Chapter 223: Coronation

Friday, July 23, 1971

“Are you ready for your big day, my prince?” Kalani asked as she rolled over and kissed my cheek.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I replied. It was not yet light outside.

After a quick shower and a small breakfast of fruit and coffee, we started for the Imperial Gardens and the Government Services House where the first part of the coronation ceremony was to be held. As we left the plantation, just after daybreak, I was amazed at the sheer number of people already on the road. Some were in cars or trucks, but I saw many carts and wagons being drawn by horses, mules, and even oxen.

“Where is everyone going?” I asked.

“Where do you think? It’s not every day that Tapato crowns a new Prince-Protector,” Kalani said.

Evidently, everyone on Tapato knows the queen’s car, as I spent most of the trip returning the waves of those we were passing. In my last life, I had read that Queen Elizabeth would wave the entire way from Buckingham Palace to wherever she was going. I have to tell you, my respect for the old gal went up that morning, because after ten minutes, my hand felt like it was going to fall off!

But even after driving slowly through the ever growing throngs that crowded the twelve kilometer route from the plantation, it was the last kilometer that blew me away. Everyone was waving at Kalani’s automobile, when suddenly, one young man knelt beside the road as we approached.

The next thing I knew, everyone, on both sides of the street, from that point, all the way to the Government House, knelt as the car went slowly by.

I couldn’t help it as tears formed in the corners of my eyes. I looked to Kalani, but I was too choked up to speak. I wondered how often, as queen, she had experienced these same sort of reactions from the people. My guess was that she was probably used to it.

“That is not true, Michael. Never have I even heard of such an outpouring of honor and respect, for any Tapatoan leader, much less experienced it myself,” she thought to me. “Somehow, you just seem to naturally bring out these emotions in the people. I think it is because they know that you love them.”

The car was now moving so slowly, we could have gotten out and walked the rest of the way, faster. However, I couldn’t move, as I was spellbound by what I was witnessing. So we continued to creep along. I’m not sure why I did it. Maybe it was Kalani’s mention of my love for the people, but I decided to show them.

Standing my sword between my legs and wrapping my hands around the hilt, I closed my eyes and began to open my heart to the throngs of people that had to number in the thousands, as they filled every available space, often kneeling more than a dozen deep as we passed.

“I love you, Michael,” Candy thought to me. This was quickly followed by the same mantra from Ileana, Abby, Hanna, Sandy, and the others of my family. And as the girls filled me with the power of their love, the power of my love increased, pouring out to everyone along the road.

As is usually the case when I share my love, I am not always aware of its effect. But even years later, Mikeya and Ileana both still enjoy teasing me about how the birthrate on Tapato seem to shoot up dramatically some nine months after my coronation.

Finally, we pulled under the portico of the Government House where the first part of the coronation ceremony, The Ceremony of Investiture, was to be held. As I escorted Kalani through the massive teakwood front doors covered with their elaborate carvings, she explained that my family had elected to forego attending this portion of my coronation.

“Every government official on Tapato, plus many foreign dignitaries, have requested to be present, and the seating here is very limited,” Kalani explained. “So, except for Mikeya, who has a small part in the ceremony, they all decided to attend the next part of your coronation.”

“But it is my belief that they just did not want to sit through all the speeches!” she added in my mind.

True to her prediction, the entire Government House was SRO (standing room only) for the event, which Mikeya opened with a short speech of welcome, in Tapatoan, for all the officials, dignitaries, and guests. And then right before she sat down, she paused and looked directly at me.

Switching to English, she said, “And I would personally like to add a very warm welcome to my mother, the Queen. And to my life-mate, and the father of the next Heirs, Crown Prince Michael.” Then in a voice so soft, it was barely above a whisper, she added, “I love you!” before she turned and disappeared through a door behind the podium.

There were a lot of speeches interwoven into a ceremony steeped in age-old customs. I missed Ileana and her talent for interpreting for me in my head. But Kalani tried to help me keep up. All the speakers, but one, were women; and their speeches (as interpreted for me by Kalani) centered on their thankfulness to once more have a Protector, and their admonishment for me to keep their children and their island safe from harm.

At least two of the speech-makers, one of them being the oldest woman on Tapato, according to Kalani, made reference to my following in the last Protector’s (Don’rahall’s) footsteps by serving the crown for the next three hundred years.

“After all, you ARE the Pele Solakanali!” Kalani thought in response to my look of incredulity at that little nugget of information.

Finally, the leader of the Government House of Tapato, with both a name and a title that I was unable to pronounce, called me to stand before the assembled house and announced that I was to be bestowed all the rights and privileges of Prince and Protector.

“It was a unanimous decision, Michael. One of the few, in the memories of even our oldest citizens,” Kalani told me later.

Next, we were on to the coronation, with a small detour by the Royal Residence to change clothes.

“Hanna and Ileana have laid out your clothes and sash on your sleeping pallet and your jewelry is in the two cases. Put on everything except your crown,” she told me as we parted to go change clothes. “You’ll be getting your new one shortly. And be sure the pearl on your brace is facing out.”

Because Tapato does not have a building large enough to hold all the people who wanted to attend the coronation, someone had come up with the idea to make use of the empty hillside that sloped gently towards the sea from the Imperial Gardens. A small stage had been erected about three-quarters of the way down the hill, affording everyone on the hillside an excellent view of the proceedings. It reminded me of a large, natural, open-air amphitheater.

“What’s wrong, Michael?” Kalani asked as she approached and began to tug at my sash to position it better. “Do you sense danger?”

Standing on the wide veranda of the Royal Residence, waiting to escort her to the next part of the ceremony, my eyes were wide in amazement of the sheer number of people that filled the hillside, from the temporary stage almost the entire way back up the hillside to where I was standing. Instead of answering, I simply nodded towards the growing crowd.

“Danger? No. I sense no hostility,” I answered. “However, I find myself wondering if I will ever be able to do everything that THEY expect me to.”

“Listen to me, Michael!” Kalani said firmly. “My people ... no, OUR people, have waited for more than three hundred years for someone to come forward to claim the position. To fulfill the first Protector’s prophesy. Someone to protect them and keep their daughters and families safe. Can you imagine the worry and fear that our leaders and our people have suffered through all those years, wondering WHEN the gods would send someone? Not IF, Michael ... but WHEN!

“And then, out of nowhere, a young man appears, who is blessed with the ability to sense others, speaks with the gods, and even defended himself in combat with them. One against so many. Yet that young man defeated them all, single-handedly! Not to mention staving off an alien invasion and healing many who were injured.

“That same young man has blessed our small nation with personal gifts to build new schools, piers, warehouses, and a new state-of-the-art hospital. Not-to-mention giving us our next Heir, discovering natural resources that will allow our nation to continue to grow and prosper, and a new consulate, with the status and recognition as a viable nation, connecting us to the rest of the world and creating countless new markets for our goods.

“It’s no wonder that the people are so excited. Our dreams and prayers have been answered! You, Michael, have given us what we all so craved,” Kalani exclaimed breathlessly. “And most of all, you have given my daughters, the best possible mate.” ” ... and the Queen, their mother, the most secret desires of her heart,” she added in her mind.

This was, by far, the most passionate I had ever seen Kalani. And when she put it like that, I couldn’t argue. It seems that I had already done so much of what they needed. I felt the tension drain from me as I let my own fears evaporate in the tropical breeze.

“Come,” Kalani said after she had composed herself again. “It’s time to acknowledge the people’s love and own up to your deeds.”

Taking my arm, she gently steered me down the hill, an open pathway magically appearing before us, and just as quickly, closing up behind us. By the time Kalani and I arrived at the small platform, the hillside was packed.

The first part of the outside ceremony was actually a repeat of the mating ceremony we had done back at the ranch. This, so I was told, was to confirm my mating to Mikeya and Ileana for the people.

” Stand here, Michael. And remember, do not touch! And say nothing until I address you,” Kalani said as she positioned me in the center of the small platform, facing up the hill towards the large gathering. Then she turned and disappeared into a small tent erected behind the platform.

As Kalani ducked into the tent, a different woman emerged. Just like back at the ranch, she was dressed in a skirt of woven grass, with braided golden ropes tied around her waist. On her wrists, she wore golden cuffs similar to mine.

Leather braids laced with gems and trinkets were tied ornately around her upper arms, and a wide, bejeweled bracelet encircled one ankle. She too, wore the large head headpiece which towered over her. The domino mask covering her eyes was different though.

I knew what to expect this time when the drums began to beat. But unlike last time, there were multiple drums, and the beat was much more pronounced. In time with the beat of the drums, the unknown young lady danced around me, addressing each corner of the platform, shaking her staff and chanting.

Then, as on the mountain in Colorado, she moved all around me, chanting and shaking her staff. When I scanned her to see if I could tell who it was, I was surprised to find it was A’komi! The realization caused me to actually relax slightly, for I knew that A’komi exercised great control and would not hurt me, regardless of how close her staff was coming to my face.

Suddenly, the drumbeat changed and A’komi disappeared into the small tent. Moments later, Mikeya emerged from the tent and began to dance around me on the stage. She was once again draped in a single length of white silk cloth wrapped enticingly around her hips and over her right shoulder. There were long silk cords tied loosely around each wrist and each ankle. She wore no jewelry, except for the thin golden headband signifying her rank and the ring I had given her on a small gold chain encircling her neck. I smiled when I noticed it.

Ileana came right behind her, dressed like her sister. The only difference was the size of her headband/crown. Ileana’s was smaller, though only slightly less ornate. And Ileana wore her ring on the third finger of her left hand.