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“Where were you during your break?” Sage asked, without preface.
“I was outside the triple kingdoms,” said Merletta. “I was…on land.”
For a long moment, Sage simply stared at her. “On…land?” she whispered. “Merletta, were you…were you part of this?”
“Part of what?” Merletta asked sharply. “What did they tell you happened?”
“I don’t know who you mean by they,” Sage said simply. “But after you left on your break, a guard patrol came back from outside the barrier with an incredible story. They said they saw a human. Apparently they went a lot further than they were supposed to, and they found…land.”
“And?” Merletta pressed. “Is that all they said happened?”
Sage raised an eyebrow. “All? The discovery that there’s land so close to the triple kingdoms is dramatic enough. I always thought we were far from any land.”
“So did I,” said Merletta dryly. “Until about a year ago, when I was exploring a short way outside the barrier, and I found land.”
“A year ago?” Sage repeated, startled. “Why were you outside the barrier? And why didn’t you tell me?”
“I barely knew you a year ago,” Merletta said, her voice softer. “And even once I got to know you…well, it’s complicated. What else did the guards say?”
Sage shrugged. “Well, it’s not as though I’ve spoken to them myself. But you can imagine the chaos created by that information. Everyone was terrified—we all thought we were safe, far away from land and its predators.”
“That’s what we’d been told,” said Merletta grimly.
“Yes.” Even in the low light, Merletta could see how serious Sage’s expression had become. “And with good reason. I can understand why the authorities wouldn’t have wanted to advertise the proximity of land. It’s not as though we can move the whole triple kingdoms, is it? It’s like Instructor Ibsen said at our last lesson.” She shook her head. “But of course, you weren’t there. He told us—and much as he can be infuriating, I can see he’s right—that by far the safest way is to simply keep everyone inside the barrier, where we’re protected.”
“Protected from what?” Merletta asked, exasperated. It was disheartening to see how easily even Sage, who was smart and well-informed, was buying the lies.
“From the humans,” Sage responded matter-of-factly. “The one the guards saw attacked them, and they barely escaped with their lives.”
Merletta made a noise of disbelief. “He attacked them?” She drew in a deep swirl of water, trying to calm her emotions as the memory of Heath’s blood in the water danced across her vision. She had been right when she guessed that history was being re-written to suit the convenience of whoever was behind the various deceptions.
“You’re telling me,” she tried again, “that one unarmed human sent a whole group of trained guards fleeing for home? Don’t you think that sounds absurd? Surely no one is believing that. Surely the guards are too embarrassed to stick to that story.”
Sage was giving her a strange look. “The guards are dead, Merletta.”
Merletta started, her eyes flying to Sage’s face. “Dead? What do you mean?”
“None of them lasted long after they returned to the triple kingdoms,” Sage explained sadly. “So some of the details are still a little hazy. There’s no one who can tell us exactly what weapons the human used.”
“They’re claiming that he killed the guards?” Merletta demanded, outraged. Her heart was pounding at this ominous information. She’d been furious with the patrol at the time, but they were only doing what they’d been trained to do. She didn’t actually think they deserved to die. What had happened to them?
“You mean the human?” Sage asked. “Of course not. And who is this they you’re complaining about?”
“If I knew the answer to that…” Merletta muttered. She shook her head, blood still pounding in her ears. “How did the guards die, then?”
Sage pushed out a slow stream of water. “Land sickness got them all in the end.”
“What in the depths is land sickness?”
“I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of it,” said Sage simply. “I hadn’t either, before this. When I pressed him, Emil admitted he had, so I suppose they learn about it in fourth year, like we were apparently always going to learn about humans in third year. Anyway, it turns out that land sickness is one of the reasons we’ve been told all our lives of the importance of staying below water.”
“I know exactly why we’ve been told that,” Merletta said bitterly. “And it has nothing to do with any land sickness.”
“All right, enough cryptic hints,” said Sage, sounding a little irritable at Merletta’s constant contradictions. “Tell me what you’ve been up to.”
Merletta hesitated. “I’m scared to tell you,” she admitted.
Sage’s expression softened at once. She laid a hand over Merletta’s. “You can trust me.”
