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

Chapter 2: In the Pearl Island

KIKO WAS TO blame for all of it.

Like her, Kiko was born a slave. In the Pearl Island, the slaves worked under Datu Sakay's household. He was the leader of their tribe.

In exchange for their service, Datu Sakay would distribute the food and water equally among the tribesfolks. He made sure that all the inhabitants of the community will live bountifully and peacefully. He, together with his warriors, protected the territory against enemies and fierce beings.

Almost all of the boys wanted to be a warrior. Except Kiko. That git was a coward.

Tok...

"Aray!," protested Sapira, clutching her head.

Her mother, looking at her under strict eyes, firmly planted her hands on her waist.

Ani Selena was wearing a long dress, her long hair in a tight bun. On one hand, she was carrying the wooden ladle that she was using to stir the sweetened banana.

Right now, that wooden ladle was a weapon.

"Nay!?" she said in exasperation.

"Where are your thoughts flying and you haven't been able to listen to a single thing I said!" scolded her mother. "What did you do? You forgot to soak the sugarcane again!" Her mother was on the verge of squashing her with the wooden ladle.

Sapira grimaced.

"Eh," she moaned, "I don't want to cook. You're the only one who insists on me being here! The furnace is killing me!"

Faster than she could say stop, her mother cuffed her by the head.

"Aray!"

"Stop that Sapira! What kind of a woman doesn't know how to cook? Continue doing that and Datu Sakay will surely throw you out. Try the life of the barbarian for once, let's see if you could survive!"

The exiles were called barbarians. They were homeless and dirt poor. They beg for a living. Some turned to a life of crime to survive.

"You're so dramatic, Nay," retorted Sapira. "Cooking is the only chore I hate. I'm good at creating weapons and fixing things." --- she was her older brother's assistant who served as the tribe's blacksmith --- "Datu Sakay needs me."

That infuriated her mother.

Sapira automatically protected her head.

"Tsk," her mother grimaced, eyes crinkling in teasing merriment at Sapira's reaction, "paranoid." Sapira put her hand down, embarrassed. Curse this reaction, she thought. "Hoy Sapira!" --- Sapira grimaced. Of course, her mother was not done --- "Stop that. That's not a woman's job. Stop being your brother's protégé!"

And Ani Selena told her all the things that women should do.

"Sapira?"

"Po?"

"Are you listening?"

"A bit."

"What do you mean a bit?" said her mother, nostrils flaring. Sapira could feel another lecture coming. At this point however, someone came to distract her mother.

"Ani Selena? Are you here?" called a boy's voice.

Her mother stopped reprimanding her. Kiko's skinny frame emerged from the door.

"Oh Kiko, why are you here?" Ani Selena asked.

"Yeah," added Sapira. "What are you doing here?"

Kiko approached Ani Selena.