*Isla*
Hiding the book from Maddox isn’t easy, but I manage. He has been so preoccupied with this mess with the Alphas since he had the girls who attacked me beaten and thrown into the dungeon that he doesn’t have too much time for me. But when he does show up, I have no idea he’s coming. He’s just suddenly there. Which means I have to be very careful about when I read the book. I try to have Poppy’s ear to the ground whenever I have it out, but she is not always cooperative.
“I think it’s dumb,” she keeps telling me. “Why do you keep reading about it now when you’ve already decided you’re not going there?”
“I don’t know.” It’s not a lie. I really have no idea why I am looking at it. I know I can’t go to my island home until after my son is born. Logically, I know that. Still, the more I read about it the more fascinated I become.
Then, there was the letter I’d gotten in the mail from my aunt, one she’d obviously sent a long time ago. She’d been waiting for me to get there to help with this problem.
The Blood Moon. That was the night I’d discovered when the veil of magic would most easily be lifted. If I decide to go, I’d have to leave soon. Getting to Port Westerly would be a feat; getting to the island would be another. I’m not exactly sure how long the journey would take, but I’m guessing a week or more.
Shaking my head, I look at the illustrations in the book, not just the maps but the drawings of traditional dress on the people. They are so beautiful. I love the vibrant colors of the costumes, the feathers and flowers. I feel like I remember this place, that it’s somehow become a part of me, woven into the fabric of my being. The idea that all of this has been destroyed but I can go there and help my aunt bring it back pulls at my heartstrings.
Poppy freezes. “Someone’s coming.”
Quickly, I toss the book to her, and she rushes to the closet to hide it while I tuck the letter into my nightstand.
A second later, a knock on the door tells us it’s not Maddox. He never knocks.
Poppy opens it. Trinity is standing there with a confused look on her face. “What’s all the noise?” she asks with a grin.
Shrugging, I say, “We thought it might be Maddox. He tends to burst through the door unannounced.”
She twerks an eyebrow. “What were you hiding?”
“Oh. He still doesn’t know about the book I brought here, the one about the island.”
She nods but doesn’t comment. “I came to tell you I spoke to my father earlier.” Trinity sits in the chair across from me, by the window. “He says that there’s a good chance that the Alphas are going to move against the king, based on the incident with the girls from the library.”
My blood runs cold just hearing her warning. What will that mean exactly for Maddox? Will he be in harm’s way again? Will he have to leave the castle to go fix whatever is going on?
“Why doesn’t he just announce the baby and say he’s in love with Isla and get it all over with already?” Poppy asks.
Trinity turns and looks at her, like she’s surprised she’s spoken, which isn’t shocking to me considering that Trinity and I are the daughters of Alphas and she is a maid. But I am used to her interjecting her opinions and questions into my conversations. Even my conversations with the king.
“I’m not sure,” Trinity says dismissively and then turns her attention back to me.
At this point, I think that doing so might just make the situation worse. It’s not as if the Alphas will care that he’s having a baby with me. I’m not a Luna Queen. I’m just the daughter of a man who is a newly appointed Alpha, as far as they know. Will they even recognize my child as the next king?
“Do you think it’ll be a huge fight?” I ask Trinity.
“I’m not certain. I’m trying to get my father and uncle to stay united with the king. The fact that I’m still on Maddox’s good side should count for something. And there are a lot of other girls who are theoretically still in the running. I told my father to remind the other Alphas, besides the fathers of the six girls who were punished, that this is a good thing for us. It gives us better numbers.” She rolls her eyes. “He understood that, but he’s not sure he can convince everyone else.”
I’m not sure how to react to that. Trinity, my biggest ally, is using a lie to leverage keeping Maddox out of trouble when he could probably solve the situation easily by better usurping his power. I don’t understand who these Alphas are that they think they can dictate to him what they want him to do.
“Well, I don’t suppose he’ll tell me much about it,” I mutter.
Trinity’s eyes widen slightly. “Is he still not keeping you apprised of the situation?”
I shake my head. “No. He won’t tell me anything he thinks will worry me. And it’s not just because of the baby. I wish… I wish he saw me the same way that he sees you, Trinity. You’re such a strong leader, so sure of yourself. And you always know how to communicate with people and make them see the error in their ways.”
A soft smile falls into place as she shakes her head. “Oh, Isla. That’s not true. I often have no idea what I’m saying or doing. I fake it, girl. But listen, what you have is a lack of confidence. And you shouldn’t. You are still stuck thinking that you are less than the other girls because you grew up a commoner. But that’s not who you are now, and that’s not even who you were back then.” She reaches over and puts her hand on my knee. “Have a little faith in yourself. I’m sure, if you were still in Maatua, you’d be more polished and sophisticated than I appear to be.”
I chuckle. I shouldn’t, but it comes out of my mouth anyway. “No, I doubt that.”
“How much of the island do you remember?” she asks me.
“None, really. I get flashes, but that’s about it.” I wish I could remember it.
“Do your parents ever speak of it, now that they know you’re aware of the situation?”
I wonder why she is asking. “No. They still like to pretend like we’ve always lived here.”
Trinity gives me a tight-lipped smile. “It’s such an enchanting place. I’ve done a bit of research myself since I saw that you had that book, and the tragic history does make a person wish they could fix the situation, huh?”
She seems sincere, and since she has proven herself to be a good friend, I find myself telling her, “Yes, I do. But as we already discussed, I’m pregnant. And, like you said, I shouldn’t go anywhere and leave it open for someone else to try to step in and take my role alongside Maddox.”
“Definitely,” she says with a nod. “I am not at all implying I think you should go there, especially not with that nasty curse in place that I’ve heard about.”
“What do you know about the curse?” Poppy blurts. “Who have you been talking to?”
Trinity turns and looks at her, looks at me, and then looks back. I know she’s wondering why I don’t teach my maid her place. I have tried, sort of. I have mentioned it to Poppy anyway, but it doesn’t stick.
“Well, if you must know, one of the maids who is here with Flora, from Condor pack, is from KiloKilo.”
My eyebrows arch. “Really?”
“Yes, she is, and she told me all about the curse, the pirates, the treasure, all of that. Of course, I have to wonder about how much of it is true. I’m not sure I believe there’s a secret waterfall that brings people back to life. But you never know. I’ve met a few people from KiloKilo who have magical powers, so I suppose it’s possible that the people of the neighboring island of Maatua might as well.”
“Does she have powers? The maid?” Poppy asks while I’m still pondering Trinity’s statement.
“Only ones associated with being capable of cleaning a room well, and knowing her station,” Trinity replies sharply.
Poppy inhales sharply but doesn’t say anything back. What can she say? Trinity does have a point.
“Anyway, I’m not at all implying I think you should go there. I just think it sounds interesting.” Trinity shrugs. “If I had any magical powers, I’d go there, though. It sure the hell would solve all of these problems for Maddox. Fixing the problems of the past are always good for the present.”
Her statements have me confused. “What?” I don’t want to sound dumb, but I have no idea what she means. “What problems of the past are you talking about? How would Maddox going there fix anything?”
“Oh, well, it wouldn’t right now. He obviously doesn’t have any magical powers, so he can’t break the curse. But if he could find a way to overturn the curse, then he could get back all of the treasure that Bloody Beard stole. Of course, money doesn’t solve everything, and the kingdom isn’t poor now, but the other Alphas might fall back in line if they knew that the lost artifacts and treasures were finally recovered after all of these years.”
I am trying to piece together what she is saying. I want it to make sense, but it doesn’t.
Leave it to Poppy to blurt out, “What the hell are you talking about? The treasure isn’t from here—is it?”
Trinity’s forehead puckers. I hope she isn’t too rude to Poppy for asking that question—because I was about to blurt it out myself.
“You don’t know?” She isn’t being rude; she’s just surprised. She looks at me, and I shrug, too. “Yes. The stolen treasure the pirates took was a tribute to Maddox’s great-grandfather. Without the tribute, the kingdom weakened, and the other Alphas began to lose faith in the crown. If Maddox could recover it, he would restore his power and the state of the kingdom.”
My eyes are wide as I stare at her for a long moment. Eventually, I ask, “Does Maddox know this?”
“Of course he does. I even heard a rumor that Beta Seth is trying to talk him into going to get it. But… he thinks it’s too dangerous. And it is. As long as that curse is in place, I’m afraid the treasure will never be returned.”
Trinity sighs, but I just stare at her, unblinking.
Now, I have another reason to go to the island—I need to save my former kingdom, and my current one.