Book 1: Sapira and the Destined Slave [English] (on-going)

Chapter 1: When the Tikbalangs Got Married

THAT MORNING, THE weather wore its most deceptive personality.

The whole afternoon was enveloped by hot and muggy weather: hotness that positively burned. But in the middle of it, surprisingly, rain started to fall. The poor people who never stood a chance ended up looking like drenched chickens. 

A girl who was slowly walking quietly swore.

She was Sapira, the Princess of the Castle of Montala. 

She was kidding, of course.

The truth was, she was the great slave of a great princess who was a daughter of a great Datu. And that great princess was the reason she was exhausted and exploited by the flirtatious weather.

Sapira was wearing a short and mud-colored dress woven from a sturdy branch. She was wearing bakya, a wooden and sturdy sandal, in her feet. Her long and wavy hair was wrapped in braids.

Because of the sudden rain, the girl had no choice but to find a shelter.

She was in the middle of a road lined by several trees, far away from the Palace of Montala. Deserted, with very few structures that could be found in this road. Very few people walked this road, too.

"Darn,” she muttered, “what's up with the weather?”

The weather was extremely fickle. There was fierce competition between the hotness of the sun and the relentless trickling of the rain. Both would not back down; both were stubborn. Peculiar. Odd.

“Ku, tikbalangs are getting married,” said an old woman beside her. “Shameless creatures!”

The woman was wearing a colourful gown. In her neck and arms, she was wearing silver and gold. Inwardly, Sapira thought those jewels were such a waste on the woman, rolling her eyes at the sheer ridiculousness of what the woman just said.

“Love, tikbalang’s don’t exist,” nervously corrected the guy beside the woman, thoroughly embarrassed. He looked left and right to ensure that no one had heard his companion. 

Of course, a half-horse, half-man creature doesn't really exist, thought Sapira incredulously. Tikbalangs are stuff of legends. Only fools would believe them.

“Hmmp, isn’t that what older folks say during this kind of weather!” the woman screeched. Annoyed, she fanned herself. “Why haven’t you found me a shelter yet? This rain’s driving me insane!”

Sapira grimaced. What a demanding woman. 

At that exact moment, Sapira saw a tree near their place. It was very big, with wide and broad branches. Several rabbits were hiding beneath it. The leaves of that tree were shining. 

Sapira smiled widely. She immediately went to the said tree, the perfect spot to serve as a shelter against the terrible weather. 

But, she wasn’t the only one who lusted after the tree.

“Ay!” 

The three of them almost banged their heads when they reached the tree at the same time.

“Hoy!” bellowed the woman, the first to recover from the momentary paralysis. She looked at Sapira from head to toe. “We came here first. Go away!”

And the woman pushed Sapira away. 

“What do you mean you come here first?” Sapira replied indignantly. “I was here first!”

The woman’s eyebrow immediately went up, pointing at the tattoo marked on top of Sapira's breast, as if that gave the woman the right and authority to kick Sapira out. 

That tattoo showed two periods embraced by the figure ⤰. When she turned thirteen, that symbol was marked in her chest using a sharp knife soaked in alugbati and calamansi. 

That was the symbol of Sapira's slavery.

And this wasn’t the first time this had happened to her.

IT ALL STARTED hundreds of years ago. Once upon a time, the island of Montala was shrouded in mystery and magic. Back then, it was the home of the myths, the playground of the diwatas, and the airfields of the human hawks. There was melody in the rustling of the leaves and rhythm in the dances of the animals. 

But it all changed when the interlopers from the West came. Riding balangays, the conquerors came. Bit by bit, they unravelled the web of mysteries and magic. From then on, order reigned. A system was born to take care of that order. The people were divided into maharlika, the blue-blooded elites, malaya, the rich free men, timawa, the hardworking free men, and alipin, the slaves. 

And Sapira was an alipin.
   
Sapira sneered. She had enough of this kind of life. 

The woman’s eyebrow went up at her reaction, telling Sapira she had no right to disobey.

Sapira’s temper flared. “Stuff it down your throat, then!” she grumbled, stomping off. 

It was a big mistake. 

As if on cue, the jaws of the two dropped. They looked at Sapira angrily. 

“Rude!”

“Disrespectful!”

“Ill-mannered!”
   
Sapira’s eyes widened. When she turned to her right, a mob of people, nostrils flaring from excessive anger, was coming at her. On her left were people that were throwing razor-sharp looks, ready to scratch her eyes out. They were coming at her, all at once. All at once... All...
   
She closed her eyes, heart pounding.  Is this really the end for me?

“MISS?” ASKED THE man, “are you okay?”

Sapira opened her eyes, surveying her left and right.
   
There was nobody there.
   
Frowning, she looked for the mob of people that was coming at her. They were nowhere to be found. There was only the three of them. The woman’s face was still sullen.

Sapira shook her head. Sometimes, she's way too melodramatic.

“Miss?”
   
This guy, acting like he's kind, but definitely had no qualms when it comes to kicking people out.

But she kept that thought to herself. She forced herself to give the two a bow as a way of showing respect. She let them have the tree to themselves. Like what was expected of her.
   
Sapira did not give herself a chance to see the victorious smile of the old woman. It will just annoy her. Without looking back, she dived straight back onto the deceiving weather, hot rainshowers soaking her mercillessly. She looked at the horizon. It continued to be bipolar. Maybe, just like the weather, there was also something wrong with what happened.

Maybe.

In the periphery of her eyes, Sapira saw the huge tree that sheltered the couple. It was no longer shining.

GLOSSARY OF FILIPINO WORDS:

* Datu - chieftain
*bakya - a wooden and sturdy sandal
*tikbalang - a mythological creature; half-horse and half-man. There is a superstition that when the weather is sunny and rainy at the same time, tikbalangs are getting married.
*Ay! - a Filipino expression of surprise
*Hoy! - a Filipino expression; roughly translated as "You!"
*alugbati - spinach
* calamansi - Philippine lime
*Diwata - Goddess
*balangay - small boat
*maharlika - elite
*malaya - the rich free men
*timawa - the hardworking free men
*alipin - the slaves