Enoch left the praline without Darryl. The Cheiftana"s riddle allows Darryl to come into the island anytime as long as he already have an answer—that will be his ticket to the island—like Xhemin"s sun stone. Of course, the Chieftain"s heir was not happy about the result of their plea, but he was blind to his stepmother"s mischief. He thought that she was just being reasonable as it was their responsibility to protect the Manggan Island.The chieftain"s heir held a paper boat in his hand as he returned to the sh.o.r.e with the council and his stepmother. That paper boat was Darryl"s gift to him, a remembrance to be kept. He was really sad that Darryl was not able to come with him, but he was looking forward to meeting him again. He knew within him, Darryl can make his way to their island.
When they reached the central village, the group dispersed. When the Cheiftana entered her chambers, she found princess Tang and princess w.a.n.g waiting for her.
"Oh G.o.d mother what are we to do now?" Princess Tang hollered worriedly. She was restless since yesterday when the news that Enoch came home broke out.
"Calm down highest princess. I had everything under control," She said to her trying to appease her daughter who seemed to have age a little because of stress "Fix yourself up. You look like a mess!"
"Oh, mother I had suspended Princess Song"s ration and paid her physician to run away. If Enoch will know about this, my status will surely be stripped away from me and he will punish me. Mother, oh mother!" Princess Tang cried.
"Shhhhhhhhh! Princess Tang!" The Cheiftana rebuked her words. She loved princess Tang so much that she had thoroughly spoiled her while growing up. Princess Tang"s beauty was ethereal and so Cheiftana invested on her so much but unlike her, she easily crumbles when shaken. "Do you really think I will let that chieftain heir do that to you?"
"But mother, he is the chieftain"s heir. You are no match against him!" She cried even more. She put much trust on her mother when she told them that she was able to get rid of Enoch completely but now, it seemed that her judgement fell short.
Princess Tang"s words were answered by a loud thudding slap. The Cheiftana let out a heavy breathing and steam was coming out of her nose when he heard princess Tang"s words. This daughter of her was indeed a precious gem for her yet sometimes her stupidity and weakness get into her nerves.
Princess tang"s cheeks reddened.
"I"m sorry… mother," The slap seemed to have woken up the highest princess from whatever went into her. She knew she said vicious words to her mother, words that angered her.
"I said fix yourself and act as if nothing happened. You don"t want to raise any suspicion from Enoch" She tell off gnas.h.i.+ng her teeth. She was completely infuriated on what her daughter said but she was trying to keep her cool before she could do anything unforgivable.
Princess w.a.n.g"s mouth twitched at the sight of Princess Tang"s misery and how she angered their mother. "Mother the highest princess was just stress out but don"t worry I"ll make sure she will not make any mishaps"
"Good" The Cheiftana"s eyes turned to her other daughter. Although princess w.a.n.g lack some beauty, she was smart and vicious like her mother and at times like this, she always come handy to her.
"Were you able to shoo away the Enoch"s new-found brother?" She asked trying to lift the mood that settled in. "My G.o.d, I never though Enoch can be that cringey. Since he came back, his mouth was nothing but about that savior of his. I bet one of these days h.e.l.l asked the royal carpenter to build a temple for him"
"That brother of yours was such lame boy" The Cheiftana turned to sit and pull some tea that was prepared on her chamber"s table "Even until now he was clinging to me as if I was his real mother, poor boy"
"Mother….how about princess Song?" Princess Tang dared to intervened with a crackling voice. She was trying to hold her tears, afraid that her mother would lash on her again.
"Princess Tang if you are not so stupid, you could have noticed by now that Enoch didn"t even worry about her" She told the girl, still with an angry tone "That only means he had no idea what was happening to her and he was confident Princess Song was given great attention under your care"
"But… but what if he"ll figure out what—"
"That will not happen. You had already sent rations for this month and in case Enoch will know about the missing rations then we"ll blame it to the carriers" She cut her, dismissing all the highest princess concern about their youngest.
"Highest princess, do not worry. No one will know what you did. Besides handmaid Lin was easy to scare. She won"t say a word and princess Song is sick, she probably know nothing about the missing rations or perhaps she"ll die even before she can tell Enoch about it," Princess w.a.n.g comforted her trying to hold back her laughter. This sister of hers was such a dummy. Good thing she had great looks for if weren"t for her beauty their own mother would have given up on her.
"…mother how did you scare away the intruder?" Princess w.a.n.g continued her previous question.
"I lured the council to let me give him a riddle," She said with pride as she took another sip of the tea that was served before them.
"Riddle?" Princess w.a.n.g"s smile grew big "I bet you give a riddle with no answer"
"I told him to cross the par line not like a fish and not like a bird," She repeated the riddle to her daughters.
Princess w.a.n.g let go an evil mocking laugh "Mother you are so heartless! How would he be able to cross the par line without swimming across the sea? As if he can fly…. Even so…the riddle even forbids him flying across"
"If he was smart enough then he should have known that it was a riddle without answer" The Cheiftana mocked at Darryl. "Enoch said he was a brilliant one, looks like his judgement fell short"
"He should have known that the only creatures that pa.s.ses through the par line back and forth were birds and fishes. If he can"t swim like a fish or fly like a bird, how will he be able to cross the par line?" Princess w.a.n.g found the thing so amusing that she couldn"t stop her laughing.
"He will never ever be" The Cheiftana grinned viciously.