LITMIR.BIZ

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      Rovi dropped his robe. He tore off his T-shirt. He kicked off his prized Grana Gleams. He took a running start, threading past bathers on their way in and out of the water. At the edge of the pool, he pushed off, arced into the air, and dove into the cool, clean, fresh water. Down, down, down he sank. Deeper into the perfect blue. He swam through a tangle of feet, darting between other swimmers like a minnow. And just before his lungs gave out, he came up for air. He flopped onto his back and stared up at the blue ceiling with its golden stars. And without the help of a raft, he floated.

      Rovi could feel the dirt and sweat wash off him. He did somersaults underwater, handstands in the shallows, and a few running cannonballs from the low diving board. He hadn’t been swimming since he’d left Ecrof. His father had taught him there, in the secret pool deep in a cave hidden in the mountains, where they would sneak off to when his father didn’t have to teach.

      For once he didn’t care that everyone else around him had money for Spirit Water and bright, juicy platters of fruit. He was swimming. He was moving quickly without being chased.

      Every once in a while, he passed a member of Issa’s gang. They acknowledged each other with a quick hello, but kept to themselves. No one, not even Amrav, wanted to risk being hauled out of the pool by the guards, who might notice they hadn’t paid their entry fee.

      After a while, Rovi pulled himself out of the water and sat on the edge of the pool, his legs dangling into the deep end. There was a kid about his age, a Realist, judging by the blue color of his swim trunks, up on the high diving board. Rovi watched as the boy executed an impressive double-flip into the water to the polite applause of a group of adults gathered below.

      Over and over again, the boy flipped off the diving board. Each time, the adults applauded and clapped him on the back. The boy had a self-satisfied look on his face that was starting to annoy Rovi. Six more times, the boy did his double-flip, each time growing prouder and prouder of himself.

      Rovi stood up and hurried to the diving board, cutting in front of the boy before he could climb up again. “Let someone else have a go,” Rovi said.

      Rovi scampered up the ladder and hurried to the edge of the board. He hadn’t counted on it being so high. Suddenly he couldn’t imagine jumping into the water below.

      “Scared?” he heard the voice of the boy call up from below.

      The water seemed impossibly far away.

      “You’re scaaaaaaared,” the boy taunted.

      Rovi was about to reply when his foot slipped off the board and he went plunging down to the water in a graceless belly flop. As he hauled himself out of the pool, he came face-to-face with the boy. “Have you ever even been on a diving board before?” the boy asked.

      “Of course,” Rovi lied.

      “Doesn’t look like it.”

      From across the pool, Rovi could see Issa’s eyes on him, pleading with him not to get into a fight with the young Realist.

      “What’s your name anyway?” the boy asked. “And why are your shorts ripped?”

      “None of your business,” Rovi said. His voice was a little louder than he’d intended. A few people looked up from their rafts and lounge chairs.

      The boy stared at him. It was clear to Rovi that he wasn’t used to being spoken to like that.

      “Are you a Star Stealer?”

      “I said mind your own business.”

      “Where are your house colors?” the boy demanded.

      “I said, mind your own business,” Rovi repeated. “Now excuse me, I have another dive to do, unless you plan on hogging the board some more.”

      “Dive?” The boy snickered. “That was the worst dive I’ve ever seen. If it was even supposed to be a dive. To me it looked like you just fell off the board.” Now the boy was talking animatedly and gesturing to get everyone’s attention.

      Rovi tried to hide the flush in his cheeks. “You’ll see,” he said, once more pushing past the boy to the diving board. This time it was the boy who lost his footing and slipped on the wet pool deck. He hit the ground with a cry that echoed across the pool. But Rovi was already climbing the ladder.

      He took his time walking to the edge of the diving board. He could sense some commotion below as people rushed to comfort the boy, who was sitting on the ground looking stunned.

      Rovi bounced on the end of the board. He would dive. He would. It didn’t have to be complicated. Just a simple swan dive into the water.

      But what was going on at the edges of the pool? People were moving and pointing. They were pointing up at him. From his towering vantage point, he could see several of Issa’s gang making for the exits as the pool guards began circling.

      The boy’s comments had alerted them, of course, to the suspected Star Stealer who’d snuck into the pool. Rovi bounced once more on the board as he scanned the pool deck. The only member of the gang left was Issa. Issa was waiting for him. Issa was risking being caught to make sure Rovi was okay.

      Rovi’s inner voice was already cooking up a plan. Dive down as deep as you can, swim as far as you can underwater—the entire length of the pool, if possible—all the way to the side where you entered. Get out, grab your sneakers, sprint down the hall, up through the grate. Go fast. Don’t look back.

      The pool guards were closing in. He had no choice but to dive now. It would be difficult—but it was his only chance of escape. One. Two. Three. Rovi sprang as high as he could on the board, reached his arms over his head, then dove down. He barreled toward the water, then plunged deep, until he nearly reached the bottom. Then he began to swim. He parted the water with his arms, pulling himself toward the shallow end, hoping he was swimming so deep that the guards couldn’t track him. His lungs were bursting. He could see the far end. He was almost there. He touched the wall. He hauled himself out and, crouching on the pool deck, looked around. Now all he needed was his sneakers.

      He shook water from his eyes. He could see his robe and dirty T-shirt where he’d left them. But his Gleams were gone.

      From both sides, he could see the guards approaching. What was the penalty for sneaking into a pool? Surely it wouldn’t be that bad. But when they figured out they had the notorious Swiftfoot, Rovi would be sent to make sand bricks for sure.

      He had to run. He had to forget his Gleams. He had no choice.

      And then suddenly there they were—his Grana Gleams, right in front of his face.

      “I believe these belong to you.”

      Rovi stood. He was face-to-face with the short, bald man with the twinkling green eyes who’d let him escape from the market a few weeks ago.

      “You weren’t going to leave without them, were you?”

      Rovi shook his head and took the sneakers.

      The guards had closed in. Across the pool, Rovi could feel Issa’s eyes on him.

      “Excuse me,” one of the guards said to the green-eyed man with a sneer. “That boy is a Star Stealer who snuck into the pool without paying.”

      “This boy?” The man, laughing, put a hand on Rovi’s shoulder. “This is Rovi Myrios of House Somni from the island of Cora. He’s no Star Stealer.”

      The guard narrowed his eyes at the bald man.

      “You are sure?” the guard said, looking Rovi over from top to toe and clearly not liking what he saw.

      The bald man cocked his head to one side. “Are you questioning my judgment or my sanity?”

      The guard quailed. “I . . . I must be mistaken,” he said. And with a final curious glance at Rovi, he left them.

      “Who are you?” Rovi asked when the guard was out of earshot.

      “You

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