The crowd was screaming, cheering for their favorites as they took their places in the stands. I stared up at them, feeling a mixture of pride and scorn. Everyone in the stands was too young or too old to participate.

Perhaps there were some cowards as well, disguising themselves and planning to lay low during the first Trial.

I scanned the crowd, wondering if I could spot Lila, or even my stepmother. Dane elbowed me.

“Looking for someone?”

“My friend Lila.”

“Probably better to size up the competition.”

I cast him a sidelong glance. He was right, of course.

“You’re smarter than you look.”

He grinned widely, flashing perfect white teeth.

“Don’t I look smart?”

I’d been about to say that he was too pretty to be smart, but only as  a joke. But now, he clearly knew that I thought he was pretty. I glared at him, my cheeks hot. I deliberately moved my attention to the other competitors. We were toward the back, so on either side of us were the youngest and frailest. Nothing to worry about here. In fact, I had the urge to wrap an arm around the scrawny girl with dark green hair who hovered beside me.

But if you looked toward the center of the arena, things got exponentially more . . . menacing.

Bigger and meaner looking Mers swam in place there. Exquisite armor and costumes and hairstyles adorned many of them. But dead center was the largest Mer I had ever seen.

Dane must have seen him too.

“By Triton! Is he real?”

I nodded slowly.

“Unfortunately, so.”

The brute floated head and shoulders above the swarm of Mers. He must have been seven feet from tip to tail! And he was all muscle.

He did not have fancy armor. In fact, he barely wore any. Shoulder guards and a helmet, along with the straps. Straps that held a large assortment of wickedly sharp looking weapons, mostly looking like they were scavenged from two-legger ships.

On his back was a massive hatchet that made me swallow nervously.

“His name is Juno.”

I glanced down at the tiny Mer swimming by my side.

“Aren’t you too young to be here?”

She shook her head and I frowned.

“They should have a height requirement.”

Dane let out a guffaw at that, earning a swift kick from my fins. He rubbed his side, raising his brows.

“What? She’ll lose the race and be safely on the sidelines.”

“Maybe so. But people don’t always survive the race.”

He looked at the young Mer, then back at me. He nodded.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. But what can we do?”

“I could swim with her.”

“You’ll lose!”

I chewed my lip.

“What’s your name?”

“Starla.”

“Are you a fast swimmer, Starla?”

She shrugged.

“I am for my size.”

“Well, do me a favor.”

She smiled at me and I felt like a horrible Mer. I wasn’t offering to help her. I was just giving her some lifesaving advice.

“Don’t swim fast tomorrow.”

Her jaw dropped.

“I don’t understand. I have at least a chance of finishing the race.”

“No. You don’t have a chance. If you keep up with the bigger Mers, you could get hurt. Or killed.”

Her eyes grew wide. I pointed at the competition.

“The really big Mers won’t swim that fast. You could get stuck in the middle, with him on your fins.”

She visibly gulped. I pointed at a tall young woman with white hair whose armor was covered in wickedly sharp-looking spikes, hooked so that they angled upward. If she swam into you . . .

“Or her.” I wrinkled my nose. “What if she tries to hug you?”

Starla let out a startled giggle. She sounded so young, so innocent. It nearly broke my heart in two.

“The people at the front will be busy trying to win, but unless you are sure you can keep up . . .”

“All right. Thank you . . .”

She let the end of the sentence dangle.

“Katriana.” I smiled. “You can call me Tri.”

She nodded, smiling shyly.

“I will. Thank you, Tri.”

We waited there until the procession started to move again. We pooled our notes on whom to look out for. Other than Juno and the girl with the spikes, there were still many terrifying Mers to avoid. One of the largest boys smiled at me as we passed, so Starla and I marked him neutral on our mental list.

Dane snorted and I turned to him.

“What?”

“He’s not neutral.”

“How do you know?”

Dane shook his head slowly.

“He’s not neutral unless you look like you.”

Starla laughed, agreeing with him.

“You think he has a thing for spotted redheads?”

Dane looked at me thoughtfully.

“Is that really how you see yourself?”

I rolled my eyes.

“Fine, maybe he likes scrawny, spotty redheads with no armor. In fact, maybe he was smiling because I looked like easy pickings. Starla, we need to change ‘Smiley’ from neutral to possible threat.”

When I turned back to Dane, his eyes had grown wide.

“You don’t have armor?”

“Can’t afford it.”

“No helmet?”

I shook my head distractedly, craning my neck to see what was happening. I swished my fins just enough to bob slightly upward so I could see. Dane was muttering something under his breath. It sounded like a litany of two-legger curse words. I stifled a laugh as I floated back down.

“I think it’s over. The center of the procession is heading toward the exit. Tsunami! That means all the good beds will be taken!”

Dane looked distracted.

“I need to go. Meet me at the front in an hour.”

“You’re going to cut the line?”

“I won’t get caught. I’ll find you later, okay?”

“Okay.”

He stared at me for another moment, then he darted out of the line toward the wall and disappeared. Starla and I continued ranking the competition as we followed the long line.

We saw a slender girl who had extra fins on her tail, making her look as though she could swim and maneuver better than most. She had icy blue hair and an unfriendly look on her pretty face. We decided that she might just be nervous but to keep an eye on her.

There was a boy with an extra eye in the center of his forehead. He was slight-looking, non-threatening. But while he was swimming forward, his third eye turned and stared at us. We decided an extra eye could definitely come in handy.

Mutations were not all that uncommon with Mers, especially in the past hundred years. With the oceans becoming more and more polluted, they had become commonplace. But I’d never seen such useful ones!

Finally, we started to approach the wide door that led in and out of the arena.

“Want to get a snack? I’m starving.”

Starla nodded eagerly and I gave her a hard look.

“But don’t tell anyone my secret spots, or I’ll gut you.”

Starla giggled, clearly not impressed. I was going to have to work on my menacing tone. I rolled my eyes and swam around the side of the arena, heading closer to shore.

“Come on, let’s see how fast you really are!”

I took off, not showing my true maximum speed. I never did. The only time I swam at top-speed was with Beazil when we were completely alone in the deep blue. I didn’t want to give away my abilities before the Trials.

And I especially hadn’t wanted my stepmother to put me to use as her errand-Mer.

But right now, I was swimming even slower to accommodate my new friend. Starla swam by my side, a happy smile on her face. She was only a few years younger than me, but she seemed much younger. She was small, for one thing, and she’d told me she’d been raised by her kindly GrandMer.

She’d been sheltered and loved. Even though they hadn’t been rich, she’d never scavenged for food before. We might both be orphans, technically speaking, but that’s where the similarities ended.

Well, other than the fact that neither of us was a brainless jellyfish!

“Last one there is a rotten jellyfish!”

I pulled ahead, her girlish shriek of excitement making me smile. She was pretty fast, definitely above-average for a young Mer. I considered telling her to try and win. But if she slipped up or anything went wrong, she would be smack-dab in the center with the big Mers.

The big, vicious, spike-wearing Mers.

And anyway, the rest of the Trials would just get harder. More dangerous. She didn’t really care about serving the Royals. She wasn’t fast enough for a Messenger, and there was no way she would survive long enough to win and become a Spark.

That was a one in a million chance. We might all think we had a chance, but only the smartest and most resourceful were in the running. Usually, only one Mer per King or Queendom became Spark, though they had selected up to three in the past.

Even the huge, brutal-looking Mers did not have hope of becoming Sea Spark. Soldiers, yes. Perhaps even Generals. But not a Messenger and not a Spark.

That was for the quick of fin and clever of mind.

I smiled. Despite all of my shortcomings, I knew I had what it took. I might be plain, clumsy, overly nostalgic, and covered in spots. But I was fast and I was smart.

I glanced behind me, making sure Starla was okay. She was swimming frantically, her eyes wide in terror. I saw why an instant later.

An enormous shark was following us.

“It’s okay!”

I swam back toward her, taking her hand and drawing her to a stop. She was frantic, tugging on my hand and shaking her head wildly.

“Shark!”

“I know, Starla. He’s with me.”

“He . . . what?”

Beazil circled us, then nudged my side with his blunt nose.

“He’s my familiar.”

Starla’s mouth dropped open. I smiled, trying to set her at ease.

“Who is your familiar?”

She opened a pocket in her dress and pulled out a starfish. It shook itself, then ‘looked’ around. It curled into a ball when it noticed Beazil.

“Aw, so cute! What’s his name?”

“Chuchu. He’s pretty smart for a starfish. He’s good at sneaking around.”

I laughed.

“I’m sure he is.”

“I still can’t believe your familiar is a great white. You are going to win for sure!”

I laughed at the amazed look on her face.

“I’m not sure about that. He’s the friendliest great white ever. And yes, he’s mine.” He bumped me again. “Or rather, vice versa.”

Starla was still trembling.

“He’s harmless. Watch.”

I signaled to Beazil to roll over. He gave me a sour look and I laughed. Then with a dramatic look on his face, Beazil drifted slowly so he was belly up.

“You want to touch him? His skin is rough but his belly is soft.”

Starla swam closer, sticking close to my side. She reached out and lay her hand on his belly. I heard Beazil sigh. He did love a good belly rub.

“See? He likes you.”

She giggled a little and I nudged her.

“All right, you two, I’m starving. We’re almost there.” I patted my net bag. “Try to keep up. I want to stuff this!”

I swam ahead, careful not to leave them behind. Starla looked tiny with Beazil by her side. He was there every time I looked back. I was pleased that he had taken to her so fast. I knew he’d look out for her forever. He did that with Lila as well.

We were at my secret scavenging spot in no time.

I dove down and looked around. It was a shallow field, thick with seaweed. We were not far from the shore, but not close enough to encounter humans. I had never seen another Mer here. Unless you looked, you would never know that beneath the seaweed, it was full of oysters. I’d even found mussels there, and lots of crabs.

I wasn’t crazy about the bigger crabs. They tended to bite and were fast with their claws. But the bite-sized ones were delicious.

Without hesitation, I swam headfirst into the seaweed, digging around with my bare hand. There was always a chance a crab could latch on and injure you, but there was no way around it.

That was the price to pay for delicious fresh oysters, and I was more than happy to pay it.

It was only seconds before my hand closed over a big oyster shell. I grinned, stuffing it into the net bag slung over my shoulder. I grabbed a few more and then decided to find a new spot. There were fewer oysters here this year, and I knew it was because of pollution. I was careful not to take too much from any one location.

I tried to right myself and found myself close to toppling over. I’d never foraged with a spear on my back, let alone all my worldly possessions. I exhaled and grabbed the harness I wore and glided to the left.

There, a perfect new spot. I harvested some more oysters and nodded to myself. My bag was nearly stuffed. Plenty for the three of us tonight and tomorrow. We didn’t want to attract attention with so many mouths to feed around.

The area would be decimated, and then where would we be? Never mind the oysters.

Normally, Mers were cautious about natural resources. We respected the sea and her bounty. But with all the pomp and circumstance, not to mention hungry young Mers . . . well, it would be easy to get carried away.

Besides, if they weren’t all well-fed, there was a chance it would give me an edge in the competition. Not that I wanted anybody to starve, but there was no way I was revealing the secret spots that had kept me alive all these years. Plus, they probably all had coins to buy food from the vendors set up around the arena, and many had brought trunks full of supplies. Many even had their own tents, often set up with their families outside the camp.

But we were the ones who would be eating the very freshest food. At least we would have that going for us.

I swam up and high-finned Starla with my tail. She was amazed by all the oysters.

“I wasn’t sure if they would feed us. My GrandMer sent me with extra seaweed just in case.”

She opened her bag, revealing neat bundles of preserved seaweed.

“Hold onto that. It’s good supplement in your diet, but it’s not enough to get in real fighting form. Of course, we are hoping you won’t ever have to fight.”

She nodded solemnly and I felt a fissure of fear. She was about fifteen in human years, at the bottom age of anyone in the trials. Plus, she was so slight, so delicate-looking that I hoped no one would bother to attack her.

But the truth was, I couldn’t know that. You were allowed to attack during the games as long as it was during an event. Hurt, maim, or even kill. It wasn’t encouraged to kill needlessly, but it certainly wouldn’t cost you a coveted position with the Royals.

“Do you want to win, Tri?”

I popped open an oyster and handed it to her.

“I don’t want to. I have to.”

She nodded thoughtfully.

“I think you can.” She slid the oyster into her mouth and groaned. “Oh, that’s good.”

I opened another oyster and let out a whoop. There was a large pink pearl inside. I held it up for Starla to admire.

“That’s beautiful!”

“Here, you keep it.”

I handed it to her, but she shook her head vigorously.

“Tri, you could eat for a year on that!”

“I won’t need it,” I said with a wink.

I took her hand and pushed the pearl into her palm. Then I swallowed my oyster. I was starving, truth be told. I had barely eaten during my shift, and that had been last night. It was already getting dark out.

“Come on, we can eat the rest once we find our beds.”

“And Dane! He’s going to be looking for you.”

“Me?”

She fluttered her eyelashes at me comically.

“He liiikes you.”

“Oh, stop it.”

I denied it, but I felt a tiny thrill at her words. He did like me. This proved it. I’d been wondering the same thing in the back of my mind without really focusing on it. Starla’s words just reinforced it.

We swam back toward the camp with Beazil at our heels.