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Chapter 24
The noise from the crowd presses on me as I make my way to the middle of the field—though that isn’t the right word. There isn’t any synthetic grass, nothing painted on the ground, or anything else I’d expect to see inside a stadium. Instead, the ground is decorated with jewels, not unlike other places in Valora. A platform stands in the middle, and as I make my way closer, I see my dad is already there.
He leans up to a mic. “And here is the one we’ve all been waiting for—Marra Ayers!” His voice booms around, then the cheers and clapping overtake all other noise. Once I reach my dad, he holds up a hand. Everyone goes quiet. “Let me explain how this is going to work before we begin.”
Finally.
“We have three trials.”
Just three? Not ten or twenty?
My father continues. “The first one is a test of intellectual strength. The second will be a test of physical strength. The third and final trial will be a show of magic.”
I give him a double-take. He didn’t say a battle to the death. Did Mom talk him out of that part? Or does he want me to kill him using magic? My guess is the latter.
There isn’t any time to clear up my questions. Four mermen hurry up to the stage and set up a single table, placing items on it that I can’t see from where I am.
“There are four parts,” my dad says. “Marra will need to pass each puzzle or game, and they get increasingly harder.”
Awesome. I take a deep breath and think back to the exams I took to get into college when I was living on land. If I was able to score high enough to make ivy league schools a realistic option, I can do this.
I hope.
Dad puts a hand on my shoulder and guides me to the table. “You’ll start with this one, and move up the table until you’ve completed each one. The cameras will show the table to everyone in the audience.” He points up to one huge screen and another.
No pressure.
“Would you like to sit while doing these?”
I nod, and a merman rushes up and sets a chair in front of the first puzzle—a flat stone square like a game board with colorful gems in each corner, each on its own square.
My dad holds up a green one. “Your objective is to move each piece to the other side without blocking the other ones. You have twenty minutes once you move the first gem.”
At least that doesn’t sound so bad.
“Only five known merpeople have ever completed this task.”
I turn to him with wide-eyed shock and hold back from asking him if he’s crazy.
He motions for me to sit.
Reluctantly, I do.
“The timer will begin once you move the first game piece. You can only move one piece from a color, then you must move onto another color, and move each other color before coming back to it. Does that make sense?”
I nod and study the board. It doesn’t appear too complicated, but if only five others have won the game, it has to be trickier than it looks. In my mind, I plan out as many moves as I can without losing my concentration. Lines and dots indicate where the pieces have to go. My first mental plan is a bust. The pink ends up blocked and unable to move any further, and I can’t continue on without moving one of those pieces. I try a different strategy, and it ends the same way but with the green stuck.
The crowd gets louder. Merpeople are chanting my name, louder each time they say it. I glance up at the two screens. They show the game board—how boring it must be for everyone else.
Before long, people shout for me to move various pieces. Some call for yellow while others call for blue or green.
I try to tune them out and plan a different strategy. Need to find something that’ll work. Yet each idea lands me in the same position—unable to win the game. And this is just the first part of the first trial. It’s only going to get worse from here. No question about that.
Each new method I imagine ends up the same way. The crowd is growing louder and my father is pacing around the table. He doesn’t say anything, but it all makes me feel like I’m taking too long.
I’d like to see any one of these merpeople do better. Only five people have completed this puzzle correctly! And I’m expected to get it right on my first try. On the bright side, if I fail I won’t have to worry about killing my dad—or anything else associated with Queen Sirena. I can go back to being just another academy student.
Right. I’m heir to the throne. I’ll never be just another anything.
