Jungle Princess ✔

Chapter 23: Numb

"What are you building?"

It was a simple question, but Keon just looked at her with contempt. "What's it to you?"

Amitola crossed her arms, stepping out from the shadows of the on-coming evening, the sun setting behind her. "Everything. I'm your wife, remember?"

Keon snorted. "How could I forget? You pester me day and night."

Amitola smiled. "It's my job."

Keon turned his back to her, using a blade to carve out the inside of a tree he had been working on for the past ten minutes. His father Haku was probably out cooking dinner with the other Ngaro people, who were on the other side of the island. Amitola glanced at the several other carved canoes Keon and his father had managed to build. They were smooth, long and narrow. Enough for fit seven people each. There were six canoes.

"You're talented," Amitola complimented as she ran her hand over the inside of the canoes. She knew if she praised him, he would eventually tell her why he was building them.

Keon shot a raised-eyebrow look at her. "You think so?" Immediately Amitola was reminded of when he was a young boy, constantly seeking his father's approval. In a way, he still was.

Amitola nodded. "You have got a skill with your hands. Chopping. Carving. Constructing. I admire that."

"You do?" Keon's lips tugged at the corner into the whisper of a smile. He finished carving the inside of the tree and scooped up the shavings with his hand, about to let it go when Amitola stopped him.

"Give them to me," she held out her hands, and with a narrowed-eye look, Keon obeyed. "They'll be fuel for the fire," she explained, walking away.

Every night while they ate their meals, the dancers would perform. Now, as Amitola scattered the carvings into the hearth of the bonfire, she had to dodge the leaping acrobats that were dressed in the traditional grass skirts and tall flower headdresses, slaving to the rhythm of the island.

Leotie and Olita were serving the food tonight, and Amitola sat on the log she was used to sitting for meals, beside Maru and Oceana. When Leotie came to her after serving Oceana and Maru, she frowned.

"Amitola, what are you doing? You're not supposed to sit here!" she scolded.

"Why not?" Amitola asked innocently.

Leotie sighed. "You are queen, my daughter. You must sit on the throne with Keon and eat." Leotie pointed over to where Keon sat, chomping on the flesh of a red fish.

"Oh, yes. I forgot," Amitola said distractedly.

Leotie sent her a stern look. "You've been forgetting for a whole week, Amitola."

Her mother was right. She had. Maybe she was in denial of her authority position, or maybe she was not ready to accept her responsibilities as Queen. Which included eating beside Keon, who occasionally flung food at her from the ferocity of his bite.

Keon barely registered her as she sat beside him, pinching her roasted fish between her fingers and trying not to listen to him ravenously gulp down his meal.

"Must you eat like an animal?" she said wincingly.

Keon boomed with laughter. "I can eat how I want. I'm Chief."

"Chiefs don't eat like that, boy," Haku's deep voice chided. Keon immediately wiped his mouth and nodded obediently.

"Sorry, father," he said in a small voice.

Haku gave Amitola a curt nod before moving along. Amitola glanced at Keon. He no longer ate as barbarously as before. Obviously, his father still had an effect on him.