Neela knew he was the Mehteraba?i, leader of the Jani?ari, Isabella’s personal guard. Fierce fighters from the waters off Turkey’s southern coast, they wore breastplates made of blue crab shells and osprey-skull epaulets. A line of orca’s teeth ran across the top of each of their bronze helmets.
The Jani?ari followed their leader out of the archway, swimming in tight formation. Some played boru—long, thin trumpets. Others played the davul—bass drums made from giant clamshells. The rest sang of the bravery of their regina in deep, rumbling voices. It was an immense sound, intended to terrify Miromara’s enemies. Neela thought it did the job well.
After twenty lines of Jani?ari had marched into the Kolisseo, another figure—one very different from the fearsome soldiers—appeared in the archway.
“Oh, doesn’t Sera look gorgeous!” Neela whispered.
“Merl’s so hot, she melts my face off,” Yazeed said.
“Wow. That’s appropriate, Yaz,” said Neela.
Mahdi stared silently.
Serafina sat sidesaddle atop a graceful gray hippokamp. She wore a simple gown of pale green sea silk. The color, worn by mer brides, symbolized her bond with her people, her future husband, and the sea. Over the gown, she wore an exquisite brocade mantle, the same deep green as her eyes. It was richly embroidered with copper thread and studded with red coral, pearls, and emeralds—the jewels of Merrow’s crown. Her copper-brown hair floated around her shoulders. Her head was unadorned. Her face, with its high cheekbones, was elegant and fine. But it’s her eyes that make her truly beautiful, Neela thought. They sparkled with intelligence and humor, darkened with doubt sometimes, and shone in their depths with love. No matter how hard she tried to hide it.
The second the Miromarans spotted her, they were out of their seats and cheering. The noise rolled over the amphitheater like a storm. Serafina, solemn as the occasion demanded, kept her eyes straight ahead.
The Mehteraba?i reached the base of the royal enclosure and stopped. His troops—with Serafina in the midst of them—followed suit. He struck his chest with his fist, then saluted his regina. It was a gesture of both love and respect. In perfect unison, all five hundred Jani?ari did the same. Isabella struck her chest and saluted back, and another cheer went up. The boru players blew loud blasts.
Serafina’s hippokamp didn’t like the noise. She pawed at the water with her front hooves and thrashed her serpentine tail. Her eyes, yellow and slitted like a snake’s, shifted nervously.
As Serafina calmed her, the Mehteraba?i turned to his troops and raised his scimitar, then sliced it through the water. As he did, the Jani?ari moved forward, splitting their formation in the middle, so that half marched to the right, and half to the left. When they had ringed the amphitheater, the Mehteraba?i sheathed his scimitar, swam to Serafina, and helped her dismount. She removed her mantle and handed it to him. She would face Alítheia in only her dress. It would be her coronation gown or her shroud.
The Mehteraba?i handed her his scimitar, then led her hippokamp away. Serafina was alone in the center of the amphitheater. When the cheers died down she spoke, her voice ringing out over the ancient stones.
“Citizens of Miromara, esteemed guests, most gracious regina, I come before you tonight to declare myself of the blood, a daughter of Merrow, and heiress to the Miromaran throne.”
Isabella, regal atop her throne, spoke next. “Beloved subjects, we the mer are a people born of destruction. In Atlantis’s end was our beginning. For four thousand years we have endured. For four thousand years, the Merrovingia have ruled Miromara. We have kept you safe, worked tirelessly to see you prosper. Descended from the one who made us all, we are bound heart and soul, by oath and by blood, to carry on her rule. I give you my only daughter, this child of my body and of my heart, but I cannot give you your heiress. Only Alítheia can do this. What say you, good people?”
The Miromarans erupted into cheering again.
Isabella took a deep breath. Her back was straight. Her manner calm. But Neela could see her hands shaking. “Release the anarachna!” she commanded.
“What’s happening?” Yazeed whispered.
“This is the blooding, the first part of the Dokimí,” Neela explained. “Where we find out if Serafina truly is a descendant of Merrow.”
“What if she’s not?” Yazeed asked.
“Don’t say that, Yaz,” Mahdi said. “Don’t even think it.”
Neela looked at him and saw that his hands were knotted into fists.
The armored mermen posted around the iron grille in the center of the amphitheater worked together to raise it. Heavy chains were attached to thick iron loops on its front edge. The mermen heaved at the chains and little by little, the grille lifted. Finally, it swung back on its hinges and clanged down loudly against the stone floor. A few seconds went by, then a few minutes. Nothing happened. The Miromarans, restless and tense, murmured among themselves. A few, very daring or very stupid, called the anarachna’s name.