The Illuminated Maiden

Chapter XXXIII

"Iya!" Paglinawan exclaimed, as she exited the doors of the throne room, where her aunt was waiting for her by the tree in the courtyard. She was a woman donning a green blouse with golden floral embroidery, paired with a pearl-colored dress, with golden bracelets on her wrists, and plate-like earrings dangling from her ears. On her head, in the foreground of her wavy hair that had streaks of gray, was a circlet of gold and jade stones. Paglinawan rushed toward her aunt as a child would. Tayag came out of the throne room and waited by the door.

"Paglinawan!" said the aunt, who embraced her. She took her aunt's hand and placed it on her forehead as a gesture. "My, Paglinawan." Her aunt grabbed her hands. "You've grown so much! I remember you being a small child the last you were here."

"That was years ago," Paglinawan said. "You yourself Iya, you haven't aged one bit. You are just as I remembered."

"Oh, I don't think you remember that much, my niece. My hair is graying, as you can see."

"But your face is still ever youthful, Iya Intan. Anyway, how has it been? Has Mandalungan been treating you well? How are my cousins? Where are they, anyway? How come I don't see them around here? I'm sorry, I have so many questions. It's just that it's been a long time, and I have to catch up."

"Oh, that's all right, my dear." Intan chortled. "Well, why don't you walk with me? I'll tell you everything you need to know."

Paglinawan nodded and turned around to Tayag, who was leaning against the wall with arms folded. "Tayag, I shall see you later."

"Will you be all right, princess?" he said.

"Of course," she answered. "Rest for now, you don't need to follow me around. I'll be fine with my aunt."

Tayag beamed. "As you wish."

Uray Intan led her through the cloisters with the view of the courtyard. The day began dying, with the skies turning dark blue, clashing with the flame-like rays of the sun that descended and hid behind the horizon in the west. The palace turned orange, and the arches of the cloisters cast shadows upon the walls of the structure. Oripuns began lighting the torches attached to the cloister walls.

"So, they've been married off . . ." said Paglinawan. "That must mean the bloodline ends with Uyo . . ."

"Well, it's more than that," said Intan. "Your uyo and I have had nothing but daughters. At some point, they would be betrothed to some prince from a far-flung realm, but your uyo has been aware of the fact that he might just be the last one, yet not necessarily: whoever is worthy among my sons-in-law shall rule, until a male child is born of our kin, who'd then be raised to become the Datu of Mandalungan, to take his father's place, to be the unbroken heir to Mandalungan's seat."

"I see," said Paglinawan. "But that means the seat will be empty of those of your bloodline for a while."

"Actually," said Intan, "your cousins now have children of their own, three of them male. The eldest, we are already molding to become datu when the time comes for him to rule. Till then, my husband still holds power over Mandalungan. I don't see your uyo dying anytime soon, so when he does, my grandchild will be fit enough to become datu of these lands."

"You'd have wished women could become datus themselves," muttered Paglinawan.

"Of course, there is nothing for female members of our family to do, but to marry a prince, just like your mother, Paglinawan. However, even then, both the datu and the uray always rule together, handling matters of politics and such. An uray, therefore, is seen with high esteem."