AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Stop pretending that you’re ancient,” said Heath impatiently. “You’re only a few decades older than me. Now, are we going or not?”
Reka’s sigh actually caused smoke to swirl around them this time. “Very well.”
With the usual lack of warning, he seized Heath’s shoulders and launched into the air.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Merletta slapped her palm down onto the table, trapping the record she was studying beneath it. What was she doing? It was too early in the morning for study. And she wasn’t sitting her educator test in a week. She was taking her guard test. If she was going to spend her rest day working, it should be in the training yard.
She rose into the water.
“I’m sorry, Andre,” she said to the young merman bent low over a record at the desk beside her. “I know I said I’d study with you, but I just can’t think clearly this early in the morning.”
Andre just grunted. His test wasn’t until three weeks after hers, but he was already in full fever mode.
Abandoning the public records room, Merletta swam toward the training yard. Sage had actually invited her to spend the rest day with her family in Skulssted. Merletta still wasn’t sure she’d made the right decision in turning her down. She’d been too embarrassed to admit it, but the thought of meeting Sage’s parents, of being in her actual home, terrified Merletta. And she’d been telling the truth when she told Sage she needed to prepare for her test.
Reaching the training yard, she glanced around. As it was rest day, there was no formal training going on, but several pairs of guards sparred with each other on the far side of the square. She swam between two stone pillars, into a large supply room that opened off the training square. She would do some target practice with the slings. There was no saying what might come up in her test.
She had ducked down, rummaging through a supply chest, when she heard a familiar voice drifting in from the doorway to the main yard. Before she could straighten, ready to greet Freja, she caught her own name, and froze, still half-buried in the chest.
“I’ll make sure we do something this week that will interest Merletta. It’s our last chance before her test, and I’m not sure I’ve done a good job of following my orders.”
“Of course you have.” Agner’s voice was as jovial as ever. “She likes you, I can tell.”
Merletta could barely draw breath. What orders were they talking about? It was Freja’s last chance to do what?
“I’m still a little confused, sir,” Freja went on. “Where exactly do these orders regarding Merletta come from?”
“Not for us to worry about the chain of command,” said Agner, still cheerful. “Guards follow orders, that’s all we need to worry about.”
Merletta didn’t catch Freja’s murmured reply. The two guards must be drifting away from the doorway. For a long moment, Merletta stayed frozen, still bent over the supplies. Her heart was racing, and her stomach was churning almost as badly as it had at the memorial. Freja, whom she’d liked so much, had thought so honest, was following orders regarding her? From a mysterious source she didn’t know herself?
What were those orders? Merletta thought back over the words she’d overheard. Was she overreacting to place some sinister meaning on the conversation? Had it actually been innocent? It was the uncertainty that was so wearing, so destructive to her peace. Whom could she trust? Who was truly on her side?
She’d lost all interest in training in the yard. Without conscious thought, she found herself swimming out of the building. But she wasn’t going to Skulssted to visit Sage. She wasn’t going to Tilssted, where Tish no longer wanted to receive her. She was going further than that. Back to the only place she felt truly safe.
* * *
Merletta sighed, hugging her knees to her chest as she wriggled her toes into the wet sand. What had she expected? That Heath would once again appear, as if by magic, on the one day she made it to Vazula?
Yes, she acknowledged to herself. That was exactly what she’d hoped. And although she knew it was foolish, she couldn’t help feeling disappointed. She pulled her braid forward over her shoulder and ran her fingers through the dark, wet strands, disentangling them. Shaking her head out, she let her hair flow free, like it had before she became a conforming trainee. It felt good.
In spite of the hours that had passed, the overheard conversation between Agner and Freja was still weighing heavily on her mind. So was the uncomfortable visit from Tish. So was her looming test, and the danger to Andre, and the grief of August’s widow, for which she still felt responsible.
She let out a long sigh, closing her eyes and tilting her head toward the sky, so that heavy raindrops splattered on her face. It would have been such a relief to tell Heath all of this, to know he was on her side without question. She unlocked her arms, stretching her legs out straight in the sand and relishing the moisture between her fingers. She knew she should return to the triple kingdoms, stop taking risks, and continue training for her test. But she lingered, not quite ready to let go of her sanctuary.
Then, suddenly, she heard it. The familiar rushing sound. Before her mind had even grasped it, her heart had leaped into her throat, from force of habit. She jumped to her feet, staring up at the shape descending from the sky, barely daring to believe it. So late in the day, she’d thought there was no chance of him coming. Did this mean he’d seen her from afar, with that incredible magic of his? The thought made her heart race even faster. He was thinking of her, then, even though it had been months since they’d seen each other.
Within moments, Rekavidur alighted on the sand, releasing his grip on his human cargo. Heath stepped forward, his familiar smile lighting his face at sight of Merletta.
“You are here!” he said delightedly. “I thought I saw you, and I was right.”
“Looks like it,” said Merletta cheerfully, her spirits already lighter than they had been in weeks. She looked up at Rekavidur, looming up behind Heath. The rain was pattering against his scales with an almost musical sound.
The dragon inclined his head to her in a half-hearted greeting, then took to the sky, off to do whatever he did when on the island. She had the uncomfortable feeling that his main motivation was to get further away from her, but she didn’t waste much time on the thought. Not when Heath was here at last.
“You’re late,” she scolded. “It’s well into the afternoon.”
