Why girls rule

To'o, the royal seer, had seen him coming in a dream. No name, no face, but he'd seen him journeying through The Tube, the one who would surpass all tests and win the hand of Princess Tuberosa La'a. And so he had proclaimed it -- the eventual prince would arrive today.

Now, hurrying through the rotunda, bustling with activity for the royal wedding and the coming of Tokelani, goddess of whoopee, To'o believed he was about to meet that young chief. The foremen from the royal tuberose plantation reported that the young chief had arrived as if out of thin air today, and when questioned said he arrived "by Ola," goddess of life. Further, instead of wanting to jump into his testing and meet the princess, this one insisted that he first venerate the bones of Kamehameha.

To'o was the uncle of the princess, brother of the queen. In the matrilineal La'a line, descended from the gods, girls ruled and boys spoke with the gods. To'o actually walked with many of the gods, speaking face to face. Ola, Pele, Kane, he knew them all, and they graced him with many visions. And soon he'd know Tokelani!

He found the young chief in the Chapel of the Iwi, kneeling before the ka'ai that held the sacred bones of Kamehameha -- woven sennet in the form of the human torso and head, with mother of pearl inlaid for the eyes, the mouth formed by the king's own teeth. The iwi had rested here on the Rock of Ages altar -- named for the large, polished lava boulder whose presence in The Tube was a mystery -- since that moonless night in 1819 when the brothers Hoapili and Ho'olulu obeyed the king's request to be brought into an undersea cave and handed over to the Tuber Border Patrol.

To'o and the old Kane priest who'd escorted Kaneloa here watched from the archway that led into the chapel as the young chief knelt with head bowed, silent, motionless.

"Yes, I accept," he whispered at last. "Thank you."

"He goes straight to the head of the line for his testing," To'o said as the young chief prostrated himself before the Great King.

"You don't know the half if it," the old priest whispered. "His name is Kaneloa. He says it's from the Big Island, a family name from long ago."

To'o arched his brows. "If he is descended from the lost Kaneloa... that would just about seal the deal, wouldn't it? What is his line's status?"

"Low chiefs of excrement haulers at the Palace Tube in Oahu."

"Ooh, that complicates things."

They watched as Kaneloa slowly stood and turned. To'o introduced himself. "Now we begin your testing," he said.

"There are more important things to do first," Kaneloa said. "Take me to the sea cave entrance where the Great King entered. There's a problem there, or about to be."