Because if I stay, Iwilldie.I had to get Prince Ryker to fall in love with me, or I’d turn to sea foam. Those were the terms of the curse. Anger boiled inside me. I had no choice… I had to resist Ezra.
I need to get to the sea,I said softly to Ezra, and he met my eyes.
Yes. I’ll take you.
Tonight?
Yes. I promise.And I knew he intended to keep that promise, no matter what.
I staredat the stars as I waited for Ezra. Where was he? He said to meet at the stables, but it was getting dark. Had something delayed him?
You’re acting like a seal being chased by a whale, Aulani. Calm down,I told myself, and tried to think about the telescope I saw in Prince Ryker’s jacket. When I returned to my world, I would get him to fall in love with me, marry me, and I could ask him all the questions about the stars.
I can forget all about Kaiora, the frogs, the birds, and… him.Ezra. That made me sadder than a shipwreck without treasure.
I don’t want to forget him.Ezra was the sweetest person I’d ever met. He never judged. He just saw me for who I was…
And where is he?
Anxiety pressed on me as doubts formed. What if Ezra would not take me to the sea?
He wouldn’t lie to me.He just wasn’t that kind of a person. Ezra was honest and genuine to the core.
Suddenly, our mind connection brimmed with life, like Ezra was trying to reach out to me. The connection felt tangled though, like a fishing line snagged on something.
We could only communicate when we were within a certain proximity, but it felt as if he was far away from me… and getting farther and farther.
Ezra?I stepped away from the stable, my heart beginning to race.
Aulani!He spoke in a panicked voice.
Where are you?
Nothing. Fear gripped me, and I began running. I didn’t know where, just… I had to move.
Ezra!I screamed in my mind, rushing through the palace walls.
“Is everything all right?” Ho‘ohuli asked, and I shook my head, trying to tell him Ezra was in trouble, but he didn’t understand. I ran off, and he trailed behind me.
Ezra, where are you?Again, nothing. I couldn’t even sense his mind, which frightened me even more.
And then… ever so faintly…
The garden… I’m…
Nothing…
I rushed to the garden at the front of the palace, passing the gardeners cleaning up their landscaping tools for the day. Someone cut the rose bushes to perfection.
“Aulani!” Ho‘ohuli was still following me. “What is going on?”
The garden?I shook my head. Where could he be in the garden?
Wrong garden!I told myself, and looked to the back of the palace, where the terrace garden grew wild and free. Yes. He went there often to be alone. I darted in that direction, Ho‘ohuli out of breath behind me.
“Slow down, Aulani!” he called, but I couldn’t.
Wouldn’t.
