I hear his love for her in his voice. He’s far away, lost in the memory of her. I try to drown out his voice with my own thoughts, but he’s so close it’s nearly impossible.
“Mya loved children. All she ever wanted was one of her own. When I was able to give her the one thing she desired most, I felt as if I owned the world.”
I want to ask him why he’s telling me this, but I don’t. I glance around at the rest of the men. Most are sleeping. A couple of them stare up at the night sky. My brother’s back is turned to me, so I can’t tell if he’s awake or not. It doesn’t matter.
“Mya’s belly was as round as the full moon. And her face was just as bright. When she went into labor, things were going wrong. I didn’t know how, but I knew it. The resident doctor was only good when it came to drinking and patching a small cut. He possessed nothing of the power and healing abilities that you do.” His voice is raw with hate and disconcerted emotion toward me because I wasn’t there to heal them, the doctor, who couldn’t help them, and possibly even himself, for feeling useless and unable to do anything to save either of them.
He pulls on the rope so hard I cry out. Forcing me to turn and face him, he spits the rest of his story in my face. “I lost the woman I loved that day and my child who never got a chance to take her first breath. It was a girl, beautiful like her mother. My wife never got a chance to hold her own child.”
I don’t know why his anger is directed at me.
“If you would have been there, they would both still be alive.”
It all makes sense in some distorted, sick way. I raise my eyes to meet his but say nothing.
He drops his voice to a hissed, vengeful-like snarl. “I’ve gone to great measures and vowed to never lose anything precious to me again, and that includes you.”
It’s not a vow or promise. It is a threat.
13
The need to escape becomes absolute. If they get me on the boat, I won’t be able to get back here to Tao. Apela has been distancing himself from me, and I know he blames me for Inoa’s death. Part of me thinks it’s my fault, too.
“Apela?” I need to talk with him, to plead with him. He needs to understand I don’t belong to anyone and I want to make my own decisions.
“What?” He doesn’t face me. He looks off into the distance.
“Please talk to me.” My body aches, but I push the pain aside to focus. My body wants to give up, but my mind can’t. I can’t. If I give in and allow them to take me, my future no longer exists. I can’t live in their world and continue to be used for my abilities... my gift that seems so foreign to me.
He bends down to me. “I have nothing to say.”
“Apela, you can’t let them take me against my will. I can’t be used like a toy and tossed about from one village to another. That’s not the way I want to live my life,” I plead. “I can’t live like that at all.”
“Why would you rather stay and help these barbarians than your own people?” He looks me in the eyes. “All of Molu and Lanui are your people, and it’s them you need to help. Can you really turn your back on them? I thought I knew you, Sister. But, it’s you who has disappointed Mother and Father. You are not who they would have wanted you to become.”
Hurt inches inside of me hearing his words. “Can you not see that harmony can be achieved if we all work together instead of placing one race above another? We aren’t better than Malalo, and they deserve to survive just as much as we do. I can’t save everyone, and if you make me go, I’ll refuse to save anyone.”
He scowls at me. “I can’t free you, Alania. I have to think about our village and our people. You’ll understand that in time.”
He walks away from me, leaving me bound and tied to Makoa; the rope only giving me eight or so feet of freedom.
The pack at my waist, the one I keep with me at all times, is my last hope. Inside, there’s a sharpened shell I was in the process of carving for a spear. I can use to free myself, if I can do it without them noticing. I turn away from the group and refuse to eat what they cook. When I roll on my side, I yank the ropes a little to provide a little slack so Makoa won’t know what I’m up to.
This is my last hope, and my mind can’t think of anything else but trying to free myself. I am my only hope. There’s a good chance I won’t succeed, but I’ll never know unless I give it my all.
Once the camp becomes quiet, I retrieve the shell from my pack and start slicing through the rope. I’m careful with my movements so I don’t move too much and alert Makoa. The darkness impedes my vision, and I end up slicing some of my skin. I feel the blood trickle down my wrist and onto the rope. I close my eyes and concentrate on healing myself. I watch my wrist and see the cut disappear. How have I never noticed this before? I’ve been scratched countless times but have never healed such as this.
Before, I thought that my healing abilities came from the herbs and minerals found in nature, but now that I know it comes from within me, I can project my wishes on the thing I want most to fix, now I heal wounds and the sick more quickly. The realization becomes overwhelming. I wonder if Mother had this awareness. Why didn’t she tell me anything about this? Did she know her full capabilities, or did she think—like I had—that it was the potions and ointments that healed people?
I think about how she died... the snakes from the sea. Why didn’t she allow my hands to heal her? All she had to do was tell me the truth. Even at that age, I would’ve done what she asked. Then I think about the life she lived and the burden that was placed upon her. Did she love Father, or was it an arranged marriage that made her unhappy? I begin to hate her for leaving me when there was another way. She left me to fend for myself. Was she too afraid to end the line of healers herself? I can’t dwell on all the unanswered questions lingering in my mind. I’ll never know the answers to any of them. They died the day she did.
Taking turns with my hands, I continue cutting through my binds at a faster rate. Once the final thread springs free, I want to shout for joy. My right hand falls to the dirt, a tingling sensation erupting in my wrist. I shake the feeling away and free my left hand. I check to see that everyone is sleeping, and then I stand to make a run for it.
Apela stares straight at me. He doesn’t move or say anything. I take off in the direction we came and plan to go toward the shore at the first chance I get.
I expect the men to rouse and chase me, but I hear nothing as I flee. I don’t look back, but keep running as fast as my legs will take me. The pain’s masked by my sheer panic to get as far away as possible.
Did Apela let me go? Did he finally see reason and understand what I’ve been trying to tell him? There’s no need for us to fight any longer. We can have peace, but I wonder if it’s even possible now. I don’t think Makoa or anyone from his village or ours can see this reasoning.
I stumble in the dark and catch myself from falling several times. Instead of taking the same path, I veer toward the shoreline and hope to find one of the Wai people to help me. I don’t know how they can help. It’s not as if I can breathe under water, but it would be nice to see someone willing to help me find my way back to the village.
Once I jump onto the sand, I think about them following me. If they find my footprints, they will know exactly which way I’m going. I run straight toward the water and decide to run along the water’s edge where the ocean will hide my footprints. Maybe they will think I drowned in the sea and stop pursuing me. Doubt overshadows that brief hope.
The moon’s light seems brighter now that I’m near the water. Even the sliver of the crescent provides me what I need to see where I step. Some shells dig into my feet from time to time, but it’s mostly the soft sand that greets me. When I can run no longer, I slow to a fast walk. The exertion my body has endured catches up with me quickly.
I think about Tao, and that drives me to keep going. Did the doctor heal his head? Please let that be the case. I couldn’t bear to find out something happened to him that I can’t heal. I shake the t
hought of the coffin away as soon as it enters my mind.
My feet can’t move anymore, and I fall into the sand. The ocean water meets my face, and the salt stings my eyes. If I fall asleep here, they will surely find me. I’m too exposed.
I watch the shoreline and see an opening where the woods begin. That will provide me enough coverage, if I can make it. I push off the damp sand and start to crawl toward the tree line. I remember Nasir and his team would swim around the coast. If they had seen me, they would have come out of the water. It’s evident that I’m on my own.
My elbows scrape against the coarse sand as I make my way to some cover. I’m afraid I’ll fall asleep at any moment from sheer exhaustion and Makoa will find me. I push farther until I reach the blanketing forest. Tall palms provide cover, but it’s not enough. It looked darker from the water’s edge, but now it looks too open to hide anywhere.
I drag myself up to my feet with the help of the rough palm tree trunk. A coconut falls a few feet away, and I jump. I push off one tree trunk to another and try to go deeper into the trees. Soon, I find a series of palmetto bushes. If I crawl under one, that will keep me hidden, but I run the risk of invading a snake’s home.
I take the chance. I can’t go on anymore, and this is the best I can do while I get some rest. I move the leaves as best I can. A spider web bars the opening, and I undo its hard work. A rattling next to me lets me know I’ve only disturbed the home of a large lizard. It doesn’t look happy as it slinks off to find another resting place.
Better I find the lizard than a rattlesnake. I wonder how long it would take to heal myself of a poisonous bite from the deadly snake. Kahanu once had a patient with a rattlesnake bite come to us. The swollen leg turned the darkest colors. It was only three or four years ago.
She wouldn’t let me near the patient to help him, and she knew that I could heal him. She let him die. She kept sending me out to find herbs and plants that would help aid his recovery. She intentionally kept me away.
I remember that man. He was an old friend of Father’s. He fished with him often and hunted for food on occasion. When Father died, he called Grandmother a witch and said she could have healed him had she wanted to. Somehow he knew. Maybe Father confided in him about Mother.
Sadness overcomes me when I think about the death of Mother and Father. I could have helped them both, and Kahanu knew that. She knew the healing gift was passed to me, but she chose who lived and died. All of these years, I looked up to her for her wisdom and teaching. I thought she truly cared about my family and me. I’m not so sure she cared about anyone other than herself.
Tears fall to the sand. I can’t stop them anymore. Everything I knew feels wrong to me now. Nothing is real anymore. The only thing I want to do is find Tao and heal him so he can live a long, happy life.
A loud rustling comes from the woods behind me. It stops me from wallowing aloud. I shut my mouth, place my hand over it, and listen. It could be a deer or a large cat of some kind. It grows closer, and panic seizes me once again. What if Apela and Makoa are searching for me and have figured out I went to the coast. They’ve come for me, and I have nowhere to hide. They will see the footprints leading to my poorly chosen hideout.
My heartbeat quickens the closer the noise comes. It sounds like loud drumbeats in my ears. I’m afraid it’ll give my location away. The sound of rustling comes so close that there’s no way an animal or a person can’t notice me hovering here.
It’s right on top of me.
14
I rush the lone figure hidden in the shadows before they see me. My arms encircle his waist as relief gushes through me. Tao turns in my arms, and without a word, he wraps his arms around me. Tears stream down my cheeks.
“You’re alive,” I cry into his shoulder.
He pulls back and cups my cheek. “I was going to say the same to you.”
I rub my hand over his head. He winces. “I’m sorry.”
“We need to get back.”
“It’s my fault they’re here. I swear I didn’t know. No one told me. I—”
Tao rests his hand on my shoulder. “Relax. Slow down. Nothing is your fault.”
“You don’t understand. It’s me. They’re after me. Not just to be wed but to use me for what I can do.”
“You’re right; I don’t understand.”
“I’m the healer, not the salves or silver or herbs. It’s me.” I point to my chest in exasperation. “It’s me,” I repeat. Losing control of all sense of my emotions, I fall into his arms. “I’m so sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for.” He smoothes my hair.
I remember the wound on his head. I pull him to a rock. “Here, sit.”
“We don’t have much time,” he argues.
“This won’t take long.”
He sits on the rock. Dried blood is matted to his hair and scalp. A large bump is under an open wound. I rub my hand gently over the spot where the rock crashed down onto his head, thanks to Makoa. Heated anger rises inside me. The wound begins to close, and the lump shrinks. In a matter of seconds, only the dried blood remains.
Tao touches his head. “It’s gone,” he says in surprise.
“Yeah, it’s gone.” I raise one shoulder and then lower it. “That’s why they came. That’s why they want me.”
Tao stands and lightly kisses me on the lips. I know there’s still much to do before we can rest in each other’s arms, but I long for that moment and hope that we both get the chance.
He takes my hand. “We need to go.”
We walk along the shore as we follow the path of the moon back to Malalo. Running on the sand is much easier than hiking through ruins and debris. The water splashes under our feet as the waves creep onto the shore.
“They’re going to come looking for me,” I tell him. “I escaped while they slept.”
We pick up our pace.
“There were more of them than we thought. They came to slaughter us. Many of our people are dead.”
My steps falter at his words. Stumbling forward, I catch myself and regain balance before I fall. “I’ll help in any way I can,” I call after him.
He leads us around jutting rocks and palm trees. “We were ambushed. Makoa is an excellent and skilled attacker. He had most of his men wait just inland, and as soon as he had you, they must have had orders to attack the rest of the village.”
My heart aches for his people. Bile rises in my throat knowing they are dead because of me. My vision blurs from fresh tears. I swipe them away. I don’t want to hear anymore of this waking nightmare.
“We would have lost if it hadn’t been for the water people.” He splashes through a crashing wave. “The attackers weren’t expecting them, so it gave us a slight advantage. We would all be dead if it weren’t for their help.”
My thoughts turn to Banu. I can only hope she is still alive or not too badly wounded so I can heal her.
My silence must have alerted him. He glances over his shoulder. “You okay?”
I am anything but okay, but I say, “Yeah.” He doesn’t need to have any more pressure right now. “How did you find me?”
“As soon as I came to, I asked what direction they went in. Only a couple of the villagers saw them leave with you. Most were concentrating on the men coming onto the shore.” He slows down a bit.
Grateful, I slow to a light jog.
“I started to follow them into the ruins, but then knowing the general direction they were going, I headed to the shore and ran south. Unlike them, I had an easier journey and was able to make good time. However, I wasn’t expecting to see you this close to the water and all alone.”
As surprised as he is, I say, “I had only hoped to see you. Never had I expected it, though.”
He stops and faces me. Lifting my gaze to his, I stare into his incredibly dark eyes.
“I would never be able to live with myself if I didn’t come after you.” He slides his hand down my arm and takes my hand in his. “You mean ever
ything to me. I’ll stop at nothing to keep you safe.”
Not even my own brother has ever vowed such a heavy promise.
Tao scoops me up into his arms. I hug him fiercely, afraid of losing him again.
We ease away from each other.
“Come on. Another few hours and we’ll be home.”
“Tao, I need to rest for a bit. Please.”
He lowers me down next to me. I reposition myself so I’m lying against his side. He pulls me close to him and wraps his arms around me.
“Esther has been working in the hospital. She’s doing what she can and she’s helped a lot of people, but we need to get you there.”
I want to ask if he told her about us yet, but now isn’t the time.
“Whatever you taught her, she must have paid attention. She jumped right in and began to apply the necessary ointments and salves. Many of the wounded seem to have made progress, but several are more serious and in desperate need for your help.”
The moon has crossed the sky. It’s only a couple hours until morning. I can’t keep my eyes open any longer, and that haziness that happens right before sleep drowns me.
15
Only a short time passes before Tao wakes me. I’m still exhausted, but it’s time to move. Together we make our way toward Malalo.
In the distance, I see them.
“They’re coming for me.” I stare at the boats sailing around the island. “I didn’t realize they had so many boats and people.”
“Are they from your village?” Tao asks.
“I don’t know. I can’t tell from here, but I think they are mostly from Lanui.”
“We need to keep moving and keep out of their sight.” Tao grabs my hand and pulls me deeper into the trees adjacent to the shoreline.
It doesn’t matter how fast we walk. The boats move faster. Soon, we can’t see them at all. I stumble over some brush, but Tao holds me up.
“They are heading to the village,” Tao says. “There’s no way we will be able to beat them back to the village if we continue on the shoreline. We will need to cut across, through the ruins, and we may be able to make it in time to warn everyone.”
Nether Tears (Underwater Island Series Book 2) Page 8