“What am I doing?” Ana asked herself later that evening. She crept into the Palace, down the main corridor, two fish in her arms. Her curiosity pulled her inexorably towards the Room of Records and towards Scribe Lin. What he’d said on the dais had sparked so many questions in her mind, andshe needed answers. She needed to either debunk the vague hopes that wouldn’t let her rest, or find some kind of proof that they were real.

She glanced down at the fish in her arms. She felt certain it wasn’t necessary to bring the Scribe an offering, but she owed him a debt of gratitude, for helping her save Eli and explaining his family’s broken, dysfunctional past.

And besides, the Tognir were always hungry.

She entered the Room, pushing out her aura. “Scribe Lin? Are you in here?”

A blue-violet aura sparked up in surprise, then faded, hiding.

“It’s okay,” she said, searching between the crumbling shelves. ”I know you like to be all secretive and mysterious. I brought some fish. I just want to know more. About…what you said.” She stepped carefully over a fallen scroll, then stooped to pick it up.

As she straightened, she noticed a dark figure out of the corner of her eye and jumped. “Whoa!”

Lin reached out, steadying her. “My apologies, Lady Ana. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

Ana scowled. “How do you just show up like that, out of nowhere?”

Lin chuckled. He pulled down his hood, then eyed the fish in her arms, yellow-green hunger brightening in his aura.

“Yes, one of these is for you. One,” she repeated as he reached for them both.

Lin pulled his hands back. “My apologies.”

Ana put a hand on her hip, grinning. “A lady has to eat too, you know.”

“Of course,” Lin said, looking sheepish. He cleared his throat. “Anyway. You said you wanted to know more?”

“Yes.” She handed him a fish, and he managed to show her to one of the broken stone tables before digging in heartily to his meal.

Ana sat down and ate hers as well.

“You’re risking Lord Ron’s wrath coming here, you know,” Lin said as he ate.

“I know,” Ana said, rolling her eyes. “He’s just trying to protect everyone, and I get it. But I wish he’d let you finish.”

Lin’s aura gave a little flash of orange.

“I wasn’t trying to threaten anyone,” he said. He paused as he swallowed the last bite of fish. “Quite the opposite. I’m trying to save us from starvation.”

“Is it true?” Ana asked. “Is there really another kingdom out there?”

Lin rubbed his fingers in the water to clean them, then smiled at Ana.

“There is indeed another kingdom. Would you like to hear about it now?”

Ana nodded. “Yeah. Definitely.”

Lin stood. “May I have permission? I’ll need a bit of your mind for this.”

Ana furrowed her brows as she felt his aura approaching hers. “You’re not gonna brainwash me, are you?”

Lin scoffed. “Heavens, no. I’m only going to do a little something…” His aura touched hers, then seemed to blossom into a blank wall in front of her eyes. Her thoughts, her aura, all remained as they were. “There,” he said. “Perfect. That’s all I need.”

Ana gaped. “What are you doing?”

“Projecting,” said Lin. “A very simple process, really. It will not affect your thoughts, I assure you.”

Ana squirmed in her seat. It felt a bit like sitting too close to someone.

Lin raised an eyebrow. “If you object, I can stop.”

Ana shrugged. Her curiosity was getting the better of her. “I’ve been in more uncomfortable places.”

Lin snorted. “Fair enough. Ready?”

Ana nodded. “Sure.”

Lin smiled, then began.

“Long ago lived the Aewyn.”

An image, clear, colorful, lifelike, bloomed in front of her eyes. It was a creature Ana had never seen before—beautiful, exotic, with jewels adorning hair and limbs, and—most strikingly—long, shining tails with large, silky fins.

Ana gasped, scooting back, almost right off her chair.

“Careful,” Lin cautioned.

Ana blinked, then blinked again. The picture didn’t fade. But it didn’t move, either. She slowly relaxed her posture, hardly daring to breathe. This was…almost magical.

“Their kingdom was one of sunlight, warmth, golden joy. They had immense freedom to travel both through the oceans, and through freshwater systems, closer to the humans they shared their world with.”

Another picture—but this one moved like she was watching someone in real time. She gripped the edge of her seat. The Aewyn, their long fins propelling them gracefully through the shimmering water, raced to the surface, relishing the sunshine that poured down on them. Their blue-white and golden faces shone with laughter. And—to her shock—humans shouted to them from the shores of pale beaches, ran to meet them at the water’s edge. Human children giggled as the Aewyn seemed to dance through the water, the sunlight sparkling and dazzling off their multi-colored scales.

Ana felt her throat constrict. This scene of joy was such a stark contrast to their dim and broken world.

“The Aewyn worked in tandem with the humans who ruled the Kingdom of Saelyn. They protected a vast library of scrolls that could be kept underwater, indefinitely.” Lin showed her a sparkling alabaster column, filled with scrolls, descending down what seemed like forever into the ocean floor. Blue-mottled sunlight reached down, glinting off the alabaster library.

“But that wasn’t all the Aewyn protected.” Lin’s projection took her away from the library, into the depths of a towering underwater castle, made of marble and other glistening stones Ana couldn’t identify. “Deep below, in a vault, rested the Eye of the Rogue.”

A sealed, crystal vault appeared, and just inside, Ana could see an object, glowing silver. She shivered involuntarily.

Outside of the vault, adorned with a necklace of the finest, largest gems Ana had ever seen, hovered an Aewyn. Her strong hand grasped a spear, and her eyes glowed golden, brighter than even Dom’s or Eli’s, with incredible power.

Ana caught her breath. “Who is that?”

“This is the Jewel-Bearer,” Lin said. “At least, it’s a symbol of the Jewel-Bearer’s role, as you’ll soon see. It was the Jewel-Bearer’s job to make sure no one ever opened the vault. If the Eye were ever threatened, or stolen, the Jewel-Bearer would be filled with enormous power.”

In the next scene, Lin showed her a beautiful, raven-haired mermaid with violet eyes, and a violet tail fin. She swam swiftly through the castle’s underbelly until she came upon the vault. The silver glow lit her hungry features as she pressed herself against the crystal.

“The Eye had called to Crinna—or as you may remember her, the Eltana— for months, with tantalizing promises of power and glory.”

Crinna took something from around her waist, and Ana gasped.

It was a chain of jewels.

She put them around her neck, then lifted her voice in a strange Song. The jewels began to glow, and their light enveloped the vault.

“The vault could not be unlocked, not even by the Jewel-Bearer, except by authority of the Saelynite—that is, the human—king or queen. And Crinna, being the Jewel-Bearer, was also the ambassador to the Saelynite royalty. She convinced the royals that the Eye was in danger. And they gave the order for Crinna to move the Eye so that it would be safe.”

The vault shattered, crystal exploding in shards into the stone room beyond it. Crinna ducked, covering her head, then rose and approached, her eyes glowing silver.

“She took the Eye, and its power enveloped her. With this advantage, she went to war with the Aewyn King Celaro, thinking she would have sure victory.”

The next scene showed a fierce, intimidating merman with angled features and long, jet-black hair. He faced Crinna, his sharp trident raised above his head, his amber eyes alight with anger. They fought for a moment, and Ana recognized many of the feints and maneuvers she’d learned from Eli.

The view switched so that all Ana could see of Crinna was her back. Suddenly, Celaro’s trident came slashing down, breaking the chain of jewels around Crinna’s neck, continuing down her entire body.

Ana gasped, clapping her hand over her mouth, and Lin faded out the projection to spare her the gory visuals.

“Yes, it was a fearless and vicious strike, meant to kill,” Lin said. “And it would have, except that Crinna’s armor protected her torso and spared her vital organs. But her tail was irreparably damaged, and the blood loss alone threatened her life.”

Lin’s visuals started up again. This time, Crinna looked feverish, her tail fin cloven and wrapped in two distinct parts, as a group of Aewyn carried her through darkening tunnels.

“Crinna and her rebel followers then fled into the Lost Tunnels as King Celaro banished them. No longer welcome in the kingdom they’d hoped to conquer, they had to find a new home somewhere in the cold and dark tunnels.” Lin smiled sadly. “And that is only the beginning of the sad history of the Tognir.”

Ana reeled in the sudden absence of Lin’s projection. She blinked, seeing the room fully for the first time in several moments. It was as if she’d stepped from one reality into another.

She fought back the overwhelming urge to cry, unsure what was happening to her.

“Are you alright?” Lin stepped closer. “I know it can be a little bit frightening at first.”

Ana gulped, then nodded, a little too forcefully.

“How…um.” She took a deep breath. “How did you learn to do that?”

Lin smiled sheepishly. “An elder Scribe showed me how. He was much better at it than I am.”

Ana gaped. She couldn’t imagine a story being any more immersive than what he’d just shown her.

“That’s absolutely amazing.” She sighed. “Your story was beautiful, and so real. I could have almost believed it.”

Lin looked down at the floor, a half-smile painted on. His aura swirled royal blue and orange.

“Thank you,” he said.

Ana, too, looked down. He’d been hurt by her words. She wasn’t sure why—she’d meant them sincerely.

“Well.” Ana stood, still avoiding his eyes. “I’d better be going. Dad will wonder where I went.”

“Of course.” Lin gave her a respectful nod, then retreated to his usual spot near the back of the Room.

Ana glanced back once, then hurried out of the Room, her thoughts swirling.

Lin’s story had been so realistic, so convincing. But that was the problem.

If he told the other Tognir these stories, in the same way…and they believed him…

Ana’s gut clenched. She didn’t want her people divided. More importantly, she didn’t want them running off after something that might very well be a fairy tale, and getting themselves hurt—or worse, killed—in the process.

She bit back worried tears. She’d always been told that the Scribes were crazy.

But this…this was beyond crazy.

* * *

The next afternoon, Ana made her way to the rubble marking one of the hunter’s homes. A few walls still stood, and Ana could see where they’d made a small, sleeping area for themselves. She smiled sadly at the hunter’s wife, Isa, who greeted her with with a smile.

“Thank you, m’lady, for coming,” Isa said.

Ana offered Isa several blankets and a small stone coffer, things she’d managed to scrounge up from the ruins of the Palace. “I hope these will help,” Ana said.

“Oh,” Isa said, her voice breaking as she took the items, “It’s more than we could have hoped for. Thank you.”

Ana smiled again, then went to work clearing the rubble. Several others were already there, helping move pieces of rock, layering them to make a sturdy structure that could support a roof to give them some privacy and security.

After a few moments, she noticed Lin there, supporting a wall with his arms while the others built around it. A young man, holding up the opposite side of the wall, seemed to be deep in conversation with Lin. But the others ignored the pair, their auras uncertain and cautious.

“Bless him,” Isa said quietly to Ana as they worked. “He’s been just as helpful as anyone could be. But what he said yesterday…” she tutted, shaking her head. “Maybe all that time alone is going to his head.”

Ana frowned, remembering her conversation with him the night before. “It does seem a little crazy. But all he wants is to help us.”

“You’re a kind soul, Lady Ana,” Isa said, giving her arm a motherly pat as she chuckled. “When we start growing tail fins, maybe I’ll believe him.”

Ana and Isa gathered up the rock they’d cleared and brought it to the men building the wall back up.

Lin glanced at Ana, giving her a polite smile and a nod.

“Good afternoon, Lady Ana,” he said. “Rebuilding is going well, isn’t it?”

“As well as we could hope,” Ana replied with a smile.

“What’s the point, though?” Asked the young man on the other side of the wall. “We won’t be able to live here much longer.”

Ana noticed the tension crackling in everyone’s auras.

Isa shook her head, standing beside Ana.

“Whether or not the Threshold disappears, we have to have a place to live in the meantime, Leo,” Isa scolded him. “So you just get right back to it.”

Leo frowned down at the ground. “Yes, mom. ”

Isa patted his cheek, smiling. “That’s my boy.”

Ana watched Isa for a moment, her heart aching, thinking of her own mother. She’d died when Ana was just a little girl, but she remembered her kind smile, her honey-colored eyes, and the way she’d press Ana to her heart, murmuring to her when she couldn’t sleep.

Isa tugged Ana’s hand, pulling her back to reality as she led Ana to another pile of rock.

“Deep in thought, m’lady?”

Ana smiled. “Just remembering my mom.”

“Oh, yes.” Isa touched her heart. “Kya was an angel.” She tipped Ana’s chin. “She’d be very proud of the young lady you’ve become.”

Ana smiled, a tender warmth filling her heart as they got back to work. It soothed her troubled thoughts, at least for a moment, to imagine her mother smiling down at her with loving pride brightening her aura.

She then remembered Eli’s mother, Rin, and how her death had brought Ana and Eli so close, sealing their friendship with grief. And her heart ached again.

Eli was safely where he belonged, but Ana and her people had lost everything. If Lin was right, they didn’t even know who they were as a people. Everything, from their homes to their identity, was an illusion.

How Ana wished they could go back to a simpler time, when everything made sense. But even her memories were tainted with lies.

She glanced at Lin, her thoughts tumultuous. Nothing was as it seemed, and all that was left for them were the ruins of what had been…and the specter of hope Lin presented.

But she didn’t know if she could bring herself to believe it.

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