The ball pulsed once, then glowed bright as lightning.
And suddenly…
Cressida screamed. I didn’t understand; the world around me grew larger and larger. A burning sensation waved through my chest. My muscles wrenched. Everything spiraled. I dropped–no, collapsed, my limbs curling inward, my hands gone.
I hit the pond, and water swallowed me. Breathing felt impossible. Moving felt unnatural. The garden above warped and shimmered.
The last thing I saw through bulging, panicked eyes was Cressida’s silhouette above the water, one hand over her mouth, and the golden ball, with drops of water sparkling on it, in the other.
Then she ran away.
CHAPTER FOUR
AULANI
The sea was alive tonight, its motions and currents restless.
Or perhaps it was me. I couldn’t stop thinking about my father’s new rule. Word had spread throughout the Coral Realm of my betrothal to King Malinoakea and while everyone congratulated me, even they looked sorry.
They knew, as well as I, that he would imprison me there. In his dark abyss, surrounded by ghostly shipwrecks and mermaids with skin the color of ash.
I’ll never get to see the sun.
I tried to entertain the idea of exploring the shipwrecks, but…
It’d be so dark.Why didn’t the king of the Brine marry someone from his own kingdom, someone who could already see in the darkness?
I swallowed hard, tossing back and forth in my seaweed bed.
My sisters all slept soundly, but couldn’t they sense that the sea was moving? It was alive and raging… Or perhaps it was me.
I sat up.
If I go to the surface one last time, I will give myself closure,I decided. Yes. That was a good idea.
One. Last. Time.I moved past my sisters with a stealth that even an octopus would envy. But Mo stirred.
“Au? Is that you?”
“Yes, I’m just getting… something to drink.” I smiled sweetly, and she closed her eyes, waving her hand at me as if I disrupted her. When I reached the door, little Humu was there, like he’d been waiting for me.
“Humu?”
“There you are Aulani! I was wondering if you’d lost your connection with the sea,” he teased, his fishy lips always looking so silly when he spoke.
“Shh…” I looked back at my sisters, though they were still sleeping, then closed the door. Guards would be everywhere, but I knew just the places to get out.
“There’s something happening up there,” Humu said quietly. “Something’s wrong.”
“I can sense it.” I nodded, and we left the castle together.
The entire underworld kingdom was asleep, the lights all dimmed, the pods and clams closed up, and even the seaweed curled for the night.
As we passed through the dark veil, I couldn’t help but feel as if it was grabbing my body, trailing its darkness across every inch of my skin.
I will be imprisoned…No sun. No waves. No humans. I’d be stuck here forever if father found out I went to the surface again…
This will be the last time,I promised.
