Chapter 14 #2
And then there was the drumbeat. It sounded so much like the night marchers, I feared I might actually encounter them again if I wasn’t careful.
But then the night grew silent, followed only by steady moans. What had happened? Who was moaning?
And why am I following that noise? I was probably walking to my own death. But something kept pulling me in the direction, and I had a feeling Keanu and I would reunite soon.
I broke into a clearing and ducked, noticing the way that my boots sunk into a foot of water. My skirts were immediately soaked and dragging behind me as I walked.
The taro field. Large heart-shaped leaves rustled in the chilly night breeze, and the water that the taro sat in glistened in the moonlight. I had finally reached the place where the moaning came from.
I gasped to myself.
There were about twenty men scattered throughout the field, many of them hunched over. They were either holding wounds or, possibly, dead. I recognized the black coat that they wore, meaning they belonged to Keanu’s army.
Is he here, among these wounded? I didn’t hesitate to move, running to the closest man. He clutched his shoulder, rocking back and forth in pain. His white hair shone bright in the moonlight, and his old eyes looked tired.
“Are you alright?” I asked, ripping a section of my skirt, the part that wasn’t covered with mud or soaked with water.
“Milady,” he said, and I realized he recognized me as Keanu’s wife, “the queen.” I put that thought away, feeling strange just thinking of myself as the queen of ‘Anolani. “They attacked us by surprise.”
“Where’s the rest of the army?”
“Part of Kalani’s army drew them away but it was a trick, and they left most of their men behind to burn the upper fields.”
I looked up the hill, seeing embers, but the burning had pretty much ended by the time I reached these men.
“Here.” I pressed the cloth against the man’s shoulder. “How far is my husband then?”
The man shook his head. “They couldn’t have marched far and should be here soon. They would’ve seen the flames and heard the war cries.” He shuddered. “And the drum beats.”
“You heard them too?”
“Ae. The night marchers. They came through and took the spirits of the dead. Led them home to Kāne.”
I blinked, my blood running cold. “The night marchers… took the spirits home?”
“I closed my eyes and prostrated myself, of course.”
A chill ran down my spine, followed by an aching in my stomach. All these years I heard this was their true purpose, but I didn’t really believe it. If anything, I thought they only came to take the souls of chiefs and nobility.
But Kāne loves all of his people, doesn’t he?
It was beginning to make sense… Being a night marcher was a punishment for not giving Kāne proper respect, but, at the same time, it was to make up for a lifetime of service to one’s self.
Kāne was giving the night marchers a chance to redeem themselves.
Why, then, did they have to spend their entire afterlives in service to him, and not just do a few good deeds to bring the spirits home?
Because they still view it as a punishment. The third line of the riddle came to mind.
Become one with the shadow… I gasped quietly, a bittersweet feeling overcoming me that I had, indeed, cracked the riddle. How could I share the truth with Keanu? It would destroy both of us.
“Milady,” someone else called out in the field. “Please, do you have some water?”
“Ae.” I drew myself out of my thoughts and rushed to another fallen soldier.
I don’t know how long I rushed from one fallen soldier to another, but by the time Keanu and his army arrived, the wounded were tended to, and the dead were named and placed with respect into the back of a wagon.
They would be taken home to their families for proper burial.
It broke my heart, all of it. I had never seen war.
But I never could have imagined just how violent and horrible it was.
Warmth filled me that I’d been able to help, but there was the lingering sickness in the pit of my stomach that this was all wrong.
This war needed to end, and I had to convince Keanu to end it.
“Oliana?”
I had been kneeling next to a soldier, helping him drink water, when Keanu found me. I looked up, and when our eyes met, his face drained of color.
“Oliana, what are you doing here? Malu kept bothering me, and I was worried about you. But I didn’t think you’d be here.” Before I could reply, he drew me into his arms, hugging me fiercely. I felt him kiss the top of my head. “Are you truly here?”
“I am.” I hugged him back, half believing this was all real. He felt so warm, and he held me so tight, like if he let go I might fly away. I relished in it for a moment.
“How did you get here?” he asked.
I pulled back and told him how I snuck out.
“And don’t blame Alohi,” I quickly said before he could get angry at Alohi or anyone else who was expected to guard me.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said, cupping my cheeks. “It’s too dangerous.”
“I’m with you,” I reassured him. “I’ll be safe.”
I suddenly became aware that all of the men around us were watching, and self-consciousness flooded into me. “I have to speak to you,” I said.
“Of course.” Keanu gave orders, and the next thing I knew, we were in his tent with a bucket of water as Keanu washed my arms and hands.
I didn’t want to look at the blood he scrubbed off.
It was one thing to clean a fish and dispose of the innards, but it was another thing to know that there was human blood on my hands. I had to look away.
“Keanu,” I said, focusing on him instead. “This war must end.”
His eyebrows furrowed. “Do you think I wish to prolong it?”
“You believe the riddle is telling you to go to war,” I said.
“It seems war has always come to me,” he defended. “And even if the riddle was telling me I must fight, I don’t enjoy it.”
I softened, realizing I was accusing him of wanting to fight. He finished scrubbing my arms, then handed me a towel and crouched behind me to unlace my corset. It was poorly done, as I’d dressed myself to come out here in the night, but he didn’t notice.
“Here, change into this.” He handed me a simple skirt and blouse, a clean pair that looked like the woman servant’s clothing.
Keanu must have borrowed it for me. I changed in haste, grateful that Keanu gave me a few moments alone while he left to get us some tea.
His tent was spacious, with a bed on the far end, a small desk on one side, and a mirror on the other.
I couldn’t help but notice his journal sitting there, open, again.
Since he wasn’t here, I had the temptation, again, to take a peek at it.
No, Oli.
Keanu returned with a tray of steaming ginger tea and biscuits. We sat on the bed, as before, but neither of us spoke at first. The tea warmed my entire body and soothed my nerves. It wasn’t permanent but provided temporary calm.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” Keanu finally said, and I realized he was watching me. “You were brave, Oliana. Most women would have fainted seeing the men in that condition.”
“I just wanted to help.” I knew it would cost me.
The scene of wounded and dead men would probably haunt me for the rest of my life, but I had done something.
Whereas, at the palace, I was useless. “Keanu.” I set the tea down, knowing we had to have this conversation, whether or not we wanted to. “You must stop fighting.”
“Either way, love,” Keanu said, putting his own teacup down on the tray and standing, as if it helped him think. “I must fight. A messenger has arrived from the western point of the island. Someone spotted the warlord and his armies, and he is drawing close. We must fight him, or surrender.”
The warlord. A lump formed in my throat. “So he has conquered the rest of the islands?”
“Ae. He has named himself king over Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, Kaho‘olawe, and Lanai. He has come to take O‘ahu, Kauai, and Ni‘ihau next.”
“So will you fight him?” I asked.
“I must protect my people.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked down.
“If he’s king over several islands, surely his army outnumbers yours by thousands,” I shot back.
“Kalani sent his men out tonight to those fields as a threat to me.” Keanu’s hair fell slightly over his eyebrows as he looked down. A pang hit my chest at just how badly I wanted to move it. I shouldn’t want to touch him at all.
“His message to me is that if I don’t give him my throne and armies, he will ensure that after he defeats the warlord–which I don’t know if even he can–then he will come back and destroy me and my people.”
I gasped, but Keanu continued. “He’s already convinced several other tribes to unite with him against this warlord.”
“What is the alternative?” I stood, but Keanu turned away from me, as if hating the answer he had to share.