The Voyager and the Rogue

Chapter 17: Aihe

How did Laeli do this?

I asked myself this question almost every single day since my sister left. With my new position as chieftain, I had much more on my plate than before.

My big sister had a brief tenure as Motunui's chief before she left on her maiden voyage, and she handled her duties with exemplary grace and pride. We were all so proud of her.

But now, with her gone, it was up to me. It'd been almost two years since she left. I was 16 now, the same age our mother was when she became chief.

"Aihe, you're doing great. I promise." Dad would always assure me, or attempt to. He remembered being in my position, not knowing how to be a chief. But he wasn't born into it like Mom, Laeli, and I was. Though I was taught the same stuff as my sister, I just never thought I would have to put them to use.

But in the time since Laeli left, a lot had happened besides me stepping up.

Grandpa Tui died. Natural causes, our village healer informed us. He passed in his sleep one night, and his funeral was quite grand.

It killed me so much that I couldn't tell my sister. But in some ways, it was best she didn't know. She adored our grandfather.

The death was very difficult for Mom the most. After everything she had gone through, losing her father was just as painful to her as losing her grandmother.

But even despite it all, life carried on. The village continued to grow and prosper, and under Mom and Dad's guidance, I learned how to forge alliances and expand our trade routes. Unfortunately, that also came with proposed arranged marriages from chiefs desperate for themselves or their sons to be wed to the daughter of a chief.

"I remember dealing with the same thing when I was your age." When I complained, Mom said, "Men always want women for something." Dad would always send her a mock offended face, to which he received a tongue out in response.

During my first few months as chief, one or both of my parents would walk with me around the village and help me adjust to my new duties. Familial disputes were the worst, I hated getting involved in personal, private issues, but since I had a leadership position, people looked to me to tell them what to do—hardly any independent thought.

Dad often came with me as he and I had similar mindsets in resolving conflict; we tried calming everyone down so people could talk with a clearer mind. Angry minds lead to angry words, and angry words lead to even angrier families. He and I were walking around the village when we overheard yelling and profanity. We headed over and saw one of our tattooists, Paka'a arguing with another villager.

Dad looked at me. I took in a breath and walked over cautiously, greeting Paka'a first.

"Paka'a? Hey... what's going on?" He didn't even acknowledge me. But the woman he was arguing with, Kalamainu'u, saw us approaching and immediately ceased her argument.

"Oh! Chief! Aihe! I uh... I'm so sorry you walked in on this."

"What's going on here?" I asked.

"Just disagreeing about our property lines." I gulped. I hadn't had a lot of guidance about property disputes, so I nervously looked to Dad, who stepped up next to me. He patted me on the shoulder, assuring me it'd be fine. I watched him as he talked to Paka'a and Kalamainu'u and slowly began to understand. The whole argument was petty, to begin with, and I was able to help Dad resolve the issue.

"You did a great job, Aihe." I beamed.

"Really?" He nodded.

"Mom is going to be delighted when we get home." On our way back to our fale, we ran into Gramma Sina, who was chatting with my aunt Huihana.