Chapter 3 #2
Kiki’s sobs filled the air behind us. “Oli!”
“I’ll be back, I promise!” I said, but the man sighed. It made my head spin in circles.
“You won’t be back. Better not make promises you can’t keep.”
“Then why don’t you kill me right here, on the spot? Instead of dragging me to the rest of the night marchers?”
“Because you must face the night marcher that caught you disrespecting Kāne. It’s his decision if he wants to kill you or not, not mine.”
The lump in my throat grew bigger. “Will he kill me then?”
“If you are polite, maybe he won’t. From what I’ve learned so far, he has never spared a soul. He’s a chief from hundreds of years ago, so he’s not as lenient as rulers nowadays.”
“Nowadays?” I glanced at the night marcher holding me. He didn’t seem to tire of carrying me. Though I was small, I didn’t consider myself light because I was all muscle from spearfishing every day. “What do you know of rulers nowadays?”
“Lots. Because I am a ruler. Well… was. If I can get back, I’ll still be a ruler.
” He muttered the last part to himself. I glanced at the tattoos on his arms. There were two islands sitting on an ocean horizon, and a line of fish.
Did the two islands represent where he came from? What about the line of fish?
It doesn’t matter. What mattered was surviving. Could I somehow convince this night marcher to set me free now if I got to know him?
“How do you get back to…” I hesitated. To where? How did he get back to being alive? By what means could he make his way back home?
“How did you become a night marcher?” I asked instead, not believing I was talking to a ghost. This was, by far, the most insane thing I’d ever done.
But he was real. And he was carrying me to my death. If I didn’t act now, I would have no chance at survival. Kiki and mother would be left all alone.
I can’t think like that, I told myself.
“How did I become a night marcher?” The man glanced at the moon in the sky, and an owl hovered nearby. A chill ran down my spine. Was that the same owl that lingered the night I met the other night marcher? “If you can answer this, then you will learn how I became one of the marchers,” he said.
“Hānau i ke koko, he lāhui ali?i,
Make i ka pō, ua ?ā ke ahi.
?O ke ola ke lawelawe, akā ua ho?opalai i nā akua,
I kēia manawa, hele lākou i kahi o nā aka.”
“A riddle,” I whispered, reviewing it in my head:
Born of blood, a royal line,
Slain by fate, in death they shine.
Life to serve, yet gods defied,
Now they march where shadows bide.
“A night marcher must be of royal descent,” I started.
“Fate killed them. This ruler defied the gods, so becoming a spirit of the dead is their punishment. Those are the conditions that Kāne uses when choosing who becomes one of the shadowy figures, and who enters his rest.” I couldn’t see the young man’s face, but he froze on the path and put me down. It was so sudden, I fell.
“Oof! Why so–”
“How did you answer that riddle so quickly?” He asked. His eyes were glowing again, angry or curious, I couldn’t tell. Would he kill me now?
“It was easy–”
“Easy?” He blinked, his attention so focused on me that I felt like I was shrinking. It was as if he were studying me–really studying me. Then the man shook his head, shocked, before saying in haste, “Answer this riddle, if you wish to bargain with a night marcher.”
I gaped. Was he… going to help me get out of this? I listened carefully.
“I ka mea pāpā ?ia, e hā?awi aku i kou mau lā,
Ho?okahi mahina e wāwahi i ka ?aha uliuli.
Inā pau ka pāpā, e ho?i mai ke ola,
Akā inā pō?ino, e ?ike ?ia kou inoa i ka pō.”
Why was he staring at me with such intensity? I reviewed the riddle in my head:
To the cursed one, your days you lend,
A month to break the darkened thread.
If the curse is gone, life you reclaim,
But fail, and night shall know your name.
I thought it through, analyzing each word, feeling as if I were a fish swimming through twisted coral and trying to find its way out.
“You are the cursed one,” I said, watching his expression change from intensity to curiosity.
“And if someone were to lend you their days–I’m assuming that means the days of their life–then they have one month to break the night marchers’ curse.
If they lift the curse, then they get their days back, but if not… ” My voice trailed off.
Night shall know your name.
Then they would die.
The night marcher nodded, then his eyebrows furrowed. “Night marchers are a cursed lot, but there is a way to free them from their curse. It takes the right person and you, Oliana, could be the right person to help me.”
“Excuse me?” A lump formed in my throat.
“Any night marcher can make a bargain with a mortal to return from the dead, but Kāne grants only one month. One month to make things right. One month to repent and try again.”
“One month?” What was he getting at?
“Give me your days, Lady Oliana.”
I frowned, realizing he was striking a bargain. My head reeled. And why did he suddenly call me “lady” Oliana? Was he trying to persuade me, suddenly, that he was a gentleman?
The night marcher is bargaining with me.
Think, Oli, think! I couldn’t just give him the rest of my life, allowing me only one month to live.
What would I do in that one month? I couldn’t spearfish or raise enough money to get Kiki and mother out of poverty.
But I couldn’t let this young man take me to that other night marcher whom I disrespected. He would kill me!
Bargain then! My mind screamed at me. So I had to do something…
An exchange… This young man was a chief. He ignored the gods, and for this reason, they punished him. Could I help break his curse in one month?
But then I’d have to give him the remainder of my life to start with… Did I have that many days anyway? Who knew if I had a long life left to live?
I shook, half believing that this was some nightmare, and I’d wake up at any second… but I had to act and decide. Now.
“If I give you all my remaining time, you will cut off my betrothal to Pulu,” I said, and before the young chief could speak, I added, “And you will ensure that my family–my sister and mother–will live out their days in good care.” I didn’t want to die in a month and then he tossed them out onto the streets.
“You are a chief, and you can do that, no?”
The man’s lips parted slightly, then closed. I swallowed hard, watching him think about it.
“I’m not from your tribe or your island,” he said. “The only way I could break off your betrothal…” The golden color in his eyes almost sparkled, as if he found this situation amusing. “Is by marrying you, Oliana.”
I blinked. Was he lying?
He folded his arms. “You wouldn’t have to worry. We’d only be married for a month–”
“Unless I can break your curse,” I interrupted, and when the corner of his lip turned up, my face heated.
If I break his curse, I’d be married to him much longer than a month…
So either way, I was stuck. I had one month to either free him from his curse and be his wife for the rest of my days, or not figure out a way and die.
The chief studied me for a moment, then nodded, a warmth growing in his eyes, eyes that seemed devoid of compassion. But yet it was there… somehow.
“In exchange for your days, I will break off your betrothal to Pulu and ensure that your mother and sister have a comfortable living in my kingdom,” he said.
“Deal.” I held out my hand, and he shook it, not giving any of it a second thought. I knew Kiki would be devastated to hear this, but as I gave away my life—literally—I still had a chance to break the young chief’s curse.
A bright white light swirled around us, and something in me suddenly felt… strange. It was as if the white light was leeching something from my body and giving it to the night marcher.
My life… It was taking the rest of my days. I suddenly felt like I’d be sick and held my stomach to keep from vomiting.
The chief took a shaky breath as the white light circled him, and when it finished, he looked at me, his golden eyes, once again, so intense, my legs were about to collapse under me.
“A bargain is struck then, Oliana.” He nodded. “I will send my messenger to retrieve you and your family. We will be married within the week.” With that, he bowed and turned to leave.
“Wait!” My voice was hoarse. “What is your name?”
The chief turned, his eyes showing amusement again. “Keanu.”
I blinked, and he didn’t wait for a response. He marched down the path, my eyes following his dim torchlight until he disappeared. I sank to the ground, realizing the lantern was still in my hand, my knuckles white on the black handle.
Keanu… I placed my hand over my mouth to keep from throwing up. Keanu… my soon-to-be-husband, and the man who took the remainder of my days.
My fists clenched. I had one month to live, and oh, I would figure out a way to break this curse.
I would.