CHAPTER ONE
EZRA
The songbirds were dying, and if we didn’t find a way to eliminate the pesky, invasive frogs, our whole island and ecosystem would crumble.
I could barely hear the birds as I dug my hands into the dirt, checking the texture, feeling if it was healthy soil in which to plant mykoatrees. The terrace garden around me was carved into volcanic stone, with mist coiling through the ferns and other trees.
This is perfect.The soil was just ripe for planting. I stood, placed my‘o’ostick into the ground, which made a little hole, as if someone had put their finger into the dark, nearly black dirt, then I placed a koa sapling into it.
The pack on my back was full of saplings, and I knew I had to hurry if I was going to get all of these planted before attending my next meeting.
A weight fell on my shoulders, and it wasn’t the physical weight of the bag. It was the weight of being the soon-to-be-king of Kaiora Kingdom.
If only Tavo hadn’t disappeared.I sighed.
Somewhere, in the distance, the high pitched croak of a coqui frog broke the peaceful silence. I visibly cringed and looked inthe direction of it. Much to my chagrin, I saw the little pest. He sat on the side of a tree, no larger than the tip of my finger. His bulgy black eyes stared at me, his golden brown skin glistened in the humid air, and his throat bubbled every few seconds. He would be rather cute if his presence wasn’t killing the native birds.
The honeycreepers, the raptors, and flycatchers…They were all dying because of something this small, something that was multiplying and spreading faster than a wildfire.
With Tavo gone, the expectations on me pressed in. Courtiers wanted answers. The people wanted a cure to the frog infestation that killed hundreds of native birds and choked the forests with endless, deafening noise. And, mostly, father wanted me to step into shoes that did not feel like mine. Tavo had always trained to be king. Not me.
So much to do… so little time.I was only twenty four years old but I felt the responsibility of someone much older.
I rolled up my sleeves, my hands covered in soil, and made my way around the terraces, planting koa trees. I hadn’t gotten far when someone spoke my name.
“Keoki.”
I perked up and turned to see my father. So entrenched in my work, I hadn’t heard his footsteps on the lava stone steps.
“Father.” I quickly stood and bowed. How long had father been standing there? He looked every bit a king, with golden epaulets, a red sash around his waist, a dark tunic, and a red and yellow feather cape hanging from his neck. Wrinkles touched the corners of his eyes and his dark skin looked weathered, as if he’d spent more time outdoors than in the palace. He had aged since Tavo’s disappearance.
We’ve all aged.I straightened out, trying to mask my grief with soberness.
“The council doesn’t start for another hour–” I started to say when my father waved his hand.
“Are you hiding from the frogs or from the palace?” His tone, though serious, had a gentle undertone and there was a sparkle in his deep brown eyes.
I smiled wryly. “I think the frogs are winning.”
“And what’s your plan to conquer them?”
“Dig traps. Send out men every night to eradicate them…” I hated the thought of sending my troops out to the forest at night to listen for coqui frogs and kill any they found, but… we had gotten to this desperate point. It was all I could think of, my last resort that I would present to the council. We’d tried everything: traps and lures. And now… we had to go out at night and hunt them ourselves.
“You really think digging traps will work?” Father looked skeptical.
I sighed, feeling the heaviness on my shoulders again like a thousand pounds of lava rock. Was I disappointing him again with my lack of leadership? Did he think it was a bad idea, and that it would waste the time of our troops?
“I’m better at digging than diplomacy,” I admitted and continued working, piercing the o’o stick into the ground and placing another koa tree into the hole.
Father walked over to me and crouched beside me, his eyes thoughtful as he scanned the area. “You know, when I was your age,” he said, “I used to come here too. It wasn’t a garden then… just lava rock and wild ferns.” He motioned to a flat area on the highest terrace. “Years later, Tavo wanted to build a watchtower. You wanted to plan trees.”
I smiled faintly, fingers threading through the dirt as I looked around us. From here, we could see the back of the palace, it’s grand cream-colored pillars and arched windows, terracottashingled rooves, and large windows standing out amongst the lush forest and fields around it.
And, beyond that, in the very far distance was the ocean. It was a faint blue, sparkling line from here, and a reminder that we were surrounded not just by our green island, but the sea… just a small drop in the much larger world of the Eight Seas.
“Tavo was meant to be king of all of this,” I said. “Not me.”
Without missing a beat, my father, the current king, spoke. “Whether Tavo took the throne or not, I would’ve pushed him to make peace.” He eyed me. “But I don’t worry with you.”
