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“The man is irredeemable. It’s time he was dealt with once and for all.”
“Like I’ve always said, the King’s an evil bastard. No one’s safe.” I give her an intense look. “You need to get Connie off this island, and you need to do it now before shit goes down. I can’t believe she’s still fucking here, Ma. If I didn’t have to stay in goddamn hiding, I’d take her to the mainland my damn self.”
“I know…”
“So what’s your excuse, huh? Because last time I was here, you were warning me off of her because of my connection to the King, and now that he’s here on the damn island you haven’t gotten her somewhere safe?”
“Warning you away wasn’t just about the King, Malakai…”
“What then?”
“That’s not important right now. The truth of the matter is, I’ve not been well of late and it appears that Connie has just as much of a protective streak as I do. She won’t go.”
“Goddamn it! I don’t care if you’ve got a damn cold, Ma. Get her off the island!”
“I will. I promise.” Ma folds her hands in her lap and it’s only then I notice how much they’re shaking. When I allow the anger to subside and really look at her, I see the dark circles under her eyes, and the tightness around her mouth as though she’s in pain.
“You’re sick,” I state matter-of-factly. It’s more than a cold. Much more. My stomach curdles.
“Yes.”
“Bad?” I grunt.
“Bad enough.”
“Are you receiving treatment, medicine?” I press.
“There is no cure for a broken heart, Malakai,” she sighs heavily.
Fuck, I know that only too well. “You should talk to someone about it…”
“The only person I want to talk to is dead.” She gives me a wavering smile, then straightens up a little, nodding tightly. “This feeling will pass, eventually. It has happened before, and I lived through it. Grief has a funny way of creeping up on you. Even after all this time.”
“I see.” I blow out a long, steady breath. I’m not exactly therapist material. I can’t even deal with my own damn emotions, let alone anyone else’s. “Just get Connie to leave, okay. Just until this is over.”
She nods. “Just until it’s over.”
Silence stretches between us as I try to figure out how to broach the fact that there was something else I spotted at the Palace. I consider not telling Ma, given she already seems to have so much weighing her down. In the end though, I need her opinion on what to do.
“There was another child…”
“Sorry?” Ma looks up at me, the heavy loud of our predicament weighing her down.
“I saw another child,” I repeat.
“Monk. Yes, you said.”
“No, not him. Achild. A little girl. She’s no more than four or five if I had to guess.”
Ma’s mouth drops open in shock. “Oh, dear God. You’re not telling me he’s kidnapped a small child as well?”
I shake my head. “I don’t believe so. I saw him with her last night just before sunset, she’d run out of the house, laughing and smiling as though she were the happiest kid in the world. The King followed her out, picked her up and took her back inside. She kissed his cheek. He smiled. He was…affectionate.”
“Do you think…?”
“Yes, I believe she’s his too.”
“Does anyone else know? Have you told Grim?”
