Page 34 of Ghosts and Ginger Tea

“I think the first line is simple enough,” I said as we walked side by side.

“Hear the drums echo,” Keanu recited. “Do you think it’s the drums that sound when the night marchers approach?”

“It could be.” I bit my lower lip, almost embarrassed to admit my other thought of what it could mean. “Does this riddle apply to all night marchers?” I asked, not quite ready to share my suspicions about the drums possibly meaning a heartbeat.

I don’t really think so,” Keanu said. “Kāne gave me the riddle in a dream and it seemed to only apply to me.”

“Do you know if any of the other chiefs were… married?” I avoided his gaze.

“I’m not sure, but I remember the names of some chiefs. I’m sure we could find out more about them in the records.”

“Alright…” Before he could ask more about my suspicions on the riddle, I asked, “What are your thoughts on the riddle?”

“I think ‘hear the drums echo’ refers to the drums that sound when the night marchers approach. The ‘deadliest game’ has to deal with some sort of warfare. ‘Become one with the shadow’ probably refers to allying oneself with Kū, the god of war. And ‘light the eternal flame’ probably has to do with being the forever victor, a legend that will go down in history.” He nodded, pleased with his interpretation.

“Is that how you interpreted it, Oliana?”

No. It didn’t make any sense. Why would Kāne have a night marcher break their curse by serving Kū, another god, instead of himself? I could also see how Kāne would punish his chiefs for being indifferent to him, but to punish the chief’s people as well by forcing them to war? That didn’t seem like the Kāne I knew…

“Well… My thoughts are quite different, but…” I hesitated. Did I dare share with him now? What if Kalani was correct and Keanu was using me? But what if Malakai’s revelation came true and Keanu grew impatient with me?

I must keep my information close to me and use it at the right time…

“Did you share the riddle with anyone else?” I asked, slightly changing the subject. “Or is it common knowledge?”

“I shared it with Malakai and Peter,” Keanu said. “Why?”

“I just wondered.”

One of them has betrayed him… Was it Peter, the quiet captain who brought us here but seemed to be friends with Kalani’s wife? Or was it Malakai, who showed genuine sympathy to my situation?

“I saw Peter speaking to Kalani’s wife at the ball,” I said.

“He’s spying for me.”

“Spying?”

“Yes. He gleans information from other rulers about how their kingdoms are really doing.”

“Did he glean anything last night?”

“Not that he’s reported to me. His spying is risky, but he has always been loyal.”

I frowned. What if Peter is spying on Keanu? My hatred for this sphere of politics and deception further deepened. The more I learned about this world, the more I felt like I was being buried and suffocated in a hot underground imu.

“How many people know you were killed twice?”

Keanu looked curious that I knew this information, but he answered anyway. “I was stabbed in the back and was a night marcher for a week. News spread around the kingdom that I’d been murdered, but when I miraculously came back, we told the people I’d been spying on Kalani and went missing.”

“What happened to your body?” I asked, a little sick at this strange topic but very curious too.

“The night marchers came to get me, because only chiefs, kings, and elite warriors become night marchers… well, the ones who became cursed.”

“Did it feel like you were cursed?”

“Certainly.” His eyebrows furrowed. “No free will. No body. Just emptiness. And cold. It was always cold being a ghost.”

“So they just… took your body?”