AllFreeNovel
Share Us
If Andre noticed her slip up, he gave no sign of it. They cruised around the edge of the market together, looking for a good place to settle. Hemssted was a pleasant city, Merletta noted. Neither the attire of the merpeople, nor the decorations on the buildings, were as elaborate as they tended to be in Skulssted. But, in her private opinion, the whole effect was more tasteful. No one had live starfish adorning their hair, or lavish strings of pearls wrapped around their arms. Instead, she saw mermaids with single pearls glistening on their earlobes, and mermen with their long hair woven through conical shells.
Andre generously bought them all fresh mussels, and they settled by a large rock sculpture which formed the centerpiece of the market square. Merpeople floated past in a constant stream, their conversation leaping toward the trio in catches. It took very little time for Merletta to see why Ibsen had set them such a task. The incident with the patrol was clearly still the main topic of conversation, and it was exercising powerfully on the merpeople’s fear. They had all been told, from earliest memory, that the surface was dangerous, and the land doubly so. Now, that vague fear had solidified and taken form right in their midst, and all the frightening bedtime stories were coming to life.
She heard people talking about moving to dwellings closer toward the Center and away from the barrier. She heard fears expressed regarding friends or family members who were guards and therefore had to complete patrols. She even heard one mermaid declaring to her companion that she wasn’t going to visit the oyster farms anymore, because the towers, with their clumps of oysters, ascended almost to the surface.
Merletta was fairly sure she knew what kind of answer Ibsen was looking for.
Sure enough, when she sat in Ibsen’s class the following morning, she heard Oliver deliver the desired reply with beautiful simplicity.
“Panic,” he said calmly. “It’s been weeks, and people are still terrified. There’s nothing they can really do to protect themselves, other than staying inside the barrier. But that doesn’t stop them from coming up with absurd ideas for how to keep themselves safe. Some of the ideas are dangerous in themselves. “They were happier—and in fact safer—when they knew nothing of the humans, or the proximity of land.”
“Excellent point, Oliver,” said Ibsen approvingly, just as if it wasn’t his own point that he’d made them all spend their rest day confirming. “Who else?”
His eyes skated over Merletta—he never gave her the opportunity to make herself heard in class, if he could help it—and settled on Andre.
“Where did you observe?”
“A marketplace in Hemssted, Instructor,” said Andre.
“And did your reflections tally with Oliver’s?”
“They did,” Andre confirmed, nodding. Ibsen was already looking past him, but Andre continued. “But I was surprised by something.”
“What was that?” asked Ibsen, with far more tolerance than he’d ever shown Merletta’s interjections.
“Well, people were talking like they were afraid,” said Andre. “But they weren’t actually acting differently. I mean, life is going on much like before, isn’t it? No one’s actually in such a panic that things are falling apart.”
“It’s reassuring to know that the population of Hemssted has faith in their leaders to protect them,” said Ibsen, as if closing the topic.
“Maybe that was it,” Andre mused. “Or maybe the average merperson is capable of more understanding than we think. Maybe they could be trusted to make safe choices if they were more adequately informed.”
Merletta looked at Andre with increasing approval. She would have liked to applaud him, but she was still pursuing her strategy of playing along with those in charge, so she held her peace.
“You are young, Andre,” said the instructor, with indulgent disdain. “You have a great deal to learn. If you really think no one’s safety is at stake, I suggest you speak with the families of the guards who died because they strayed too close to land.”
Andre’s eager expression dimmed, and he subsided. Merletta’s eyes were on Ibsen, her expression thoughtful. It wasn’t surprising that Ibsen failed to take Andre’s very reasonable comment seriously. It wasn’t even surprising that he’d been so insensitive as to play on Andre’s grief about the dead guards.
What was surprising was the mildness of Ibsen’s reaction. She couldn’t help but compare this treatment with what she had received as a first year. Ibsen had always been offended to the point of fury when she expressed a view that was contrary to the official position. Even Wivell, while much more detached in manner, had always been absolute in rejecting any suggestion she made. Could it really just be prejudice against Tilssted that caused these overreactions?
“I suppose you used your observation time in Tilssted, did you?”
Ibsen’s question took Merletta by surprise. He hadn’t even greeted her at the start of the class, as if he wasn’t quite ready to admit the unpleasant reality that she’d returned from her break.
“No, I was in Hemssted as well,” she said lightly.
“But you spent your break in Tilssted, I assume?”
Merletta hesitated for only the briefest moment. “Yes, sir. With a friend from the home where I grew up.”
She couldn’t help but remember her optimism when she’d first started at the Center, that she didn’t need to lie to her instructors. She’d even thought she could keep her excursions outside the barrier a secret without lying, if she was just careful with her words. The thought made her sad. Tish had already thought her cynical back then, but that version of herself had been blissfully naive compared to how she felt now.
Ibsen’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he said nothing as he turned away to continue the lesson. Merletta hoped fervently that he wouldn’t follow up on her story. It wouldn’t be difficult to discover that Tish was her only notable friend from the charity home, and she didn’t like the idea of Tish being questioned about Merletta’s activities.
She would have to visit her soon to warn her that she’d claimed to have spent a month in her company. What story should she tell Tish for why she’d told everyone that? How much did she dare to confide in her friend, who was more vulnerable even than Merletta?
“Instructor Agner said that we’ll be called on to accompany a patrol to Tilssted next time there’s a boundary dispute.” Lorraine’s voice cut across Merletta’s thoughts. “Do we really have to go there? I thought it wasn’t safe.”
Merletta raised an eyebrow at the first year girl, and even Ibsen seemed unimpressed by her attitude.
