|🌴| Shipwrecked Princess |🌺| A Novel |🌺| Complete |🌴|

🌴 Chapter Twenty-Four 🌴

Soon breakfast was over. Morgan took his time waiting until lunch rolled around. He strolled into the greenhouse, trying his best to be inconspicuous. He hid behind some greens as his eyes laid on the island girl. He watched from a distance, making sure he wasn't seen, and watched her. He couldn't see her animal family but that didn't mean they weren't there somewhere. 

He prayed that he would learn something that could aid his plan because he was not thrilled in the slightest about watching her. He had better things to do, not anything for his plan, but enjoying his time here. He was still Raymond's brother after all, so there were many perks to it. He could take a few days of leisure and it wouldn't affect his plans.

Essa sat with her back against a palm tree, waiting for all of her animal family to gather around. She seemed happy and her mind was somewhere else. She was thinking about her time with William the day before and the little things he did which made her heart flutter. Why? She hadn't dared to ask Taileiah, she didn't have the courage to.

Shylar bounced down the path following a butterfly. She paused when she saw Essa and purred. "Essa! I didn't hear you come in last night and I woke up and you were gone! What happened?" She asked, glad to have had the butterfly tell and lead her to where her friend was at.

Essa looked over at the tiger cub and smiled softly. "Shylar, oh, William and I lost track of time yesterday. I got back late. Then when I woke up and I realized I overslept. I quickly rushed to my lessons with Taileiah and just got back a bit ago." She explained, pushing some hair behind her ear.

Shylar nodded her head, understanding how that could happen. "Ooh, lost track of time?" It was only reasonable, especially when you were having fun. She had lost track of time a whole lot, mostly back on the island, but not much here. There wasn't much to do but she hoped that would change very soon.

Essa blushed a little as the rest of her animal family followed the butterflies that led them to her. "Hey, it's not like that. He is a good guy and he makes me feel like I belong even though I know I'm different. He treats me like a normal walking stick and we had a lot of fun, I felt like a kid again." She shyly said, chewing the inside of her lip.

Roki smirked as he pranced over to Essa and sat down beside her. "It's sure been a while since you've been a kid. I am glad he was able to give that to you! You should spend more time with him because it makes you happy, and I like seeing you happy." He was just glad she was being around others who were like her. It was what she needed.

Essa was touched. Roki was always understanding of her wishes and dreams. Now he was understanding of her wanting to spend time with other walking sticks. "Oh, Roki, that is kind of you to say. We are just friends and nothing more. In speaking, I have gotten closer to Rosalya as well, she is a wonderful girl." It was nice to have another friend who was a girl like her who had taught her much about herself she never even knew.

Indigo could hardly wait to see why she wanted them there. He knew it wasn't for this small talk. Curiosity was getting to him. "So, what did you talk about? Spill the nuts, tell us every little thing!" He insisted. He couldn't comprehend what Essa wanted to tell them. He wasn't going to jump to conclusions which would most likely be wrong. 

Essa smiled as she crossed her legs. Where would she start? "Hmm, alright. Now that everyone is here I do want to apologize, I am sorry about not seeing you guys for almost a whole day! I missed you so much." She felt a little bad about it though. She had always spent time with her animal family and now she was spending less and less time with them.

Roki could tell that I bothered Essa. She was torn on how to spend her time. Whether it was with William, Jayme, and Rosalya or with her animal family. "Essa, you don't need to apologize." She wasn't obligated to spend every single moment with them. There would be plenty of time for that. He just wanted her to make more memories and have no regrets when they did return to their island.