The Princess Bride (Self-published)

2: The Reluctant Bride

Aleiah Gabriella dela Paz forced herself to stop jiggling her right foot as the two elderly women assisting her entered the room. She was frantic but she compelled herself to appear calm.

"Dito po, Prinsesa..." the woman who was wearing a light gray frock said as she gently pulled the eighteen-year old girl to stand in front of the large mirror.

The young priestess crossed her arms over her chest when she saw that the robe she had on was so flimsy she might as well have stood naked in front of the two women.

But they didn't seem bothered by her state of near-nakedness as they concentrated on combing her waist-length hair.

"A-ano...ano pong mga pangalan ninyo?" Gabrielle asked willing to engage in small talks with two strangers who had asked her to get into a tubful of lukewarm water filled with rose petals, had toweled her dry, had applied a sweet-scented concoction to her skin before helping her put on the flimsy white robe that she was wearing before they left her by herself.

At nandito na naman sila...she thought. Parang lalo akong ninerbiyos n'ung bumalik sila.

"A-ako po pala si Gabrielle..." she said. "Ikaw po, Ate, ano pong pangalan mo?" she addressed the woman in pale blue sarong who was rearranging the bellowy sleeves of her sleeping robe.

She did not get a reply.

"Okay...medyo snob po pala ang mga tao rito, ano?" she tried to joke.

"Hindi sa ayaw naming ibigay sa'yo ang mga pangalan namin, Prinsesa, pero tradisyon na ang unang pangalang maririnig mo sa gabi ng ritwal ay ang pangalan ng iyong kabiyak..."

"Ahh...gan'un po ba? Ang gara naman po pala, wala po akong makausap."

The young bride was a mixture of numb and confused during the whole wedding ceremony. And it didn't help that there were no familiar faces in the temple where it was held.

Iniisip n'ya na baka hindi s'ya naging masyadong kabado kung nand'un sana ang Lolo n'ya.

Legal ba itong kasal na ito? Pakiramdam ko isa akong hostage at hindi bride...

She suddenly felt queasy at the thought that from that day on, she would no longer be able to decide by herself because a man was going to tell her what to do.

"P-pwede po ba akong umupo..? Nahihilo po ako..."

"Nahihilo ka? Nauuhaw ka ba? Kailan mo pa nararamdaman 'yan? Paano nangyaring nahihilo ka?"

"Po?" the young priestess was a little baffled because the women seemed to panic.

"Okay lang po ak—"

"Nahilo ka po ba kanina sa seremonya? Kung oo ay kailangan naming ipagbigay-alam sa Reyna—"

"Ay, okay lang po ako," Gabrielle tried to pacify the older women. "Bata pa naman po ako hindi pa naman po siguro ako mamamatay," she kidded but the women's eyes widened in alarm.

"Mga Ate, okay lang po talaga ako. Dahil lang po siguro ito sa sobrang nerbiyos."

Sa isip ng dalaga ay baka natatakot ang dalawang babae na mapagalitan kaya naman lubos na natataranta ang mga 'to n'ung sinabi n'yang masama ang pakiramdam n'ya.

"Okay lang po talaga ako," she repeated trying to convince them. "Hindi naman po ako nahilo kanina ngayon lang po—oops, wala na po ang hilo ko pramis po..."

The two women looked unconvinced.

"I swear po..."

The taller woman stepped closer then sniffed the air around her. "Hindi s'ya nagsisinungaling, kinakabahan nga s'ya..." she declared. "Kunin mo ang ecza," she instructed her companion who left immediately and was back a second later.