I release my arms. “It’s not that I’m unhappy. It’s only...” I can’t put my thoughts into words.
“It’s fine.” Keyon closes his eyes for a few seconds before reopening them. “I’d much rather us be friends, too. Look, I’m exhausted and you don’t have any patients at the moment. Would you like to come and talk a bit in my hut? I fix a good fish stew, or so I’ve been told, but they could be lying to please me.”
“Yes, that would be nice.” My anger subsides.
The sun heads toward the water to disappear under its dark veil. Keyon lights the fire in his hut, which is near Devlin’s stone home. Keyon chooses to live in a more modest dwelling, like my own, and I’m grateful not to be within stone walls now. It feels less constrictive and more open to nature.
I sit at the wooden, circular table in his hut as he throws some vegetables into a brewing hot stew over the fire. “Father probably feels a marriage would be an alliance between our people and yours. Now that I’ve thought it over for a moment, that’s my best guess.”
“An alliance between a people who want to destroy your own? I doubt a marriage to me, whether arranged or not, would do little to stop a war.” I drink a cooled cider that Keyon places in front of me.
“I agree with you,” he says. “Nothing we do would stop them from coming.”
“Why?” I ask. “Why do you think that?”
“It’s pride, I suppose. I tried to place myself in the shoes of the pursuer, which was the fiancé we stole you away from, and the only logical conclusion must be that we hurt his honor and he feels it necessary to redeem it. We took something from him, and now he feels he needs to retaliate. Although, I’ll never understand the willingness to take another’s life as a means of revenge. He’s willing to take many.” He stirs the delicious smelling stew. I can smell the herbs and vegetables, with very little of the fishy scent to it.
“Can I confide in you?” I ask, wanting to share with someone I can trust and hoping he’s worthy.
“Yes.” Keyon fills two bowls with the stew and sets one in front of me. “You can tell me anything. Seems like I’m willing to do the same, and that’s unusual for me. I have a problem trusting people.”
“I feel the same way.” I sip the stew, and the flavors burst in my mouth. “This is delicious.”
“Thanks.” He finishes his bowl too quickly.
“Not only did I not want to marry Makoa, I didn’t want to marry at all. And, it was even worse when I met him. He is awful.” I shiver thinking about him. “I guess, in a way, it was a blessing you and Tao kidnapped me, although I’d have rather you asked and not stolen me away in the night.”
“I apologize for that. It was more my idea than Tao’s. I knew your village would know we didn’t belong, and I panicked. It was impulsive and might have started a war.” Keyon looks out a nearby window. “To be honest, I may have hurt more of my people than saved them. All I wanted to do was help. I didn’t know...”
“You didn’t know it would come to this. Neither did I.” I finish my first bowl, and Keyon pours me another. “I accept your apology, and I understand your reasons. I see the love you have for your people.”
“These people, as well as the Wai, are my family. Our community thrives because we work so well together. We help each other when someone needs it. We enjoy the company of everyone.”
“I see that, too. Several people have brought me gifts and helped me with my hut. Everyone has been so kind and welcoming, even when... my people attacked. They didn’t blame me for it, but the enormous guilt I felt was awful.”
“What was your village like?” Keyon asks. “In the short time I spent there, I never had a chance to explore; your people didn’t really like us.. You were the only one who was really nice to us, two strangers you didn’t know.”
“I suppose I was always an outsider. I preferred to be alone when I had free time. But, my home was...” I think about his question. I never felt as if I belonged there. “We all had our jobs and supported the village as a whole, but there were secrets and I felt like an outcast.”
“I’m sorry about that.” His eyes droop.
“We have fewer people than you do here, but it doesn’t feel like a true community as yours does. Even though half of your people prefer the water, you all act like a true family to help each other out. You come together when needed, and I admire that.”
“You belong here, too. It’s now your community, Alania. We don’t view you any different from any one of us.” Keyon places our empty bowls in a basin.
“I know, but I’m not truly one of you. I’m the only one who can’t hide beneath the water’s surface. Have you thought about that?” I ask.
“About what?”
“Hiding beneath the water, avoiding war altogether. They can’t touch any of you down there.” I think about them hiding in the underwater dwellings and Makoa not being able to find them. They’d disappear without a trace.
“This is our home, Alania. We don’t all prefer to be underwater, and some of us can’t. Besides, what would happen if they decide to stay and take our island from us?”
“I hadn’t thought about that.” Some of his words just now hit me. “But wait, what do you mean some of you can’t live in the water?”
“If we choose not to use our underwater... abilities at a young age and on a constant basis, our gills slowly close and our only way of breathing is through our nose and mouth.”
I ponder this new information. “Interesting.”
“Plus, how would we protect you? They’d steal you away and marry you off to that awful man you dread. We can’t have that, now can we?” Keyon smiles.
We laugh.
“That would be more than dreadful.”
“Father wouldn’t be pleased at all. Taking away my future bride.” Keyon sheepishly grins.
I hit him on the shoulder and grin. “What are you going to tell your father?”
He shrugs. “I’ll tell him you’ve agreed to marry me if I bring you the head of your fiancé.”
My mouth drops open. “You would never.”
“It would buy us some time until things settle down.” Keyon sits on his bed and pats the seat next to him. “Besides, I don’t think your fiancé will willingly give his head to me.”
“I hope it won’t come to that kind of bloodshed on either side.”
He lays back and stares at the ceiling. “I hope not, too.”
I lean next to him. “Tell me about the girl who wanted to explore. The one you thought you were in love with.”
“Only if you promise not to speak of it with anyone.” He leans over to look at me.
“I promise.”
“She was a fiery ball of trouble.” He laughs. “She pushed our boundaries often—the boundaries the Wai set for us underwater, for safety reasons, so we wouldn’t fall prey to the monsters of the deep.”
“She was Wai?”
“That she was. She loved the water, and we spent most of our time there. After she left, I didn’t feel the same about being below water. It didn’t hold as much pleasure for me. Perhaps it was her that held my interests more.”
“Where did she go?”
“I don’t know. It’s been years now, and we’ve heard nothing from her.” Grief creeps into his features. “I hope, wherever she went, that she found what she was searching for and she didn’t get consumed by the monsters of the deep.”
We lie in bed and talk for hours, as if we’re long-lost friends. We speak of our pasts and our fears until we are so exhausted we can’t keep our eyes open any longer.
Sun seeps through the slats in the wood, rousing me from my slumber.
“Oh, I have to go.” I accidentally slap Keyon awake. “Oops, sorry.”
“That’s not how I like to be woken up.”
Our laugh is unforced and comfortable.
“It’s morning. It won’t look right seeing that I’ve stayed here all night.” Panic seizes me, and I fling the door open, hoping to escap
e into the morning undetected.
Tao stands in the doorway with his hand in the air ready to knock.
6
“I see you and my brother have become awfully close.” Tao’s eyes harden.
I ignore him and head to the hospital. My mind races with the implications he’s trying to make. What difference does it make if Keyon and I are spending more time together? I sort through the medical supplies while trying to sort thorough my confusing thoughts about the brothers who kidnapped me and brought me to their island. Huffing, I drop a tray on the floor and bend to pick it up.
“Everything all right?”
Turning, I see Esther just inside the doorway. Stuttering, I say, “Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine.” I was never good at lying, but this seems like an easy one to pull off. I can’t discuss or vent any of what I’m feeling with anyone, least of all, her.
She takes a few steps closer to me. “Do you mind if I help you?”
I don’t know what to have her do, but the lines etched in her face are full of desperation.
“Everyone seems to have found a niche in the preparation for the oncoming war. But, I don’t know how to fight or make weapons.” She shrugs. “I don’t want to feel helpless. In our small society, anyone not pitching in is looked down upon.”
I understand what she means. “You know how to cook. Quite well, I might add.”
“I do. But, I’ve spent the last week cooking, and there’s only so much to make before it turns bad and rots.”
I may be in love with the same man as she, and she may be the one who gets to keep him, but she invited me into her home and has only been kind to me. I will do what I can for her. “I need to organized these. You can help with that.”
She kneels to pick up the supplies I dropped. “Thank you.”
I don’t say anything as I walk to the other side of the room. Only one of the six beds in the room is occupied. The small boy has a large gash in his foot from a piece of coral he stepped on. He came to me early this morning when it happened. His mother’s quick thinking was good. He’s stopped bleeding and has no sign of infection. Later today, he will be able to go home.
Esther sets the tray on the table and begins to sort the items. I don’t know what strikes me to ask, “How did you and Tao...?” I trail off.
“Meet?” Esther finishes.
“Yeah.” I don’t want to know, but it’s the only thing I can think to ask to keep the heavy silence at bay.
She shakes her head. “It’s not as romantic as most love stories.”
“Well, my experience in that is next to nil.”
She looks at me questioningly. “But, you were engaged to be married, weren’t you?”
That seems like forever ago, but it’s still a fresh memory. “It was arranged.”
Esther winces as if she is struck. “Arranged? That sounds awful.”
“It is.” I admit. “The first time I saw my fiancé was the night before we were to marry. I was moving to his side of the island to become their healer.”
“Is that what you wanted?”
It is the first time someone has asked me what I want. I have always known what I didn’t want but not exactly how I want to live my life. “No.”
“Sad,” she mutters.
Turning the discussion back to her, I say, “So, tell me about your not-so-romantic story.”
She smiles. “I was twelve. Most of the people on our island who don’t live in the water still frequent it with swims or fish for food.” She shakes her head. “Not me. I have never liked the water. It isn’t that I’m afraid. I just preferred to be on land. Then one day, my friends were all going into the ocean. I didn’t want to go, but the pressure they bestowed on me was too much. So, I figured, what could it hurt?”
Her expression is far away and lost in another time. I don’t say anything as I watch her.
“The water was cool when I stepped in. My friends had already swum out past the water people. I walked out further and further until I could no longer stand. The ground seemed to disappear below me. I began to sink.” Her eyes glisten with tears.
The feeling of being unable to breathe creeps up on me as I remember being with Banu under the water.
“I chose never to use my gills, so I wasn’t able to breathe under water. My chest wanted to explode. Blackness was taking me farther and farther away. I closed my eyes and almost gave into dying.” Esther scoffs. “It’s funny, but I don’t remember what I was thinking, my last thought, or being scared. Then, the next thing I knew, I was coughing up water and gasping for air. Tao’s face was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes.”
Was it in that moment they fell in love? I want to ask her, but I don’t. “It seems the two of you are meant to be together.” I find it utterly ironic how he saved her from drowning and I saved him from dying.
Her eyes meet mine. “Yes, we are.”
I lower my gaze to the floor. “When are you to be married?”
She doesn’t have a chance to answer before the door opens.
The man who used to be the doctor/healer on the island comes in. Esther hisses and turns away from him. He was unable to save her young nephew not so long ago, and I can only imagine how raw the hurt must still be for both of them. She busies herself with folding cloths that have just been washed and dried.
“How can I help you, sir?” I ask.
His hurt glance shifts from Esther to me. “I was wondering if you had any salve for a burn.”
“Sure.” I retrieve the needed salve. When I return, I ask, “Would you like me to look at the injury?”
“No, that’s okay, just the salve.”
I nod, letting him keep his dignity.
“As you can see, I’m not too popular with our people since you—”
Screams outside break off his words, and the door bursts open.
The three of us whip around to the commotion coming through the doorway. The doctor remains still while Esther rushes to my side. The healer in me takes over, and I rush to the side of the two men carrying in a young man who seems to be about my age.
“Come! Lay him here!” I direct them to the closest bed.
They gently lower him onto the bed.
“Move back,” I instruct.
“But that’s my son,” one of then men yells.
“I can’t help him if you don’t move.”
From the corner of my eye, I see Esther move to the side of the man and guide him back. “Sit here. I’ll get you some water.”
The man’s arm reaches out toward his son. “But he has the sickness!” he cries out.
I’m very familiar with the sickness he’s referring to. I healed Tao from the same death-claiming illness and, thereafter, I healed many others.
I address the other man. “Please attend to him”—I nod toward the boy’s father—“while my assistant helps me keep this boy alive.”
The man moves to the side of his friend. Esther joins me at the boy’s bedside.
“Please bring me the tray of supplies you organized.” Quickly, she leaves to retrieve the tray. “I’ll also need cool water and cloths.” Before a minute goes by, Esther is back at my side with the items.
My patient’s chest rises and falls in short labored, wheezing breaths. I want to ask the man why he didn’t bring his son in sooner. But I know why. Not all the islanders are fond of me yet. Some, like this boy’s father, are still skeptical. Desperation is what brought him to me. And only for the boy’s life, I’m grateful. I have no doubt he will come out of this fine. It may take several days, but he will live.
“What can I do?” she asks.
Fever has taken hold of the boy. Sweat covers his reddened face. “Soak those cloths in the water and place one behind his neck and the other on his forehead. We need to get his fever down. Keep replacing them as often as needed.”
From the tray, I grab the bowl and small wooden mixing spoon. Running to the cabinet, I pull open the door. After gathering the silver, indigo, a
nd garlic, I rush back to the boy. Pouring equal amounts of indigo and garlic, I mix them together. Then, I pour in a drop of silver, causing the liquid to sheen. The kettle over the fire is still warm from earlier. I race to it and pour the heated water into the silver concoction.
“What is that poison?” The man scowls.
I stay calm. “The remedy that will save your son’s life.”
The man doesn’t say anything else. Lifting the boy’s head, I pour the mixture down his throat. He sputters and chokes on the liquid. I keep pouring the mixture down his throat until I know he has swallowed most of the herbs. Then, I make more and repeat the process.
Esther continues to change the heated and drying cloths for cooler, damper ones. Tao didn’t wake for days after I found him and began to administer the healing tea. And, I don’t think it will be any different for this young man. Keyon was my assistant then, but he had been too emotionally attached to be of much help.
After an hour of constant attention, I stop giving him the tea. Resting my hand over his heart, I say a silent prayer.
I need air. “I’ll be back in a moment.”
“Where are you going?” the boy’s father demands.
I turn to look at him. “A patient is only as healthy as their healer.”
Without another word, I step out into the almost night air. The sun is beginning to set. I feel a cross between exhaustion and hysteria. A few of the islanders walk past. I see the heads of the water people saying their goodnights to their friends on land. Is any of this really possible or happening? It all seems as though it’s a dream.
“Alania, come quick!” Esther’s voice crashes through my irrational thoughts.
I run into the hut just in time to see the boy’s eyes flutter open and then close. Not a huge improvement but when he moans, I know he has come out on the other side. The father rises to his feet and stumbles over to the bedside. He lays his hand on the boy’s chest. I can see his breathing is steady.
The boy opens his eyes. After glancing from one unknown face to another, his gaze lands on his father. He’s weak, but he manages to smile and lay his hand over his father’s before closing his eyes again.
Nether Tears (Underwater Island Series Book 2) Page 4