Chapter 17 #2
When he caught my eye, he winked, but the sadness in his eyes was undeniable. He rested his hand on my leg, and heat coursed through my body.
Stop Oli! He had brought this fate on himself. I caught Peter standing to the side, his expression grave as he looked around. He wore that same sword on his belt… why? Not even Malakai, who also stood off to the side, had a sword hanging from his belt.
Unless… Was something going to happen?
“What does our king think of the warlord?” Pua’s voice rang out, drawing everyone’s attention to her, then to Keanu. “You seem to love foreign alliances. So what of the warlord? Are you going to put our people last again?”
Keanu didn’t miss a beat, his air of confidence so sure, I wished I could be more like that.
I was trembling a little not knowing what I would even say myself.
I mean, I knew what should be done, but I worried I might say it wrong.
My thoughts went back to our wedding day, when Keanu told me not to say anything to anyone, because I was not used to this world yet.
I will never fit in here… Unless I had Keanu. That thought stung, even if I knew it wasn’t true. I’d proven that I could sit in the court and discuss politics, or help the people.
But Keanu had always been there.
“Our people will not go to war again,” he said. “Unless we must do so in self defense.”
“Many nobles have signed a petition,” she replied sweetly, smiling at me as if she was glad he finally looked at her.
I wanted to puke. “Ever since you’ve married this wench, you’ve run from fights.
The Keanu I knew would never run from a fight.
We must cast these foreigners out.” She gave Peter a dirty look, then said, “And then we will decide what to do with the warlord.”
The Keanu she knew? Ugh, I wanted to throw my food at her face. My suspicions rose.
She had nobles sign a petition against him? If she had so many people behind her, she could’ve easily found someone to attack Keanu, right?
“Who said I’m running from a fight?” Keanu smiled, but I felt something behind it. Anger? Annoyance?
A servant who came in and whispered something distracted him. Keanu nodded. “Let him in.”
All eyes and ears turned to a door at the side, where the servant walked in with…
My stomach churned, and I couldn’t help but grab Keanu’s hand. How long had it been since I’d seen the man? But seeing him reminded me of how he pointed his dagger at me, and sweat accumulated on my forehead.
And Keanu abandoned me. He squeezed my hand, as if to say he would not leave my side.
“Kalani.” Keanu nodded and held out his glass. “Care to join us?”
The enemy chief–the man who had caused death and destruction in this kingdom–merely grinned, looked around at the nobility, then settled on staring me down, as if he was happy to see me there, as if to remind me of something he once tried to get me to agree to…
Do I have your word that you will convince your husband to join forces with me, and, in return, I will free you both from the curse, and protect you in my kingdom?
It felt so long ago, but I could almost hear his voice asking the question in my mind.
Bargain with him, Oli…
I looked around. Pua frowned at Kalani.
Peter had his hand on the hilt of his sword, like he might pounce at any moment. But on who? Kalani, or Keanu? He looked from one to the other, his eyes dark.
Malakai stood to the side, his stance cautious as he watched. Waited.
So who is it?
“I have come to offer you one last chance to join forces,” Kalani said. “The warlord quickly approaches, and if you do not join with me and the other chiefs, you will become slaves.”
“If Kāne is with the warlord, then he is not with us,” Keanu said.
“Then that is your answer?” Kalani turned red with rage. “You will turn against all of us? Abandon the people of this island?”
“Since when were we allies?” Keanu asked.
Kalani glared. “You will pay for this, Keanu.”
“What about your people?” I realized the words were mine, slipping out all on their own like a net being pulled into the depths with a stone weight.
Kalani looked at me, disgusted. “Who are you to speak, peasant?”
Keanu stood up, hand on the hilt of his sword, the light purple gem glinting in the lantern light. “You will not speak to my wife in that way–”
“Because that is what she is!” Kalani laughed, stepping forward. All the guards in the room shifted, ready to stop him if he made any move towards the king, all hands on the hilts of their swords.
“You’ve attacked our people and our lands,” I said. “You’ve threatened me, and bargained with someone in this court to murder Keanu.”
Questions rippled around the room. “Murder?”
“Keanu deserves to die, to live eternity as a perpetual wanderer,” Kalani shot back.
Now a collective gasp rang out through the room.
“A night marcher?” Pua was shocked, then looked around. “Who would murder the king?” Her response seemed genuine. But was she putting on a mask?
Malakai frowned, his gaze on her suspicious. “The first person to ask is usually the most guilty.”
“I would never!” Pua gasped.
Now the rest of the noblemen and women jumped in, pointing fingers. “You’ve defied the king for so long, you probably arranged for his murder!” someone said.
“No, I did not!” Pua resisted, her face turning pale. She looked at me, desperate. “I would never do such a thing!”
“Then what were you doing here the night before a murder attempt?” I asked. Kalani watched, thrilled at the chaos.
“I admit I was trying to get some of the king’s counselors to sign the petition,” she said, then shook her head. “But I would never try to kill anyone!”
“Then it’s you. You planned something!” Peter said. He was furious as he drew his sword. Again, I noticed the blue gem in the pommel.
And now I could see every nobleman and guard had a sword hanging from a belt.
Malakai watched, and, when he saw me looking at him, he quickly raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“It’s true. Lady Pua was there the same night that someone tried to kill my cousin,” he said.
“The queen saved his life, and it seems Pua’s hatred of the queen and king have only intensified since then. ” My eyes dropped to his sword.
A violet gem. One that matched the color of the gem on the dagger.
A matching set!
And it was in that moment I knew. I had seen Malakai’s expression change quickly, but not in the moment. But now… I had just seen it for my own eyes: he was putting on a mask. Many different masks, actually.
And why not egg it on that Pua was the culprit? She was an easy victim, whereas nobody would suspect him.
I had all the evidence I needed. He had a matching set of a sword and dagger, just like everyone else. It might be easy to mistake the gems in Keanu and Malakai’s swords because they were both purple colors, but they were distinct enough.
Keanu’s gem was a light purple. Malakai’s gem was a dark violet.
And that dark violet reflected Malakai’s violence.
The murderer was not Pua. Sure, she didn’t like Keanu’s policies, and she hated me because she could’ve been in my place and overruled him.
But the way she’d gone about resisting Keanu had never been violent.
Petty political conversations. Petitions.
Letters. Notes. There was nothing about murder in that.
And the way she was shocked to find out about his murder and being accused of it…
there was no way she could’ve killed the king.
Furthermore, it was not Peter. Sure, he walked around sulking sometimes.
But he tried to scale the wall and couldn’t make it.
I could see him trying to set Malakai up by using his dagger to try to kill the king.
But how would he have stolen Malakai’s dagger?
Wouldn’t Malakai have known and figured out that it was missing?
So the murderer had to be Malakai. The matching gems were the final piece to the puzzle.
Everything began making sense. A fleeting memory came to mind, the night of my wedding to Keanu. We grew up together, climbing coconut trees…
Yes, he climbed the palace wall to escape after his attempt to take Keanu’s life. He controlled the guard rotations. He planned all of this…
“You and Malakai have conspired against the king,” I said.
More gasps and Malakai gaped. “I would never–” He started to defend himself when Keanu stood, but he hesitated.
I pulled the dagger from my skirts. I’d been carrying it, in case anything happened to me. And, perhaps, I’d been carrying it for this moment to prove my case when I found the murderer.
“Your sword’s gem matches the one on the dagger.” I held it up for all to see. Everyone turned to Malakai, and there was no hiding the gem on his sword. It was a perfect match.
“Arrest Kalani and Malakai.” Keanu’s order was clear.
Malakai looked hurt, but I knew he could fake his way into things. He did it with me. Multiple times. Pretending to be innocent and sympathize. Pretending to care about his cousin. “Keanu, I would never raise a blade against you!”
“Then who would?” Peter exclaimed. And suddenly everyone was on their feet shouting and pointing fingers.
“How could you do this? You’re closest to the king!”
“I told you it wasn’t me!” Pua said.
The room erupted in chaos like a volcanic explosion.
The guards charged Kalani and Malakai but the sound of shattering glass caused everyone’s attention to turn. We all looked to see the windows around the room broken, and Kalani’s men rushing inside.
Peter and Alohi grabbed Keanu and I, but the king had already drawn his sword.