Page 87 of A Kingdom Restored

“Don’t try your mind games on Heath,” Merletta growled. “No one’s falling for your tricks anymore.”

“No trick,” he said placidly. His eyes narrowed in thought as he looked back at Heath. “I don’t know that I would have recognized you without assistance. You’ve grown more than I have in the intervening years, after all.”

Heath drew in a sharp breath. “So you do remember our first encounter? When I saw you at the Winter Solstice Festival over a year ago, I recognized you immediately as the man I saw in the markets when I was a child. I sensed the strange power of your kind then, and I sensed it at the attacks.”

“An excellent memory,” said the Record Master lazily. “You would have made a good record holder. If you were advanced enough to have a tail, that is. And if our civilization weren’t nearing total destruction.”

Heath ignored the comment. “I don’t see how me sensing your power in the markets as a small child makes me responsible for your plots against…” He trailed off, suddenly comprehending. “Are you saying that you’ve been planning this whole vendetta ever since then? Because I identified your magic?”

“That’s right.” In spite of his earlier show of reticence, the Record Master was clearly enjoying dropping these revelations. “We’ve known for much of our recorded history that dragons are a threat to us. But we’ve lived for generations without any fear of humans. Your ships can’t cross our waters, and you can’t descend into our world. But the entrance of magic into your bloodline had the potential to expose us—as I discovered in the markets that day. It would be…restrictive for me to be prevented from roaming the land when need arises. I was determined then to rid this place of your kind, but it took many years of careful prodding to ignite the right tensions.”

He glanced dispassionately at Percival. “You were a boon, for certain. Easily visible magic, a natural arrogance, and a hot temper. Perfect. And you took my bait so wholeheartedly with the attack by the king’s guards.” His sneer as he said the last two words made Percival wince.

The newly released young man was pale, his horrified expression showing that he grasped the role he’d unwittingly played in the plot more soberly than Heath had ever dared to hope he would.

“So you’ve been pursuing a vendetta against us for more than fifteen years,” Heath said quietly. “All because of a chance meeting with a child in the markets.”

“Your blame goes beyond that encounter,” the merman told him. “Your friendship with the dragon certainly added urgency to my aim.” His eyes shifted to Merletta, their expression nasty. “Given that dragons discovering our existence would be the worst kind of disaster, as any loyal merperson would know.”

“You’re hardly one to speak about loyalty,” Heath said harshly, seeing the strained look on Merletta’s face. “We know what you’ve done to your own people, so don’t look for sympathy here.”

“But I still don’t understand,” Laura chimed in. “How would it help you to provoke conflict between the crown and us? Did you hope it would distract everyone from searching for you?”

Merletta gave a hollow laugh. “You underestimate his depravity,” she told Laura. “Didn’t you hear him before? He wanted to rid the kingdom of you. He hoped to ignite enough conflict that the crown killed you all off.”

“Presumably before we had any more generations to expand the bloodline of power-wielders,” Heath agreed grimly.

Laura’s eyes widened, and Heath had no doubt she was thinking of her children—the first power-wielders of the fourth generation.

“Just how much of the tension and unrest have you been behind?” Laura accused. “How long have you been whispering poisonous lies, and sowing division?”

The Record Master didn’t speak, although the slight smirk on his face was answer enough.

Heath shook his head. “Far too long. I knew someone was in the king’s ear, leading him astray. But I never dreamed it was someone from the triple kingdoms. It was you who convinced the king that Kyona couldn’t be behind the attack on Percival, wasn’t it? If you were worried about the truth being exposed, why didn’t you take the offered decoy? If we all believed a Kyonan power-wielder had done it, no one would suspect you.”

“But he didn’t want everyone to blame Kyona,” Merletta said slowly. “He wanted the power-wielders to blame the crown, and vice versa. Pursuing Kyona would have been a distraction from the focus on wiping you all out.” She looked the Record Master in the eye. “Because that’s what you do, isn’t it? You skillfully provoke conflict, but you give the appearance of preventing it, because you only allow therightconflict, at the right time, between the right parties. All according to your own plan.”

“You are finally catching up,” he said in cold amusement.

Anger grew in Merletta’s eyes. “That’s always been your approach. Us and them, like Ileana said. I’ve seen you do it for years. I don’t know why I didn’t recognize it when Heath first brought me here.”

She took a step forward, her hands balling into fists. “You’ve been doing it in the triple kingdoms all my life. Tilssted against everyone else. Were you willing to go as far there? Did you hope to get the other cities to wipe us out? Because last I saw, you were well on the way to achieving your goal.”

“On the contrary,” the Record Master said coldly. “Thanks to your foolish intervention, my goals have been considerably disrupted.”

“How devastating for you,” Merletta said, her icy rage rising. “You’re supposed to be the leader! Why would you wish to provoke war among your own people? What kind of a monster would use the trust and authority of your elevated position that way?”

She took a final step forward, and the Record Master’s hand shot out unexpectedly, seizing the hair that cascaded over her shoulder.

Heath let out a cry of anger, darting forward. But the Record Master made no attempt to physically harm Merletta. He just yanked on her hair until their faces were inches apart, only the iron bars separating them.

“You have ruined everything,” he hissed. “And if it is my last act, I will see you die for it.”

“That’s enough.” Heath grabbed the Record Master’s hand, ripping it off Merletta’s. Vindictively, he wished for Percival’s strength so that he could crush the offending body part that had dared to touch Merletta.

“Come on,” Heath said to the rest of the group, his eyes on Merletta. “We need to discuss our next move.”

“Do not forget your promise!” the Record Master called after them as they mounted the steps. “My information came at a price!”

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