When Water Burns

by Lani Wendt Young

  Salamasina wanted to shake her. Slap her. Snap her out of the fantasyland she was living in. “You fool. Don’t you know what telesā do to male babies? Don’t you know anything of telesā law?”

  “What are you talking about? You should be happy for me that I have found someone who makes me as complete as Tanielu does for you.” The younger woman’s eyes were filled with confusion. “Why aren’t you happy for me?”

  “Telesā law forbids male offspring. Men are not allowed to have telesā gifts. When your baby is born, the Covenant will kill him. And if you continue to give of your gifts so openly to Ryan’s research, then they will kill him too. There is no future for you with this man. Or this child. I’m so sorry.”

  “You’re lying. That can’t be true. Telesā are protectors of life.”

  “Are you sure about that? Have you forgotten that day on the beach? Tavake didn’t think twice about killing Vahalesi and the others. She eliminated them so she could make you stay with the Covenant. Do you really think she will allow you to leave the sisterhood? To be with this man, to live life as a wife and a mother? Tavake will never let you go. You are too powerful. Your Gift is too great an asset for her.” Salamasina was soft with compassion. “I’m so sorry. It can’t work. Not for you and Ryan, and certainly not for your baby.”

  It didn’t seem possible for the day to still be so rich with beauty and lushness. For the air to be sweet with ripe mango, golden sticky sweetness. Not when a young woman in love was struggling to accept this most dire of news. The two women were silent for a long while as Moanasina stared at the distant blue of the horizon. Finally, she stood. “I must go.”

  “What will you do?”

  “I’m going to tell Ryan everything. And together we will figure it out.” She tried to look braver than she felt.

  Salamasina winced. Telling Ryan Grey about the telesā would break even more laws. But then, Moanasina had already passed the point of no return. She hugged the younger woman fiercely close. “Be careful. If there’s anything I can do to help, you will tell me?”

  She watched Moanasina leave and felt very useless. It had been a long time since she last wished for telesā power. But she wished for it today. So she could stand beside Moanasina when she faced her greatest challenge.

  Moanasina meant to go to Ryan as soon as she left Salamasina’s garden, but she was met on her way by another. Tavake. The Covenant Keeper waited for her in the Dolphin Cove.

  “Can we talk?”

  Moanasina gazed out over the beckoning blueness, to where flashes of silver called to her – tempted to refuse. To run. To leave. To go and never look back. But Tavake was the one person she could never evade. As the Keeper, Tavake was the crucible for the sisterhood’s combined Gifts, even Moanasina’s. There could be no hiding from this woman.

  “What do you want to talk about?”

  “I know you are with child. I know it is a boy. The ocean has spoken it to me.”

  Moanasina didn’t try to deny it. “What are you going to do?”

  “I have allowed you much leeway. More than any other vasa loloa in our sisterhood. But this foolishness must end. I can no longer excuse you from telesā law. When the sun sets on this day, I will kill Ryan Grey. But I will spare your life and that of your son. You will leave this place and find temporary refuge elsewhere.” She waved a careless hand out to the ocean. “There are any number of scattered atolls you can live on. You will wait out the duration of your pregnancy, and when your child is born, you will give him to another woman to raise. You will return to us and resume your rightful place as my Second. Our mother ocean needs you. Our Covenant needs you. None of the sisterhood need know that you birthed a male child. It will be as if all this had never happened.”

  Her command brought Moanasina to her knees in the sand. “I beg of you, please, spare Ryan’s life. I’ll send him away, give him up. I’ll never see him again. Please. Spare his life and you will never again have to doubt my commitment to vasa loloa. I covenant to you on my sisterhood, that I will give everything that I am to our ocean mother. Just promise me you will let Ryan and my son live. Please.”

  Was it compassion that moved Tavake? Or judicious leadership? Either way, she relented. “See to it that Grey has left our Tongan waters before nightfall. And remember Moanasina, you can keep no secrets from me on the ocean. I will know if you lie to me. If you try to run from me. I will find you. I will know if you make contact with this man again. And any time I so choose to change my mind on this? I can seek him out on any of the many oceans of the world and kill him.” A chilling smile. “How convenient that he is a marine biologist. He will always be within easy reach.”

  And with that final reminder, Tavake turned and left the beach.

  Nobody knew what was said on Ryan’s boat that afternoon between him and the girl he loved. What is known is that Moanasina said goodbye to the one man who spoke her language and understood her communion with the ocean. The man with chipped emerald eyes and a crooked smile who sang to dolphins in the moonlight. That afternoon, lies were told in the name of love. There was anger. Hurt. Betrayal. And before the last rays of fire bled from the horizon, Ryan Grey smashed his guitar on the gleaming wet rocks that encircled the harbor and then cast off, setting sail for the open sea.

  Moanasina stood on the silent shore and watched him go, wishing with every fiber of her being that she could summon him back. But love gave her strength. To say goodbye and to safeguard the secret of the child she bore. Ryan must never know about his son. Both their lives depended upon it. Not until she was certain of his departure, not until his boat had long disappeared into the silken night did she give way to her grief. Salt tears mingled with ocean as she took to the water, calling to the majestic grey bulk of a whale to carry her far away from Niuatoputapu. To an island where she could grow a son, far away from the eyes of the sisterhood.

  People love gossip. And the more tragic, the better. The whole island buzzed with the news. Moanasina’s lover had up and left her. Packed up his boat and sailed away without looking back. And Moanasina was missing. Nobody knew why. But Salamasina thought she knew. She was certain that Ryan Grey had done what many men do when they hear their lover is with child. He had abandoned her.

  Tavake breathed a sigh of relief at Ryan’s departure. Moanasina’s place in the sisterhood was intact. A broken heart is much easier to heal than a broken covenant vow. She looked forward to the day when Moanasina’s son would be born, for then the most powerful member of her Covenant would return.

  The months passed and Salamasina’s pregnancy seemed to have escaped the curse that accompanied the first three. Hopes, wishes, and dreams for the child that would be blossomed with the swelling of her belly.Tanielu fashioned her a wood rocking chair ‘to rock our baby to sleep,’ he said with a proud smile. Salamasina put aside her work in the garden and started sewing clothing for the little one that would come. They were happy times. Days of expectant waiting, light with the promise of the joy that a child would bring.

  It was in the final weeks of Salamasina’s pregnancy when she arrived. Moanasina.

  She came to Niuatoputapu one storm-filled night in a canoe without paddles, carried by an ocean current that moved to her command, accompanied by the silver dolphins. She was already in labor by then and Tanielu had to carry her from the canoe to their home. Lightning overhead illuminated her pain-wracked face.It was a long and difficult birthing, one that even all of Salamasina’s medicines could not gentle. Moanasina needed her ocean mother’s strength to help her through the delivery but she would not allow them to take her to the water. She was adamant that she did not want to give birth in the ocean because she was afraid the sisterhood would sense her.

  “No!” A tortured scream. Moanasina grabbed Salamasina’s hand in a vise-like grip, her eyes wild with anguish, “No, we have to stay away from the ocean. The vasa loloa must not know of my son’s birth. Please, no ocean.”They heeded her pleas. What else could they do? And so the delivery
was far more painful than it should have been. Far more gut wrenching and drawn out. Her son was born in the early hours of the morning. A child of the dawn. He was beautiful. But he had the mark of vasa loloa and Moanasina wept to see it.

  “Please, I beg you, take my son and make him yours. You are the only woman I want to entrust my child to.” She pointed to Salamasina’s own swollen belly. “In a few days your child will be born. You could give birth to twins and no one would question it. You are Ungifted, the sisterhood does not care about your children. Please.”

  They agreed. Of course. Moanasina was like a daughter to Salamasina, the little sister she had never had. They promised they would love her son as their own, raise him side by side with their child. Moanasina did not linger. She held her son for only a moment, whispered tender words of farewell and then she slipped out into the rain, leaving him in Salamasina’s arms. They tried to call her back and Tanielu would have gone after her, but all the night’s excitement brought on Salamasina’s pains and his wife needed him. Another baby would be born that day.

  Unlike Moanasina though, Salamasina’s delivery was brief and, unlike Moanasina, her baby did not survive. Tanielu held his daughter in his arms and wept.

  “Where is she? I want to hold my baby?” Salamasina asked, exhausted.

  “I’m sorry Salamasina, she’s here but she’s gone.”

  He handed her a perfect child. She was a frangipani blossom ready to wilt if held too close. So soft. So small. So still.“I’m here, Little One. Mama’s here.” Salamasina cried, but it was no use.

  Tanielu buried their daughter beside the frangipani tree in the yard. There would be no twins. Only Moanasina’s child. They named him Daniel.

  In giving them both up, Moanasina had ensured the safety of the man she loved and the child she carried. But she was not yet done. She removed the carved bone neckpiece she wore that Tavake had given her many years ago upon her entry to the Covenant. She left it at Tavake’s doorstep with one final message. I said I would give everything that I am to our ocean mother. Know this – I will always be watching. Remember your promise.

  It was the most perfect of mornings when Moanasina climbed to the rugged cliff-top on the nearby island of Tafahi. She paused for a moment at the peak, to look out over the vast expanse of ocean to the blue strip where earth meets heaven. She invoked the ancient right of telesā, to gift one’s soul to that which gave her strength. She prayed that her ocean mother would accept her Gift.

  And then she leapt to her death on the jagged rocks below.

  Moanasina’s body washed up on the Niuatoputapu shore the next day with the early morning tide. Battered, bruised, and broken. Salamasina wept at the news. The sisterhood prepared the body for burial but gave each other sideways glances, wondering who would replace Moanasina as the Covenant Second?

  Tavake raged. She was livid with anger at this final act of betrayal and the ocean beat with fury upon the island’s rocky shores. But it was a useless anger. With her death, Moanasina had severely weakened Tavake’s Covenant and by gifting her power back to vasa loloa – she had ensured that she would never truly be absent from her son’s life.

  Or from Ryan’s.

  It was fitting revenge against the Covenant Keeper.

  Five months later and Salamasina was bathing her son outdoors in a giant tub that Tanielu had made for him. She would fill it with water first thing in the morning and let it sit in the sun to warm. By mid-morning, the bathwater was perfect for a little boy to splash in. Daniel loved the water. Salamasina was careful and never took him to the ocean, but bath-time was always his favorite time of day. A shadow covered them and the baby gurgled with delight at the appearance of a visitor. Salamasina turned.

  Tavake.

  Startled, she leapt to her feet, snatched Daniel from the water and instinctively held him close. Tanielu was at the workshop. She and Daniel were alone with the Covenant Keeper. Fear choked her. My son, I will give my life for you but it will not be enough. No. It will not be enough. Not if Tavake wishes to take more.

  Neither woman spoke for a taut moment. And then Daniel wriggled against Salamasina’s tight embrace, annoyed at being confined. Gurgled with that delight-filled sound that babies have and smiled at the strange woman.

  “He’s beautiful.” Tavake smiled at the baby, who responded with more excited wriggles.

  It was not what Salamasina expected. Noting her surprise, Tavake gestured impatiently. “What? You think that because I am telesā I cannot find joy in a child?”

  Her words cut in ways that Salamasina knew she had not intended. Her reply was laced with the sting of the vaofefe biting grass. “You never found any joy in your own child so, yes, I find it difficult to accept that you would take any in your grandson.”

  She put emphasis on the words ‘your grandson’ as if to say, See Tavake? This is MY little boy. Isn’t he perfect? He’s my son. Son of the Ungifted. Not telesā. Not Covenant. No.

  Tavake sighed tiredly. “You’re wrong. All my daughters have given me happiness. But a Covenant Keeper carries much responsibility on her shoulders. She must make difficult decisions to preserve her sisterhood and abide by many laws not of her making. Not of her choosing. We keep Covenants. We very rarely make them. A strong leader cannot afford to have emotions …” an impatient shake of her head. “Never mind. One day maybe you will understand why a mother would choose to close the doors of her heart. To love, to feeling. Because sometimes it hurts less that way.”

  She gestured towards the laughing little boy. “May I hold him?”

  Salamasina wanted to scream a refusal. But that would only set alarm bells ringing. Carefully she wrapped Daniel in his towel, concealing his tell-tale birthmark. A crested wave.

  “Be careful.” The voice was gruff, but hands were gentle as she gave Moanasina’s child into the hands of the woman who could issue his death warrant.

  Tavake held Daniel with an awkward delicacy, as if afraid he would shatter. “Hello little one.” The baby responded with eager delight, kicking, waving his little hands everywhere, smiling. He caught a strand of Tavake’s hair in his fingers and tugged at it, moving his fist to his mouth. She stopped him with a gentle touch. “No, no. Don’t do that. Such a strong little boy. So perfect. Faka’ofo’ofa. So beautiful. Look at his eyes. Green like emerald oceans. Unusual eyes indeed for a Tongan baby, don’t you think?” She looked at the other woman and there was nothing innocent in her question.

  Salamasina shrugged helplessly. Her heart fragmented into a thousand pieces. My son. My Daniel.

  Tavake tickled the little boy and smiled as his peals of laughter rippled through the garden. Laughter danced like butterflies in the breeze. “Tǎpuaki, such a blessing. He will bring you much happiness, Salamasina. I pray you will always find joy in your motherhood.” She placed a soft kiss on his forehead, breathing in his sweet baby scent before returning him to the other woman. “Thank you for letting me see him. Hold him.” A wry smile. “A gift for an old woman.” The words sounded strange coming from a woman who defied time and looked like she should be Salamasina’s sister.

  Salamasina clutched her baby fiercely, wishing Tavake would leave them. But she was not done. The light left her face. Tavake’s eyes were wet river stones of severity. “But he will also bring you much heartache. Listen to my words, daughter. If you want this child to live, you and your husband must take him, leave Niuatoputapu and never return. It is not safe for him here.”

  She knew. Tavake knew. Salamasina rushed to protest, to deflect, but Tavake waved away the lies impatiently. “Save it. There will be time enough for deception later, and I only hope you will be practiced at it enough to safeguard your family. The path you are choosing is a dangerous one. The boy’s future is inevitable but you can try to keep him with you for as long as possible. If you love him – he must never know the truth of his birth. Never speak of telesā to him. Or to others. Do not forget, there will be telesā wherever you go throughout the Pacific. Always be on g
uard. Always keep him close.”

  Salamasina secured Daniel’s wrapping around him a little tighter and wished she could erase the mark that screamed out his heritage. Tavake shook her head. “I don’t need to see the mark of vasa loloa on his body to know that he will be Gifted. As Covenant Keeper, I can sense him. The ocean is strong within him, as it was in his mother. That is why you must leave here. There are those who would move heaven and earth to ensure that this child never reaches the Gifted year. Or worse, there are those who would seek him out so they can take his Gift. Treasure this child while you can Salamasina, for it is most likely that you will not have him long.”

  Tavake turned to leave. Salamasina watched her go with tears streaming down her cheeks. “Wait!” A deep breath. “Why? Why are you doing this? Why are you letting us go?”

  The smile Tavake gave her had no joy in it. “In spite of what you may think of me, I have never killed a baby. And I’m not about to set a precedent now.” A careless shrug. “Think of this as my gift to you. Because of the Covenant, I could not be your mother. But here now, I can ensure that you enjoy the gift of motherhood, even if only for a short time. Farewell. You will understand when I say that I hope we never see each other again.”

  And so Tanielu and Salamasina left their home, the island where they had both grown up, knowing that they could never return there. They moved to Samoa and Tanielu established his welding business. Salamasina made sure not to display her skills with healing too openly. They lived a simple, quiet life with their son and they were happy. When Daniel grew to boyhood, they told him Moanasina had been their daughter – and in some ways that was true – Salamasina had loved her like a daughter, a sister, a friend. Daniel was a son who gave his parents much happiness.