Chapter 217: Welcome to Tapato

Wednesday, July 14, 1971

“C’mon, Michael. Tradition dictates that we must be the first ones off,” Ileana prodded me as she unbuckled her seat belt.

No matter how many times I experienced it, it always left me feeling amazed when the muses put me back in time so that no one realized that I had been gone.

“Uh-oh! Michael’s been gone again!” Vickie told everyone. Then to me she smiled as she said, “No secrets ... remember?”

I didn’t have time to explain, and I was certain that they wouldn’t forget, so I pushed all thoughts of muses and the codex to the back of my brain and stepped through the door the stewardesses had opened to find myself standing at the top of a very high set of rolling stairs.

Before us, spread across the tarmac, were thousands of people who all began cheering as soon as I stepped out of the plane. In an instant, I felt their emotions. Some were hesitant, others doubtful. Many were hopeful, but the vast majority were happily excited.

“Wave, Michael!” Ileana thought to me. Or maybe she said it. But if she had, I don’t know if I could have heard her over the boisterous cheers of the people.

“My people!” I realized as the tears began to fill the corners of my eyes, “My people!”

It took us quite some time to make our way through the throng of Tapatoans, to a small covered grandstand on the side of the airfield that had been erected to protect the queen and her party from the mid-day sun. When my family had all reached the queen’s covered pavilion, I bowed low, as did the rest of my party.

“Welcome home, my daughter,” Kalani said as she stepped to the front edge of the platform.

“I am glad to be home, and delighted to see that the Queen, my Mother, is well,” Ileana replied as she bowed her head to the monarch.

Then to me the Queen said, “Welcome to Tapato, Crown Prince Michael!”

“I too, am glad to be here, Your Majesty, and I am looking forward to serving the Crown and the wonderful people of Tapato!” I told her just like Ileana had coached me to say. The crowd, or at least those that heard me, cheered. Ileana smiled as I stepped back into line.

And so it went down the line as Kalani welcomed each of the others. Then, turning to the large crowd, she gestured to the people as she proclaimed, “The Royal Nation of Tapato is pleased to welcome home her daughter and the crown prince and his family and friends. Please help me make them feel welcome.”

This was supposed to mark the end of the official welcoming ceremony and the beginning of the receiving line to meet the gathered dignitaries and other important people of Tapato. However, Mikeya couldn’t wait any longer and jumped from the small platform, her arms around my neck as she kissed me.

I caught her and held her in my arms, as I opened my heart to her for the first time in a long time.

“Michael!” thought Catherine, Vickie, and Anna all at the same time.

“Oh, it is all right,” the queen told them. “Tapatoans are no strangers to affairs of the heart!”

Mikeya slid slowly down until her toes touched solid ground, then kissing her upturned face once more, I asked her, “Okay, what’s next?”

The crowd around us suddenly grew quite as the Ratu, with her frail hand on Gerald’s arm, slowly crossed the uneven ground in front of the platform to stand before my family. I noticed the look of concern that crossed Kalani’s face. She did not know that her mother was even coming to the welcoming ceremony. And she was unsure how her mother would be received by me or my family considering our last encounter.

She needn’t have worried.

I sank to one knee and bowed my head. Ileana quickly followed my lead and also knelt on the ground beside me. Suddenly, the rest of my family was doing the same, quietly followed by the throng of Tapatoans behind us. Even the dignitaries on the stage knelt, until only the Ratu and the Queen were left standing.

Then looking up at the Ratu, I said the words that Ileana had taught me many months ago, back at the ranch.

“Sha-mah ah-hah-lean-e fa-ma mon hi-heen-e,” (“I am honored, Favored Grandmother,”).

The silence was deafening as the crowd waited to see what the Ratu’s response would be.

“It is I whom you have honored this day,” she finally said in Tapatoan, then again in English. Then taking my face in her hands, she pulled me forward slightly and kissed my forehead.

I stood then and hugged the old gal to me. Ileana also hugged her as she whispered in her ear. Behind us, the crowd resumed their feet as a chant broke out that lasted for more than a minute.

When I asked Kalani about it later, she said that they were chanting the words ‘Favored Grandmother’. Then she explained that in that brief gesture, her mother’s place in the hearts of her people had been sealed forever. “Our people had always revered my mother as the queen and then the ratu. But you insured that she became loved forever as the ‘Favored Grandmother’ to the entire nation.”

While my family surrounded the Ratu, Kalani didn’t miss a beat as she immediately began introducing the ladies of her cabinet who were on the podium with her, followed by another dozen or so dignitaries. After I was introduced, Mikeya would then start them down the line, meeting the rest of my family.

Finally, Kalani led me over to a small, bent man, who had sat on a small stool throughout the entire proceedings just to the side of the viewing stand. To everyone else, Kalani had used my formal titles. But to this man she said simply, “Michael, this is my papa. Papa, this is the one. The one who found your inscription.”

I knew immediately that he was the one who had carved the simple but elegant pendant I wore around my neck. Without saying a word, I drew myself up and arms stiff to my sides, I offered him my most noble bow, holding it as the crowd fell quiet around me. Then, as I straightened, I simply pulled the necklace from inside my shirt for him to see.

His response was in Tapatoan, so the queen translated for me.

“He says that you must be the son of the gods and that he is humbled that you would wear the work of one so ... I think your word would be insignificant, ... that you would wear the work of one so insignificant so close to your heart.”