The King's Lover

"We cannot forget," Kaomi declared finally. "We cannot. I refuse. I refuse to be fully taken by the ways of these foreigners."

"How?"

"Whatever happens, we have our connections. To the land, to the gods, to each other, to the history of our world from its very creation. I will not lose those links. I refuse."

Kauikeaouli drew in a deep breath. "I refuse too."

Kaomi took Kauikeaouli's hand in his. "I think that's a start."

***This story is based on a true story about Kauikeaouli Kamehameha III's relationship with his aikane, Kaomi. Kauikeaouli and Kaomi were lovers for several years, and Kauikeaouli even named Kaomi as co-ruler after his mother died. Kauikeaouli's rule happened in a transitionary time for the Hawaiian islands, in which Christian missionaries, global capitalism, and disease epidemics were threatening traditional Kanaka Maoli ways of living and relating to the land. By keeping practices like hula and storytelling alive, the Kanaka Maoli resisted the total encroachment of European hegemony, despite major changes in religion, economy, politics, and family. The connections between hula traditions and sexuality that I explore in this story are also based in fact. Procreation chants were, and continue to be, an important way that artists celebrated genealogy and the connections of the ali'i ruling classes to each other, the 'aina (land), and the akua (gods).***