Clara silently prayed when she heard the grim tolling of all the bells of all the churches in Manila. It seemed the Archbishop still considered the three of them as priests in their own rights and for that she was thankful. From where she was standing on the prow of a large ship sailing for Hong Kong, she could see the aggregation of people in Bagumbayan and the platform that towered above them where the three priests sat, dead…executed because of her. She crouched under the railings of the ship when she saw Spain standing on the platform, head turning from side to side, and Clara knew that he was looking for her, checking if she was hiding amongst the crowd.
"I'm sorry, Padre. I'm not going back to you anymore." she whispered to herself. She clasped her hands in prayer again when the bells stopped their solemn reverence to the dead priests, "Padre Gomez, Padre Burgos, Padre Zamora, please forgive me for implicating you in this."
And with a new resolve, she stood up and went back to her quarters, she still had one week at sea before she reaches her destination.
TWO MONTHS PRIOR TO THE EXECUTION…
Clara thought that she could wait some more for the right time to come. God knows she needs to be free, to get away from Spain. But every time she thought about telling Spain that she wanted to be independent, that she wanted to be on her own, that she does not need him anymore, her courage depletes the moment she sees him smiling at her and how gentle he was.
Then she remembers Gabriela Silang on her dying day and Clara's courage breaks all the more. It had been almost a hundred years since England left her but she remembered everything he taught her, every detail of their conversations and of their short time together as if it all happened yesterday. And all that happened after that, she kept secretly in her heart. She slowly rebuilt the bond she once had with her people, and secretly made friends with all the Filipino soldiers stationed in the walled city. She used her ability as a personified nation to gain the trust of the Filipinos and soon, she was in their full confidence. And with all the patience she held, she bid her time, waiting for the right people to lead her to freedom. But through all this, one problem remained. She still loved Spain.
Antonio presents her with cute little trinkets he picked up on his travels just for her.
Clara squeezes her eyes shut and thinks of all the atrocities that were being committed against her people.
Antonio holds her hand so she wouldn't be left behind while they were walking in the busy streets of Manila.
Clara repeated in her mind over and over what Arthur had told her years ago. Spain is not the only one who would care about her like this.
Antonio buys her another pretty trinket when he thought she wanted it when her gaze fell on it when she really just wanted to look away from him.
Clara's knees gives out on her when she can't berate herself enough anymore.
Antonio lets her ride on his back until they get home and obviously looking like he enjoyed every minute he was carrying her more than she did.
Clara wanted nothing more but for the ground to swallow her up. There was no use hiding it. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her. No matter how much time passes and no matter how much it pains her to do so, she loves Antonio too much for her own good.
Every step he carried her, she thought, I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sorry.
Clara quickly learned that she'll never get anything done because when she sees Antonio, any plans of wanting to separate from him crumbles to dust in an instant. And soon those thoughts were channeled to thoughts of being with Spain forever. And Clara was glad that at least, she did not feel as strongly about being with Spain forever as she did before Arthur came along. She was sure she did not want to be with Spain for as long as he wants. Because she was also sure that she'll never be free from him.
But everything changed again when she met Maria. Maybe a hundred years into the future she'll think of Maria as the start of her fight for freedom.
Due to an earthquake that destroyed most of Manila's infrastructures in 1869, including the Governor's palace, Antonio had to rebuild everything from scratch. And unfortunately, or fortunately for Clara, the new Governor's residence was outside the walled city. Malacañang Palace was originally a summer house owned by a Spanish aristocrat before it was purchased by the state. The palace is located along the north bank of the Pasig river, still in Manila but outside the perimeter of the walls. Spain gave her the privilege to choose her own room and she picked the room which had a veranda directly above the river.
Maria was the youngest Filipina maid to enter the new palace. She was only a year older than Clara who by then was still fifteen. Because Spain still forbade her to talk to her own people, it took Clara almost three whole months before she talked to Maria for the first time, since she had to wait for Antonio to go back to his homeland. It was the first time she was so anxious for Spain to be gone.
Since then, they were inseparable. Clara attributed it to the fact that Maria's age was close to hers. At first, Clara thought Maria was wary about talking with her but as time passed and she kept pressing for the older girl's company, the wariness disappeared, completely replaced by comfortable friendship. Clara found out later that Maria worked as a maid to pay for her brother's release from prison when he was wrongly accused by a wealthy Spaniard of theft. There had been no trial. Maria's mother died of sickness because the Spanish doctor refused to see her because they can't pay for his services and her father works at an arsenal in Cavite.
"Why didn't he get a trial?" she asked one afternoon, they were doing embroidery at the veranda of her room, watching the passenger ships pass by every now and then. "Isn't that unfair?"
"The Spaniard who accused him happens to be a prominent tax collector and seemed to be in the favor of the Guardia Civil. And most importantly, with us, the Spaniards do not even try to be fair. That's why few Filipinos ever say anything against them because they'd believe a single lie from their own kind than a thousand truths from an Indio." Maria said.
Clara frowned at that. It was depressingly true. That she can't say anything about it hurts her the most. She feels guilty about the fact that she feels elated whenever she hears that Spain treats others like shit whereas he treats her like a princess.
It was through Maria that Clara met Padre Jose Burgos, a Filipino Catholic priest. Padre Jose Burgos was a friend of Maria's father and she visited him at least once a month at the church in Manila where he was stationed. Clara accompanied her once and found herself wanting to see and hear more of the priest's opinions.
Clara had read of him from one of the reports coming to the Governor that she secretly reads at night. Burgos was under the watch of the government for being the defender of the native clergy. He believes that the Catholic Church in the Philippines must be presided over by native priests rather the friars from Spain. His debates over the secularization of the church extended to include questions of race and nationalism.
When she saw Padre Burgos up close, she can't help but laugh. She remembered his face from a few months prior to meeting him here. He was one of the men who serenaded Governor-general Carlos Maria de la Torre as a token of their appreciation of the superb way that he handled the colony. De la Torre was a liberal Spaniard so he was more lenient and gave many reforms that greatly benefited the Filipinos. Clara and Antonio were standing with the overjoyed Governor when they were singing from under his veranda so she had a good look of the men's faces.
"Why won't they let you preside over the Church?" she asked during one of her visits.
"The Spanish friars are firm in their belief that Filipinos could never amount to anything grander than themselves. They discriminate against us because of our brown skin, lack of education which they themselves withheld from us when in truth they are scared that knowledge would make us stronger than them, and lack of experience when they themselves won't give us the chance to prove anything. They trample upon us and say it is our own fault. In a way, maybe it is our own fault that we let them make idiots out of us but that's also why I'm fighting against them. I want them to realize that we are all equal under the eyes of God and nothing gives them the right to enslave others." Burgos said.
Clara kept everything he thought her close to her heart. It was a precious to her as the words Arthur had left her with. That she amounts to something more than this. That she deserves more than all this.
Clara met Padre Zamora when he was assigned to be her new confessor. Through carefully veiled persuasion (she had no idea what she should confess anyway), she managed to always avert their conversations to those about the cause that Padre Zamora was actively taking part in. Clara learned that he was acquainted with Padre Burgos, no wonder they share the exact same sentiments.
"It seems that you find it fun to hinder me from doing my duties, Señorita Clara." he said to her when yet again, they ended up playing cards and having tea in the garden.
Clara looked like she was concentrating hard on the cards she had on her hand, she furrowed her eyebrows, "What made you think I'm doing that, Padre Zamora?" she tried her best to sound innocent. "Besides, you like playing cards!"
He sighed and placed his cards on the table, "Royal Straight Flush." he said, he watched her scowl at her loss, "This is the tenth time I came here and I'm yet to hear a single transgression from you."
Clara really tried her hardest to keep a straight face at that, "I told you, I can't think of any. I just sit here all day. I don't think being unproductive is against canon law. I'm not exactly lazy, just unproductive." She paused then, "Now tell me, what does having 'Powder and Munitions' mean in gambling terms?"
Padre Zamora just ran his hand through his hair in defeat. There was never any getting through this girl, he concluded. He'll have to be back again tomorrow until he could make her go through one of the sacraments. "It means someone has a lot of money to bet."
When the Reactionaries regained power in Spain, De la Torre was recalled and replaced by Governor-general Izquierdo who vowed to rule with an iron fist. He imposed reforms that Clara thought were utterly absurd. He increased the taxes again when her people barely even had enough left for themselves. Izquierdo also made sure to crush all complaints violently. This time, she really wanted and would complain to Antonio, but out of all the times he would be absent, he chose this time. This was probably the most difficult time in her life yet. And to make matters worse, Izquierdo seem to hate her as much as she hates him and he was very open about it. He insults her in public, embarrasses and humiliates her any given time he could. He always emphasized the fact that she was just a lowly Indio, that she should not be given any right to enjoy the same things he did just because Antonio spoils her.
When Maria got back from Cavite after she went to visit her father, she had with her a local newspaper in Cavite called "La Verdad", the Spanish term for 'The Truth'.
"Who publishes this?" she asked as she scanned through the contents of the allegedly controversial publication. "Is this even allowed?"
Maria shrugged, "I don't know. I think it's supposed to be a secret since most of the contents are Propaganda material." She then pulled the paper from Clara's grasp and pointed on a pen name on one of the longest columns written there, "I do know who this is, a priest named Padre Gomez. He's the head priest of Cavite, he's a native." She said as a matter-of-fact.
Clara quickly began reading the priest's section in the paper, "He's also pushing for secularization of the churches like Padre Zamora and Burgos. And he also revealed some crimes committed by Guardia Civil. Surely something like this did not go unnoticed by the Governor-general."
Later that night, Clara woke up and was about to step out of her room when she heard footsteps behind her. She immediately hid in a dark corner and calmed her erratic breathing. She can't get caught now, of all nights! She had to find out if the governor knew of the insurgencies occurring recently so she could warn the insurgents if the governor had plans to harm them.
"Clara? Is that you?" she recognized the voice as belonging to Maria so Clara stepped out from her corner and showed herself. "What are you doing out this late?"
Clara just smiled at her and told her to be quiet as she pulled the older girl along with her. Silently, they sneaked into the Governor's office. Once inside, she locked the door and quickly started browsing the numerous letters and reports that were neatly stacked on the long mahogany table. She looked at Maria who was staring at her with a confused expression on her face.
"Here, search this." Clara said as she handed Maria a stack of letters. "Find something about planned attacks or some other important development in the colony."
Maria clicked her tongue at her but nevertheless took the letters from her hands, "I could barely read, but oh well, I'll try my best." she said and the two fell into a tensed silence. Both worried that any second, they could get caught. And they could be punished terribly for what they were doing.
An hour passed and Clara was almost relieved when all she read about was financial reports from the provinces and some expenses for repair and lists of Spaniards entering the country. There was not a single thing about Izquierdo planning to do a mass killing or something even close to poisoning her. Another hour passed before Maria tapped her shoulder and pushed an envelope into her hands. "I could only read Cavite arsenal, I thought it has something to do with my father." she shrugged.
Clara nodded in understanding and gently pried open the letter inside. Her eyes can't believe what was written in the letter and she can't help but gasp in horror as she continued reading. She ignored Maria tapping nervously on her shoulder again, asking for explanations on what Clara was finding so scary about the letter.
When she was done, she was clenching the letter so hard it was already tearing up, surely the governor will notice someone had been through his things now, but whatever, that was the least of her concerns, "That bastard!" she hissed under her breath, "He's planning to kill all the natives working in the arsenal for being caught in possession of Propaganda materials!"
A look of pure horror crossed Maria's face, "But my father is there! We must help him!"
Clara looked at her and tried to calm her down, "We'll have to warn them. They must get out of there fast before this is carried out by the governor."
They put back all the papers and letters in their proper places, keeping the torn up letter with her. Clara was not able to sleep at all that night. She was worried and agitated. Clutching the letter close to her, she made up her mind. If she had the chance to save her people from certain death, she'll do anything no matter what the cost. Early the next morning, she secretly met with the leader of the Filipino soldiers stationed in Manila.
"I need help. Izquierdo is planning to kill a hundred Filipinos in an arsenal in Cavite two days from now. I want you be ready for an uprising if that happens. We're going to take this walled city whilst their attentions are elsewhere." she said. The Filipino captain nodded in agreement and hurried to inform his troops.
After she was back in the palace, she quickly wrote a letter addressed to the Filipino in charge of the arsenal, warning him about Izquierdo's plans on executing them. She included that if they were to result to fight for their lives instead of running away, she'll be supporting them by instigating a revolt inside the walled city at the same time they attack the arsenal and take the highest Spanish authorities hostage. When she was done, she signed it in her name before handing the sealed letter to Maria.
"Please take this to the native leader of the arsenal in Cavite. I thought they might not believe you if you just say it openly to them. I also included the original letter issuing their executions there in case they don't believe my words. If they don't want to fight, then tell them to run away. I'll be fine with either way, but if they want to fight, they have my support."
Maria stared at her as if looking for the slightest falter in her decision and when she saw there was nothing but determination there she took the letter and went on her way to Cavite.
She came back two days later bearing a message from the leader of the arsenal. When they were safe in Clara's room she said, "Sorry it took me long to get them to answer your letter. They are going to stage a mutiny tonight at the arsenal. They are willing to do it at your command. They'll only attack when you give the signal. They told me that you just had to fire some rockets from the wall so they could see from Cavite. The Spaniards would have no idea what that would mean."
"Thanks Maria, I'll go tell the soldiers what to do."
When Clara was sure everything was in place and she only need to wait until nightfall, she went back to the palace and locked herself in her room, not wanting Maria to walk in on her and see her trembling in fright of being caught and anticipation for the fight.
When night came, Clara composed herself. She then prayed for God to forgive her for betraying her father, Antonio. "I wish he wouldn't be too sad when he comes back to see that I have gone. Please make him understand that I have to do this now."
She stood up and quietly sneaked out of the palace. Seeing that the front gates were manned, she quickly turned to the back doors to pass through the garden to the small gate at the back. She thanked God that it was dark so she couldn't be seen even if someone had accidentally taken a look at the garden. She was about to push the gate open when someone from behind her grabbed her hand and twisted it around her back, pushing her to the ground. She hissed in pain as the hand that grabbed hers tightened its hold until her face touched the moist grass. She looked up and saw the smug face of Izquierdo looking down at her. There were about four soldiers behind him, all aiming a gun at her direction and another soldier kneeling behind her and binding her hands securely behind her with a rope.
"Well, well, well, where are you sneaking off to, Señorita Clara?" the mocking tone in his voice fired her anger. He was now stepping on her back, grabbing fistfuls of her hair to force her to look up at him.
"None of your business, you asshole. Didn't Antonio tell you not to touch me? Keep your filthy hands to yourself." she spat, returning the glee in his eyes with a glare, "Unhand me-." She did not get to finish that sentence when Izquierdo interrupted her by yelling "Shut up!" followed by a hand swiftly slapping her across the face. She gasped in shock as her cheeks throbbed in pain and her mouth tasted blood. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes but she refused to let them fall, This is nothing…this is nothing. Instead, she focused on maintaining her glare at him, wishing with all her might for Izquierdo to rot in hell.
He grinned evilly at her and pulled her to a stand by her hair, "Hoho. Look at you, you sly little bitch…think you've outsmarted me all this time, eh? Well, let's see what would happen when your beloved Padre hears of his precious daughter's little mutiny. Think you can handle it?" he hissed close to her ear, she cringed and struggled when she felt his breath fanning her neck. Disgusting…disgusting.
"I don't know of any mutiny. Why don't we just wait until my beloved Padre gets here and hears of his trusted Governor laying a hand on his precious daughter? Think you can handle it?" a smile crept on her lips even though he slapped her again and she could already feel the blood dripping from her mouth. Damn…this demon slapped me too hard…
She felt a little scared when he just smirked at her then let go of her hair suddenly, sending her crashing to the ground. Before she could even sit up, Izquierdo stepped on her right shoulder, keeping her on the ground. Never had she said more profanities and curses at one man than she did now. He just grinned at her as he reached for a piece of paper from his breast pocket, wave it in the air and hold in front of her face. Her eyes widened in comprehension. It was the letter she wrote to the Filipinos in Cavite.
Satisfied with her reaction, Izquierdo carefully folded the letter and stowed it away in his pocket. "And I actually thought that you were smarter than this since Señor Antonio seem to adore you so much when in reality, you really are the most gullible person among the Indios."
She thought about the people waiting for the signal that would spark the start of the mutiny. She felt relieved that they were awaiting her signal, and if she didn't fire the rockets, there won't be any mutiny, they would be safe where they were hiding and she wished that they'd suspect that she was caught so they'll just run away. If no mutiny happens that night, she could deny the letter even if it has her name on it. Seeing that Izquierdo had badly hurt her, she could act like she was forced to write it under threats of bodily harm and Antonio would believe her.
"Are you trying to frame me with falsified documents now? That's so low of you, but considering that you can't possibly get any lower than that-ack! Shit!" her body instinctively coiled after he kicked her hard in the stomach. And it hurt all the more because the ropes binding her hands were digging on her wrists the more she moved.
Izquierdo watched her squirm in pain then turned to his soldiers, "Get the other girl here," he commanded. Clara froze on the ground, forgetting the pain for the moment and watched in horror as a soldier led Maria into the garden where they were currently at. For some reason, Maria refused to meet her gaze. Izquierdo moved away from Clara to go stand beside Maria. "Tell your little friend here what I ordered you to do in exchange for your brother's freedom." Clara swore that if Satan had a face, he'll look like Izquierdo.
That was when Maria turned to meet Clara's gaze and said, with an indifferent tone that made Clara cringe as she said, "You ordered me to make sure that Clara finds the false execution decree that night and that Clara writes a letter signed in her name telling the Filipinos to rebel against the Spanish. And in the moment that she does, to take the letter directly to you."
Clara could only gape at her in disbelief, "You did all those?!? What about your father?!? He's going to get killed in the arsenal for Christ's sake! And you're helping his murderer, you traitor!!!"
That was when Maria got furious, "I can't care less about what happens to that stupid excuse for a father who just left me and my siblings to fend for ourselves that my brother had to result to stealing in order to feed all five of us! You! You're just a Filipino like me and yet you get to live in all this luxury and even have the gall to be sad?!? What gives you the right to complain when all of us are going through hell compared to you? You're the reason we are all slaves in our own land today! What you're getting now can't even pay for one day I suffered because of you! This is all your fault, you selfish bitch!"
Izquierdo felt a sick pleasure at the sight of Clara battered and trembling on the ground, trying not to show her tears as she listened to the person she trusted the most condemn her.
Clara waited for the words to sink in before remembering the mutineers. If they did not get her letter, then there wasn't really anyone waiting for her signal to start. She started laughing as if she was crazy. "There's really no mutiny then, you bastards. You're just tricking me."
She immediately stopped laughing when Izquierdo laughed louder. "You naïve little fool, of course there is! It's unbelievable how easy it was to stir them up with just a little deduction in their measly salaries. But I did leak out to them that your Filipino soldiers here are willing to help them if they see rockets fired from the walls."
She gritted her teeth, still trying to deny the fact that she was involved somewhere because they might be lying so they could catch her at her own words, she ignored him though she wanted real bad to know what he did with her soldiers if he knew she was using them for rebellion.
"Are you worried about you little troop of foot soldiers? Don't worry, I found the perfect use for them! In exchange for sparing their lives, they're going to be the ones to subjugate those mutineers. Imagine those mutineers jumping for joy when soldiers from Manila arrive just to learn that their saviors weren't exactly aiming at the enemy."
She glared at him, abruptly getting to her feet and charging at him though it proved to be a futile effort when one of the soldiers fired at her, the bullet barely grazing her left shoulder yet effectively stopping her advance towards Izquierdo. "You son of a bitch! How could you live with yourself?!?"
Izquierdo raised an eyebrow, "You think I can't kill two birds with one stone?"
Clara's eyes widened in horror when she saw fireworks erupt from the direction of the walled city.
"Oh! Dear me! I forgot to inform you, tonight's the Feast of St. Loreto!" the mockery in his voice told her all she needed to know. And this time, her tears just won't stop. "What a lovely night!"
Clara stared at the polished wooden ceiling of her room. Since Izquierdo doesn't have the authority to cast her into prison yet until Antonio could see to her, he had her brought back to her room, and guarded twenty-four seven in case she suddenly makes a miraculous escape. But Clara did not even have the strength to get up from bed anymore after they brought her to her room last night.
She had been tricked into believing that she was saving them. She sent those men to their deaths! Oh, those poor men! Izquierdo surely killed them all by now. All because she was getting desperate for freedom. She had willingly joined into the fray at the prospect of finally rousing a revolt of her own without even considering the validity of her actions. And Izquierdo made sure he could prove that she was involved. After securing the letter from her, Izquierdo himself gave the Filipinos at the arsenal a reason to stage a mutiny, to walk out into the open field to their deaths thinking all the while that what they were doing were going to escalate to something national in level. And to destroy any evidence that he was controlling them all, he picked a certain day where he didn't even have to bother giving the signal. The feast of St. Loreto in one of the sections of Manila provided the fireworks needed without even being aware of it so that in the case that the mutineers think that they were tricked, they only had themselves to blame for mistaking the completely innocent festive fireworks as the signal. Those mutineers surely thought it was the signal for the rebellion and went on with it and was probably crushed by now.
She desperately tried to cling to reality as she felt her remaining sanity disintegrate as her own voice repeatedly echoed inside her mind, I killed them…I killed them…I killed them…I killed them…until it lulled her to sleep.
She was startled awake by someone pressing a wet cloth to her burning skin. Only then did she notice that she had gone through a whole day without cleaning the wound she had sustained from the bullet that grazed her shoulder. It must have been infected now since she was already burning up with a high fever. Her vision was spinning so badly that she can't recognize who was slowly taking her stiff, dirty clothes off and pressing a wet cloth to the exposed parts.
"W-wait…who are you..?"
Then she heard the voice she never expected to hear again after last night, it was Maria, "Did they hit you too hard or something or are you just banged up too much from the shock?"
"What are you doing here, you bitch? Didn't you…sell me out last night?" she said weakly. She heard a sigh despite the noise of her own pants and deep breaths.
"Shut up and be thankful that I'm tending to you when you can't even move your arms. The soldiers are guarding outside your door since you can't get out of here unless you're crazy enough to jump into the river. Your father is going to arrive any day now. " What she meant by that, Clara had no chance to ask when her consciousness drifted away from her again and this time, it took her another three days to wake up.
It was a stormy night and she was woken up by the cold rain blowing into her room from the open window. She got up and put on the clothes that were laid in the chair beside the full-length mirror. They were half-soaked by the rain but she didn't mind. She was about to tie the Arthur's bandana around her head when she changed her mind and tied it securely around her left arm, the words embroidered still visible.
She dared a glance at the mirror. She looked worn-out. Her eyes were puffy. No matter how much she tried, she can't smile. She can't help but think that it was too much, that she had no right to be happy. She had killed her own people again and no one would forgive her now. And she knew that whatever she'll do in the future, many more would die. But at that time, she'll make sure they die for a cause, for something grander, for something worth dying for.
She touched her fingers against the cool surface of the mirror, "I'll be worth it." She whispered. She let her hands fall to her sides as she walked out into the storm-racked balcony of her room. Before fully-stepping out, she took another glance of the room Antonio had given her, the rich furniture, the cabinet full of clothes he bought, the jewelries he had presented her with, and she thought how she was being ungrateful by leaving without saying anything.
But she already had enough. She desperately needed to get away. She can't see Antonio, she'll easily crumble. Clara tore her eyes away from the room and continued to walk through the balcony until she reached the railings. She looked down at the wide murky river below. Maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to swim in a tempest-tossed river at night. She looked at the dark sky. The storm had no sign of even wanting to subside. Clara slowly climbed onto the railing and stood there for a good ten minutes, fighting with logic. She might drown if she jumps. But she'll die nevertheless if she stays here and Antonio finds out about what she had done. There was no escaping it, there was a mutiny and she had written the letter that started it.
She was scared to find out what Antonio's reaction would be. What if he was only caring towards her because so far, she had been such a good kid, always trying to be in his favor, always obeying with no questions asked? And now she's caught in the worst situation…she rebelled and failed.
"CLARA!"
She turned to see Spain with his eyes wide in shock after he had thrown her bedroom door open to find her standing in the railings outside her room in a storm. She could see Izquierdo and the guards standing behind him. Maria was standing behind them all, crying. At the sight of Izquierdo, Clara made up her mind.
"A donde los brillos de sol, Padre." she said before she closed her eyes and threw herself to the rampaging dark waters.
Spain's mind was running a hundred miles per minute. Shit! Shit! Shit! I can't find her! He shouted in his mind as his eyes quickly scanned the river below for any sign of her resurfacing after she jumped. Three soldiers were holding him down, since he was poised to jump into the water after Clara. Spain tried to struggle against them but to no avail. Could she swim? Why can't I see her anywhere?!?
"Señor Antonio, calm down. I sent some of my men to find her-," Izquierdo was stopped when Antonio turned angrily at him, hands throttling the governor's neck.
"Calm down? Calm down?!! How could I fucking calm down?! My daughter just jumped into a raging river and you expect to be calm about it?! Want me to throw you in too?!?" Antonio shouted, struggling hard against the now four soldiers trying to separate him from the choking governor. "What the hell did you do to her?!"
"You've got it wrong! It was her! Clara betrayed you!" the governor sputtered. Spain stopped throttling him and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Let's talk about this in my office."
Clara had never thought she'd be so scared at the prospect of dying. She earnestly hoped that one day, her breath would be knocked out of her lungs and she'll cease to exist, to be allowed to feel no more, to never have to suffer the agonies she went through again and again. And now that she was inches away from getting her lifelong wish, she fought it. She resisted the water trying to fill her lungs, kicked her feet to reach the surface as she felt the water pushing on her on all sides.
I need to live! Please! I have to live! I want to live! Please! Please!
She couldn't make it. She was getting cold and weak. The darkness of the water was claiming her. She let go of her last breath. She reached out a hand in a final attempt to save herself. Too bad…I really wanted to live at last.
And nothing short of a miracle happened as her outstretched hand held on to something! Clara summoned the last of her strength and held on tightly, gradually pulling herself to the surface and finally taking a breath, sputtering as her lungs painfully expelled the water that invaded it. She held on for dear life as the waves crashed around her, not sure where it was throwing her but she did not care. She knew she was far from the palace now. And with that, she relaxed and let the storm pass.
It was around dawn when the storm subsided to little bouts of rain and Clara allowed herself to detach from the log and swim towards a shaded bank. Once she reached the bank and looked around to make sure no one would find her, she lied down on the ground and slept. She was exhausted.
She woke up around mid-morning when she felt something poking her cheeks. She immediately jumped to attention to see who it was only to find a little boy who was as startled as she was.
"Oh! I thought I was caught." She said in relief as she tried to calm her heart, and she stood up, noticing that her clothes were soaked. "I have to get out of here."
The boy looked curiously at her, "Did you run away?"
Clara, who was taking in her location at that time, snapped her attention back to the boy, "I'm so not! I'm just lost, understand?" she said then, "And don't tell anyone that you've seen me, okay? We'll both get in trouble if you do."
The boy meekly nodded. "Are you hurt?" he asked.
"No, I'm not. Stop asking."
"Then why do you look like you're about to cry?"
"Huh?" Clara instantly felt her face for any signs of tears. Nothing. Her eyes were dry. "What are you talking about? I'm not. What are you doing in a deserted place like this anyway?"
"We temporarily live in a house close here while my father pleads to the courts for my mother's release." He said, his eyes turned sad. "I came here to cry but I found you instead."
"Why do you want to cry? Did something bad happen to your mother?" Oh great, another incident to be related, she thought and sat down in front of the boy.
"No, it's not my mother. She's fine. It's my tutor. The Spaniards are going to kill him this afternoon."
"What?!? Why?"
"They didn't tell me. My older brother ran out before he could explain."
"What's the name of your tutor?"
"Padre Burgos."
And Clara's voice left her as she stared in shock at the boy. Padre Burgos?!? They are going to kill Padre Burgos?!? But why?!?
"Do you know him too? You're crying. I don't want to cry anymore. It doesn't look good."
Clara sniffed and wiped her tears and hugged the small boy close to her. "Do you want me to stop crying?" there was a pause before the boy reached into his pocket and pulled a white handkerchief and dabbed it gently at her eyes.
When he was done, he smiled at her, "Please don't cry anymore. Padre Burgos always told me that when we die, we go to a place called heaven. It's supposed to be this really happy place where God lives."
Clara's lips curved into a smile and she ruffled the boy's hair affectionately, "Yes, yes, I'm sure Padre Burgos would go there. Now listen, I have to leave you now before anyone sees me with you. Be careful, I have to run along now." She said and turned to leave when the boy grabbed her sleeve and stopped her from taking a step.
"You don't look well, stay here for a bit, I'll get you some food from the house." He said.
"Thanks but I'm fine on my own, you've already done enough."
"…but…Padre Burgos taught me to help those who need help…even my mother told me that."
Clara smiled at him but held his small hands and pried it gently from her sleeve. "He taught you well. And your mother must be a good woman."
"Can't I do anything to help you?"
Clara heard distinct shouts of "Pepe! Pepe!" from the distance and assumed that it was the boy in front of her that was being called. She kneeled down to his level and embraced him, "Listen, if you really want to help me then study hard. Be intelligent and show them what you're made of. Don't let anyone trample upon you because you are Filipino. Be brave. Stand up to your beliefs. When you see people being oppressed, save them. And when you do all these, you'll see me again and at that time, you won't see me shed even a single tear. Promise?"
"Promise."
She gave the boy a peck on the cheek and he hugged her back.
"Goodbye, Pepe." She said and with that, she left the boy staring at her back.
Little did she know, that same boy would grow up into the man who would eventually end three hundred years of Spanish domination by having eight Remington bullets fired to his back.
Clara found it relatively easy to go near the Chinese trading house near the ports. There were little to no Guardia Civils roaming the streets and she wondered if it was because of the execution of Padre Burgos. She hoped that Wang Yao is in the country at the moment. She desperately needed his help and he was her only chance of not getting caught.
She inconspicuously approached a Chinese man seating behind the counter, overlooking the operations. He scowled when he saw her. Clara checked her appearance. She looked bad like bad luck. But nevertheless, she went to the front and asked if Wang Yao is in the area.
The Chinese man skeptically nodded and asked what business did she seek with him since Wang Yao was a busy man. Clara cleared her throat and told the man that he was Yao's niece and that she had to see him. When the Chinese man looked at her disbelievingly because she looked everything but Chinese, Clara huffed in irritation.
"Could you please just tell him Ma'i is here to see him? It's urgent."
The Chinese man glared at her before going into the inner sanctums of the trade house, appearing seconds later to beckon her inside. Clara looked around the street once more before entering the building. She can't risk Uncle Yao being suspected because of her so she had to do this secretly.
The fragrant smell of incense and chrysanthemums assailed her senses as she walked through the hallways to the main office where Wang Yao was lounging in. Before she could even knock, the door opened and a hand pulled her into the room, locking the door behind her. China promptly went back to his soft chair and told her to sit down.
"I saw Spain early this morning and he told me what happened. Do you have any idea how worried I was aru?!" he scolded. He took in her poor appearance and grumbled something about being thankful that was all she got.
"I'm sorry, Uncle Yao. I had no choice. They wouldn't let me go otherwise." She took the tea and meatbuns that were offered to her with trembling hands. She realized she was famished. "H-how was Pa-Antonio?"
China sighed and buried his face in his hands, "Man's a wreck. And angry. Really angry. He's looking everywhere for you. Are you aware of what he's doing right now? He's killing three of your native priests right at Bagumbayan aru!"
There was a sound of breaking porcelain when Clara's grip slipped. Three?!? He's killing three?!? "F-for what r-reason?"
"For feeding you with rebellious ideas. The governor accused them of sedition and that idiot Spain can't care any less what happens to them aru!"
"Do you know who they are? The priests, I mean." She was sure Padre Burgos was one of them. Poor Pepe, so she was the reason he's losing a great teacher.
China paused for a moment then said, "I think one of my men mentioned it, something like Zamora…Burgos…and Gomez aru."
A shiver ran down Clara's spine at the name of the priests. She had met Padre Burgos and Padre Zamora before and no one could deny that indeed, she had talked to them no matter how innocent their conversations had been. But Padre Gomez? She did not even see him once in her life and yet he's dying because of her. Was he even aware someone like her existed? What could possibly tie him to her-she remembered! The newspaper Maria had gotten her from Cavite! Padre Gomez wrote there! Did they find the newspaper when they searched her room? Surely, that was propaganda material. She closed her eyes tightly and made up her resolve. She opened her eyes to see China looking worriedly at her and Clara promptly went down on her knees in front of the older man.
"Uncle Yao, I beg of you, please help me. I have to escape. I can't stay here. I must get out of the country fast. Please, could you give me safe passage out of the country?" she said with a pleading voice.
"Where do you intend to go aru?"
"Some place where Antonio wouldn't reach me until I'm ready to face him, a place near enough so I could still watch over this country. Sorry, I have no idea where that is. I've never seen a world map before."
Wang Yao bent over the table and pulled out a world map and spread it over the low table. He smiled as Clara tried her best to act serious despite her obvious amazement and fascination as her eyes ran through every little detail of the map.
"Arthur was right. The world is vast. And Spain isn't all there is." She said as she pinpointed her location in the map. She wasn't even a fourth of how big Uncle China's territory was. She smiled fondly when she saw the countries of Indonesia and Malaysia on the map. So that's where they are. How she missed them. Once she's free, she'll go visit them immediately.
"Geez, what's with Spain being all there is, aru?" he huffed cutely, "Anyway, just pick anywhere you want, I'll take you anywhere you wish to go aru."
Clara thanked him and proceeded to examine her choices. She'd have to pick somewhere near, so it must still be in Asia…Vietnam…Thailand…she can't bother Malaysia and Indonesia…maybe someone she didn't know. Then she found it.
"How about Hong Kong, Uncle Yao?"
"Are you sure? Hong Kong's a British colony aru." He pouted. He could still clearly remember the smug look on Arthur's face when he took Hong Kong from his house a few years ago. Damn pirate aru.
And that was all Clara needed to finalize her decision. "I'm sure, Uncle Yao. Hong Kong will be perfect."
Again, I'll have to apologize for the wrong timeline of the fic…
For that little bit of Spanish Clara said, it means ; "To where the sun shines, Father."
so here are the not so fun facts:
---Izquierdo is real.
--- The primary cause of the mutiny is believed to be an order from Izquierdo to subject the soldiers of the arsenal to personal taxes, from which they were previously exempt. The taxes required them to pay a monetary sum as well as to perform forced labor. The mutiny was sparked on January 20, when the laborers received their pay and realized the taxes as well as the falla, the fine one paid to be exempt from forced labor, had been deducted from their salaries.
--- The mutineers thought that soldiers in Manila would join them in a concerted uprising, the signal being the firing of rockets from the city walls on that night. Unfortunately, what they thought to be the signal was actually a burst of fireworks in celebration of the feast of St. Loreto, the patron of Sampaloc.
--- As part of the crack down of Filipino liberals and to subject the whole nation in terror so they won't revolt, Izquierdo implicated the three priests Gomez, Burgos and Zamora as instigators of the mutiny for these reasons:
Burgos - mutineer sergeant Bonifacio Octavo revealed that a man named Zaldua had been recruiting people for an uprising. Octavo testified that this man claimed to be under the orders of Burgos, but inconsistent details during Octavo's cross-examinations called into question the validity of his testimony. Nevertheless, governor-general Rafael Izquierdo reported to Madrid that the testimony had confirmed his suspicions, and pinned the blame on Burgos.
Zamora - Zamora had a habit of playing cards after saying Mass. Once, he received an invitation stating that his friend had "Powder and Munitions"; in a gambler's language, "Powder and Munitions" meant that the player had much money to gamble with. This invitation fell into the hands of the Spaniards and worse, it was on the night of the Cavite mutiny. This invitation was used by the Spaniards as evidence against the three priests. Pretty lame accusation, really.
Gomez - was active in the publication of the newspaper "La Verdad". This paper served as a voice of the Propaganda Movement.
These three were given a trial before being sentenced to death. But it was more like a mock trial where they were just dragged through the court, their own lawyers sold them out, the evidence against them were completely inadequate and bordering on ridiculous, and yet, they lost despite the Spaniards having no case at all…really, they are so unfair.
---The mutiny was on January 20. Execution of the priests were on February 17.
--- Almost half of the mutineers were summarily executed for treason while half were exiled out of the country or deported to places like Guam or Europe. Some escaped to more progressive cities like HongKong, London, or Tokyo where they continued to make small propaganda movements that eventually led to a full Revolution.
--- Pepe is a childhood nickname of Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines. And if you're asking what the fuck he was doing there of all places, well, I put him there. And about him mentioning that him implying that his mother is imprisoned somewhere, it's true. At about that time, his mother was wrongly accused of murder and was made to suffer by the Spaniards. It was mentioned from my source that the family had to appeal to the high courts for her release for over two and a half years. I just thought the high courts would be in Manila...so yeah..he was there...
--- Padre Burgos had really been a tutor of young Jose Rizal when he was waiting in Manila to be allowed to enter Ateneo. And this was because Padre Burgos was a close friend of Rizal's nationalist brother, Protacio, I think.
IMPORTANT: In case you didn't understand what happened in the story, I read it and I didn't understand it too…I'll explain it again.
Izquierdo wanted to take down nationalists and other native liberals in the country since he is a conservative or just plain evil. And since he hates Clara too, and he can't touch her because Antonio is protective of her, he need to have a reason to have her commit treason against Spain. So he used Maria to make Clara write the letter supporting a mutiny after feeding her false information. After securing the letter, he then deducted taxes from the already measly salaries of the soldiers of the arsenal which sparked them to stage a mutiny. And he also leaked to them Clara's plans of joining them in a concerted uprising, and designating fireworks as the signal of the attack. And since it would be suspicious if his own soldiers fired the rockets from the walls, Izquierdo had them stage the mutiny on the same day as the St. Loreto feast. And the mutineers in Cavite thought it was the signal for the uprising and thus, they failed miserably.