The warm morning sun struck hard on the girl's delicate light dark skin.
Diane kept her eyes closed weakly, she lay there, still confused from the past evening.
Her curly black soft hair fell softly down her face and her soft cheeks.
Her cheeks and nose were covered with a layer of blush.
As the strong sun coming from the window hit her face the young woman slowly opened her big and wide blue eyes.
On her face, from her fleshy and soft lips, a slight smile stood out, she was happy on the one hand, she did not know why but that morning she felt completely satisfied and enthusiastic.
Diane slowly lifted her body from the bed and placed it on the heavy and woody headboard of the large bed until her back rested on it, so as to stretch her limbs and start the day at the best or at least slowly before noticing something extremely different.
Her body was covered by a thin and white nightgown, but strangely, that bed was not hers, but that of another person, as was the room, which was very large and spacious and full of light.
As she pulled the sheets off her legs she realised that the sheet she was lying on wasn't hers and was dirty from the last night, wet and full of sweat.
Heck, what had she done? What had they done?
Diane blushed even more on her sweet, dark face, so much so that even her sweaty forehead was covered with a deep redness.
She only remembered now, the night before, when they had gone to the tavern to clear their minds, they must have drunk more than a few mugs of beer which most likely led them to sleep together the previous night.
-Good morning my lady...- admitted the man, already awake and standing across the room.
Nathan was already awake, except that he was not yet fully dressed, at the moment he was wearing only his trousers, while still not wearing any shirt on his naked and wet chest.
Diane smelled something good in the air, she sensed the man had taken advantage of his partner's sleep to wash his sweaty body inside the heated tub of lukewarm water.
The man held a series of letters in his hands, one after the other, read them, the content seemed particularly interesting to him, he ran his hands over them as if to caress them.
Diane noticed the man's wavy brown hair, which, illuminated by the warm sunlight, seemed to have lit up with a clear reddish colour.
His big green eyes, the dull colour of the olives, observed with curiosity the many letters he held in his hands.
-I am not your lady and mostly you should have warned me who writes to you...- Diane scolded him slowly rising from the soft and comfortable bed on which she was previously lying.
What had they done? They had drunk too much and lost control of the actions, most likely, she thought, as with a small ribbon placed on the prized bedside table she was tying her curly short hair behind her head.
-These? Oh, these are not mine, they are yours...I found them the other night in the pocket of your dress, and I noticed Meredith, does this name mean something to you?- Nathaniel asked slowly and sympathetically looking at the young woman.
Diane's eyes widened more in an expression of surprise, her soft lips remained half closed, how come that stubborn and intrusive man continued to meddle with her facts?
She was aware that he was not jealous of her, on the other hand they were in a somewhat open relationship, where Nathan too was free to hang out with all the boys and girls he liked, yet that young man seemed to want to know everything about her.
On the other hand, it was not a surprise, he was born as the only son of an important British lord and consul in the service of the crown, he had been spoiled by his father and served and revered by his servants in every least desire of him.
-Nevertheless...there will be no need to worry, I read the address and wrote a letter, informing the girl of our relationship- Nathan admitted, placing the accumulated letters on the smooth and woody bedroom table.
He was joking, she hoped, he couldn't be serious and Diane couldn't let Meredith find out about her supposed affair with him, she would never accept and forgive her, and at that moment Meredith was taking care of her children too.
How naive and selfish she had been, and on the other hand it was her fault for having agreed to start it all with that young man.
-I did it Diane, I did it because for the first time since I met you I felt that I needed you with me and I could not accept the fact that you were cheating on me with another- admitted the young Nox taking lightly and subtly the hands of the woman and observing her in her big blue eyes.
-I really love you Diane-.
But she pushed the man away from her, she didn't love him, at least not in the same way he loved her and everything that had happened that night was nothing more than a big, terrible mistake.
-No Nathaniel! It is not you that I cheated on with her! It is she who I cheated on with you!- Diane protested, pushing the man away from her body -everything that happened last night between us...just forget it, please-.
She heard the sound of footsteps becoming louder and more evident in the long corridor of the floor, inside the castle, something was not right at all, she heard the angry voices of the people, their angry fast footsteps, their running full of rancour.
It was almost like an instinct that led the young woman to push the man under the bed and hide herself by his side, she didn't know why but it just felt like the right thing to do.
The sun's rays shone from the window, they waited a few moments, silence broke in, did it for a few seconds before the heavy door of the room was smashed and at the entrance to the room there was a couple of men wearing muskets over their shoulder.
They were silent, cold shivers came down from the forehead of the young woman, those men, those were the revolutionaries.
Obviously the popular not only hated royalty but also hated the aristocracy and if only they had found her or Nathaniel alive they would not have hesitated to arrest and execute them on the guillotine.
-There is no one here! They must have heard of our arrival and run away- admitted one of the two men in that room, without however searching enough to find the two wanted -we have to go, our companions are waiting for us and still the search is long-.
When the two finally left the room, the two young aristocrats were able to breathe fresh air again.
-Those are revolutionaries from the popular front, we have been victims of a coup, I saved your life, you must be grateful...- Diane admitted slowly and decisively coming out of her hiding place from under the bed.
The man looked at her with his big and expressive green eyes full of admiration, he still knew Diane was furious with him for what he had done with the letters but on the other hand he recognised that having saved his life she still had to feel some form of affection towards him.
-It is good news I suppose...- the man ventured from under the bed, observing Diane grab the gun from the top drawer of the dresser.
-No, not at all! Those men are looking for their revenge, the people's revenge and those bastards will end up doing all the dirty work in my place, for which I have worked for years ...- admitted the young woman loading the gun with speed but accuracy.
-If I were you, Nathaniel, I'd start running...-.
Diane passed through the long corridors, she too ran, she was poorly dressed in her light and modest nightgown. She tried to avoid the rebels, at least as long as she could, she heard their noise, their footsteps, she swerved.
But on the other hand she also had an advantage over the inexperienced commoners: she was an expert in that place and she definitely knew where to find Isabelle and how to carry out her revenge.
In that morning Jacob Jones, who perhaps out of interest was also hiding behind this sudden revolt, had taken his nephew away from court, saving his life with the intention of becoming official royalty once the dirty work was done.
Diane understood it, on the other hand the aristocracy was like this, a mixture of tragic events considered highly random.
As she ran she noticed the rooms of the royal residence completely upside down: the precious furniture was destroyed, torn to pieces, the documents destroyed and burned, the mattresses and precious pillows opened in two and free of the white feathers that constituted them.
For the inhabitants, ministers and other lords of the castle found before her there was no hope, they had been caught in their sleep, killed in cold blood and their blood covered the dismembered mattresses and the floor.
Diane went up the stairs, the rebels had no mercy, she hoped in the depths of her heart that nothing would happen to Nathaniel, she hoped he would be saved.
What idiocy, she blushed faintly in the face, why the heck was she worried about him?
On the other hand Meredith was waiting for her at Man, if she was still waiting for her after what Nathan had informed her of...knowing her, she would have been furious with her and when she was furious she remembered the delicate face of the other becoming adorable and blushing on her sweet little upturned nose.
Diane smiled, Meredith, she had to go back to her before it was too late, it was as if in that moment she immediately understood which of the two choices she hoped most for .
Diane had arrived there, at the entrance to the great hall, she had arrived there before the rebels who inexpertly passed by and wasted their precious time destroying the aristocratic matter with anger and rancour.
She opened the door with a kick and without more hesitation in a temporal space of a few seconds she found herself in front of a huge room, deeply illuminated by the light that filtered through the huge windows.
That room, unlike the others was still intact for the moment without enormous damage, the bed was elegantly still stable, the mattresses and pillows comfortably filled, the books not yet gone to ashes and neatly stored in the large and beautiful bookshelf.
And in the corner of the room stood her, also in a night dress looking out at the large and wide open window.
Her gaze was different than usual, Isabelle was dull, sad, as if she was already aware of her fate and the fact that her life would end that same day, in a few minutes.
Her big eyes were filled with tears, which she too in her last moment of life would not accept to let fall on her cheeks.
Her soft, wavy blonde hair was slightly pushed by the wind towards the window, she was lost in her thoughts in those last moments and almost, when her gaze met that of Diane who had joined her in her room, she seemed to rejoice a little at the idea of not being alone at that moment.
-You know Diane, I thought several times to throw myself down the window and finish everything as soon as possible and without too much pain, on the other hand it has always been my dream to be free and fly like a bird, the only truth is that I don't I have the courage, so I am grateful that you have come to my aid...- the princess admitted slightly and slowly lowering her gaze to the white and cold floor.
Isabelle tucked a tuft of her long hair behind one of her ears, she blushed faintly on her face, on her sweet little cheeks, a smile spread across her lips.
-You know I've always liked you somehow, I've always admired you...your way of doing things, your courage, the truth is that all my life I've only dreamed of being like you but I couldn't and I failed...- the princess admitted, slowly and embarrassedly raising her gaze to the young woman.
Diane involuntarily blushed at those compliments and such beauty, so even on her mulatto and delicate face, on her soft lips, a small smile was created -Thank you, I guess...-.
It was impossible, she, Diane, the rebel, the girl who had always fought to be the one to put an end to such a tyranny, now she couldn't, it was difficult, she had the opportunity but instead of doing the deed she seemed to hesitate.
Why? Perhaps because she had never killed anyone, perhaps because in her hardness there lived the tender and the human in her heart.
-So it seems you will be the one to put an end to all this, I only require two things...only two before I die and then I will be ready- asked the princess taking her pale and trembling hands inside each other.
-Do not kill me with a gun, the wait is too long, I would like only two things: that you come close to me and you kiss me passionately on the lips and that you stick the dagger right in my heart-.
Diane thought about it for a few moments, she would have done this after all, her last moments on this earth were hers and also for Diane, the moment of inevitability was coming closer and closer.
Diane approached Isabelle, they were now within walking distance of each other and the rebel held a dagger in her hand, at the height of the other's heart, ready to immerse it in her flesh.
Diane turned her face down, her blue eyes, exhaled, blushed slightly, it would be quick and innocent, just a quick kiss.
-Well, I guess the time has come- Isabelle admitted blushing and sinking her delicate and sweaty hands into Diane's soft black curls, tied in a short and high ponytail.
Isabelle squeezed her to the level of the collar of her shirt, pushed her towards her face until the lips of the two touched in a passionate but delicate kiss.
But that was not like any kiss that Diane and Meredith had never exchanged, it didn't seem to be a kiss with affection, on the contrary it seemed a rather angry and violent kiss but she recognised in it in a certain passion.
And together with passion, she felt the dagger pierce Isabelle's heart, she had made it, Diane had finally managed to complete that act until time had slowly stopped.
An acid sensation began to rise to Diane's lips, a ferrous sensation, unpleasant, from her womb to her throat and up to her mouth, until it dropped with a squirt out of her soft lips, thus ending the kiss with the princess.
Yes, she had stabbed Isabelle, her dream of revenge had come true but without noticing that distracting her with the kiss, the princess with her last strength had taken the opportunity to stab Diane exactly at the height of her womb.
She was afraid and too cowardly to leave this world alone, she wanted her to follow her, she didn't want to be alone, she was tired of that feeling.
-You are still the same Isabelle- admitted the young rebel, sinking the weapon even further inside her chest ending her life once and for all.
-I have never changed- Isabelle smiled, leaving this world, now with fresh blood to blush her soft pink lips, she was tired too, she was tired but happy and smiled, glad that her final day was also that of her own enemy.
Isabelle had died in Diane's arms, she had closed her eyes exactly as if to sleep, but she was smiling, she was proud of her thirty years of life, she knew she had lived them fully in her way.
Diane slowly placed the princess' light body on the cold and white floor, which at the touch of the corpse had turned red in a stain of blood, which from her chest had also begun to stain the precious clothes of the cruel princess.
Isabelle was perfect and beautiful too in her death, it was almost impressive.
Diane slowly touched her wound, it hurt but it wasn't serious, it could have healed thanks to a doctor, because in her last moments Isabelle hadn't been able to push the dagger deeper in her flesh.
She smiled weakly, she wanted to sit down, she was tired, but she couldn't, she wanted to die but on the other hand she had too many things to do, she hadn't said goodbye to too many people she cared about.
-My Lady!- she heard a strangely familiar voice echoing from the entrance to the room, it was Nathaniel, she recognised him and how she recognised face after face the persons of the popular front of which she herself had been the founder.
They had captured and held the young man as a prisoner, he could be useful to them in revealing the war plans and how he had been lucky enough that one of his male lovers was a member of those rebels, so Nathan had survived just in time to come and rescue her.
-You need a doctor Diane, and also urgently!-.
-No, not yet...not now- she interrupted him smiling faintly, she felt she could resist and in that moment she had something very important to accomplish, something she had always dreamed of.
-Take me to the roof, please...I have to...I need to let the people know that we did it, that Isabelle is dead...-.
Nathaniel Nox nodded slightly, of course he wanted to allow her to act like her own, after all she had always done it and only steps later when Diane had finally reached the roof, that every dream of her came true.
She fell to her knees, under the blue and sunny sky, it was free again and very clear, the colour of her own big eyes at that moment clouded by emotion and tears.
Salty tears rolled down her soft cheeks but they didn't burn, rather they were fresh and full of happiness.
She saw thousands of people: commoners, bourgeois, more than she could ever count, people who, at the stroke of her gun, at the shot, had begun to cheer, celebrate, kiss each other.
They were sure it was the end of a long tyranny but Diane knew, to her delight, that all this was not over yet.