I looked at him, unsure of what he meant. Father continued. “The island doesn’t need another Tavo. It needs you, Ezra. Never doubt that.”
Silence.
I wasn’t sure how to answer. I could still remember the news, just months ago, that Tavo had been killed in foreign lands. They brought back hisleiomano,his shark knife weapon, and, with tears in his eyes, father turned to me.
You will take Tavo’s place as king.My stomach twisted like vines tangling itself up the sides of a tree. And, since the news, it seemed everything in Kaiora was turning against me: the frog infestation erupted, foreigners began coming in at unprecedented rates, plantations and immigrants were coming in from every corner of the Eight Seas, and it was all happening so fast, I felt like I had never had a chance to catch my breath.
And the people are angry at me.They demanded answers and solutions, and father gave me chances to step up. But I was failing, and it was crippling.
Moments like these were my only ones alone. Away from everyone, where I could finally breathe.
Except father was here, and though I loved him, I felt the immense pressure that he brought with him, always expectingme to do the right thing. To say the right thing. To come up with the right solutions.
I swallowed hard, eager to talk about something. Anything. It seemed like all father and I talked about were politics anyways. I felt silly for letting slip my insecurities.
“I’ve been studying the reports,” I said. “The frogs are spreading faster in the Wailea forests, and the birds are fleeing to higher ground. Many of them can’t survive up there for long because it’s too cold. The foreigners are saying to bring in snakes.”
My father frowned. “And risk worse? The last time we followed foreign advice, we lost half the honeycreepers.”
Another bad mark.My stomach sank. Why did I even bring it up? I hadn’t planned on bringing any snakes here, yet I didn’t know what else to talk about with my father.
“So we stick to my plan?” I asked, my stomach knotting. “But what if that means devastating the land with our presence?” I could just imagine the damage that would be done if my armies stomped through the forest to hunt the coquis, one little frog at a time.
Father stood, brushing dirt from his palms, then said with firmness in his voice, “No. We listen. We pay attention to the‘aina,as we have always done. We remember who we are.” He looked up to the sky and added. “There’s power in gentleness, Ezra. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
I wanted to hide, to pretend that father hadn’t said that. Because he was, in essence, saying thatIwas gentle. I had never been powerful, commanding, or authoritative like Tavo. I never ordered people around or asserted power or dominance.
And those were all things true leaders needed. I was too soft, too weak, toogentleto rule, and I hated it. I grit my teeth, wanting to tell my father I was going to try harder to be more like the man Tavo was.
But a messenger burst into the garden, a scroll clutched in his hand.
“Your majesty!” He bowed to the king and then to me. “A foreign ship has arrived.”
I stood, my heart pounding. I had dreaded this day for weeks, knowing it would come at some point.
“The royal ship from Windmere has arrived,” the messenger said, and nodded to me. “Princess Cressida is here.”
My stomach sank. Princess Cressida, the young woman who was once betrothed to Tavo, was now here to sign betrothal papers to Kaiora’s soon-to-be-king. Me.
For the hundredth time in my life, I just wished that Tavo was here and that the winds had not shifted this way.
CHAPTER TWO
AULANI
Idarted between currents, feeling the water tugging at my hair, trying to pull me in its own direction, but I was stronger. Father would kill me for swimming near the surface, but had he ever swam against the current? It was exhilarating, and stole my breath away.
Humu, my little fish friend, had abandoned me waves ago, too scared to go as far as I’d gone.
I laughed as a pod of dolphins joined and circled me, smiles on their faces. They nudged their noses against me and clicked their tongues, and I could sense their approval of me. I mimicked them, playful and bright, as they burst above the surface, twirling and splashing. Spirals of light, reflections of rainbows, and dizzying glittering effects illuminated the surface. It was dazzling and amazing, and I wished we could stay in the sunlight forever.
My tail caught the sunrays, and I splashed beneath, noting that human ships were scattered like sea urchins along the horizon. I’d memorized their sails, their shapes and I know which ones fished, and which ones transported items.
Merchant ships,I told myself, remembering the conversation I’d overheard on board one of them.
Father would be so mad if he knew all the things I’d learned.I’d been sneaking onto the sides of ships for years, listening to the conversations of the sailors on board, dying to know more about the human world.
I’d never been caught. Perhaps there had been a few close encounters, but after all I’d learned, I couldnotstay away!
