Free to flee

Her hands were tied behind her back with a hard, tight rope.

It hurt, Diane couldn't complain or say anything not while she was in those circumstances.

Night had fallen all around the camp, the sky darkened, taking on the classic charcoal black colour with some dark blue accents.

On that night the small, silver stars seemed less than the lady had ever seen in her life and they certainly seemed tiny to her eyes.

Diane slowly shook her head and with it she also moved slightly the curly black hair that she kept tied in a ponytail behind her head.

It was cold despite being a normal midsummer night and the only heat that she felt at that moment was the burning in her wrists due to the tying of the rope that trapped her too tightly.

As she refused to follow her half brothers back to Man, the men had trapped her, tied up like a prisoner and thus forced to follow them.

She knew in emergency cases their kinship was no longer important.

Diane knew that if her three half-brothers had returned to her Man without her, her mother would have taken the matter very badly and as already illegitimate sons of her own husband, she knew such a disappointment could escalate.

Mary Morley had raised the three boys almost out of pity because she knew that without their mothers they would be abandoned and would most likely have to live a life of hardship.

In addition it was also her sense of guilt that led her to act in that way, as she had never given the man a legitimate male heir from her marriage to Lord Stanley.

Of course she knew it wasn't her fault and she also knew it was really unfair to have to support her own husband's infidelities, but Mary Morley knew it wasn't those boys' fault and like many others she had developed almost a sense of maternal instinct towards the three.

Walter, Marcus and Samuel had agreed together to bring the twins Logan and Cassidy, who in the meantime had reached the age of three and a half, to Man along with Diane.

How fast time had passed, it still seemed so close to the day of their birth but in fact time had passed and with this the time had passed since she recently had the opportunity to meet Meredith.

Diane looked up from the damp and earthy ground on which she was sitting, raised her gaze only enough to notice the faint glow of a sparkling light a few meters away from her.

The fire had still burned since that evening, or if not really fire, there was a small but still bright flame with a dull yellowish mustard colour.

From that little flame, which still shone from the ashes and from the pieces of old charred wood, sometimes small sparks with a pale and faded yellowish colour shot out.

Diane tried with the help of her legs to move as far as she could close to the flame, it was really so cold that night and getting close to that minimal source of heat could be a form of salvation for her.

She did so, thanks to her legs she was able to make a couple of movements near the bonfire and with great pleasure, all of a sudden she found herself flooded with heat.

It was a pleasant sensation, she wanted to bring her hands close to that flame but they were locked behind her cold back, so she had no other option to partially warm the rest of her body.

Diane lifted her big blue eyes slightly away from the bonfire, as the light grey smoke that fell directly on her light dark face had started to make her skin itch a little.

She noticed on the other side of the flame there was a figure that she knew all too well.

He was sitting there against one of the camp tents and between his cold and pale hands clutching a faded yellowish sheet and a pen in the other.

The inkwell and the black ink were instead a few centimetres beyond him.

-Samuel...- Diane hinted lowering her eyes again towards the damp and earthy ground beneath her, she began to feel a sense of nausea in her dry throat, the need to quench her thirst with some liquid.

The brother turned his light blue eyes towards his half-sister, he noticed she was still awake at that time of the night and somehow he was not surprised by it so he hinted at a sign of listening.

-Mh?-.

-Could you help me with water, please, I'm very thirsty- Diane prayed hoping in the depths of her heart that he would accept her request and help her in her survival that evening.

At those words and after a few minutes of hesitation Samuel on the other side of the flame lifted his tall, slender body from the damp ground, shake the earth from his fine dark brown trousers and took a few steps towards his younger half sister.

Diane heard the sound of the water bottle being pulled out of Samuel's leather belt, she felt how his fingers uncorked the small bottle, it was a reassuring sense, something told her that there was a little goodness in her brother's heart.

-Open your mouth- asked him, lifting his sister's face upwards with delicacy and lightness, so that the thirst-quenching liquid entering her mouth could go down her throat.

Diane could see her brother's face, his pale skin, the dry little lips chapped with dryness, the deep light blue eyes, his hair of a fuzzy colour between straw blonde and platinum.

The lady opened her mouth slightly so that the bottle could reach her lips and the cool water could flow into her mouth, it was so nice to be able to drink again, knowing that for some time thirst would not be her problem.

After a few seconds the bottle then moved away from her lips letting a few drops of water slip out onto Diane's plump lips and fall on her chin.

Samuel took a few steps back from her, put the bottle back attached to his belt, closed the cap.

Diane observed him for a few moments, she was grateful that he had helped her and that he had decided to do so.

It was a strange feeling that ran between the two, because unlike Walter or Marcus, she and Samuel seemed to understand each other most of the time.

He too had a sensitive side in the back of his heart and he had very strong feelings for each of his half siblings and just like Diane and as many of the younger children of families were, he too was a victim of the jokes of his two older brothers at times.

It was perhaps what connected the two in a sense.

Samuel sat back down on the floor and again took the paper he had been busy with a few moments before, before being interrupted by the request of his half sister.

-What are you writing?- Diane asked a second time, mixing her words with his thoughts.

-You don't care...this is none of your business- he protested clutching the paper full of words and ink to his chest.

It was not possible that he was so interested in keeping his works a mystery, Diane knew her brother was an excellent writer, even if his ability seemed to her to somehow embarrass him.

Samuel was inspired by the stars, by the sparks of fire, by the night sky and by the sea back in Man, by the moon, by the white foam of the waves.

Why was she ashamed of expressing his emotions, his feelings in words, with ink, imprinting them forever on a sheet of paper?

Surely if their brothers had come to know, they would have made his life hell until the end of his days, he knew this.

-Samuel...- Diane attracted the attention of her brother once again, made him distract from his concentration.

-Mh?-.

-Could you loosen the rope that holds my hands? My wrists start to hurt...- she slowly rubbed her wrists against each other.

The surface of them, her soft, dark skin had begun to accumulate a strong redness.

Once again he slowly approached his sister, took the small and delicate hands in his cold hands, pushed them outwards, gently enough not to increase the pain in her body.

Diane closed her eyes briefly, a feeling of dread and fear almost instinctively took over her body, now that someone touched her she couldn't protect herself in any way. It reminded her of the same night she had been raped, that memory every time caused her a sense of terror and nausea, as well as a wave of bad memories.

But that was her brother, she had to trust what he was doing, at least in that situation or she would have no way out.

She heard the iron sound of the knife being pulled from his belt, she closed her eyes tightly, gritted her teeth and before she could even know it she was able to move her hands again.

Her wrists ached incredibly but she was finally able to open and close her fingers, to feel the icy palms of her hands.

Why was Samuel doing all this for her? Was he simply bored with her constant requests or did he really want to help here?

-Here, now you are free, your wrists don't hurt anymore, right?- her half brother asked placing the piece of paper on which he had written up to that moment under his eyes.

He gritted his teeth, crumpled the paper violently and forcefully threw it into the flame, which fed by the fresh paper, produced an even greater flame for a few moments.

Diane's plump, cold lips remained so parted with surprise and sadness, why had he done that? He had put a lot of effort into his creation and yet he had sent it to the flames, for what reason then?

Diane noticed some redness taking the moistened eyes of the other, she saw how he quickly wiped this humidity from them, not letting the tears fall on his pale cheeks.

Was he seriously so scared of their brothers or was he seriously afraid he wasn't good enough for that passion?

-What are you going to do, Diane?- her brother asked, not deigning to turn his big deep eyes towards her.

Diane rose slowly from the ground, briefly shook the dirt off her underwear and part of her skirt where it had accumulated.

She looked him in the eyes, looked away again towards the damp ground, she was sad for him, she could not do much to help him, on the other hand their brothers had always been assholes, she could not do anything to change the situation right now.

-Thank you for releasing me...- it came out like a faint hiss from her soft and plump lips -...I'm so so sorry for you-.

Samuel nodded faintly for a few seconds with his pale face now reddened by the cold and sadness that secretly brooded in his heart.

-I know you want to get out of here, I will not stop you, not if this is really your wish...- admitted him moving the locks of blond hair on his sweaty forehead.

-I suppose in any case that it is necessary that I inform you of something before you seriously disappear from this place...for a few days we have received the news that Lady Meredith Dustin, your girlfriend, has arrived in Man-.

Diane looked up at him for a few seconds, she couldn't keep her tears in her eyes, she wanted to keep secret the happiness that she burst from her heart.

She placed both her hands on her plump lips, she felt the salty and cold tears slip from her eyes, Meredith, her Meredith was healthy and was waiting for her at home, she hadn't betrayed her, forgotten her, she was there, she was waiting for her.

-Good heavens, Samuel, tell me, I beg you tell me that she is doing well...- Diane shook her half brother's body for a few seconds hoping he would reveal more, she saw how his soft blond hair moved and tickled his cheeks.

-She is healthy and eagerly waiting for you, sister- he admitted moving Diane from his body.

Samuel felt his sister's arms tighten around his shoulders, he blushed briefly, he hadn't expected such a reaction, so much emotion, so much happiness, he felt her arms tighten around him.

He felt Diane's tears fall from her big blue eyes to the fine fabric of his white shirt.

He was happy for her, he placed one of his hands inside her soft curls.

He felt Diane's lips come close to his ear, whisper into it, heard the words echo in his head, one by one.

-Please take care of my children, tell Meredith that I love her with all my heart and that I will come back to her one day-.

Samuel opened his big eyes, it was almost impressive to him that after all that his half sister still cared so much for her revenge, more than for her own family.

Diane had two children still too young to get by on their own and a girlfriend on the other side of the sea, how could she give up everything and risk her life like this?

Yet it was impossible for Samuel to express a word nor to choose for her, he knew it would not be the right choice.

-Do you not want to say goodbye to your children before leaving? This battle is already fought by a large number of people and seriously your presence or absence would not change much...- he tried again to convince her, he hoped in a certain way to keep her with him.

Samuel was afraid, if he had lost her like this, his stepmother would never ever forgive him.

Diane smiled faintly, he saw security shine in her eyes, shine in those big sea-coloured eyes, he knew that now that she knew the whole truth she was even more convinced to continue the war for her cause.

-It will...just take care of them, Samuel, I trust you and I know that I will kill you if you do not take an eye to those two little demons- Diane joked with irony leaving a weak pat on her half brother's back.

-And then Samuel, there are people who give up and fight to the end...and I do not surrender- Diane smiled, that was the last time he saw her.