Cassian was calling her name!
He was calling her name and grabbing her hand.
Was this just a reflex move?
No, it was as if he was grabbing with every ounce of strength left in him. But before Diana could do anything in response, she was pulled away by a different force.
PAK!
Diana felt a burning sting on her cheek as she crumbled to the ground.
"You have a lot of nerve coming in here after I threw you out," Vivette scoffed with a smirk.
"No-"
"Guards! Guards!" Vivette shouted.
Moments later, the guards entered the room and knelt before her.
"Arrest this intruder and throw her in the dungeon," She ordered.
Diana bit her lip. She scrambled to her feet, "I just wanted to see Cassian! Why hasn't his injuries been tended to? Didn't the healers come to tend to him?"
Vivette glared at her in annoyance. She slapped Diana again, showing no mercy.
"Take her to the dungeon at once! She is to be punished for her crime!" She ordered again.
"Your Highness, the estate does not have a dungeon."
Vivette folded her arms, "What? No dungeon? Well then, throw her into the horse stable."
"As you wish, Your Highness," The guards replied and moved forward to arrest Diana.
But before they could take Diana away, Vivette stopped them. She grabbed the warm robe Diana had on and ripped it off her.
"What are you doing?" Diana cried as tears rolled down her cheeks. She clutched herself tightly shivering.
"It's no punishment if you're dressed warmly for this. Take her away."
The guards did as they were ordered but Diana wasn't ready to give up. She struggled to try and get out of their hold to no avail. She reached her hand out to Cassian.
"Cassian! Help! Help me! Cassian!" She cried out.
Diana got no response. The door was slammed in her face. The guards did as Vivette instructed. They took Diana out to the horse stables and chained her to one of the poles. The stench alone made her wince.
But that was the least of her worries now. She shivered as the chilly night began to set in. Diana hoped someone would come to her aid. She wondered where her maid, Irene was.
Wasn't Irene her lookout? Perhaps she went to inform Lady Katherine for help.
Help never came.
Minutes turned into hours. Diana shivered from the cold. Her breath entered the air as mist as the night went on. The temperature dropped drastically. Diana huddled close, trying to keep her core temperature up but it was of no use.
"Some… someone… help…," she muttered.
The horse stable was far from the main building. No one would come by here till early morning.
Eventually, Diana lost consciousness. She felt a warmth spread through her body. A fever spread through her body.
"Diana! Diana!"
She turned her head around, trying to find the source of the voice. Diana quickly realized she was no longer in the present. She was dreaming. She was in a vast empty space of white with no end in sight.
"Diana!"
She heard his voice again. This time, it was more distinct.
Cassian was calling out to her.
"Cassian? Cassian! Where are you?" She called out to him as she ran around searching for him.
But everywhere she turned, he wasn't there. There was no sign of him anywhere. Diana grew increasingly desperate.
"Cassian! Where are you? Cassian!" Diana continued to call out to him, but still, there was no response.
"Diana," the sound of his voice made her turn immediately.
He was right there, right in front of her. They were inches apart, almost holding hands, almost touching.
This was a memory, a memory from three years ago. She remembered this feeling, the scents, the sights. This was the moment Cassian went away for war, their final moment together.
He'd gotten off his horse just as they were about to leave and walked up to her. She looked at him wide eyed as he him came up close, closer than he had ever been before.
She could feel his breath on hers. His hand almost touched her. They gazed deep into each other's eyes, not saying a word.
She remembered the feeling of her heart pounding in her chest, the thoughts that raced through her mind.
'He looks like he wanted to kiss me.'
He'd been looking at her and at her lips for the longest time. But he didn't make a move.
She remembered what he said.
"Wait for me, Diana."
Diana opened her eyes. She was no longer in that white space. She was back in the present. Her throat was parched, her body aching but she was alive. She was no longer in the barn but in a soft bed.
As her surroundings became clear, Diana realized she was in the guest room next to Katherine's.
"Oh thank Goddess Hycinthia you're awake!" Katherine exclaimed as she rushed into the room to see Diana sitting up in bed.
After Diana passed out in the stables, it wasn't until the early hours of the morning that someone find her there. A kitchen maid by the name of Mossy. Irene, her own personal maid, stood in the corner of the room, silent and weeping.
Diana grabbed Katherine by the hand.
"I saw Cassian, Katherine."
Katherine lit up at the sound of her son's name. Diana told her everything. Katherine shed tears but she was filled with hope.
"You must find opportunities to speak to him again. And we need to see to it that he recovers."
"Milady!" One of Katherine's maids entered the room in a rush, a kitchen maid following closely behind.
"What is it?"
"Mossy here requested to see you urgently," the maid explained.
"Send her in."
Mossy was summoned into the room at once. She curtsied respectfully to Katherine and Diana. She was about to open her mouth when she noticed Irene in the corner. She pursed her lips, unwilling to say more.
Diana understood.
"Irene, could you fetch me some soup from the kitchen? And a warm blanket."
"As you wish, milady," Irene replied.
Katherine sent out her maid too, only then did Mossy open her mouth to speak.
"I'm sorry to be so cautious, but I have an urgent message for you, well both of you," Mossy explained nervously.
"Well out with it then," Katherine insisted.
"There's a wounded man seeking entry onto the property, miladies. I was about to send him away but then I noticed something peculiar about the outfit he was wearing. That was when I recognized the Starshard family crest on his arm!"