"I'm coming with you, Amelia."
"You will not, do you even know how to wield a weapon?"
"No, but you know I've patched up people before."
"That is an entirely different matter and you know it."
But Amelia knew there were more benefits letting Paloma go with her; she couldn't help it. She's leading her to death, she's leading her to a point of no return.
Paloma sighed, and held Amelia's hands. She clasped them together and whispered into them, "I know it's going to be difficult, but we have to try. I can handle any risk as long as you are beside me." Amelia deflated and looked at Paloma with sad eyes, "You never listened to me before." Paloma grinned back at her, "Nope. And I will not start now." Paloma kissed her hands and prepared her things, leaving Amelia in a small state of shock.
Paloma and Amelia leave that very night. Amelia prepared everything for Amado when she leaves: a notebook full of recipes and makeshift medicines that Paloma herself made, along with a large sum of money to last a lifetime. Amelia hesitates at the library, staring at the one book tattered due to overuse. It was once her guide, her first book. She reached out to it, it's spine barely holding the pages together. She clutched it close to her chest and made a decision. 'If the time comes, and I pray to God it does not, may this be the thing to protect you.' The book was one of her first lessons in self-defense and warfare.
Amelia finished her letter, one she wrote at the table of their room. She took one look at Amado, still sleeping peacefully and kissed his forehead one last time, before softly crying on her way out.
My dearest boy Amado,
It is with heavy hearts that I and your Tita (Aunt) Paloma leave you for your safety. As soon as you read this, we have long gone somewhere far away, somewhere you won't find us...
...I am not deserving to be called your mother, I will never be worthy to have you as my son. Stay safe and we will meet again when war is over.
All my love,
Your mother
Amelia
She dried her tears as soon as they left the manor; three years was spent together and she knows for a fact she won't spend the next ones with him.
~*~
She hated using this name but she did it in order to get to the truth. La Loba Negra.
Amelia doesn't like to know the names of the people she saved from the Kastilas; she feels it's not worth knowing people after only meeting them for a split second, never to be seen again. But there is one name that she remembers as part of those people: Jose Burgos. She vaguely remembered him, a fellow Filipino clergyman she saved when she was just a young nineteen year old, when she was still new to the idea of killing for the greater good.
Ever since, the name La Loba Negra was rampant, and Amelia hid a frown.
La Loba Negra, Jose Burgos published. A novel about a woman who killed pompous friars and the Kastila of the country for revenge. La Loba Negra was proclaimed the protector of the Filipino people and defender of the poor. That title haunted the streets, gossipers always seem to have the latest story about the she-wolf who never feared the night. Those stories, however crazy and untrue, at least gave her the ease to find the Apuy Rizal has spoken of.
It was a stronghold stationed in Malolos, Bulacan. From the famed Katipunan, nonetheless. She'd give it to them, they knew Paloma and Amelia were coming and they welcomed the new additions into the rebellion. Albeit reluctantly, since they were women; what can they do in the battlefield?
Amelia was currently bleeding from various scars, her hand holding her fan trembling after the fight. She heaved heavy breaths and staggered for a while, but she stood tall. She has won and bested the battle.
That shut the men up for awhile.
After they have negotiated the safety of their old manor and the only inhabitant inside it, they both agreed to do whatever task was given to them.
They were women, at the end of the day. They didn't need to do the arduous trials set for initiation, but their pride wanted them as equals. Paloma and Amelia agreed to a blood compact, along with other aspiring rebels made to seal their fate. With their oath to the Filipino people and the country in itself; if they live, their names will forever be history as victors but if they die, they will die trying.
La Loba Negra's name changed into Mabaya; "red as blood".
Amelia wasn't afraid to get her hands stained in red to protect her family, and like the wolf she was called, she pounced straight for the kill.
YOU ARE READING
Sonless Mother of the Revolution
Historical Fiction[COMPLETE!!!] She went by many names: La Loba Negra, Bayani, Mabaya... ...but long has she abandoned the title of Mother. Amelia was a maid and bodyguard for her long-time companion Paloma. They both run away from their hometown to fight in the Phil...
