“Wait, so let me get this straight,” the man said. “The mermaid is helping the island? If her time is running out, though, what use will she be?”
“I’ll follow the same plan as Ezra,” Tavo said, nodding.
What plan?
I was the glad the foreigner was confused as myself, because Tavo explained. “Ezra never planned on taking the mermaid to the sea because he wants to use her power to strengthen the land and heal the birds. He knows if he takes her to the sea, she’ll swim away. She’ll go back to her world. So he’s determined to keep her here. Not because he loves her, but because he needs her gift.”
My resilience faltered as Tavo continued. “Just her presence is healing the land. There are other forces at work that are killing it, like the frogs–”
And Cressida,I thought.
“… but that mermaid…” Tavo rubbed his chin thoughtfully again. “By the time she turns to sea foam, she would have brought the songbirds back to life, brought the trees back… It’s a temporary fix, of course, but enough that the people will trust Ezra is doing good for them.”
At this point, I should have called for Ezra in my mind, to tell him the lies his brother shared with this foreigner. But doubt crept in, like an eel sliding into a reef crevice.
What if?I swallowed hard. Ezra had not taken me to the ocean. He kept bringing it up, kept saying he wanted to… but what if Tavo was right? I had just…trustedEzra. Had never questioned him.
But now I began to wonder.
Tavo and the man began walking away, speaking in quiet tones and leaving me in the bushes alone. I swatted at a bug biting my leg. Couldn’t stand the itchy bug bites I was getting from standing here, but what choice did I have?
A shiver ran down my spine. I didn’t believe Tavo… or, at least, I didn’t want to. But I did begin to question… why hadn’t Ezra taken me? He had a million reasons, and I excused him several times as well… but should I have done that?
And, suddenly, the world felt incredibly heavy. The weight of everything fell on my shoulders, as if a whale was sinking on me.What if I can’t trust Ezra?Was he really just going to let me die?
He hasn’t taken me to the sea…So… maybe? Tears welled up in my eyes and I ran to my room before they fell. I felt so lost… so terrified. In a world I didn’t know, surrounded by people I thought I could trust and yet… I could not.
And, for the first time since leaving, I desperately wished I could be home: safe, in the underwater world, hidden from view of the outside, political, torrential world of the humans.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
EZRA
The whole day was chaotic. It all started with a knock on my door, and Aulani calling me from the other side.
Ezra, Ezra! Hurry!
I scrambled to get ready, and when I found her in the hallway, pacing, she rushed to me. But she didn’t embrace me. Instead she quickly told me about Cressida.
I felt magic last night, and I hurried to follow it. Cressida said a spell and it takes life from the island, but uses that magic to turn people into frogs.
I gaped.Is she turning people into frogs?
Who knows? Has anyone gone missing?
We’ve since located the missing noblemen and women,I said, then hurried to button my tunic and fix my sleeves. They went into hiding, afraid of what Cressida might do to them because they disagreed with her. I ordered my nearest guards to bring Cressida to the throne room for questioning.
And Ezra.Aulani’s eyes did not have their usual glow to them, the one that said she was happy to see me. Instead, she looked worn down, tired, like something worried her.
Yes?I took her hand and she forced a smile.
Are you going to take me to the sea today?
I promise it.And this time I meant it. I had broken too many promises to her. At that very moment, Ho‘ohuli came bursting in.
“The frogs, your majesty. The hunters went out last night, but they said they’re spreading faster than ever.”
“What do you mean?”
