Chapter 7 Ezra #2
She giggled and nudged me, stepping into the dining room.
We were all famished, and Aulani endlessly complimented the food.
This tastes so good! She overflowed with excitement as she tried everything.
Her expressions were exaggerated, but it was so…
her. She’d close her eyes as she tasted the lilikoi jam, then thoughtfully eat the pork, saying she was not accustomed to eating animals but it was something she could get used to as long as she was grateful.
When her excitement died down and I didn’t have to say aloud to Kalei and Ho‘ohuli what the mermaid was thinking, we settled in the living space and spoke.
“So how have things been?” I asked, and Kalei and Ho‘ohuli exchanged nervous looks. I had been a little suspicious of them wanting to keep me hidden, especially when I first arrived at Kalei’s house for the potion. She looked like she had seen a ghost.
And, now, her face paled.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
Ho‘ohuli leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He was an older man, with graying hair and wrinkles on the corners of his eyes. I trusted him with my life, as my father had done.
“Why didn’t you send for my father?” I asked Kalei. When she said she’d go to the palace, I thought she’d noise abroad that I was back. But it seemed all of this had been done in secret. And the fact that she’d closed the windows and the curtains meant… something was off.
Ho‘ohuli nodded to her. “He should hear it from you.”
“Keoki.” She began wringing her hands. “You’ve been gone for almost a year.”
“Months,” I said, hoping to correct her. She shook her head.
“But… I just turned into a frog a few days ago… I couldn’t have been gone that long…” The world started spinning.
“Your father… Uncle Kimo…” Kalei pursed her lips and looked down, water pooling in her eyes again.
Oh no. I could sense what she said before the words left her lips.
“He looked everywhere for you. The princess said that you just disappeared in the garden, and everyone in the kingdom has been terrified that there’s magic here… something we’re not used to, something that’s foreign to us…”
“But where’s my father?”
“He searched the entire island for you, and when he couldn’t find you, he left to get help from other kingdoms. And on his way back…”
Aulani sat forward, her eyes wide.
A tear fell down Kalei’s cheek. “The ship encountered a storm and your father didn’t survive.”
My father… lost. Gone. All air was sucked out of me. I stood and Aulani stood too.
“I didn’t want to tell you until I knew you were safe. But you need to know. Keoki, Uncle Kimo, your father is gone. Princess Cressida has taken over. She says no one can leave the kingdom. No one goes to the sea. Not anymore.”
Ho‘ohuli nodded. “It’s been a dictatorship.”
I stared at my hands, too stunned to speak, my fingers curling into fists.
Ezra… Aulani’s voice was gentle.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” Kalei said. “But the palace is sealed like a fortress. People are scared. Some of the nobles have sided with her. Others are vanishing.”
Aulani’s breath caught and she put her hands over her mouth, shocked.
“I should’ve been there,” I said, rage building within me. “I should’ve been there. None of this would’ve happened–my father, Cressida–if I had just been there.”
“It’s not your fault,” Ho‘ohuli said. “Someone cursed you and–”
Cressida cursed you, Aulani cut in though the others couldn’t hear her.
“We can’t assume it was her,” I said aloud and Ho‘ohuli agreed, though he hadn’t heard Aulani’s thought. He knew what she assumed.
“It could have been anyone hidden in the garden that day.”
“How long ago did my father die?” I asked.
“A month or two after you disappeared,” Kalei answered.
“The whole kingdom mourned for days, Keoki… both for you and for your father. It’s like a cloud has hung over Kaiora since you’ve both been gone.
And with Lady Cressida on the throne, we’re all terrified.
She’s brought in her own armies and powers, and nobody can get to the sea.
Nobody can get out, while foreigners can come in. ”
I’m so sorry Ezra. Aulani gently stroked my arm, and her touch seemed to calm something inside of me. But the calm was quickly replaced by anger.
More anger. Cressida took over my kingdom… And all because I signed those betrothal papers.
You have to take back the throne, Aulani said.
“No, I have to get you to the ocean before it’s too late.”
She shook her head. Listen to yourself. Your father is gone. Your kingdom needs you. You need time to grieve and–
I turned to her, my voice raw with grief and anger. “I’ll grieve later. If you don’t get back to the ocean, you’ll die.”
Silence. All eyes watched Aulani as she stepped closer and gently took my hand. I care more about you than the sea right now.
I couldn’t help but catch her hand and press it to my cheek. My emotions were a storm right now, and she was the calm. I was terrified, angry, and alone… yet I wasn’t.
“Well, I care more about you living. We’ll figure everything else out after that.”
Kalei and Ho‘ohuli stood there, my mentor averting his eyes while Kalei watched with fascination. “You two are a mess,” she said, breaking the tension and I quickly let go of Aulani’s hand. She stepped away from me too. “But you’re perfect.”
“Kalei–”
She smiled, but there were tears in her eyes. “Whatever Aulani said, she’s right. You’re not getting anywhere until you’re ruler of Kaiora Kingdom again.”
“But you can’t just barge in,” Ho‘ohuli said. “We must be strategic.”
“We’ve already discussed the plans,” Kalei added. “Cressida is holding a masquerade ball and has invited the nobles from the kingdom, including myself, surprisingly. I think word has reached her ears that I do happen to know a little something about potion-making.”
My eyes narrowed. What was Kalei getting at?
“You’re going to go as my companion,” she said, then turned to Aulani.
“And you can go as me. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the ball more than I do anyways.
I hate those sorts of things. Keoki knows.
When you’re there, you can see how things are and have a grand reveal in front of everyone.
There’s nothing she’ll be able to do about it! ”
Aulani’s expression lightened up, but then she turned to me. What do you say, Ezra?
I promise I’ll take you to the sea, Aulani, as soon as we take the throne.
She winked, then nudged my arm. If not, I do hear foamy oblivion is lovely this time of year.
Aulani… The corner of my lip twitched anyway.
She squeezed my hand. I know Ezra. You keep your promises, don’t you?
I squeezed her hand back. I shouldn’t have, but I did.
She had to know I was going to do this… all of this, not just for myself, my kingdom, Kalei, or Ho‘ohuli… but for her. I wasn’t going to let her month pass up and she turned to sea foam.
I’d help her return to her realm, no matter the cost. I owed her my life, after all. Yes, I do. Always.