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Drifting over to where Felix was talking to a particularly belligerent merman, Merletta heard the young guard losing his patience.
“It’s for your own good you’re being stopped from passing the barrier. We’re trying to protect you. It’s dangerous out there!”
“He’s right,” Merletta interjected, before the local merman could respond. “It is dangerous. You shouldn’t just go swimming out into the ocean alone, when you’ve never crossed the barrier before.”
“Precisely,” Felix said, sounding irritated.
Again the other merman started to speak, looking sulky, but Merletta cut him off.
“If you’re going out past the barrier, you need proper planning. You should go in an organized group, and make sure someone knows where you’ll be, and when you expect to be back. It would be wise to be armed against sharks—even a blunt weapon can be quite useful, if you go for the gills, or between the eyes. And you should undertake other preparations, too. Pack some provisions, but nothing that would attract predators, obviously.”
The merman was staring at her open-mouthed, and she gave him a somber nod.
“There are still risks, of course. So if you’re not willing to accept them, you shouldn’t go at all.”
He made no more attempt to speak, and Merletta turned away, to find Felix staring at her with a look almost identical to the local merman’s.
“What was that?” he demanded, as soon as they’d floated out of the other merman’s hearing.
Merletta shrugged. “It was all true, wasn’t it?”
“Well…” Felix looked astonished. “I suppose so, but…”
“But what?” Merletta challenged.
Felix just blinked, apparently unable to find the words.
Freja had no difficulty finding them, however, when Merletta made similar comments to a trio of mermaids who threw a challenge at the guards swimming past.
“That is not our job,” Freja told Merletta sharply, seizing her arm and pulling her aside. “As guards we help keep the peace. We don’t try to—”
“Educate?” Merletta asked calmly. “But I’m not a guard, am I? I’m a third year trainee, which means I’m studying to be an educator.”
The squad leader narrowed her eyes at Merletta. “What are you up to, Merletta? Are you trying to be smart with me? I’ve worked as a Center guard for many years. Do you think I don’t know how the educators work?”
“Just because they’ve always worked a certain way in the past doesn’t mean they can’t update their approach,” said Merletta brightly.
“But they haven’t.” Freja’s voice was dry.
“How do you know?” Merletta challenged.
Freja gave her a searching look. “This is how I know,” she said curtly, turning and swimming swiftly south, calling to the rest of the patrol as she did so.
The group hastened through the streets of Tilssted, and Merletta soon realized they were heading for the city’s central square. Well before they’d reached it, they had to slow their pace, pushing their way through the gathered crowd. The squad moved upward, although the water was still fairly crowded some way above the seabed. When they emerged into the familiar area—the site of every formal event or celebration of Merletta’s childhood—she could see why. A platform had been attached halfway up the square’s central stone sculpture, and several merpeople were floating atop it, addressing the gathered locals.
With a jolt, Merletta recognized the educator who was currently speaking. He was the one who’d thrown her from the restricted records room. Her curiosity turned to outrage as she caught what he was saying.
“…grieved by the danger that has been unleashed upon the residents of Tilssted, whether through malice or through careless rumor is unclear. Out of concern for the safety of everyone in the city, the Center has graciously authorized the release of restricted records relevant to the policy regarding outward expansion beyond the existing boundaries of our triple kingdoms.”
He nodded to the others behind him, and they started passing out bundles of writing leaves.
“This generosity represents significant cost to the Center, both in resources and in labor from its highly qualified scribes. But such is the Center’s concern for the safety of every resident of our kingdoms.”
The records made their way back through the crowd, reaching those just in front of Freja’s squad.
An older merman right in front of Merletta snatched a loose one out of the water with a gnarled hand, scanning it quickly.
“I’ll be staying put, thanks,” he said wryly, to no one in particular. “The young fools, jumping on this latest craze of outward expansion. They’d be dead out there in an hour.”
