“Katriana! Come here immediately! These pearls have not been untangled!”

I winced at the shrill sound of Lissentia’s voice. My stepmother was calling me again. She’d been on me like algae on rocks since before dinner the night before.

Lila had been right—they’d kept me up much of the night last night and working the rest of the next day into the wee hours of dawn. I’d managed a handful of hours tucked under a chair in a hallway each night, and that was it.

But I wasn’t tired. I was invigorated. This was it. I’d never be anyone’s servant again.

Except as a Spark who served the Royals and protected the sea.

My fingers were stiff from polishing Thalia’s armor, and I’d barely slept for the second night in a row. I moved quickly but refused to run. I had my dignity.

Waiting on your own sister and stepmother hand and fin was unpalatable, to say the least. Serving food on the table you once ate at with your father was even worse.

And of course, she flaunted him in front of me whenever she could. She loved telling Thalia how proud he would be of her, loudly, and usually when I was in earshot. She told her how much she resembled him, how impressed he would be with her lessons. Lessons I’d never gotten because I’d been serving them.

Not that I minded hard work. There was no shame in a job well done. And it served as a distraction from . . . well, everything else.

But today, it was over. Today, I was free.

In a couple of hours, anyway.

I swam into Lissentia’s chambers, only to find Thalia sitting at her dressing table, admiring herself. Oh, yes, she spent hours doing that.

You could never say that she didn’t have a heart. She did. And she loved herself wholeheartedly with it.

She truly adored herself, I had to give her that. It was too bad she didn’t seem to care about anyone else.

“I need you to do my hair for the procession. I have to be there soon.”

“It doesn’t start for hours.”

Thalia pulled a face in the mirror.

“Really, must you always be so unpleasant? It is so hard to find good help these days.”

I smiled sweetly. Too sweetly, but Thalia was too self-preoccupied to notice.

“I’ll do your hair.”

I took up a comb and ran it roughly through her hair.

“Ow!”

She leapt up, swishing her tail peevishly. We faced off, me with a comb and her with her wickedly long fingernails.

I knew she wanted to scratch me. If my nails had been much longer, I would have done the same.

“Girls! Enough!”

Her mother exhaled.

“You must be there early if you are to meet the Prince. His mother the Queen has forbidden him to enter, but he will be there to observe.”

“Yes, Mother.”

Thalia sounded so meek I nearly laughed. I put the comb down and turned to them.

“I have to get ready. I will see you there, dear sister.”

My smile was not meant to be friendly. We would be in battle against each other soon. And I was done taking orders from either of them.

It was true that many Mers spent their whole lives in service. And for someone as skilled as Lila, it was not a bad life. But for me . . . I wanted to swim. To seek. To walk on land. To prove myself and help Merkind.

To do all of that, I only had to do one thing. I had to win.

I flipped over and swam out a window, something Lissentia strictly forbade servants to do. It was considered quite rude to swim through a Mer’s window, which was precisely why I did it.

I grinned at the outraged sounds of shock behind me. I didn’t return to my quarters. I kept swimming toward the rock border and through it to the open sea beyond. I swam quickly to the cave and gathered my weapons. And then I swam back toward my stepmother’s palace.

Just outside the protective walls was another large rock formation, this one natural. Lila and Beazil would be waiting for me there. She should have my costume and my meager possessions wrapped and ready for me.

Once I swam through that window, I was on my own. There was no going back. I would sleep with the other Mers who were competing in whatever housing had been provided. I had no idea what to expect, but I did know that only average and poor Mers would be there, along with any who had traveled far distances to partake in the Trials.

The Nobility would be chosen for all the Kingdoms and Queendoms worldwide. It was not just our region. Every young Mer in the world was here.

I felt the shackles of servitude fall away. Yes, the Trials were dangerous. Yes, they would be hard. Yes, the odds were against me.

If I failed, I would have to find work right away. That wasn’t always easy for a young Mer, particularly one whose only skills were swimming fast and using a spear against imaginary enemies.

If I lost, there was a chance I would starve. I’d considered that but I doubted it. I was an expert scavenger. But you never knew. In the cold months, it was harder to find food. And the ocean’s bounty was less every year. Pollution was taking a toll on the myriad of marine life that lived in all the world’s waters.

I would not fail. I could not.

I saw pale lavender hair and a wagging arm and my worries fell away for a moment. Tonight was the start of the Trials. I’d been waiting for this chance my entire life.

My chance to redeem myself.

Beazil lifted his head and wagged his fins slightly, his way of letting me know he was glad to see me. In the laziest way possible, of course.

“What took you so long?”

“They kept me working non-stop. What else is new?”

“Here! Your costume, quickly!”

Lila fussed at me, already reaching for my uniform.

“But the ceremony doesn’t start for an hour!”

“You have to be there now! Look!”

I turned and saw the dolphin pulled carriage speed past. So they had been deliberately trying to delay me! It had all been a ploy to make me miss the opening ceremony!

But why?

What difference did it make to my stepmother and half-sister if I participated or not?

“Hurry!”

I stripped quickly, shedding my uniform and slipping into the long tunic Lila had made me. There was no time to admire my reflection in an air bubble or salvaged mirror. No chance to do more than run a comb through my hair.

“You’re perfect.” Lila smiled at me, though her eyes were worried. “Now, go! We’ll be right behind you!”

I pressed a quick kiss to her cheek and nodded.

“Try and keep up, Beazil!”

And then I was off. I swam faster than I ever had before. I swam toward my obligation and my destiny, my chance to change my life and change the world.

To save the sea. To know the unknowable. Not just to live, but to thrive. To excel.

When the arena finally came into view, I slowed slightly, though I was clearly late to arrive. My eyes were wide with awe. I had never seen anything like it. There were more Mers gathered here than I had ever seen in my life. Mers from all walks of life and all parts of the world were mingling outside as they waited to take their seats.

As I got closer, I could see the throngs of competitors off to one side, already arranged neatly in lines. I cursed under my breath and swam faster. I was on the brink of being disqualified!

To think my stepmother and Thalia had intended this . . . it hurt more than their initial rejection of me as part of their family. They sought to truly hurt me, not simply brush my existence under the rug. But why? What had I ever done to them except to be born?

I nearly tumbled head over tail as I slowed, sliding into place at the back of the line. A young Merman waited beside me. He looked up in surprise, his clear blue eyes catching the light from the luminescent globes that lit the arena.

“Have they recorded our names yet?”

He shook his head slowly, staring at me as if I was a two-headed fish. I touched my hair self-consciously. The young Mer was uncommonly handsome, though the way he was looking at me was insulting. And then his expression changed.

He smiled slowly, almost as if he was pleased to meet me.

“You made it just in time. They haven’t gotten this far back yet.”

“Oh, thank goodness.”

“What made you so late? Don’t you want to participate in the Trials?”

“I do! My . . . employers . . . kept me working till the last moment. Deliberately, I think.”

His eyes grew wide.

“That’s against the law.”

I tossed my head, determined to cast off the pall of the day. Of the long years of days!

“They think they are above it.”

He shook his head.

“No one is above the law.”

“They are wealthy and connected. My stepmother brags that her cousin has the ear of the Queen.”

“Her cousin?”

I sighed.

“I know, it’s silly. But she thinks she is important.”

“But you’ve never met them yourselves? Have you seen them?”

“The Royals?” I shook my head. “No. I’m a lowly servant. How could I? My stepmother is wealthy, not me.”

He took another look at me, taking in my shabby clothes and lack of armor.

“Wealthy? And yet you are a servant?”

“I am.” I lifted my chin. “But I don’t mind. I will never be a servant again. I plan to win.” I added after a moment of silence, “My father was a messenger, one of the fastest in the sea.”

He looked at me again, deep in thought. He was a strange combination of conflicting traits. He exuded physical strength but seemed almost shy at the same time. What did he have to be shy about? He was strong and his armor was well-made. I was the one with frowzy hair and a penchant for tardiness.

“What is your name?”

I blinked at him. He was just being nice. There wasn’t anything flirtatious about his tone.

Not really.

“Katriana. And you are?”

He pulled off his helmet and held out his hand.

“Dane.” He grinned at me, his blue eyes twinkling.

I shook his hand, feeling something shift in the waters between us. He was flirting! But he was being direct about it. There was nothing coy about this particular Mer.

“Are you staying here for the duration of the trials? Or do you have housing?” he asked.

“Nope, I am living off the hospitality of the Queen. I’m never going back to there.”

He told me that he was too. He hoped we might be bunked near each other, though I was fairly certain that the young males and females were housed separately. Apparently, though, the post-Trial parties were epic.

He easily drew me into conversation as we waited to be checked in by the Mers with stone tablets who worked their way down the lines. It was funny—usually, I considered myself shy. But now I was chatting easily with a handsome Mer without a second of self-consciousness.

I looked around with a start, realizing we had been talking for nearly an hour and they still hadn’t taken our names down. There were hundreds of young Mers here. Maybe thousands. But they had been here all day. Apparently, we were ordered by size and strength.

Only the two of us at the tail end were late to arrive, and we got stuck with the smallest and youngest Mers here.

At last, they took our names. I noticed that Dane put his helmet on and left it there, well before we were checked in. He was either really neurotic about defense or keeping a low profile.

Or maybe he’s just tired of carrying his helmet, Tri. Not everything is a conspiracy.

Drums rang out and the line before us started to move. He cast me a knowing look.

“Are you ready, Katriana?”

“Tri.”

“What?”

I turned my eyes to the side and smiled.

“My name. My friends call me ‘Tri’. And yes, I am more than ready.”

I squared my shoulders and swam into the arena.