*Isla*
“Lift the curse?”
I can’t help but repeat the phrase Commander Pepelos has just said to me. Confusion washes over me, not for the first time. “What are you talking about?” I ask him. “How do you know all of this about Maatua?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t think this is the right place to discuss this, Your Highness. Why don’t we go inside, into your private chambers, and we can discuss it there?”
“My private chambers?” Nothing he has said makes the statement sound suggestive at all, but I am wondering what people will think if they find out I have some strange man in my room, not a half an hour after Maddox has left the castle to go find out what is happening with the war.
“Or the library. Whatever room you think is most secure.” He walks to the exterior door and pulls it open, gesturing for me to walk inside first.
I do and nod my thanks, and the two of us are relatively quiet as we walk down the hallway.
I am leading him to my room. Not on purpose, but I’m considering everything that he’s said, and I know there’s not a better place for me to go than to my own room.
The thought of anyone watching us and starting a rumor is mortifying, but I have to imagine anyone who is paying any attention will assume we are just talking about the plan for the war effort.
I decide I should go ahead and let anyone who might be passing us in the hallway know that we weren’t up to anything sinister. “Why don’t we have a bite to eat in my room while we discuss exactly what it is you’ll be doing for us while my loving Maddox is gone?” I ask loudly.
A laugh echoes down the empty hall. “What? Are there cameras here or something?” he asks, looking around. “Are you afraid we’re being observed?”
Glaring at him, I say, “No, but you just never know.”
“Come now, Princess,” he insists, shaking his head at me. “It’s not a big deal for me to go into your room and talk strategy with you. It’s not as if you have an office that we could use instead.”
“Don’t you have one?” I ask him, thinking if that might be an option. I’m still slightly leery of borrowing Maddox’s office even though he’s assured me a thousand times that it’s all right. After the first time I used it and he got so upset at me, I decided not to do that again….
“I do have one, however, it’s all the way on the other side of the castle, and in your delicate condition, I see no reason to parade you all the way over there,” he explains.
My mind immediately thinks, “And yet you want me to go to Maatua to lift a curse?”
We make it to my room, and Poppy is there, tidying up. She gives me a sympathetic look, and I know she’s thinking I must be sad that the king is gone. But then she sees the commander, and her face changes. I can read alarm on her brow.
“Poppy, this is Commander Pepelos. We are about to start discussing what will be the norm while King Maddox is away. Would you mind going to the kitchen to get us something to eat, please?”
“Of course, Your Majesty,” she says with a little bow, but I can tell she doesn’t trust the commander. “Shall I send another maid in while I’m gone?”
“No,” I say with a laugh, trying to be dismissive. “It’s all right.”
“Okay. But I will whip the door open as soon as I arrive, so please be prepared to be startled.” She gives him a sharp nod and then disappears, and I almost laugh.
“We should get on with this true discussion before she returns,” I say, sitting down at the table where I take my meals when I eat in my chambers. “How do you know so much about Maatua?” I ask him.
He sits down across from me, and something tells me he’s probably had this speech prepared for a while. Perhaps I’ve thrown him off with my question. He takes a moment before he begins to speak.
“I’m from Maatua,” he says, keeping his voice down. It seems he’s not as keen on being overheard as he let on before.
“Okay.” I’m not sure what else to say to him. I’m not even sure that I believe him. “Where do you live now? That is, how did you get away from there, and how did you come to be at the castle? I know that Maddox wouldn’t have hired you without a thorough background check, but he must not know about this.”
He gives me a crooked smile, letting me know I’ve figured him out. “I don’t think there’s any reason for me to go through all of that. Let me just say that I’ve been off the island for several years. I’ve done my time, serving the king. I’ve been loyal to the Alpha and Commander I’ve worked under, and now, I’m finally in a position where I can speak to you.”
It seems like confusion is the only feeling I can acknowledge today, at least since I started this conversation with him.
“But… I’ve only been here for a few months,” I remind him.
“Yes, and you won’t believe how excited I was to hear of it. Your family has been nearly impossible to track down.” He shakes his head slightly as he catches my eyes.
“Have you been searching for us?” I ask. I suddenly think there’s a chance I’m starting to piece this all together, though I’m still a long way from understanding.
“Yes, I have been looking for you specifically. The baby that died but came back to life.” He runs a hand through his hair and then folds his arms across his chest.
He does know things he shouldn’t….
“How did you know that was me, though? It’s not as if it’s common knowledge that I am the princess from the island, and it’s even less common knowledge that I died and came back to life,” I remind him.
Shaking his head, he says, “I can’t get into all of that. I don’t want to throw any of my sources under the bus. After all, the people that have helped me to get here deserve to be protected as much as I can keep them that way.”
“Protected from me?” I ask him. “Why would I be upset that someone helped you to find me if you’re here to help me with something that will benefit the people of Maatua?”
“No, not protect them from you, Princess,” he says. “Protect them from the king. It’s not as if His Majesty has wanted anyone to know that you are actually the long-lost Princess of Maatua. Granted, there are several of us advisors who think it would actually help his cause if others knew that, that you’re not just a commoner, a breeder for hire, or something of that nature.”
I feel my cheeks growing red. Ever since word has spread that King Maddox has a breeder, I have worried about what people may think about me. I worry about it with my child as well. What if people will not accept him because they think only his father is a royal?
I can’t even promise Commander Pepelos that I would be able to keep him or the people he is speaking of safe because Maddox has a way of doing whatever he wants, even when I try to assure him that he needs to listen to me.
“All right, then,” I say. “You’re from Maatua. You’ve come here and served in the military while you’ve been looking for my family. Some spies at the castle that I’m not allowed to know about have provided you with the information you need in order to infiltrate my home and tell me that you need my help in lifting a curse on the island where we both were born?”
A crooked grin pulls up one side of his mouth. “Yes, I think that’s the gist of it, more or less.”
I’m not sure what to think about him. I can’t decide if I trust him or not. I can’t even decide if I like him or not. He seems a bit shady to me, and I can’t quite put my finger on why. Perhaps it’s because of all of the sneaking around he’s just told me about, but I’m starting to think there’s a chance I wouldn’t trust him even without all of that.
“So what makes you think that I can help? You must know, Alpha King Maddox is fully against me going back to Maatua, especially while I’m pregnant,” I remind him.
He nods. “Yes, I am aware, but I also know that you’re not the delicate flower you appear to be. Just because the king has told you that you shouldn’t do something, that doesn’t mean you won’t.”
I lift an eyebrow at him. “I don’t intend to anger the king. I’ve done that in the past, and it didn’t end well.” I am speaking of the night I ran away and almost got killed by rogues.
Once again, the commander nods in agreement. “But this is different. First of all, you’ll want the opportunity to save your baby. I know that you’re unsure as to whether or not you can do that on your own. Also, something that you don’t know but that you need to know is that there’s possibly only a small window of time before your opportunity to lift the curse may be closed forever.”
He certainly has my attention now. “Why do you say that?” I ask him.
“Because… in order to lift the curse, you have to get the person who put the curse on the island to lift it. And if she dies before she does that, the curse will never be lifted,” he explains.
I shake my head. “I don’t believe that. I believe once the person who placed the curse dies, the curse will automatically be lifted.”
“Well, you don’t know KiloKilo very well, then do you?” he asks me.
“KiloKilo?” I repeat, and he nods.
That’s the island my aunt was from. Mary. I swallow hard, afraid I know what he’s talking about now, but I don’t want to know. My head is already swimming, and I only know part of the story.
“Isla, do I look like anyone that you know? Not my eyes, but… my face. My jawline. My nose. The structure of my profile?” He turns his head a few different ways so that I can get a better look at the different angles.
That’s when it dawns on me. He does look a bit like some of the men in my family. My father, around the eyes, my brother Chris in the nose, even Ben when it comes to his jawline.
“Why do you look like we might be related?” I ask, holding my breath as I wait for a response.
When he answers, his words cut through my soul. “Because we are. I’m your cousin. Antony Moon.”