Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
TWELVE DAYS LEFT
Dearest Oliana,
I am sorry I have not been able to visit you or spend more time figuring out the riddle. I wish we had more time together. Please know that I am safe, and that I’m doing all in my power to keep our army and people safe as well. I hope to see you soon.
With all my love,
Keanu
I scrunched up the paper and threw it in the fireplace, frustrated. This was the third letter he’d sent me, signing it each time with “all my love.” What love?
I went to see my sister again, though all I could hear was mother coughing in the other room.
“Keanu’s physicians have been here everyday,” Kiki said, her voice soft. We sat in the living room again, Kiki’s applique nearly complete. She put it down and sighed. “Do you think she’ll ever get better, Oli?”
“She has to,” I said, a frown on my face.
“But she’s had this cough for the longest time.
It comes and goes, comes and goes. And…” Kiki pursed her lips before continuing.
“Remember how the coughing disease wiped everyone out? They said the biggest evidence was the bloody cough.” Her eyes brimmed with tears.
“She’s been coughing blood for who knows how long. ”
“We can’t lose hope.” I swallowed hard and placed my hand on Kiki’s.
After sitting in silence for a long while, Kiki asked, “Is Keanu still out on the battlefield?”
“Yes.” I shook my head. “If he’s gone any longer, I might just go march out there myself.”
She smiled. “Why don’t you? You’ve never been one to let things stop you.”
I blinked. She was right. Why didn’t I?
I had convinced myself for the last couple of days that I didn’t need to go to the war camp, because the more we were separated, the easier it’d be for me to pass away in this deadliest game.
But there was a part of me that didn’t want to pass away. It wasn’t fair. I should live… Unless something happened to me before the month was up.
I could get murdered before the month is up…
I didn’t think that the attempted murder on Keanu would bother me, but I became paranoid of every corner I turned. I asked Alohi to walk right beside me, rather than several strides behind me. Malakai controlled the guard rotations and now I saw guards at every corner, no matter where I went.
Peter told me himself that they found no evidence of the murderer.
“It’s like he disappears,” he said when I’d seen him in passing.
I couldn’t help but look at Peter, wondering if the murderer kept disappearing…
because it might be him. “If you do notice anything suspicious though,” he said, “Let me know and I want to investigate it as soon as possible.”
Or did he say that so he could hide evidence? I didn’t know who to trust.
Alohi, while we searched the area where I’d received my shoulder wound in saving Keanu’s life, noticed footprints that disappeared through the ferns and hit the exterior of a palace wall.
“The assassin must have climbed,” said Alohi.
“Nobody can scale like that except Keanu,” Malakai said when we showed him the evidence. Peter rubbed his chin.
“It’s not that hard,” he said, and climbed it to show us. He scaled partway, then gave up.
I frowned, even more confused. Was Peter showing us he could almost do it, as if to prove it was not him? Or was he revealing the truth to our faces, mocking us?
Since then, I tried several times to sneakily follow in Peter and Malakai's footsteps, convinced that one of them was the murderer. However, they were also absent. I saw them here and there, but never long enough to draw any information on their whereabouts.
Keanu’s counselors encouraged me to do civilized tasks with the noblewomen, but after attending one get-together and finding Pua there, I didn’t want to put myself in that situation.
She made my insides simmer with jealousy, especially when she spoke of previous encounters between herself and Keanu.
She spoke of the many times they’d dance together at balls, or he’d sit next to her at dinners hosted for the nobility.
I knew she was probably exaggerating all of it, but…
still. Her words bothered me because I was sure there was some truth to it.
Besides, I had a riddle to solve. I spent too much time in the library, reading about past chiefs and scouring for any ways to break the curse.
When I shared everything–about the assassination attempt, Pua, and Peter–with Kiki, she was quiet for a moment, thinking.
“If Pua is a noblewoman, I doubt she’d be able to climb a wall.” She laughed. “I’d also like to see her try in a dress.”
“Kiki.” I gave her a serious look. “I’ve done some pretty crazy things in a skirt.” I thought about my night runs for mother’s medicine.
“What about Malakai?”
“He seems nice enough,” Kiki said and rubbed her chin. “Do he and Keanu disagree on anything?”
I had to think about it. Then I remembered Malakai and Keanu in the throne room and how Malakai thought they should attack Kalani. Keanu couldn’t disagree more.
“They have ideological differences,” I said. “But they’re still close. You can disagree on something and still have a relationship.”
“True. And what about Peter?”
I shrugged. I didn’t know anything about him. He was more and more mysterious to me.
After a pause, while Kiki sewed, she said, “Peter came by here the other day.”
I gaped. “What? When? Why?”
She concentrated on her work. “He brought some flowers.”
“He seems so serious all the time, I’m betting he murdered Keanu.”
“But he’s not really like that, which makes me believe he is not the murderer,” Kiki said. “He’s quite shy, and he’s learned to be hypervigilant. He says Keanu is like a brother to him, and he feels it’s his duty to look out for him at every turn.”
“He watches Keanu like a hawk,” I said. “Or like a predator about to attack its prey.”
“He really cares for Keanu. Remember, Keanu saved his life.”
“Did it occur to you that he might try to woo you for access?”
“Access to what?”
“The king.”
Kiki pursed her lips. “He seems sincere but…” She then shrugged. “We can’t jump to any conclusions until we find out more. I’ll be careful.”
Alohi knocked on the door, causing us both to jump, startled. “It’s getting late, Your Highness,” he said. So I hugged my sister goodbye, and kissed my mother’s forehead.
“Oli,” mother said, reaching out her hand before I left.
“Yes?” I held it and she did her best to squeeze it. “Thank you for bringing us here. I feel very peaceful in this kingdom.”
While her words warmed me, they also concerned me.
“I’m glad we could all be here too,” I said, then gave her another kiss. Before I left, I looked back at her. Her pale face and frail body.
“Come on,” Kiki said, and led me out.
My time is running out, I thought. If I wanted to live and help care for mother, I needed to solve the riddle. No matter what it took.
But Alohi, and all the other guards and counselors, wouldn’t allow me to leave the palace. It was the “king’s orders.” So I concluded that I would not be a prisoner here, and I would see my husband on my own terms. If he was the one confining me to this place, I would have a talk with him myself.
The moon sparkled on the ocean, and my hair stood on end. I probably shouldn’t have chosen the night of a full moon to go out, but… I would go crazy if I had to sit in the bedroom for one more night, sipping ginger tea all by myself.
I opened my door a crack, but Alohi’s back blocked the view. He stood guard, loyally, and I appreciated him.
But I have to get out.
I went to the balcony, knowing it was risky to attempt the climb down, but I had no other choice. Malu hooted, and I gave him a look.
“You’re not stopping me,” I said. He tipped his head to one side and flapped his wings, hooting again, as if he were cheering me on. I rather liked the owl.
“Thanks Malu.” I petted his head then got to work. I tied a bunch of bed sheets together and then tied one end to the marble railing.
Don’t look down. I had jumped and climbed great heights to get into the ocean and spearfish, but that was comforting because I knew I’d hit the water below. If I fell here, I’d fall into the forest below. I gulped and ignored the fear gnawing at my stomach.
I have to see Keanu. How many days did I have left? Were they days now? Or did I still have a few weeks? That made my stomach even more sick to think about.
I tested the strength of my knots, then braced myself as I inched down the makeshift rope. Piercing pain shot through my shoulder like lightning, a reminder of the wound I received when I saved Keanu from the murderer.
I gritted my teeth together to keep from wincing. I could endure this pain. Besides, the wound had been healing nicely, thanks to Keanu gently bandaging it. I pushed myself to keep going despite the pain.
By the time I reached the bottom, I was sweating profusely.
My knees were shaking, and my arms felt like jelly.
I was just grateful I still had upper body strength from all my days at sea.
I turned towards the horizon, where the red strip continued to light up the night sky.
The last I heard, Kalani kept sweeping in by surprise and setting fire to whatever fields he could find.
I shuddered, thinking that I had once danced with the man.
And he offered me to join his side… I shook my head, knowing I didn’t have much time to get to Keanu and the war camp before Alohi or someone discovered I was missing. I clutched the bag hanging from my side and marched forward.
Be careful Oli, I could hear my sister’s voice in my head, as if it was the night I first encountered the night marchers. I laughed to myself to dispel the nerves.
If I knew any better, I’m a night marcher myself tonight.
I don’t know how long I walked, but my feet ached and mud covered my boots and skirts, slowing down my travel. Malu had hovered above me for a while, but then he disappeared.
The red light was getting brighter and growing closer.
And so is the noise. At first I hadn’t heard anything, but then it sounded as if men were shouting.