HESTIA - The Virgin Princess

CHAPTER 9 - Juliana's Seduction

I

Around midnight, as the yacht of the spouses Lacati and Danli is sailing through the Pacific Ocean, going to Palau, a troop of pirates in their motorized big boat, suddenly noticed the luxurious lights of the vessel. Immediately, the Pirate’s boat made a U-turn and chased the yacht.

The spouses’ men saw the motorized boat’s light, which seems heading speedily towards their direction. Nonato, the head of the Spouses’ guards hurriedly informed the spouses, got their binocular and checked on the boat that is chasing them. Nonato announced what he saw. Lacati asked for the binocular and became worried in a way, when he saw the boat full of men with rifles.

“Danli, hurry, go inside the cabin and never get out unless I get you,” Lacati instructed his wife.

“Lac, what have you seen?” her tone is worried too.

“Pirates Li, they are chasing us now!” Lacati is trying to calm himself and instructed his men to get ready with their rifles. He has with him his three best guards. Each of them can beat down two to three men simultaneously and he as their trainer can pin them down, even if they will fight him altogether. They are all sharp shooters and physically well trained to fight.

“Nonato, instruct Lalu to put our vessel to its top speed!” Lacati authoritatively commanded the head guard, who urgently followed. Their Yacht’s top speed can run up to 50 knots. Speedier compared to the motorized boat used by the pirates.

As they were being chased by the pirates, Danli at the cabin kneels down and made a prayer she learned from one of her Christian teachers from the Philippines.

“God, I may not know you personally, but please, please, shower us with your mantle of protection from head to toe, protect us from evil, and keep us safe,” Danli prayed earnestly.

Danli also sought the forgiveness and help of their Queen Fairy. Although she learned about God Almighty, whom she secretly believes too; but, as their tribe’s tradition and rule, she needs to believeino their queen fairy.

Danli then heard a loud bang; it was the sound of a riffle. She covered her mouth to control herself from shouting.

Lacati and his men fired back at the pirates. They would like to show, the pirates that they are armed and will fight to the end if it is necessary.

The pirates keep on chasing the yacht. The yacht’s speed is so fast that it is hard for them to really catch up.

Lacati and his men, one more time aimed at firing their rifles at the pirates. Lacati aims steadily at the headlight of the pirate’s boat while his three men aim at the body of the boat. They need to incapacitate the pirates.

“Bang!” the gun of Lacati fired back once again and the pirates’ boat suddenly turned to blackness.

As three bangs were heard thereafter, the pirates instantly had commotions. Sea water is filling their boat. Their Captain pirate suddenly shouted, “Retreat!, retreat!”

II

Once again, it’s midnight and Hestia is dreaming.

She saw her Inah Danli, kneeling and praying; she heard loud bangs, clicks of rifles, and shouting men. She saw a drowning boat and then she heard his Amah Lacati shouting her Inah Danli’s name.

She cannot understand what is happening. Hestia called her Inah Danli’s and Amah Lacati’s names, so loud that her own ears could break.

Hestia woke-up perspiring. Her heartbeats are racing fast. She is thinking hard about her dreams. In her mind, she is worrying that something happened to her Inah Danli and Amah Lacati?

Hestia kneels and vows her head and earnestly murmurs a prayer, “Queen Fairy, please, please spare my parents from your wrath against me. Punish me, but not them, I am pleading to you”. Tears roll down from Hestia. She does not usually cry; for her, that is a sign of weakness. She was not trained to be a crying baby. She was trained to be a tough woman and was taught to be calm and wise thinking in times of trouble and desperate situations.

Yet, when it comes to her parents, Hestia’s love for them can certainly make her cry. Her love for her Inah and Amah is boundless and she felt so guilty about what she did. She tore her parent’s hearts and they are now facing the wrath of the fairies and most probably of the Chieftain.

Her act of absconding and turning away from her fate is considered a mortal sin in their tribe. She did not only offend the Queen Fairy and the Chieftain but her whole tribe the most.

Hestia felt sorry for the things she have done but she never regretted her decision to chase her real purpose, her real dreams, and freedom.

She may be young in age, but Hestia has known what she wanted in life since childhood. She will live up to it and will fight for it, no matter the costs; but, the safety of her parents is now troubling her.

In the city of Legazpi, Alex stayed in his hotel. This hotel is just so new. It just opened a year ago. He named it as “Lexsan Hotel”, which he crafted from his first name and surname. It is a five-star hotel, which is now considered one of the biggest hotels in the city. It has a rooftop pool where the guests could enjoy swimming while watching the whole city including the province’s natural wonder, which is Mt. Mayon or Mayon Volcano. Many tourists love to visit the city because of this volcano.

In the hotel, he has his own suite at the pent house. He usually stays here when he has some business matters to attend to in the city. Most of the time, he loves to stay at CaraLex Bay.

Tomorrow would be his second day in the hotel. He decided to stay here in the meantime. Aside from the fact that he has some business meetings and some deals to close, he also would like to be away in the meantime from CaraLex Bay to think better and fathom what he feels right now.

While in the window gazing at the enormity of the city, Alex heard a knock on his door. His forehead creased, “Who in this holy hour would visit him, or maybe one of the staff,” he murmured while walking to the door to open it.

Before opening, Alex peeped in the door’s peephole. He was so surprised to see the woman outside.

“Juliana, what are you doing here, at this late hour? Alex's tone seems to be irritated.

“Can I come inside first?” Juliana insisted but walked inside anyway without waiting for the man’s approval.

“My meeting finished so late, so I need to book a room here. However, I was told by one of your staff that you are here so I decided to come first before booking a room.” Juliana now sits cross-legs on the big soft sofa nearby the masculine-designed one-pieced bed of Alex. Juliana is wearing a short dress and a blazer, but the blazer has been removed already and thrown beside the sofa. She is now just wearing a one piece tube dress, showing majestically almost half of her big breasts.

Alex looked away, and then inquired, “So what meeting did you attend?”

“Hmm, a new client, who would like me to design her new home interiors.” Juliana replied with pride in her voice.

Alex nodded with a smile. Juliana is an interior designer. The reason why she met her was because of her profession. Juliana was recommended to him by one of his friends when he was starting to build this Lexsan Hotel. He hired Juliana as one of the interior designers of this hotel. She is also the one who designed his penthouse suite.

“If you want to book a hotel, I can call a staff to personally assists you and give you a 30% discount,” Alex said with the hope of dismissing the woman inside his suite.

“Hmm, Alex honey, would it be okay for me to stay here?" Juliana seductively smiled at Alex while taking a sexy stride toward him.

Alex's feet somewhat froze. He knows what this woman is implying. He is not innocent in this aspect.

As Juliana reached Alex and sweetly envelops the man’s neck with her hands and pressed her body to him, the latter could not any more move to resist. Juliana then without further ado, wraps her legs to Alex's hips.

While watching Juliana’s face, Alex's eyes are seeing “Hester’s” face; he closed his eyes, and with his delirious state of mind because of desires, Juliana was able to make her advances successfully.

III

Hestia woke up with a head-spinning feeling. She was not able to sleep better. She is thinking about how she could be able to have news about her island, especially about her parents. Maybe, she can ask Alexander’s help on this.

"Lola Lilia, have you seen Sir Alex please?” Hestia asked the good old lady, who is always willing to lend a hand to her.

“Hi Hest, he is in the city, I do not know yet when he will be coming back here,” Aling Lilia’s quick reply.

“I see, okay, thank you Lola Lilia. I’ll take a walk in the sand. I want to feel its heat in my feet.” Hestia’s melancholic eyes did not escape the watchful eyes of Aling Lilia.

Aling Lilia nodded and watched the woman’s back while she walks heading to the villa’s main door.

Hestia can feel the heat of the sand on her feet, but she does not care. Her mind is in deep thought. She needs to do something to know what’s happening on their island. She needs to know her parents' current situation.

Hestia made a long sigh as she feels the heaviness in her heart. She continued walking until she reached the back part of the resort. There she saw a small gate, which seems leading to another resort. She was dismayed however because the gate is closed, ‘though she can see the nearby resort, which is also beautiful. Hestia let her eyes wander into the new surroundings that she discovered. The resort is beautiful too but it cannot be compared to CaraLex Bay Resort. Comparing the two resorts is somewhat improper. The nearby resort as Hestia surmised can be rated most probably with three stars only while CaraLex Bay Resort is five stars.

At the nearby resort, Raullo is in his jogging suit, slowly running at the edge of his resort. Still far from that edge, he could already see a woman wandering in the adjacent resort owned by his competitor, Alexander Sandoval. He jogs faster with the hope of still catching the woman where she is standing now.

Raullo is catching his breath when he reached the small gate that connects his resort to CaraLex Bay Resort. He admits that CaraLex is a view to admire. It is most likely the best among all the resorts nearby.

The woman was about to turn her back when Raullo without hesitation called her, “Miss, wait a moment!” he shouted.

Hestia immediately looks at the man who was most probably calling her, “Are you calling me?” Hestia inquired.

“Yes!” Raullo replied with a wide grin.

“Anything?” Hestia is thankful that she did not forget to wear her face mask. The man who called her is a mask free so she can fully see his features. He has aristocratic features, like that of Spanish origin. His skin is much lighter compared to the full-blooded Filipinos that she met in the resort. He is not too tall like Alex but tall enough compared to some men around. All in all, the man can be considered as handsome.

Raullo on one hand is assessing the features of the woman in front of her. Although she wears a mask, he can tell that she has an extraordinary beauty. Just by the look in her eyes and nose bridge, her fair skin, her taller height than an ordinary Filipina, and her voluptuous body, he can conclude that the woman is a sight to behold.

"There you are Hest!" Aling Lilia exclaimed upon seeing Hestia.

"Lola Lilia, apology, it seems I went far already," Hestia apologetically replied.

“Hello Aling Lilia, how are you?” Raullo greeted the old lady, with the hope that she will introduce him to the beautiful lady, she called Hest.

“Mr. Raullo, hello, I am okay, excuse us by the way, Sir Alex is looking for us.” Aling Lilia holds the right hand of Hestia and guided her back to the villa.

Raullo was so disappointed. Aling Lilia destroyed his chance today to know more about the mysterious woman. He then shrugged off his shoulder and murmured, “I will meet you again beautiful woman… and it will be soonest.”