Chapter 3: Marcial

Chapter 3: Marcial

Marcial has been a foster child of my parents when my father told me that his parents were ambushed by Gionite soldier while they were sending relief packs to the Sabanas during the Civil War in Ransang.

We were both too young to remember any of it. And I am glad that we didn’t need to remember those horrible memories.

But of course, where are my manners? I didn’t know how to greet him. It has been almost a decade since we last saw each other. The last time I saw of his shy grin and ear-scratching was the day I watched him left for his military training.

I was maybe eleven or ten and Marcial was fifteen when he left my father’s house and trained in Pinfel Military Academy. I always wondered why he left to go to the military academy when he never expressed any idea that he wanted to be a soldier.

But as I backed away and observe him from head to tie. He looked more refined now in his military uniform. His military uniform was light brown with stitches of stars all over his upper-left pockets.

I thought that Runi will be my only friend here but seeing Marcial again was enough for me to smile a little.

I still observed Marcial. He still has those coal-colored droopy eyes that could pierce through your soul if you look long enough at them. His hair was already trimmed in a military crew cut with the back and sides shaved. His cheekbones were still distinct but tighter than before. Overall, he looked clean-cut now, very serious indeed.

“I am the Administrator in Command to General Randall Ferrer, Natalia. Let me lead you to your room,” Marcial said as he walked before me and Runi.

I could see that the General's mansion is an ancestral house with some modern renovation.

As Marcial lead us through the living room, I could see that the walls were adorned with swords that have been collected all throughout the years from different places judging from its unique forms.

I paused and stared into the wall, wondering the story behind each sword.

“The General collected all these swords as traditional gifts from the places he’d been to. They’ve been bestowed to him as a gesture from the leaders of every state in the country,” Marcial narrated with awe radiating from his eyes.

I paused. The General I am going to marry had been to many places and could’ve met many women. And here I am who have only been living in my father’s house for my whole life.

Apart from Marcial and the guards back home, I have never really met many men. How could I compare myself to the cultured General?

I touched each sword, tracing my finger at every edge.

“That one was particularly bestowed upon him when he saved the people from the fire that almost killed you and the President’s whole staff. That merit raised his rank to General,” Marcial explained.

I paused. The Gionites. Again. The Central Government really has discrimination against the ethnicities of Ransang, particularly the Gionites.

But my mother defended the Gionites.

On the night of the fire, she told me that the Gionites never breached any treaty.

“The Gionites never breached the treaty, Marcial,” I said.

Marcial’s eyebrows twitched. He looked curiously at me. “Who told you that? Do you believe that they didn’t?”

“My mother told me that night during the fire,” I answered. “But I don’t understand what she was talking about. It was too odd to say it during the fire while our lives were in danger.”

I closed my eyes. I ransacked my brain for everything that I’ve learned about the Gionite Tribe from my father’s hired tutors.

I’ve learned that the Gionites were the last of Ransang’s surviving tribe who were co-existing peacefully with Ransang state but refused to pledge allegiance to the civil laws of Ransang. They could also speak Ransang’s language but with a thick accent.

After the Civil War, they were forced to integrate into Ransang’s modern ways. Most of their members have even married into the Capital’s citizens. Before the war, it was forbidden for them to marry a non-Gionite.

From what I’ve remembered, a political marriage took place between the Ransang state and Gionite Tribe that sealed a diplomatic treaty.

Runi must have sensed my uneasiness because she took my arm lightly. She interrupts, “Please forgive the young lady, Lieutenant. We’ve travelled far, and she must be tired. Could you please lead us to her room?”

“I see. Natalia here has always been imaginative,” Marcial teased.

He lead us to the end of the hallway. We’ve stopped before my room. “I’m just really happy that you’re now here, Natalia. Please rest first and let Runi call me if you need anything.”

I smiled. “I’m just happy you’re here too, Marcial.”

I frowned when he was about to walk away. He must have sensed it because he asks, “Natalia? Are you sure you’re okay? Apart from being tired as what Runi said?”

I didn’t know what got into me. I threw myself on his chest and embraced him.

He must have been really petrified because his body grew stiff. I don’t know what got into me as I cry on his chest while pleading: “Please, Marcial! Please! Please take me away from here! I don’t want to marry the General!”

“Please forgive the young lady, Lieutenant!” Runi was totally horrified to see me crying on Marcial’s chest.

“It’s alright, Runi,” Marcial replied. “You see, Natalia always trusted me better than anyone.”

Runi stepped back with a crumpled face.

Runi couldn’t understand that no matter who Marcial has becime, he will always be a brother to me who used to play with me at my father’s backyard.

And maybe, just maybe, he could persuade the General not to marry me.

I know that my father is looking out for a lifetime protection for me. The General could provide for it, but how can he also consent to marry a woman he has never met before? He must have an agenda against me!

This might be the only opportunity for me to release my abhorrence to the marriage arrangement to Marcial.