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“Thank you,” Merletta echoed her.
The widow’s face hardened. “But I don’t intend to just let this go.”
“Neither do I,” Merletta assured her. “That’s why I’m here.”
The older mermaid nodded. “I’ve thought from the first that my husband’s death was suspicious. I have even wondered,” her voice took on a wistful quality, “if it’s possible that he isn’t really dead.”
“But,” Sage protested, her eyes flying to Andre’s, “I thought you said your father attended the burial himself.”
“Not August’s burial.” Andre’s voice was little more than a whisper. “He attended two burials, but he was told that August’s case was so much worse that they didn’t want to take chances with the infection.” His eyes flew to Merletta’s, stricken. “It sounds so obviously suspicious now. I can’t believe I didn’t even question it. It never occurred to me that they would lie.”
“Of course not,” said Merletta kindly. “Don’t blame yourself for trusting them. Like most of the triple kingdoms, you’ve been trained from earliest memory to think that the Center knows best, and can be trusted with all our knowledge.”
“I attended those two burials myself,” interjected their hostess. “I’m afraid there can be no doubt that those guards are dead, poor souls. But that still leaves August and two others.”
Merletta stilled as a sudden thought occurred to her. The hermit in the cave! If there was the slimmest chance that some of the guards were still alive…
But before she’d decided whether to say anything and possibly raise false hopes, there was a knock at the door, and all five of them jumped. For a moment they all just stared at each other, then August’s wife rose into the water and swam to her door with quiet dignity.
Merletta could feel her own shock mirrored in the rest of the trainees when Agner was revealed on the threshold. Emil’s expression didn’t change, but she saw his hand clench into a fist on his lap. Andre, on the other hand, looked visibly guilty. Merletta forced her own features to remain impassive. She wasn’t ashamed of what she was doing, and the whole point of her actions was to start spreading her knowledge. Granted, she hadn’t intended for it to come to the attention of any of her instructors so quickly, but at least it was Agner, not Wivell or Ibsen.
The instructor’s gaze passed over the whole group, but definitely lingered longest on Merletta. He looked irritated.
“Founders’ Day is a strange time to be paying social visits,” he said mildly.
Merletta met him look for look. “I was concerned when I saw that one of the guards’ widows wasn’t at our celebrations. I wanted to pay my respects—you’ll remember I didn’t quite get to do so at the memorial—and Andre kindly agreed to introduce me.”
“Well,” said Agner, after a moment’s silence. “It’s not a good look for the program to have three of our five trainees absent from the feast, to be honest. I think it’s time you all returned with me.”
They rose without protest, taking their leave of their hostess, whose expression was hard to read. Merletta was uncomfortably aware of Agner scanning all their faces, taking careful note of who was part of their little group. Sage and Emil had already been in it with her, and by their own choice. But Andre had been plunged into their conspiracy without really understanding what he was getting into. Merletta could see how overwhelmed he was—he had the same expression Sage had worn when Merletta first told her about Heath.
No one spoke as they passed through Skulssted. Plenty of onlookers glanced curiously at the group, and Merletta knew their expedition had little hope of remaining secret. But she wasn’t trying to keep it all secret, she reminded herself. She was trying to be visible.
They had almost crossed the drop off when Agner tapped Merletta’s arm, and she pulled up, bracing herself.
“I like you, Merletta,” he said tightly. “I think you could be an asset to our program, whether with the guards or the record holders. But not if you insist on making foolish decisions.”
Merletta remained silent, searching his features by the dim light of the plankton lanterns lining the nearby edge of the drop off. It was impossible to tell how much he knew, and what he was really trying to say. She appreciated his concern, but she had no intention of apologizing.
Seeing that she wasn’t going to speak, Agner pulled away and followed the rest of the group. By the time Merletta caught up, they’d reached the feast. She floated up between Sage and Emil, dropping her voice to a mutter.
“I’m sorry I didn’t warn you,” she said. “I’ve been meaning to speak to her, but I didn’t plan for it to be today. I just saw that she wasn’t at the festival, and I thought it was a good opportunity, because I expected everyone of importance to be safely here. I should have realized that with all of us gone, we’d be missed.”
“It’s not your fault,” said Sage, with her usual kindness. “I wonder who missed us. Do you think it was just Agner who noticed?”
Emil cut in grimly before Merletta could answer. “Not everyone of importance is here,” he said.
“What do you mean?” Sage asked, when he didn’t elaborate.
“Look around,” said Emil, and the two mermaids did so.
“What?” Merletta asked impatiently, when he still failed to explain himself.
“I don’t see the Record Master anywhere,” Emil said. “He wouldn’t normally miss the Founders’ Day feast, would he?”
Sage looked aghast. “Surely you don’t think he went looking for us, too? Before we met him last Founders’ Day, he didn’t even know we existed.”
“Everyone knows Merletta exists,” said Emil shortly. In his usual frustrating fashion, he didn’t elaborate.
