A Paradise Lost

Queen Raya's Favored One

The next day, Queen Raya asked Anita to bring her a basket of pink rose petals. She instructed her to boil the rose petals and crushed it until it will become a wax.

Queen Raya applied the pink rose petal wax on her upper eyelids, on her cheeks, and on her lips based on what The queen of Egypt taught her. She looked so stunning. The pink shade of rose complimented her dark skin.

Queen Raya summoned Captain Igor and commanded him to gather all the warriors in their island. He was stunned by her new look. It was the first time that he saw her majesty so blooming. It seemed like she was inspired by someone. He wondered who was the lucky man who conquered the queen’s heart after a major heartbreak. He followed what her majesty had commanded to him. He summoned all the warriors in their island.

Queen Raya looked at all the warriors in her island from the balcony of her palace. The warriors were surprised by the queen’s stunning new look. They heard a rumor that the queen had a romantic rendezvous. It was still not clear to them as to who the queen’s lover was. But there was only one thing that they were sure of; the queen was inspired. It was apparent by the way she looked and the way she smiled.

“Thank you great warriors in Camotes Island for responding to my call. We will have new changes when in comes to our military defense. These changes are necessary for our military advancement. We don’t know when the enemy will attack us again and we don’t know yet how strong and advance our enemies will be so it’s better to be prepared than sorry. The Spanish conquistadors left some of their muskets and rifles when they tried to flee after their failed attempt to conquer us. I asked Kaalam to summon all the engineers, inventors, and innovators in our island so that we can create an improvised version of muskets and rifles. Kaalam’s inventors did a very good job in creating an improvised muskets and rifles. The original muskets and rifles that the Spaniards brought can only load one bullet. Loading a bullet is time consuming. Your enemy might kill you first before you will even get a chance to load your second bullet. So our brilliant inventors invented a musket and rifle that can load 2 bullets at a time. They are still continually making improvements until they can successfully load more than 10 bullets. Don’t worry, we will not completely phase out our traditional weapons like the bolo, the spear, and the bow and arrow. The traditional weapons and the advance weapons have both advantage and disadvantage. We cannot use the muskets and rifles in sneaking stealthily into an enemy’s place since it is noisy. It is difficult to use the bows and arrows if your enemies are using muskets and rifles since its attack is slower and it only covers a short distance. We should not depend solely on our weapons alone no matter how powerful it is. We also need to master the combat skills in case we will be disarmed. With that being said, I would like to introduce our new training officer who will teach us the martial arts skills. Your commanding officers are still the same, however we need to add him as your training officer. His position is just temporary. He is not just an ordinary warrior but he is a champion in the gladiator arena. He had not only slain a giant once but twice. And I’ve seen it in my very own eyes. Without further ado, please welcome your new trainor and commanding officer, Felipe."

The warriors find it unacceptable upon hearing the news that a slave from another country will become their trainor and a commanding officer as well. They preferred to have a Maharlikan as their commanding officer than a mere slave from another country.

The 250 warriors that Queen Raya brought with her in her journey were the only people who agreed to have Felipe as their trainor. They were confident that he could teach them a lot of combative techniques that they hadn’t learned yet.

“Felipe, is there anything you wanted to say to your trainees?”

“I am willing to teach you everything I know about combat skills as long as you are willing to learn.”

“I need your cooperation and your willingness to learn. I hope you will give the same respect to Felipe the way you respect your commanding officers.”

“Can I have a word with you, my queen?” Captain Igor said.

“Aye, captain. I will leave you to Felipe first. I want you all to behave and follow what Felipe will tell you from now on. Felipe, don’t hesitate to punish them if they will not behave well to you. I will be back in a few minutes.”

Queen Raya excused herself to have a word with Captain Igor.

“My queen, your ideas and decisions have always been great so far. I am also aware that Felipe is a genius in terms of combat skills. I hope you’re not mistaken with your decision.”

“What do you mean, Captain?”

“Felipe is a foreigner and a slave. We don’t even know much about him. We are not sure whether he is with us or he is against us. Who knows he might be a spy disguised as a slave and then given to you as a gift. I hope and pray to Yahweh that he is not a Trojan horse.”

“Oh please, Captain, of all the people, you should know better. You had already seen how Felipe fight like he is indestructible. You saw it with your own eyes how he defeated 10 people alone and slain a giant the next day despite of his injury. I only need his fighting skills. His position is just temporary. Once, we will learn all about his combat skills, he will go back into being a slave.”

“I just wanted to remind you my queen to be very careful especially when it comes to your propriety.”

“What does my propriety has to do with my decision to put Felipe as a trainor for my warriors.”

“In case you haven’t heard yet, there’s a juicy tidbit about you and Felipe with regards to your romantic rendezvous last night. Someone saw you kissing him last night under the rain. Your epic romantic scene last night shook the islanders and promoting your lover in a higher position only proves the rumor to be true. You know how a small gossip spreads in our island like wildfire.”

Queen Raya was shocked by the news. She was speechless because what Captain Igor told her was true. She blushed. She didn’t expect that someone would see them last night.

“So, is it true then?” Bayani suddenly interrupted.

“I don’t know exactly what you’re talking about. Why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be listening to your combat trainor rather than interrupting us?”

“Come on, Raya. As if we didn’t notice your body language, the way you smile every time you address that slave of yours and of course who would miss the tint on your face. It was amazing how you suddenly bloom into a pink rose from being a warrior princess. Are you going to degrade yourself and smear your royal blood for the sake of a handsome slave?”

Queen Raya was offended. She was insulted by Bayani’s remarks. She wanted to teach him a valuable lesson and the rest of the warriors who wanted to contradict her.

“Let’s go outside so you’ll get the answer to your question.”

“Of course, I can’t wait to hear the answer from you.”

“I need your attention, please.” Queen Raya shouted at the top of her lungs. She was angry with how Bayani disrespected her. She needed to redeem herself from the rumor before everyone would start to disrespect her.

“Who among you here is not in favor of my decision in putting Felipe as your TEMPORARY combat trainor?”

Everyone was silent.

“Come on! Don’t be shy! This is your time to open up to me before we’ll proceed further. Is there any brave soul here who wants to challenge my decision?!”

Everyone was still silent even though majority of them was not in favor of Felipe to be their combat trainor.

“I want you to step forward if you are not in favor of Felipe to be your combat trainor before I will make my final decision.” Queen Raya shouted at the top of her lungs.

Nobody was still brave enough to challenge their queen’s decision.

“Are you sure? Nobody will disagree with my decision? Fine. Then, Felipe will be your combat trainor until you learn a lot from him.”

“My queen, I am not in favor of Felipe to be our combat trainor.” Caylao stepped forward.

“Finally, we have one brave soul! Anyone else? Just step forward. The floor is open for your contempt.”

Nine warriors stepped forward.

“Perfect! Is there anyone else who underestimated Felipe’s capability?”

Everyone was silent and didn’t dare to join the protesters anymore even though they were not in favor of Felipe.

“To all our 10 bravest warriors, I want you to pick any weapon except the musket and rifle.”

All the 10 warriors picked their favorite weapons.

“Do you know why I asked you to pick a weapon?”

“You want to challenge us to fight.” Caylao answered.

“Good answer, Caylao. Yes, I want all of you to join forces and fight Felipe. That is ten against one. Do you think you can defeat the champion of the gladiator for me?”

“Yes, Queen Raya. We will fight for the sake of our land.” All the ten warriors said in unison.