Page 50 of Ghosts and Ginger Tea

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.