Telesa - The Covenant Keeper (56 page)

The workroom was a cluttered space where many different fragrances battled for supremacy. Salamasina stirred a small pot over a single gas burner. She pointed to a cluster of bottles each with a different colored liquid. “Pass me the purple bottle.”

“What’s in it?”

She carefully measured two teaspoons of the liquid into the mixture in the pot before answering, “Distilled essence of the tulia flower. A powerful neutralizer for
ti-fatu loa
. Which is what I’m positive Nafanua used on your friend.”

For the next ten minutes, Salamasina and I worked together over the antidote. I followed her instructions, cutting and stirring. Only when the antidote was complete and we waited for it to cool did I venture to ask her the question that had been burning at me.

“Salamasina, how did you know? About Nafanua, about me being a
telesa
?”

There was a tense silence before she answered. She gazed at me with a stare that seemed to try and pierce my very thoughts, as if trying to determine what I would do with her answers. “My mother was
telesa
. Back in Tonga.”

I was stunned. “There are
telesa
in Tonga?”

“Of course. There are
telesa
in many places throughout the Pacific. My mother was
Vasa Loloa
, water. I was raised in her sisterhood, taught their ways until I was twelve. Until they were certain that I had no earth gifts. And then they gave me away to a family in a coastal village.” She spoke the words simply, but even now, many years on I could feel the pain in her words.

“Did you ever see her again?”

A shrug. “Sometimes they would pass through our village but she never came to see me or ask after me. But it was alright. She gave me to a good woman who raised me with her other children. I was always gifted with plants. And healing. And I had learned many medicine secrets of the
telesa
, which I used to help my family and my village. So I had love and respect. And then when I was seventeen, I met Tanielu – Daniel’s grandfather. And I was no longer alone.” A soft smile transformed the severe face, and in the gas light I saw the beauty of the love they had shared. “We never had any children of our own though and so when Daniel’s mother – Moana – brought her baby to us, seeking a home for him, we were happy to have him and to love him. He doesn’t know that he is not our blood grandchild. And I would ask that you respect my wish to keep that information between us. For now at least.” For a moment she was lost in the past before she gave herself a mental shake and returned to the problems of the present. “So yes, I know a great deal about
telesa
and their ways. You know that what Nafanua and her sisterhood have done is an abomination to the true
telesa
calling don’t you?”

I shook my head and she continued. “
Telesa
are women blessed with gifts from earth but they have always used those gifts only to safeguard a particular area and to serve the people living there.
Vasa Loloa
to guide people to the best fishing spots, and protect the fishermen. The strongest among them were meant to be the oracle of warning for times of tsunami and storm surge, keep people safe.
Telesa
Matagi
are to summon rain for crops to grow, bring water to a parched land, call winds to drive the canoes to new lands, lightning for fire for cooking and for clearing forest to build homes. Ancient
telesa
lived in harmony with earth and humans. And in return, people honored them. Paid them tribute. Heeded their counsel about the best ways to care for the earth and her gifts.”

In confusion I interrupted her, “But that’s not what Nafanua told me.
Telesa
were rulers, powerful forces to be feared and reckoned with, I don’t understand …”

“There will always be those who use their gifts for evil. It has always been that way. Nafanua is a very old and very powerful
telesa
.. She has long bullied and suppressed
telesa
in Samoa who did not adhere to her way of thinking. No-one in her sisterhood can come close to matching her in gift strength I don’t think. Have you ever seen them use their powers?”

I nodded. “I’ve only ever seen two of them call lightning though. Nafanua and a younger one called Sarona. The others have summoned rain and wind but nothing like my mother and Sarona have.”

“Yes, that is usually how it is. The Covenant Keeper of a sisterhood doesn’t ever like to have
telesa
who are too powerful in their covenant. You understand how a covenant works?”

“No.”

“
Telesa
are best as solitary creatures. They are not known for their unity and loyalty to one another. Think of all the stereotypical worst traits of women – backstabbing, manipulative, and catty – and then imagine them exacerbated by
telesa
powers. I grew up within a sisterhood, so I know first-hand. To reduce the likelihood of
telesa
warring for territory, a single
telesa
who is unusually gifted will gather around her lesser
telesa
and weave the covenant that binds them together. The followers are bound to honor their leader and she can draw on their accumulated gifts as her own, thereby multiplying her powers many times over. In exchange, the Keeper is bound to protect them and can never raise her hand against them, or else their covenant is broken and they are all weakened as a result. It provides a form of protection for all parties. The Keeper cannot harm any other lesser sisters, which keeps them safe from her and they in turn cannot rise up against her, which cements her leadership.”

“I see, kind of … but they don’t live forever do they? Eventually a Covenant must die or something?”

“That’s true.
Telesa
live very long lives but they are not immortal. They may not be quite human in the sense that we understand the term, but they’re not like vampires or anything ridiculous like that.
Telesa
will age eventually and, when a leader ages, her powers weaken. Either she will step down and pass the covenant on to a younger sister or else she will have it taken from her in outright battle or some other form of subversive rebellion.”

Salamasina checked the antidote and pronounced it ready for use. She poured it into a slim phial and handed it to me. “If he cannot drink it then it needs to be inserted into his IV. All of it.”

“And then?”

“And then all you can do is wait. And pray. Now come, let us go in and Daniel can go with you to the hospital.”

Before we went into the house though, Salamasina stopped me with a firm hand on mine. “Leila, I ask you not to tell Daniel anything about my Tongan
telesa
connections. He does not know. And it is not time for me to tell him. Let the only
telesa
he knows, be you.”

I nodded and we joined Daniel in the kitchen where he had chop suey and rice waiting. I couldn’t eat anything until I had taken the antidote to Jason though so Salamasina phoned Matile and Tuala to let them know my whereabouts and to get their permission to stay late at the hospital with my sick friend, promising them that Daniel would ensure I made it home safely. Daniel got me a t-shirt to wear with the
lavalava
and we were in the car driving to the hospital. I was anxious. It was already 9.30pm. What if we were too late? What if I was making the wrong decision? What if Salamasina’s antidote didn’t work? That would mean I had held Jason’s only hope in my hands earlier that afternoon with Nafanua’s offer and then dashed it to pieces with my refusal. Daniel sensed my agitation and, at the hospital, he held my hand in his as we made our way to Jason’s floor.

Blaine and Matthew were there, falling asleep on benches outside Jason’s room. Both men jerked awake at my greeting. I introduced them to Daniel. Neither of them had anything hopeful or positive to report on Jason. He was still unconscious and his vitals were steadily weakening. The doctors had given him another antibiotic an hour before but didn’t seem very hopeful about his chances. Blaine confided that Jason’s parents were flying in and would arrive the next afternoon, but he didn’t think that would be in time. To say goodbye.

“Can I see him? Alone? Just for a moment, please?”

“Of course, go on in.”

Daniel stayed outside with the two while I went in quietly. Jason lay exactly as I had left him earlier that day. I had to move fast before a nurse came in and questioned what I was doing. I washed my hands at the tiny sink before carefully unscrewing the protector cap on the IV bag insert. I poured the antidote in with shaking hands, watching the clear liquid run into the IV fluid, sending with it all my prayers and hopes that it would work. I bent to whisper in Jason’s ear,

“You need to fight this, you hear me, Jason? I know you can. I’m so sorry I got you into this. I’m fighting for you, do you hear me? I’m not going to let Nafanua get away with this. I promise you. I will set the earth on fire if I have to.”

And then I slipped out of the room, answering Daniel’s questioning eyes with a slight nod. I didn’t want to leave Jason’s side, but there was one more thing that I needed to do. I asked Daniel if I could use his phone and walked outside into the corridor to make the call I had been dreading.

- Nafanua? It’s me, Leila.

- Where are you? You’re late. You were supposed to be here at eight to get the antidote. If you leave it too late it won’t work and Jason will die.

- I’m not coming.

- What do you mean? We had an agreement.

- No, you made an offer, which I’m declining. I don’t want your antidote. And I’m not coming back to your sisterhood. I don’t want to be one of your telesa. I hope you can respect my decision.

- You fool! You’re going to regret this a million times over before the week is out. Don’t you see, I am offering you the opportunity of a lifetime? To belong to the most powerful telesa sisterhood this land has ever known. To be a key part of the new Samoa.

- You mean you offered me the chance to be a killer like you. And your insane sisterhood. You’re supposed to be my mother. Love me, care about me, want the best for me. Instead you try to kill my friend? And threaten the lives of the boy I love and the only real family I have?

- Leila, listen to me, there is so much more you don’t understand, so much I can teach you, you cannot turn your back on me now.

- No. You listen to me. I was lost for a little while, but now I’m clear. I know who I am. And what I’m not. I’m not your daughter. I’m not a psychopathic telesa killer like you and your sisters. I’m Michael Folger’s daughter. I can set this world on fire and I will use all my gifts to stop you and your sisters if you dare come near any of my friends or family again.

When I pressed the cut-off button I was trembling and grateful for Daniel’s embrace as he came up quietly behind me. He cradled me in his arms. “So you did it. You made the break and threw down the gauntlet.”

I shivered as I remembered the gleeful fury of Sarona’s attack that afternoon. “I hope I made the right choice. What if the antidote doesn’t work? What if they do it? What if they hurt you and Salamasina?”

He shushed me with a soft kiss. “Hey, you made the only right choice available to you. Think about it. If you had gone back to them, they would have eventually used you to do far worse things. Can you imagine what kind of a weapon you would be in their hands if they could get you to join them? No, you couldn’t give in to them. We just need to wait now and trust that Mama’s medicine works. Then we’ll worry about tomorrow and what it brings, okay?” He bent to look direct into my eyes, “As long as we’re facing this together, we will be alright. I’m not afraid, as long as I have you.”

I couldn’t argue with that. And so, even though fear still tiptoed with icy feet through my chest, I allowed Daniel to hug and kiss my worries away and we went back to the ward to sit and wait with Blaine and Matthew. For Jason to wake up. Or to die.

* * * *

I must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew, Blaine was shaking me awake. “Leila. Hey Leila!” His voice was urgent. Daniel and I were both slumped on the waiting bench, Daniel with his arms around me. We both jerked awake at the same time. “What is it? What’s wrong? Is it Jason?”

“He’s waking up. Come see.”

It was just past midnight. I leapt to my feet and rushed into Jason’s room, where several nurses were fussing over a very groggy but very awake Jason. My breath caught in my throat, “Jason?”

In the midst of the buzzing medical team, he heard my voice. His head turned and his face lit with a pale smile – a mere ghost of the usual sunburst grin – but a smile nevertheless. “Leila? Boy am I glad to see you.” He looked at the nurse taking his temperature and jerked his head at me, “See that gorgeous girl over there? That’s a face I never thought I would see again. Not in this lifetime anyway.”

The nurse frowned warningly at him and then back at me. “You’re still not one hundred percent clear yet so don’t go getting all excited about that face. We need you calm and still and rested so we can get you better. And that means your visitors have got to leave.”

Jason ignored her and reached out to me with a shaky hand. “Come here.”

I moved to stand beside him and put my hand in his. He felt cold and I smiled at him with as much warmth and relief as I could muster. “I’m so glad you’re awake. We’ve all been so worried about you.” I tried not to cry. More than anything, Jason needed positivity and strength.

“Don’t go yet. Seeing you is making me feel heaps better.” He appealed to the grouchy nurse. “Please let her stay a while. She lights up my world you know.”

I grimaced at his attempt at a joke. But he wasn’t finished. “You should see her set things on fire with a single touch.”

The nurse was not amused and pursed her lips in disapproval. “Setting you on fire is the last thing you need right now Mr Williams. Your visitor will have to leave soon.” And with that she stalked away.