Page 28 of Ghosts and Ginger Tea

My eye caught hold of something that I didn’t expect: Peter Wittingham talking to Kalani’s wife. What was he doing? He smiled, and they seemed to have a pleasant conversation, as if they were friends. I blinked and quickly returned my attention to Kalani. Peter had seemed like a trustworthy person, maybe because Kiki liked him so much. But he now spoke with the enemy’s wife?

My head was tired.

The warlord approaches, and if Keanu does not ally himself with me, he will destroy Keanu's armies. Kamehameha will turn his people into slaves. The warlord could even force you to be his concubine.”

I hesitated to reply, then shuddered.

Kalani noticed. “You don’t know who to trust, do you? I heard of how he chose you for his bride.”

“You did?” Did everyone know more than I thought they knew? And how?

Kalani’s grin only widened. “Are you sure your husband isn’t using you as bait? Are you sure he’s going to keep his end of the bargain by keeping you his wife for a month?”

“It’s the only time he has,” I said.

“Ha, he can get as many months as he wants, as long as he keeps bargaining.”

I blinked, remembering the words “first bargain” on his payments to the district of Ka’u.

“He’ll just get killed repeatedly,” Kalani said. “So you may as well help spare him the misery.”

The strangest feeling caused my chest to constrict, as if I couldn’t breathe. Keanu had been killed.

Not once, but twice.

Kalani confirmed it.

I had seen the notes with my own eyes–payments to Ka’u for the first bargain, then payments to Pulu to keep his part of the second bargain.

So he had taken someone else’s days before mine. Who? And how could he live with himself?

Another thought came to me: How did Kalani know so much about the bargain? I thought that was only between Keanu and me…

Wait… Malakai knows, I thought, and swallowed hard.

Think, Oli, think! It seemed everyone wanted to confuse me, and that included my husband. Sure, I was the plain girl from the lower class, married into royalty. But I was not stupid. And I would let no one treat me as such. In fact, I could play their game. I could pretend I really didn’t know who to trust and let them try to persuade me.

Then I’ll see their genuine characters. Yes, that was brilliant.

Good work Oli.

I looked around, as if worried that someone might hear our conversation. Kalani smiled.

Yes, this is working.

“Time is running out,” I admitted. “My husband is my ally, I want to believe, but…”

“He’ll use you to his advantage. If the warlord approaches within the month, as we predict he will–”

That was new! Was the warlord really this close? And should we be afraid? Malia was terrified, while Pua said it was superstition.

“Your husband must make a choice, but you can help him. You can help yourself too.” Kalani nodded, as if we had some unspoken understanding. “Convince your husband to ally himself with me. I’ll have my kupuna do what they can to crack the riddle.”

He even knows about the riddle? I kept my mouth from parting in surprise.

“And what of Keanu?”

“When he joins forces with us, I’ll take care of him. And then you will be free. I can promise you freedom and safety in my kingdom, a life you could dream of.”