6: Chess Pieces 2

Kinabukasan ay nagpaalam na si Uncle Shin sa kanila. But he promised to bring everyone sa bakasyon.

Emy, on the other hand, was already at home sa Hans residence. Na ikinatuwa ng mag-asawang Francis at Feng nang lubusan. They also started to know her more.

Who would have thought the young lady was also interested in military?

In fact, nagulat nalang si Franco ng maabutan niyang minsan si Emy sa Dojo at may hawak na wooden sword.

She was trying to attack the wooden dummy but she easily got tired.

"You have surprisingly good posture and position, Emy. But your body needs muscles for strength."

He told her while smiling. He found his cousin cute.

"Can you help me then?"

There goes again her doe eyes. Napakamot na lang sa ulo niya si Franco bago naupo sa harapan ni Emy. Seriously, she didn't have to look at him like that. He would do anything for her.

"Of course. But do you really want to learn this?"

"Yes. I don't like to be weak anymore."

Natahimik na lang si Franco. He was thinking that Emy was probably bullied sa Royal City. Hindi rin naman lingid sa kaalaman niya na pinaghihinalaan ng mga elders ang mga step-siblings ni Emy na dahilan kung bakit siya naaksidente noon.

Hindi tuloy niya napigilan na hawakan sa ulo si Emy at tapikin ito.

"Hey, I am not a kid anymore." Sabay tingin ng masama sa kanya.

Franco bursted out laughing. He already noticed that Emy liked to act matured. But in his eyes, she was still a kid.

"Stop it."

"Fine, fine. Hindi na po ako tatawa."

"Tch."

Meanwhile, sa may pinto ng dojo, Francis and Feng couldn't help but to smile. Hindi nila inaasahang magkakasundo agad ang dalawa kahit na ngayon pa lang sila nagkita at nagkakilala. Both of them were just glad. They liked Emy so much na kung pwede lang nilang ampunin ito, gagawin na nila.

***

For the past few days, busy si Emy sa pag-alam kung nasaan na at kung anong nangyari sa mga kaibigan niya noon. Si Veronica ang pinaalam niya sa mga iyon.

Veronica was surprised kung paanong nakilala ni Emy ang mga taong pinaiimbestigahan niya gayong hindi pa naman siya nakapunta pa noon sa Grey City but she didn't ask questions.

That's one of the things she liked about Veronica and Lia. They were loyal and followed a command without any second thought. Maaasahan din sila sa mga bagay bagay. And most of all, they were skilled.

Parehas silang maalam ng martial arts but Lia was more skilled on that. On the other hand, Veronica was more adept in strategies. Mukha lang reckless si Veronica, but Samantha found out that she grew up reading war books kaya naman kapag tinanong mo siya about strategies, you could gain insights from her.

"Miss, your Aunt found Grace and Anika." Balita sa kanya ni Lia isang araw. Grace and Anika were Shereen's maidservants. Just like, Lia and Veronica, they were loyal too and had a bit of martial arts skills.

"Good. Make sure that my aunt will buy them for me."

Tumango si Lia at saka umalis.

Siya naman ay naupo sa may harap ng table niya kung saan may isang chess board. She never liked chess before. But she found out recently that the game was more than just taking down your enemies one by one.

The more intelligent you were, the more you could make the defeat of your enemy agonizing. It was more interesting now to her than before.

She picked up her pawns and put them in place.

***

That day, ipinakilala din sa kanya ni Auntie Feng sila Grace at Anika. They were both relieve dahil na rin kanila Lia at Veronica.

They also pledged their loyalty towards Emy as they heard from the two ang ginawang pagbili sa kanila ni Emy mula sa merchant na gusto silang ibenta sa brothel.

Of course, to any women, wala ng mas matinding insulto sa pagkatao ang ibenta sa isang pleasure house. Men of flesh would bought them bodies and used them as much as they wanted.

Mas double ang suntok sa kanilang apat kung mapupunta sila sa lugar na iyon. They were probably maidservants but the reason why the Prime Minister hired them for both of his daughters were because they once came from a military family.

Nothing was permanent in this world. Maaaring prominente ang pamilya mo ngayon, but sooner or later, other families would be better than you. Hanggang sa unti unti, makakalimutan na kayo ng iba.

But Samantha's father never forgot them. He remembered good people and helped them as much as he could.

Isa din yan sa dahilan kung bakit napakahalaga ng posisyon niya bilang confidante ng Emperor.

"Emy, nasaan ang isa mo pang maidservant?"

Pagsulpot ni Auntie Feng isang araw sa backyard ni Emy.

"May inutos po ako sa kanya sa labas, Auntie. May kailangan po ba kayo sa kanya?"

"I have needs for the four of them." Naupo si Auntie Feng sa tabi ni Emy saka hinawakan ang dalawang kamay ng pamangkin. "Your Uncle and I decided to train them together with the rest of the army. Tutal naman ay may mga background sila sa martial arts, might as well train them more to ensure your security and dafety."

Nagliwanag naman ang mukha ng tatlong babae atsaka nagtinginan sa isa't isa. Not everyone had privilege to be trained by a military family.

"What do you think?" Emy asked the three of them.

Agad silang nagbow.

"We will be forever indebted to you and your family, Miss." Sabay sabay nilang sabi.

Emy smiled at Aunty Feng.

"I will be indebted too, Auntie."

"Don't be like that, Emy. We are family. Dapat lang na isipin namin ang seguridad mo. After all, not all year ay naririto kami. Sa trabaho namin ng Uncle mo, may panahon na kailangan naming magpunta sa ibang lugar. Not unless, gustuhin mong sumama sa amin."

"I understand."

"Well, kung dumating na si Veronica ay papuntahin mo siya sa field para magpractice."

"Sige po."

***

It wasn't just her maidservants who were busy training. Emy and Franco were also in Dojo and strengthening Emy's muscles and body.

Franco didn't hold back. He trained Emy just like how they were training their army. He even wrote down work out for her. Of course, with the help of Auntie Feng. After all, women had different formulas of work out.

Ang kailangan lang naman ni Emy ay mapalakas ang katawan niya and her endurance. Franco realized that she already grasped the basic of swordfighting probably from reading books. Isa din yun sa pinagkakaabalahan ng pinsan niya nitong mga nakaraang araw eh.

"One more time..." Emy said one time habang hinihingal pa siya matapos niyang tumumba sa atake ni Franco.

"Ulit?"

"Oo."

"Come on, Emy. It's already dusk. I think it is already time to rest."

"Last one please."

Again, she looked at him using her doe eyes. Kahit na obvious na pagod na pagod na siya ay effective pa rin yun kay Franco.

"Bakit ba ang sipag mong magpractice? We still have 7 weeks of vacation, wag mong sabihing igugugol mo ang oras mo sa buong bakasyon sa pagtetraining?"

"I want to be strong as you."

"That's impossible. It took me 19 years bago maging ganito. And still it wasn't enough. Malayo pa bago ako maging kagaya nila Papa at Mama."

"Then I can't afford to rest. I need to use my time wisely to catch up to you."

"Are you serious?"

"When did I kid you?"

Franco was left dumbstruck. Emy was serious.

"One last time, please..."

"Fine." Napahinga na lang ng malalim si Franco bago tumayo ulit.

***

After dinner, bumalik agad sa kwarto niya si Emy. She could feel ache all over her body. So she decided to ask Lia to put ointment on her body.

She also wanted to talk to Veronica about what she had found out about the people she was asking to be investigated.

As of now, it was just the two of them whom she trusted with these matters. Shewas planning to have Grace and Anika to be her maidservants whenever she went out. After all, Lia and Veronica were always seen together with her nung siya pa si Samantha.

It might bring suspicions if they would be with her as Emy especially if seen by her enemies. She wanted to remain hidden as long as she could. Until she was ready to move her pieces again.

***