But with Ezra, it was different… vastly different. I wanted to fall in love with him so I could stay… not just in his world, butwith him.He was everything I wanted and needed: grounded, rooted, steady. I moved and bubbled with every current of emotion and whim, but he did not move, and I loved him for that.
And, in that moment, I realized that if I was going to die and turn to sea foam, I might as well show my love for Ezra by doing everything I could to help him save his kingdom, once and for all. I might as well do what I could to help eradicate the frogs, revive the birds, and bring the trees back to life. My time was running out.
As I stood and dusted myself off, I smiled at the sea, grateful. Happy, even, despite my doom coming for me faster than a tsunami, swallowing the shore whole.
There was a time I despised being a mermaid, especially beingme,but now I knew better, and my aunt’s words came into my ears. It felt as if I were in her arms now as she comforted me after receiving the news of my betrothal to the king of the brine.
You can stay, use your gifts, love bravely, and be exactly who Akua made you to be — both ocean and land, past and future.
Yes, I was all of those things! All of those wonderful things.
I gasped.
Now I had work to do. One last way to use my gifts, love bravely, and be exactly who I was meant to be. I was not just ocean, but I was land. I wasn’t just my past, but the future. And if I wanted Ezra to know how I really felt, and if I was going to use my gifts in the calling I never realized I had, then I had to act now.
I hiked up my skirts and began running across the sandy beach, towards the nearest forest and the plume rising into the air.
I’m going to stop Tavo and help the island,I thought.Even if it was the last thing I did.
As if in response, the sea surged and a wave rushed past my feet. The saltwater was refreshing, warm, and comfortable. Perhaps it wasn’t my sea, but I was grateful for it.
This is not how I thought things would end,I told myself, then smiled because in the end, I got to choose the new tale–the transformed tale.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
EZRA
It was morning by the time my guards found Princess Cressida. Word also reached me that Tavo had taken his troops into the Wailea forest, where he was already setting up camp and preparing to chop down the trees.
While my men prepared their horses and weapons for battle, I took a moment to storm down into the prison. My guards had finally found her, and I was ready to confront her.
Princess Cressida waited patiently, her belongings in a box far from where she could reach it.
“When my father hears that you’ve put me in prison, you’ll pay for it.”
“Good morning to you too,” I said and went straight for her belongings. As I dug through her bag, my skin stood on edge as I found what I’d been looking for: the golden ball.
Aulani was right.
“You’ve been stealing life from the land for this magic thing,” I said and she frowned.
“That’s a ridiculous idea–”
“Aulani found you doing it, so don’t lie to me.”
She froze, her face turning pale, before she leaned against the prison bars and said softly, “So thatwasher the other night.”
“Yes, and you’re going to tell me how to use this thing.”
Cressida laughed. “You don’t know the first thing about magic, do you Ezra?”
“No, but you’re going to tell me. Can this transform someone permanently into a human?”
Her eyebrows creased. “There is always a price.”
“What is the price?”
“True magic always takes something in return, remember? This ball can only take from the natural life here, including the plants and people.”
