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“Doesn't feel like it.” I groan.

“Are you ready?”

“Are you kidding?”

He sits next to me. “You did fantastic! Even though you’ve never played any of those games, you beat them all.”

I rub my eyes. “Am I facing a sea dragon next?”

“You can’t know what you’re facing before you go in.”

“I know what the last trial is.”

“True,” he admits. “But that’s because you were digging around ahead of time. However, you don’t know all the details.”

And neither does he. I have a plan of my own, and he won’t see it coming. “I’ll get to rest again after the next trial?”

“Of course. You’ll have a full half hour, just like this time.”

“Isn’t that nice?” Since I’ll be getting ready for my surprise, I won’t be able to sleep. But that’s a price I’m willing to pay to keep my dad alive. He may trust his servants to bring him back, but I don’t. I’ve hardly had any time to spend with him since he showed up.

He gestures toward my trident. “Let’s head back out.”

“Or we could go back to land.”

“You don’t want to finish the trials?”

“I’m exhausted already.”

“Did you have anything to eat or drink?”

I shake my head, my eyelids growing heavy again. “Only interested in sleep.”

“You’re going to need to be at the top of your game for the upcoming trials.” He piles food onto a plate and hands it to me.

“Aren’t we supposed to head back out?” I take a bite.

“It can hardly begin without you. The people will be fine waiting a few extra minutes.”

“Okay.” I scarf the food down, and feel some energy returning. Not as much as I’d hoped for, but at least it’s something. I still want to nap for a week, but that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. Not when I’m most likely about to face one of the fiercest and rarest underwater creatures known to merpeople.

No big deal.

Dad takes my plate as soon as I finish the food. “Grab your trident.”

I do, and I try not to think about what I’m about to face—or the fact that it could kill me. On the bright side, he has people waiting and ready to revive him, so they could probably bring me back to life if it came down to that. Maybe. If I’m lucky.

We make our way back to the arena, which now has the platform removed. At least there isn’t a sea dragon waiting for me. The only thing is a microphone in the dead center.

I shudder at my choice of words.

The noisy crowd quiets as we make our way to the mic. Dad taps on it and waits for silence. “Marra has made it through the first of Queen Sirena’s trials. Now she will use her trident and magic to defeat a rare and dangerous sea creature. Are you ready?”

The audience goes wild.

A set of doors opens on the opposite side from where we came in. Five burly mermen come out, each clinging to a chain. Attached to the metal links is a green-and-blue-finned dragon with two heads, struggling to break free.

Dad turns to me. “Your job is to kill it.”

My stomach lurches.