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“Do you think he recognized us?” Sage asked, no doubt referring to the conversation they’d had with the Record Master at the Founders’ Day ceremony in Merletta’s first year.
Merletta couldn’t help but remember Sage’s excitement on that occasion at the honor granted them. Now she sounded apprehensive—the effect of Merletta’s secrets on her life.
“Yes,” Merletta said shortly.
For a few minutes they swam in silence, Merletta thinking over the encounter. “You know,” she said suddenly, “that’s the first time I’ve seen him without those two guards of his. I thought they were with him at all times.”
Sage shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. I mean, they’re often with him. But it’s not unusual to see him without them. I came across him multiple times last year, when I used to come in here for the records room. He was sometimes alone.”
Merletta frowned, thinking this over. From the way the guards usually hovered, she’d gotten the sense that they were excessively loyal to the Center’s top figure. A theory supported by the fact that he didn’t seem to have a true guard rotation—just those two. It was strange to think that they’d just leave him unattended on a regular basis.
“What are you going to do, Merletta?” Sage asked. “What are any of us going to do if we’re barred from the records?”
“You’ll be all right,” Merletta said. “I’m sure a new watchword will be distributed to fourth years and record holders. It’ll just be third years no longer allowed in, you’ll see.” She shrugged. “And next year, when I’m the only fourth year, there’ll be some reason why fourth years aren’t allowed.”
“But will you be a fourth year?” Sage asked with unusual bluntness. “Without access to those records, and with no help from Ibsen in class, it won’t be easy to pass the third year test. In fact, I suspect it will be near impossible.”
Merletta was silent for a moment, then she stopped swimming, turning to face her friend.
“Does it even matter, Sage? What’s the point of it all? If they’re not going to let me learn anything, I may as well be out there campaigning for the truth instead of hiding in the Center, trying not to scratch anyone’s scales the wrong way on the slim hope they’ll let me inside enough for me to actually learn anything valuable.”
“What are you saying?” Sage asked, sounding upset. “Are you thinking of dropping out of the program?”
“I don’t know what I’m thinking of doing,” Merletta said helplessly. “I just know, after yesterday, that I could never be an educator.”
“But you didn’t want to be a scribe either, or a guard,” Sage argued. “They’re all just checkpoints on the way to the end goal.” She seized Merletta’s arm, gripping it with surprising strength. “You have to succeed, Merletta. Beat them at their own game. Prove that it’s possible, and once we’re record holders together, we’ll start to change things. Us, and Emil, and Andre.”
Merletta didn’t answer. She wasn’t satisfied by the ambitions that had once driven her every move. What did it matter if she passed the program? Even in the increasingly unlikely event she succeeded, it wouldn’t be for another year and a half. The residents of Tilssted were ready for change now, and willing to take risks to achieve it. And they were being lied to now. Perhaps right now, given the educators’ activities.
The thought decided her on something.
“Sage, can you tell the others that we all need to talk? Before dinner tonight. Is there somewhere private we can meet?”
Sage looked apprehensive, but she nodded. “How about the room where you stayed over your break? I’ll tell my family I wanted to host my friends for a social gathering outside the Center.”
“Thank you,” said Merletta. “And you’ll tell the others?”
“Why can’t you?” Sage asked suspiciously. “Where are you going?”
“There’s something I need to do while I still can,” Merletta answered evasively. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Sage—she hoped to prove the opposite that evening. But there was no need to worry her friend. “I’ll be back this afternoon.”
She paused. “And just Emil and Andre, all right?”
Sage nodded, obviously understanding her point. Indigo tended to hang around them a lot, and although she was friendly enough, none of them but Andre knew her well enough to consider bringing her into their dangerous secrets.
Merletta swam quickly once she and Sage parted, heading due north. It was risky to take the most direct route past the barrier, through Tilssted. But with the patrols increasingly alert to attempts to leave the triple kingdoms, she would need the advantage of familiar waters.
Even so, it was more difficult than she could ever remember for her to get out unseen. Well before she reached the boundary, she had to be careful in traversing Tilssted’s streets. The gossip hadn’t been as exaggerated as she thought. There seemed to be guards everywhere, and not just Center guards, but ones from Hemssted and Skulssted, too. Every Tilssted guard she saw looked disgruntled, and who could blame them?
She saw two separate instances of Center guard squads arguing with groups of locals, and another group—whom she was fairly certain were educators—moving in the direction of the city’s central square. With great effort, Merletta stopped herself from following them.
The general distraction helped her, but she still had to wait a long time before there was a sufficient gap between patrols to allow her to slip inconspicuously through the kelp forests beyond the farms.
She waited until she was well outside the barrier before speaking aloud.
“Heath.” She felt foolish, speaking to open water, but pushed on anyway. “Heath, I need to speak with you. On Vazula. It…it might be the last time I can come. I hope not, but…just in case.”
She said no more, trusting that he would hear her and come, as he’d told her he would.
