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“Tell me I didn’t just hear what I thought I did, Indigo,” Andre said. “Because it sounded like you’d been spying on Merletta for that senior guard.”
Indigo’s voice communicated nothing but confusion. “But…haven’t you been doing the same thing all this time?”
“What?” Andre protested. “Of course not!”
“Andre…” Indigo still sounded more perplexed than anything. “I’ve known since before I even entered the program that she was disrespectful of the Center, and highly unpredictable. Surely your friendship with her can’t be real.”
“It’s absolutely real,” Andre spluttered.
Merletta dared another glance out, to see Andre studying his cousin’s face. Even from her limited vantage point, Merletta could see the genuine distress on his features.
“Indigo, there’s so much you don’t know. Merletta is…she’s trustworthy. She’s not the one who…” He ran a hand through his shoulder-length hair, clearly torn about what to reveal.
“So is your romantic relationship with her real as well, then?” Indigo asked dryly.
Andre sent her an exasperated look. “That was only ever a misunderstanding, Indigo. I told you that already.”
The young mermaid shook her head, still looking completely lost. “Andre, you don’t have to pretend for me,” she insisted. “I know what you’re doing. I was approached almost as soon as I started classes and instructed to befriend her so as to keep an eye on her. It made sense of your friendship with her, which had previously confused me. I realized you’d been asked the same thing, and I’ve been at a loss as to why you haven’t told me as much. But you don’t have to keep it a secret from me.”
“You have it all wrong, Indigo,” said Andre, visibly upset. “Who asked you to spy on her?”
“Let’s not be dramatic,” said Indigo dryly.
Before Andre could respond, another first year swam up to the pair, his eyes wide with excitement.
“Did you hear, Indigo? They’ve made an arrest. Apparently someone’s been stealing records from the Center and falsifying them.”
“Oh have they?” Merletta emerged from her hiding place, done with cowering behind a shield.
Indigo started visibly, her eyes flying between Merletta and Andre. The other first year, however, turned to her eagerly, apparently not connecting the news to her.
“That’s what I just heard,” he confirmed. “I think it’s just happened. Everyone’s talking about it.”
Merletta looked out across the drop off, realizing that he was right. The competitions had been suspended, and most of the attendees were in small clumps, gossiping animatedly.
“Wait.” Merletta froze as the first year’s words sank in. She’d assumed the accusation was about her, but that didn’t make sense. “Did you say they’re going to make an arrest?”
“No, it’s just happened,” he repeated. “But apparently they got away.”
“Who?” Sage’s voice was sharp beside Merletta, clearly sharing the same fear that had suddenly gripped her friend. “Did they say who he was?”
Surely not, was all Merletta could think. Emil was a qualified record holder, respected and well known within the Center. He came from a wealthy family in Skulssted, who would vigorously resist any efforts to label him a traitor. Why would they target him instead of Merletta, who was a much more logical target? She’d been so sure her well-connected friends were safe.
“I don’t remember the name, but I think it was a mermaid, not a merman,” the trainee said. “They found the evidence in her room.”
Merletta and Sage exchanged confused looks. Was it possible they’d read this completely wrongly, and this incident actually had nothing to do with Merletta? Sage was her only female friend in the Center.
In the Center.
The realization hit Merletta a moment before the booming voice rang out.
“Trainee Merletta?”
Feeling suddenly trapped in a nightmare, she turned slowly to see an unfamiliar guard. He was wearing the armbands of a senior Center guard. She nodded numbly, too terrified by her suspicions to be defiant. It was all for show, of course. There could be no doubt he knew exactly who she was.
“I have some questions to ask you,” he said. “With regards to an offense committed by a shellsmith apprentice.”
Merletta could hardly draw in water, her heartbeat spiraling out of control.
