CHAPTER FIFTEEN
EZRA
Mud caked my shoes as I picked up debris and rocks with each step back to the palace. But it hadn’t rained, so the roads were clear and the moon shone down on it. Coquis chirped loudly and my heart sank even further. As if it couldn’t go any further.
Aulani’s sea is not connected.So there was no way to get her home. And if there was no way to get her to Prince Ryker, then she was going to die.
This is all my fault.If we had discovered this sooner, could we have found some portal, some magical way to get her back to her world? This is how she got here. Who opened the portal for her anyways?
When I reached the palace, Kalei and Ho‘ohuli waited for me, and, upon seeing me without Aulani, tears streamed down Kalei’s face.
Ho‘ohuli let out a sigh. Perhaps he’d hoped I would marry Aulani, and that we’d rule together.
But it wasn’t meant to be. I spoke, my voice low, full of sorrow. “She’s still here,” I said.
“Wait… she didn’t go home?” Kalei wiped her eyes.
“Her home isn’t connected to ours so…” I didn’t finish and I didn’t need to. Kalei’s eyes widened and Ho‘ohuli quickly said, “There must be someone here who knows magic… someone who can open a portal…”
A lump formed in my throat and I shook my head, wanting nothing more than to be alone in the terrace garden under grandfather’s kukui tree.
“We tried that,” I said and walked off, rubbing the back of my neck, wishing there was more I could do for Aulani… and, well, forus.I had hoped we could find a way for her to stay.
But I’m never doing enough. Never coming up with enough solutions. Never following the journey in the way tales should go.It seemed everyone else got a happily-ever-after and ruled so peacefully and well. But I?I’m just not quick or wise enough.
I never had been. I sat under the kukui tree and listened to the breeze rustle through the leaves. It seemed unfortunate circumstances always befell me: losing my older brother and becoming King, becoming a frog and losing my father during that time, falling in love with a mermaid only to find out she would die–and it was my fault because I didn’t get her to the sea sooner–and now? Well… now my throne was about to be taken from me if my brother had things his way.
I put my head in my hands and sighed. When would I ever do things right? When would I ever be enough for my kingdom, my people, and even for myself? Not only did I mess up, I ruined everything.Everything.
Tavo would probably take over. Aulani was going to die. Cressida… well, she was on the loose and probably using her magical ball to destroy my island…
Another breeze blew through the leaves and, in my darkest moment, I thought I heard something.
Ezra…
I perked up. Did someone say my name? Looking around though, I was all alone.
I shook my head.
I was delirious. Too absorbed in my grief to think straight. But then I heard my name again, and I looked up at the silver undersides of the leaves.
You are the king… chosen by the people. Chosen by the island.The voice was gentle, like moss growing softly over stone, yet old and weathered like the cliffs carved by wind and waves. And it was then I realized. It was no ordinary voice.
It was my grandfather’s voice. For so many years, I sat under this tree, hoping, maybe even praying that his wisdom might befall me. And here it was.
“Chosen by the people? I was just the spare,” I whispered, but the leaves rustled, as if shaking their heads at me. Then it dawned on me.
Yes, the truth is that I was a spare.I was the one that people didn’t think would ever become king. Yet, they did choose me after Tavo’s death. I remembered when the news spread that I was to become king, and people congratulated me. It was always with sadness, because my brother died, but they had confidence in me.
And, beyond that, the island depended on me. Because of me, the frog problem was being taken care of. Foreigners were coming in, yet they were not devastating the land. Our people were still thriving, despite all the plantations and other goods that were going to be traded and would affect the land.
I’m not Tavo.
Tavo wanted to change everything and destroy our land, our traditions, and our culture. But I came in with a different approach: to blend it all, to embrace it all, while still preserving our roots.
Roots.Yes, that was it. Father had told me time and again that this island didn’t need another Tavo. It needed me, and I’d done my best so far.
And I’ll keep doing my best.I wasn’t the king that my people had always imagined and thought would be their king, but I was going to fight for them, no matter what.
