Chapter 8 Aulani
CHAPTER EIGHT
AULANI
Ilied awake on the settee, nestled in bundles of blankets, while Ezra slept on the ground.
Ho‘ohuli left earlier that night and Kalei slept in her room. I listened to the prince’s soft and steady breathing, relishing every moment that day.
So much had happened in such a short space of time, and I was exhausted.
Not too exhausted to think about my electric relationship with Ezra though. He was a perfect prince: kind, noble, gentle.
Gentle. I adored that about him. The way he spoke to me, the way his eyes sparkled when I made him laugh… I found myself smiling in the darkness, daydreaming of a future I knew could not be.
Get yourself together Aulani. You’re like a confused shrimp getting swallowed by a whale. Not only must you return to your realm, but you just met him. Right. I was supposed to get Prince Ryker to fall in love with and marry me, not Ezra.
And, right. What girl daydreamed about a life with a man she just met? That was the stuff of fairy tales, not my story. Ezra was distracting me from my mission, which was to win the heart of the right prince: Prince Ryker.
As soon as we get Ezra’s throne back, he’ll take me to the sea. And once we reached the sea, I’d be able to tell if it connected to my sea, a thought that filled me with dread and excitement.
I have to get back. Every second I spent here was another second not in my realm. A second closer to turning into sea foam.
As I drifted off to sleep, I heard Ezra stir. He slipped out of his makeshift bed and stepped into the back of the house. I didn’t immediately move.
Where is he going? Curiosity got the best of me. I stepped out the back door, finding him standing at the edge of the forest, his back towards me, his hands clasped behind him.
He stared into the darkness.
It suddenly occurred to me that he probably wanted to be alone. He had just found out his father died. A dictator ruled over his kingdom. He had to reclaim the throne. And, to add to all of it, he took it upon himself to take me to the sea as soon as possible.
Not to mention he was finally a human after a year of being in survival mode as a pesky frog. He probably needed a moment of peace away from everyone and everything, including me.
Just as I turned, Ezra’s voice gently spoke to me. Stay.
I hesitated, but he spoke again. I find your presence calming, Aulani. Then he turned and beckoned for me to join him at the edge of the forest. I did so, my heart pattering at his confession. My bare feet sank into the soft, dewy grass.
He finds my presence calming? Why did that make me want to dance in delight? I stood close to him so our arms touched, and he didn’t move away. He glanced at me, then continued to look into the darkness, the coqui frogs chirping beyond.
After a long moment, I gently touched Ezra’s arm. Are you alright?
He looked at my hand and I quickly withdrew it, self-conscious of any touch between us. It was then I realized a tear slipped down Ezra’s cheek. My heart stopped, or it felt like it.
He’s grieving. This man, who barely let his emotions show, was now having a moment. And he was allowing me to be a part of it. I don’t know why, but I never felt more connected. I had not lost my parents, but I could only imagine how difficult that would be.
Yet, I would lose my parents, if I already hadn’t been disowned by them. That caused my own heart to seize up. I still had parents, but his were gone. Completely gone.
I thought I’d have more time, he said, his voice rough. Just a little more. A chance to prove I wasn’t a failure.
I stepped closer. You weren’t–you’re not, Ezra.
His eyes burned… not with anger, but a desperate, deep kind of ache that not even the tides could read. He probably died thinking I abandoned the island, our kingdom, our people.
I hesitated, then said, You were cursed, Ezra. None of that was your fault.
His breach hitched. Our eyes met. And that was when something inside of him broke loose. His shoulders buckled, a sound catching in his throat as another tear fell. He turned away fast, but I didn’t let him retreat.
I shouldn’t… I don’t… His words were jumbled and confused. Crumbling, even, like dried coral being crushed under waves, turning into rocky sand. His legs gave just a little, and he sank to one knee, then both. Not collapsing, exactly… just surrendering.
I dropped with him, folding my arms around his shoulders, pressing his face gently against my collarbone as his grief poured out like freshwater into the sea. He didn’t sob. Ezra wasn’t the kind of man who was loud. But his body trembled, his breathing sharp and uneven.
I cradled his head, one hand sliding into his hair, the other arm holding him steady.
You’re not alone, Ezra, I said softly, sensing his deep feelings, ones that he was trying to keep hidden. But no matter how hard he tried, I could feel it there. Loneliness. Aching, dark, deep loneliness. His brother was gone. His father was gone.
And, as if reading my own thoughts, he said softly, My mother disappeared when I was young… I barely remember her.
How alone he must have felt in this world! His mother lost at a young age, growing up in the shadow of his brother, only to lose him and become heir to the throne… all while trying to prove something to his father. It made me love him even more.
Love? I closed my eyes. Yes. It wasn’t a romantic love, but genuine compassion. I wished I could do more for him, help him more. But this was all I could do right now.
We stayed like that for a long time: two souls at the edge of the dark forest, under a cacophonic medley of coqui frog chirps. A prince with no throne. A mermaid with no sea. And something soft and fragile blooming between.
“You look stunning!” Kalei turned me around and around in front of the mirror.
“Yes, yes. As long as you keep your hair covered like that, you could pass for me.” She had pulled my hair back into a loose bun, then fastened flowers and other tropical foliage to detract from the color of my hair, which looked nothing like Kalei’s.
She handed me the mask and I put it on, rather hating the way I looked.
It was not me. I wore a light blue dress with sequins that dotted the hem, making it look like sea swirls at noon.
The bodice was full of even more matching sequins that dazzled in the light.
The sequined mask covered my eyes and nose, with dramatic feathers coming out of the top, another smart way to cover my hair.
Ezra wore green, his outfit less sequined than mine. His green mask made his eyes stand out even more, and when we stood in front of each other, I laughed.
I feel so silly.
Trust me, what we’re wearing is simple compared to what others will be wearing.
He offered his arm as he led me to the carriage.
After spending the day with Kalei, I discovered that she was rather wealthy…
which made sense. She was the cousin of the king, and her parents were nobles.
Since she was the same twenty years old as myself and not yet wed, her parents gave her a large sum of money to make her way in the world and she did.
She owned her own home but also a shop down the road, where she sold natural medicines and remedies… and maybe a potion or two.
With a bubbly and snarky personality, as well as a cheerful countenance, Kalei was a joy to be around. She was still young. Why hadn’t any man come and snatched her up?
“Ho‘ohuli is going to meet you both there,” she said, nervousness in her eyes as she went over the plans for the hundredth time.
“Ezra.” She took her cousin’s hand. “Please be careful. One wrong move and she could kill you without anyone knowing. They must all learn you’re alive at the right moment.”
“I’ll be careful.” Ezra said. He and Kalei kissed one another’s cheeks. I had been here long enough to learn it was an island custom to kiss one another’s cheeks in greeting or farewell. I’d seen Kalei and Ho‘ohuli do it, so it did not alarm me.
“Enjoy yourselves,” Kalei said, adding, “And make sure Ezra dances at least once. He says he doesn’t know how, but he’s the best dancer around.” She nodded to us both. “Now go and get the kingdom back.”
With that, she closed the carriage door and stepped back, waving to us. My nerves flared up like a lionfish spreading its massive fan-like fins.
So I attempted to distract myself by looking out the window at the enchanting sights. After such a late night, Ezra and I slept in longer than we probably should have, and I didn’t get much of a chance to explore… although I knew there was no time for that.
Our priority was to get Ezra the throne, help me find my way back home, and then I could explore the human world. Well, once I got back home. But there was so much here! So many sights. Sounds. And people!
Do you like it?
I looked up to see Ezra watching me, and my heart skipped a beat. Yes, very much. I don’t think that it’s like this in the human kingdom by my sea, but… perhaps it’s similar.
For whatever reason, a sinking feeling trickled down my throat. What if it’s not all that I hoped it to be? I’d only been here a day, at most, but would all of this become boring? Mundane? What if there wasn’t much I could learn from the humans, or study the stars as I wished?
You’re allowed to let your dreams change, Ezra said, and I realized he could read my thoughts. It was as if I’d been saying it all aloud to him.
I sat back and sighed. Yes, but I’m determined to make the human world better than the sea.