The Mermaid Trials

by Cameron Drake

  “After my father died, my stepmother didn’t want me in the house. So I was sent to the servants’ quarters. Servants don’t get special treatment, and neither did I.”

  He didn’t say anything for a moment. I stared at my tail, idly running my fingers over a sore spot. I was trying to imagine my pink sticky legs again.

  “How old were you? When they forced you out?”

  “Five.”

  “You served your own sister from the age of five?”

  His voice was quiet. I almost missed the thread of anger running through it. But I didn’t. For a moment, I found myself wondering why he was mad at me. And then I realized he wasn’t.

  He was mad for me.

  “Half-sister. It’s not like I like her. We didn’t have slumber parties or braid each other’s hair.” I snorted. “She has a designated hair servant for that.”

  “I don’t understand why she was there.”

  “Apparently, I don’t want her getting eaten by a giant squid, but that’s the extent of our family affection. Anyway, I doubt the feeling is mutual. If I’d appeared in the clutches of a creature during her Trials, it would have been during her fondest wish.”

  “You are the child of a Royal Messenger, and yet you received no schooling or wealth, even though you were part of the Nobility. You wore rags and had to forage for food.”

  I shrugged, trying not to take offense at the ‘rags’ comment. The tunic Lila had made me from my old clothes had its own charm. I thought so, anyway.

  “That sounds about right. Not that it matters now. I am sure to get some sort of post, right? I won’t have to go back there again.”

  I shuddered at the thought. Of all the possible outcomes, returning to serve my stepmother and half-sister was the most repugnant. I realized I would prefer death, which seemed a little overly dramatic, even to me.

  “She should go to prison for what she has done to you.” Dane’s voice was raw with emotion. Anger and, I was horrified to recognize, pity. “You were just a child. A bright, talented child who could have accomplished anything.”

  I frowned. I didn’t really want to think about things that way, and I certainly didn’t want to be pitied. It could drive a Mer insane to focus on the ‘could have beens.’ Besides, I didn’t like the implication that I hadn’t amounted to much.

  “Yeah, well, it doesn’t matter now, does it?” I rose from the sand, deciding it was a good time to sneak back to my tent and lick my wounds. “I’ll see you around.”

  “Katriana, wait.”

  But I didn’t. I didn’t want him to see the tears that threatened to spill. Everyone in camp looked shell-shocked. It was no wonder. From what we had heard so far, the fear Trials had all been brutal. The first two official casualties had been announced, with at least one other Mer hovering near death’s door.

  I expected that before the end of the day, there would be three.

  * * *

  “Don’t be too hard on him.”

  “What? Who?”

  Starla lay on her side, her long hair over one shoulder as she looked at me from her cot.

  “Dane. He told me what happened.”

  “Oh.”

  I rolled to face the ceiling.

  “He didn’t mean anything bad. He was upset about what your stepmother did.”

  I groaned, laying an arm over my eyes. I was bone-weary down to my fins. Beazil was snoring contentedly across the tent, not at all minding the restrictions imposed on him. After all, the shark loved to nap.

  And he certainly didn’t mind our bringing him food. Of course, he needed to eat a lot more than we could smuggle in to him, so I made sure he went out once a day, usually early in the morning. He grumbled about that but did as I asked.

  The rest of the day and night, he spent lazing about. As my familiar, he needed to be here. For what reason, I had no idea. We hadn’t been instructed to bring our familiars to any of the Trials as of yet. I hoped to avoid it altogether.

  I was actually afraid to find out if he would be included in the final battle. Beazil was so lazy and so good-natured that I prayed we didn’t need to go through a Trial together. That would be an unmitigated disaster. I’d end up protecting my familiar, not the other way around.

  Honestly, I almost envied Starla her starfish. Dane’s familiar remained hidden most of the time. I realized I actually had no idea what it was.

  “What is Dane’s familiar? Do you know?”

  “Stingray, I think. A big one.”

  “Like the Prince?”

  “Yeah.”

  I raised my brows, instantly impressed. The Crown Prince had a stingray. It was famous. I’d never seen it, though, but Thalia had.

  “Is his stingray lazy?”

  Starla giggled at the grumpy sound of my voice.

  “I don’t think so.”

  I sighed, finally opening my eyes.

  “I’m not mad at him. He just has a habit of bringing things up that I’d rather not think about.”

  “He cares about you.”

  “So you’ve said.”

  “Well, he does!”

  “Of course he does. We are friends. Friends care about each other, right?”

  Starla let out a loud sigh of annoyance. I cracked a smile. It took a lot to annoy Starla, so I must be getting somewhere.

  “So quiet. Well, other than the snores,” I said pointedly, giving my sleeping shark the stink eye from across the tent.

  “It is.”

  “Bet you didn’t expect to make it this far, did you?”

  “I didn’t know what to expect.”

  “Right. We still don’t. Not really.”

  “I wonder what tomorrow’s Trial will be.”

  “Hopefully, something that won’t try to eat us.”

  She giggled softly, the sound reminding me how young she was. I was silent for a moment.

  “It might be the final. It seems like we’ve been here only a few days, but I can’t imagine what else they would put us through.”

  “Don’t worry. You are good at this. You’ll make it.”

  “If you say so.”

  “Try and get some rest.”

  “Okay.” I rolled to my side to face her. “Sleep well, Starla.”

  “You too.”

  * * *

  The next morning, we found out what the day’s test would be. It wasn’t the final, though I suspected we were nearly there. Today, we would take part in a massive scavenger hunt. We could use teams of up to seven people. Of course, Starla and Dane were on my team.

  “Should we ask anyone else?”

  I looked around, sizing up the clusters of young Mers gathered outside the arena. I noticed them sizing us up as well.

  “I don’t know.”

  “A bigger group would help us win faster.”

  I raised a brow at that.

  “A bigger group would lose a lot of the glory.”

  I saw Thalia waiting with a group of young, wealthy Mers from our region. There were seven of them. They were sneering at me, though a few of the females were giving Dane a far friendlier look. Not that he seemed to notice.

  But Thalia’s bright gold eyes were less readable.

  I exhaled, looking away.

  “Plus, who could we trust?”

  Dane tipped his head to the side with a meaningful look.

  “We don’t have to trust them. We just have to win.”

  I was pondering that when Rip approached us, with Juno and Jaynelle.

  “Hey. You guys want to team up?”

  I looked at Rip and his friends. They were all top competitors, even if Jaynelle and Juno gave me the creeps. I glanced at Starla and Dane, the question in my eyes.

  To my surprise, Starla nodded first. Dane raised his eyebrows and nodded. I knew what he was saying.

  Yes, let’s work together. But don’t take your eyes off them for a second.

  Well, I didn’t have to be told that twice.

  “Okay.”

 
I eyed the two large Mers behind Rip. Not that he wasn’t a big guy. But Jaynelle was unusually tall, and Juno was the size of an underwater mountain. His bottom half looked more like a whale fin than a regular Mer’s tail.

  “You two related?”

  Jaynelle narrowed her eyes at me, while Juno barely reacted at all. Rip, on the other hand, burst into laughter. Dane and Starla exchanged a worried glance.

  This was off to a great start.

  “We should work in teams of two,” Dane proposed. I nodded, about to claim Starla as my partner. At least that way, I could keep her safe from Spiky and the MountainMer.

  “You’re with me, Tri,” Rip said.

  I glanced at Dane. His jaw was tight but he nodded.

  “Fine. I’m with Starla.”

  We all looked at the remaining two Mers. As usual, we got almost no reaction. Wow. I wondered if they ever spoke or if they were just shy.

  Yeah, right.

  “Well, come on. It’s time for the first clue.”

  Chapter 20

  Seven tokens. That’s all we needed to win. There were eleven hidden throughout the terrain, clearly marked off by glowing spheres placed at regular intervals. If you squinted, you could just see the lights at the other end of the enclosure.

  We were given three clues to start, and then each token we found would provide another clue. Of course, even if you followed each clue perfectly, there was a chance that the token would already be gone. There were still close to a thousand of us left.

  I exhaled sharply. I was nervous. This was one of the first Trials where Mers interacted freely, other than the races. And everyone had been focused on speed during those competitions. Now, it was more than likely that if you found a token at the same time as another Mer, it could very well come to who was bigger or more comfortable with resorting to violence.

  For that reason alone, I was glad that Starla was with Dane. I might not trust Juno and Jaynelle, though I did trust Rip for the most part. I had to admit that it wasn’t just because he was being nice to me. That could be anything, trickery or simple flirtation. I trusted him because our fathers had been friends. That had to mean something.

  We paired up and waited in a long line that stretched for nearly five hundred meters. I was with Rip, next to Starla and Dane, with Jaynelle and Juno waiting on my other side. They were still as two statues. Everyone was silent as the first three clues were distributed, written into the surfaces of flat shells.

  We were given three different clues per team, so each pair took one.

  “Don’t drop them. Destroy them once you have the token so no one else can use them.” Rip addressed the group under his breath, making eye contract with each of us in turn. “Be on your guard. Some of the more aggressive teams might try to take them.”

  I exhaled through closed lips. We had made a wise decision when we partnered with the biggest threats. That didn’t mean there weren’t other Mers to worry about, however. There were plenty of big and brutal Mers still in the competition.

  I turned over our shell and read.

  A prize found when you have a taste, seek your token in colors of the sunset.

  Rip looked at me, his eyebrows raised. I shrugged. Sunset might mean . . . warm colors?

  “Maybe coral?”

  “Yes, it must be. Unless there’s a school of salmon.”

  “I don’t think so,” I murmured, looking up to where most schools would pass through. “Well, we’re going to be bottom feeders, that’s for sure.”

  He nodded and faced forward. We scanned the sandy bottom in front of us and to both sides. I saw a small coral reef far to our left, nearly at the edge of the border.

  “There. Aim for that.”

  His eyes widened.

  “Agreed. Don’t slow down for me.”

  I gave him a bright smile.

  “Agreed.”

  The horn blew, and we were off. We had no idea of the other clues. There simply wasn’t time to confer with our teams about anything. Most Mers swam straight forward, but we dove down to the left, swimming cleanly beneath them all. My fingers nearly grazed the silt as we headed straight for the coral. As we got closer, I could see that it was a warm pink, with oranges and yellows mixed in.

  There were other Mers about, but none seemed to be swimming straight for the coral outcropping. I hoped we would be fast enough that no one would notice what we were doing.

  I glanced behind to see Rip not all that far behind. He nodded his silent encouragement, and I kept swimming, reaching the coral a few moments later. Without hesitation, I swam into it, my eyes roving the nooks and crannies without cease. I felt Rip arrive and veered to one side, letting him take the other half of the coral.

  I took a moment to scan the waters around us to look for approaching Mer. Nothing. No one else was clued in to this particular prize, if there even was one. But I felt in my gut that we were close. I lowered my head again, searching for the token.

  I was beginning to lose hope when I saw it. There! Something was gleaming amid the spikey coral branches. I swam closer, reaching my hand into the coral. I felt the skin on my wrist scraped raw as my hand closed over a smooth circular globe. I pulled it free, dislodging another flat shell with it. I grabbed that with my other hand.

  A pearl. Of course, Something you find when you have a taste. The token was a pearl nearly the size of my closed fist. I couldn’t imagine the size of the clam or oyster that might contain such a prize, but there it was. It was nearly glowing, a pale pink that reflected the light with its sheen. I stared in awe as a chain dropped out of it and it magically fastened around my neck. I pulled on it, but it didn’t give. I tried to pull it over my head and it tightened.

  All right then, I guess I’m wearing it.

  I tucked the end into my tunic and swam to Rip, reading the clue as I went.

  A star unlike any other, you will find it under cover.

  I handed the clue to Rip, who read it and shoved it quickly into a pocket in his steel gray tunic with green trim. He took out the last clue and broke it in half, throwing one piece into the coral and taking the other with us as we left.

  “A pearl on a chain. It’s around my neck.”

  He nodded.

  “What do you think of the new clue?”

  I watched as he chucked the second broken piece of shell into a thick patch of seaweed.

  “A starfish. It must be.”

  “But where?”

  “Under cover . . . they like rocks and coral. Look for a ledge. Maybe it will be underneath? And look for other clues. We could stumble onto something.”

  “Good plan.”

  We swam in formation now, packed nearly side by side. Now that we had a clue and a token, we needed to stick together. By tacit agreement, I had no choice but to hold onto the token, so he held the clue. If we were able to find another token, we would switch. We didn’t see any of our other teammates.

  We dove low again, hoping to avoid the other competitors. But by then, it was crowded down there as well. I quickly pointed when I saw a rock wall ahead. There were Mers already searching it. I suspected it was one of the easier landmarks to spot. Or perhaps there was more than one token hidden here.

  Or perhaps they were after the same prize as we were.

  That thought helped me focus. I wanted to win. I had a fire in my belly. I wanted to find as many tokens as I could!

  I saw a cluster of starfish and picked up speed, pulling ahead. I heard Rip shout out a warning as a heavy body slammed into me.

  “Give it to me!”

  I was being shaken too violently to answer, with a blade held to my throat. I stared up at the tall, thin Mer who gripped me in his hands. Then I saw his eyes widen. His hands slowly opened and I slipped away. Behind him, I saw the young three-eyed Mer holding a spear.

  Marcum.

  He’d . . . killed him. For me. Then I saw the thin Mer twitch and realized it was not a mortal wound. I hoped not, anyway. Even though I really, really did
not like him.

  Marcum nodded to me and swam away.

  But why had he saved me? And why had the tall, thin Mer been so desperate?

  “Go!”

  Rip was still not close enough to look for the token on the rock wall, but I was. I turned and dove, feeling the edge of the cliff face with my hands. Ordinary starfish dotted the surface. I dove again, coming up just under a small outcropping. There, in the darkness was a star unlike any other.

  It was gold. A solid gold starfish. I reached for it and felt the warm metal come off the rock and wrap itself into a band that settled around my wrist, forming a thick cuff bracelet. A shell dropped from the rock where it had been held in place by the starfish.

  Another clue.

  I was shaking as I handed it to Rip as he finally caught up to me. He stared at the shell, then at the bracelet. His hand was gentle as he lifted my chin.

  “Are you all right?”

  I shook my head. I wasn’t. I looked around for the dark-haired Mer who had attacked me.

  “The Medics took him away already.”

  “Why did he attack me like that?”

  He shrugged.

  “We already have two tokens. Most don’t have any.”

  He took my shoulders gently.

  “We can stop if you want, hang back. Let the rest of the team finish. You’ve already done more than your share.”

  I shook my head. Giving up wasn’t in my nature. But he had reminded me that my friends were out there and that things were getting combative.

  “No. But let’s find Dane and Starla.”

  He nodded, taking the clue.

  “Let’s read this first.”

  We peered down at it and gasped.

  In the air, near the sky, here I am. Come and fly.

  “The surface?”

  “It must be,” I agreed.

  “But it’s forbidden.”

  I exhaled slowly, shaking my head.

  “I’ve been there. Let’s find them, then I’ll go.”

  “You have the tokens. I should do it.”

  “I’m quick, and I know I can jump pretty far above the surface. I’ve done it before.” He was shaking his head but I cut him off before he could speak. “Let’s just find them and then we can argue about it.”