center. And similarly, most of the merpeople passing her were not adorned with excessive jewelry. Even their hair was tied back in a practical manner rather than the elaborate styles adopted by most of the wealthy merpeople she had seen.
Some instinct warned Merletta not to probe too far into the heart of the Center while she was still such an outsider. She skirted the edge of the complex, admiring the beauty of the sea life beyond the edge of the developed area. The creatures were clearly well acclimatized to the presence of the merpeople who lived in the Center. Even the sea turtles showed no reaction to her proximity as she swam alongside their reef. She glanced in fascination back toward the buildings on the other side of the drop off, where the Center ended and Skulssted began. She hadn’t realized there was an area of untouched ocean of this size anywhere within the triple kingdoms. It was beautiful.
The light had begun to fade by the time she made her way back toward the trainees’ barracks, and its dining hall. She had become distracted by all the new sights, and had lingered longer than intended. The deepening gloom was met by the luminous glow of many lanterns, and Merletta couldn’t help but be impressed by how well-lit the streets were. She wondered whether the residents themselves were wealthy enough to all have their own farms of luminescent plankton to replenish the lanterns outside their homes, or whether it was a service provided by the Center.
Some of the street corners even had large conical cages with jellyfish swimming up and down in the confined space, their glow rippling through the water in unceasing motion. Merletta gave these sources of light a wide berth. The shiver that went over her was only in part because of her dislike of the creatures. The Center really was deeper than Skulssted. The chill of the water seemed to reach right into her bones.
Merletta didn’t bother going back to the sleeping chamber first, instead making her way straight to the dining hall. She’d forgotten all about her purloined cod in her excitement about passing the test, leaving it in her chamber. But her elation had worn off enough for her to realize just how hungry she was.
She entered the dining hall to general bustle. There were some two dozen merpeople in the room, all presumably holding official roles in the Center.
Merletta made it only a short way into the room when she stopped, blinking quickly at the sight before her. The room was dominated by a long stone platform that seemed to have been carved from the bedrock below. Merpeople were floating around it, chatting and eating, but it wasn’t the people or the table that caught Merletta’s attention. It was the food.
Never in her life had she seen such a spread. At the home, they had eaten cod and seaweed almost every day, with very little variety in its preparation. Occasionally they would get the treat of rarer fish, and once or twice she had tasted cooked crab, prepared over one of the thermal vents located in the wealthier parts of town.
But even that was nothing to the food being served in the dining hall. The surface of the table was covered with shallow circular indentations, and they were filled with an incredible variety of dishes. There must be thermal vents somewhere within the Center—not that the temperature of the water supported that theory—because there were multiple dishes that appeared to have been seared in the scalding water. There were various types of fish, of course, and the familiar staple of seaweed, but there were also basins of squid, what appeared to be shark meat, and even a large turtle-shell bowl filled with fresh oysters.
Merletta was still hovering in the doorway, staring in stunned silence at the spread, when a mermaid who looked to be in her early thirties paused on her way past.
“Can I help? You look lost.”
“Oh,” said Merletta, pleasantly surprised by the mermaid’s friendly tone. “I was told to come here for the meal, but I’m not sure if there’s somewhere particular I’m supposed to sit, or…”
“You’re new, then?” the other mermaid asked. “Did you just get a job here?”
“Not a job, no,” said Merletta, straightening a little. “I’ve just been accepted as a trainee.”
The mermaid’s eyebrows went up. “Oh, good for you! I didn’t realize there was a new trainee.” She tilted her head toward one end of the stone hall, her long copper braid gliding gently through the water with the motion. “The trainees sit over there. The ones with the armbands.”
Merletta followed her gesture and saw five young merpeople. They were sitting in a group around a small stone table set beside the broad platform occupied by the rest of the merpeople.
“Thanks,” said Merletta, trying to conceal the sinking feeling in her gut. Even before seeing the faces of the other trainees, she recognized their armbands. They were the ones who had passed through the lobby of the recruit-master’s office while she was waiting, the ones who had spoken of her application with such scorn.
Squaring her shoulders, she moved toward them with a flick of her tail. She supposed she knew what type of welcome to expect from her fellow trainees, but it was no more than she’d predicted. Even sweet-natured Tish, who always tried to look for the best in people, had warned her not to expect kindness.
“Is this the trainees’ table?” she asked politely, pulling herself up to float alongside the group.
They all turned to look at her, their expressions ranging from disinterest to open hostility. No one looked surprised, however, so she assumed that news of her successful test had already spread.
“It is,” said one of the two mermaids in the group, shifting slightly so that there was room for Merletta. Taking a second look, Merletta drew encouragement from the realization that this girl, at least, looked more curious than antagonistic.
Merletta approached the table, occupying the gap the other mermaid had created.
“So,” she said, gesturing to the larger table. “What’s the occasion?”
“The occasion?” asked one of the young mermen, his forehead creasing in confusion.
