The Deep by Helen Dunmore

of them cover their faces with their hands.Maybe they’re the mothers of young children….
    Suddenly I’m afraid. Terribly afraid. There are hundreds of the Mer, and I’m alone. And they all want one thing. People will do anything for their children. If I don’t give the Mer what they want—or if I can’t do it—then what will they do?
    I have never felt so isolated.
    And then I feel an arm around my shoulder. Faro is at my side. He turns and looks into my face as if Ervys and the whole chamber of the Mer don’t matter at all. He speaks as if we’re alone.
    “I’ll go with you, Sapphire,” he says.
    “Go where?”
    Faro looks intently into my face, my eyes. “Into the Deep. We have to stop the Kraken before he grows so strong that nothing can stop him. We’ve got to stop the sacrifice.”
    “But you can’t enter the Deep, Faro. You’re Mer.”
    Faro tosses back his hair. “I can try.”
    He is so brave. He’s already been hurt before, trying to go to the Deep to find me. The Deep nearly crushed him, and yet he’s ready to brave it again. But it won’t work, I know that it won’t work. No one has more courage than Faro, but courage isn’t enough on its own.
    All the Mer are looking at me hungrily. Wanting. Needing. I’m being hit by wave after wave of pressure. But they can’t make me do this!
    I’ve got to think clearly. Of course. Why didn’t I realizeit before? I need Saldowr. And Conor. I’ve got to talk to Conor.
    “I must see Saldowr,” I say firmly.
    “Saldowr!” Anger leaps into Ervys’s face. Quickly he smooths out his expression. “But what help can he give? Saldowr is sick and weak.”
    Faro makes a quick, outraged gesture at this disrespect toward his teacher. Quite a lot of the Mer don’t look happy about it either. There are frowns and mutters. I lay my hand on Faro’s arm warningly. Strength is rising in me again, now that I’ve got the beginning of a plan. I don’t trust Ervys. He wants me to help the Mer, but it’s for himself as well. If he can defeat the Kraken by sending him back to sleep without sacrifice, than he’ll be famous in Ingo and more powerful even than Saldowr, maybe—
    “I must see Saldowr,” I repeat, looking Ervys in the eyes. “Faro and I will go. We need to hear his wisdom.”
    It’s scary to outface an adult and a leader among the Mer. My voice wants to shake, but I’m not going to let it. I’m not going to let Ervys use me to increase his own power. You want me to help you, I think; you want me to risk my life in the Deep. You think that because I’m a human and a child, you can make me part of your plan. But I knew Saldowr long before I met you. If I go to the Deep, it won’t be for you.
    Ervys’s brows knit with anger. His tail lashes the water, lightly, like the tail of a lion when it spots an oryx on the plains. He’d like to pounce on me. He’d like to punishme for daring to take Saldowr’s side against his, but he can’t. However much he wants to brush Saldowr aside, Ervys can’t deny me if I say I need to talk to him. The Mer assembled here are afraid and desperate, and they believe that I’m their only chance. If the Kraken really has woken, they’ll do anything to make him sleep again. And besides, they aren’t all on Ervys’s side.
    Faro’s eyes glitter. Ervys dared speak insultingly of Faro’s teacher in front of all the Mer. He’s made an enemy of him now. I know Faro well enough to understand that he’ll do anything to stop Ervys from getting what he wants.
    “Will you waste our time by consulting a sick healer?” Ervys demands, making his voice ring until the chamber fills with water echoes. “Will you give the Kraken more time to gather his strength?”
    His face blazes with conviction. He throws back his shoulders proudly. Some of the Mer are nodding; some even raise their fists in what looks like a salute. But I notice that others look doubtful. Some are even turning away. And there’s Elvira, all the way