Fate In Ink

chapter 23

After eating lunch at the Riveras, I was offered a small room at the ground floor for siesta. But unfortunately, I could not sleep a wink after all the things that muddled my brain. 

The gray sky loomed outside with the threat of rain, casting a somber mood over the land that reflected my own. I sighed as I sat up on the small four-poster bed and mulled over the seemingly overlapping events that came crashing down. 

The iPhone. Julian's request. The trip to Manila. 

I would have loved to go on a trip. Just imagine, stepping foot in the capital in this time and era, seeing the sights long forgotten by the sands of time. It was an offer I would not want to reject. But what if Mother and Father wouldn't allow me? It took 4 hours without heavy traffic for me to go from my province to Manila back in the modern age. For sure, the transport during this time would be lot slower.

Then there's Julian's request.

I pulled the pile of letters and notes Julian gave me from inside my drawstring and flipped through them. Julian's words still echoed in my mind, and I don't think I'd be forgetting it anytime soon. 

"Translate these letters?" I asked him. 

"Yes." Julian crossed his hands together and leaned forward. "I recognize some of the words you wrote in that poem before, so I figured you must be fluent to be writing poems in English. 

"My enemies are mostly of Spanish and English origin. Those letters were intercepted by my comrades, and they bring them to me. While I have no problem reading Spanish, my English is... not excellent, to say the least. I could understand a bit of them, but I'm afraid I'll interpret it the wrong way and facilitate a mishap on decision-making."

"Why do you need me?" I frowned. "The fact that you have many enemies probably means you know a lot of people. I'm sure there are those more suitable for this task. Besides, you said you had comrades intercept the letters for you. Why not ask them?" I said. 

I took a sip from the hot chocolate the servant prepared. My nerves were fighting among each other while the scene of intercepted letters floated in my mind, giving me both fright and exhilaration. I didn't know what to feel. 

"I can't trust just anyone," Julian said, looking away from me. 

I bit my lip and took another large gulp of chocolate, ignoring how the liquid burnt my tongue. I couldn't read him at all. A small smile curved on his lips, yet his eyes were dead. 

"Then how do you know you could trust me, a stranger to this place?"  

I didn't realize that there will come a time when I will ask someone if they should really be trusting me, given the amount of wariness I received from Solana and others before. 

"We're both strangers to this place," Julian chuckled, his eyes meeting mine. My breath hitched at his gaze, and I was unable to look away. "And you warned me of assassins. I think that's reason enough."

I plopped back down to the bed. My forehead refused to relax while I read through the letters and the notes. They were filled with blood and angst. There were plans of murdering Julian and a plot to ambush his calesa and several others with similar messages. 

I skimmed through more of them and came upon a scented blue letter. My nose scrunched at the inkling of what it could be. I swiped it off and pushed it to the bottom of the pile. 

But I can't let it go. 

"Damn," I cursed and looked at the scented paper again. 

I opened the contents and my eyes widened at its contents.