Chapter 21

Earth time: 8:16 AM Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Aina time: 7:37 PM day 216 of 1410, first day of spring, evening of the Red Bird festival

"Well, here goes!" thought Lois. She slipped her robe off, standing naked at the foot of the stage. She was grateful for the warm day. It was still almost 70F, very unusual for the evening of the first day of spring. On stage remained seven naked men, each standing with one or two naked women by their sides.

The two patience marriage ceremonies had been done first. Then the remaining 36 girls in the class had been married. Left on stage were Hiapo with Kalea and Tal, plus a half dozen married groups who had playfully volunteered to act as dummy candidates to keep the crowds guessing. It was a Hopewell tradition that the males be married by their age, so that the oldest males might be teased the most by the girls marrying before them.

But all thoughts of teasing and the crowd and the other marriages disappeared from Lois's mind as she walked across the stage. Her eyes and her mind were locked on her new family. She was dimly aware of Kikapua smiling at her and giving her permission to go forward, and then... there she was, standing beside her new life partners. The roars of the crowd seemed strangely muted, and there was no thought of embarrassment at her nakedness.

Kikapua gave the chant to close the ceremony, and the remaining people on stage laughed and walked off to get their clothes. But as Lois started to get dressed, she heard a rising tide of angry and confused shouts coming from the newly married members of the class. And then she heard someone start screaming. She thought it sounded like Kiana...

Ten hours later...

The faint pink of the new dawn was just beginning to touch the horizon when Mayoni awoke from the snap of a twig. She had decided to spend the night in the orchards, far back in the fields at the spot where her mother Anuhea had committed herself to Mark. Looking up, Mayoni was astonished to see Kiana walking towards her naked. It looked like she was carrying something behind her back.

Mayoni got up and stood in bewilderment as Kiana approached her. As Kiana neared, she turned and squatted awkwardly to pick up a large rock lying on the ground. Mayoni could see that both of Kiana's arms were securely lashed behind her back. Kiana turned and with great effort dropped the rock on the wall by Mayoni's side, and then lay prostrate naked on the ground before her. With her arms lashed, Mayoni recognized the traditional position for being stoned to death.

Mayoni picked up the rock and stared at it for a moment, and then tossed it aside. "Kiana, don't be ridiculous."

With difficulty, Kiana got up, squatted and picked up the rock again, and returned it to the wall by Mayoni's side. She then prostrated herself in front of Mayoni. "I'm not joking. I want you to stone me to death."

Mayoni picked up the rock and walked over to Kiana's side, sitting down near her head and laying the rock down. She petted Kiana's head in friendship. "Kiana, it's too cold to be doing this without clothes. May I cover you with my blanket?"

"I'm not joking. I want you to stone me to death."

"And why should I want to stone you?"

"Because I have betrayed you!"

Mayoni sighed. "We both competed for Kahoku's affections. You won. Kiana, there is no dishonor... Wait! How did you know I was here? I told only my mother Kara, and she promised not to tell anybody..."

"Kikapua as leader ordered her to tell... Mayoni, I have betrayed you! You and the class and the tribe!"

Mayoni paused... "How have you betrayed me?"

"I wanted Kahoku for my husband..."

"Kahoku is your husband, isn't he? Didn't you marry him last night?"

"Yes. We married... Loyal Kahoku! He still considers me to be his wife..."

"Kiana," Mayoni whispered, "What have you done?"

"I have betrayed you! Betrayed everybody! I wanted Kahoku for my husband..." Kiana gasped, the words would not come.

"Go on..."

"I committed to Kahoku last spring. He was reluctant to accept my commitment, saying that you owned his heart and he didn't want to hurt me... I managed to pet his feet anyway... But I knew I was in great danger of losing him..."

"Go on..."

"On our way back from the canyon, in the summer... I looked at his eyes... How he watched both you and me... I saw that he loved me... and that he adored you..."

"Go on..."

"When we got back to the village, I made up dummy emails, emails that appeared to come to me from you. I showed them to Kahoku, emails that showed your hatred that I had dared date the boy reserved for you... I poisoned Kahoku's love for you..."

Mayoni grunted, as if someone had slammed her stomach with a hard blow. "Oh Kiana..." she whispered.

"Kahoku trusted me. And when you tried to date his two closest friends, Kapono and Kale, he worried about them. He shared my poison with them... I'm so sorry Mayoni! It didn't occur to me that he would! He suggested they come up with some excuse not to date you..."

"My gosh... Oh my gosh! Kiana!"

"I was in a panic! The girl's committee would automatically review three rejections, request to interview the boys, probe their reasons... You know I'm co-moderator of the girl's executive committee. I tricked Akela into giving me her password. With both moderator passwords, I was able to clear your rejection reports from the committee files. None of the other girls ever saw them..."

"What?! So all of the committee's efforts to find volunteers to date me..."

"All lies! They were all my lies!"

"Oh Kiana..." Mayoni paused and then shouted, "Such reckless behavior! Unrectified from all perspectives! Kiana, you have betrayed everyone, including yourself! How did you dare?! How did you ever hope to keep this all hidden?!"

"I thought it would force you to find a place in an older marriage! I convinced Kahoku to let you find someone... And then I heard the rumors about Hiapo!"