Kapitel 99: Salvation
-Mother! Mother! She's opening her eyes!- a sweet little female voice said right next to Brooklyn's body.
The woman slowly opened her eyes, it hurt, her sight of was blurred and tired from the strong migraine that she was feeling at that moment.
Brooke looked around for a few moments, she was still inside the catacombs, the pale light entered above the narrow and slippery stairs, which led to the town's underground.
How long had it been? How long had she been unconscious?
Her movements ached incredibly, her light dark skin, golden from the dim sunlight in the basement, showed some bruises on her body from kicks or punches.
Her fine clothes were torn, dirty and ruined, her hair, coal black and curly, was all sweaty, her face was dirty from the dirt and dust she had lain on that night.
Brooke touched her belly with concern for a few seconds, it was still swollen from the pregnancy, it didn't hurt strangely, which led her to believe for some time that these men had been decent enough to leave the baby inside her alone.
It was still alive, she felt in her womb the pressure and the touch of the little hands and little feet kicking.
The poor baby must have been beaten and tossed a lot, it was natural that it was now protesting.
The woman looked in front of her, she was not alone.
In fact, a few steps away, she was able to meet two large and lively blue eyes.
A little girl was kneeling next to her, she didn't know her, she had never seen her, she was delicate, could she possibly be dead? Could that be like an apparition?
The little girl could have been up to six years old, a soft and pale face, slightly red on her cheeks, she had two eyes, large and the blue like the sea and the sky.
Her hair, almost up to her butt, touched the ground when she was kneeling, was tied up in two golden brown braids, which ran neatly down her back.
Brooklyn had never had so much to do with children, so that for the first few minutes she was impressed, not knowing what to do or say to that little one.
The girl smiled at her, which led the woman to believe that she was really attracted to her, even though she didn't know her.
-Olivia, please, let this poor lady get some air- another voice interrupted the excited aura that that little angel was giving to the wounded woman.
The little girl stood up, polite and neatly cleaned the skirt of her elegant little light blue dress, adorned with lace on the undersides and sleeves.
She picked up a porcelain doll from the ground, with long blond hair and beautiful dress, made exclusively from fine fabric.
Brooke knew from experience that any child who owned such expensive toys must surely be a child, descended from a rich and noble dynasty.
She moved to shake the hand of the woman who accompanied the girl, who soon rushed to help Brooke, who, sore and not yet fully conscious, wandered with her lost gaze inside the room.
The woman accompanying little Olivia was young, about twenty-seven, about the same age as Brooklyn.
She evidently seemed concerned about her conditions, even though she did not know her, nor had she ever seen her.
The mother looked a lot like her daughter, she had the same brown hair, also tied in a long braid on her back.
She was dressed in precious and expensive clothes: although not knowing which noble family she came from, it was understood by the manner and the harmonic and soft shape of her face, that she was a noble.
The woman grasped in her delicate hands the face of the poor wounded lady, she squeezed her black and curly, soft hair between her fingers, placed on the fleshy dark lips of Brooke a canteen full of fresh water, which Brooke did not hesitate to drink, from the thirst she had.
-They have hit you really badly, do you need a doctor? - asked her rescuer, leaving room for the other to get up and recover.
-I'm fine...at least I think, thank you very much...- Brooklyn thanked her, standing up.
After that night, that she was left unconscious on the floor she hadn't moved a single muscle, it was so weird to be able to walk again.
Brooklyn's stomach rumbled as more and more hands and feet started pounding in protest.
It was right, she and her baby hadn't eaten at all in the previous day and now she would do anything to get a tea and a hot soup.
It was cold, Brooke wrapped her arms around her chest, those men had torn and uncorked her clothes, now she was freezing.
-Thank you so much for rushing to help, if you hadn't come, I would have died...-Brooklyn kept her gaze on the floor, she was ashamed of having to disturb someone, but seriously she needed help.
The woman smiled gently, a sweet smile full of compassion and understanding.
-No need to thank, really, it was my little Olivia's curiosity that led me to you, the credit is all of her...- she admitted, gently passing one of her hands over the soft and fluffy brown hair of her little girl.
-Anyway, my name is Meredith of House Dustin, I suppose you also have a name, you are also a lady, of House Stanley, from what I can imagine- the lady admitted taking her daughter's little hands in hers.
The gold brooch representing the deer, the symbol of House Stanley, had fallen from her pocket where she had always kept it from the beginning, it was no surprise that the woman had found it.
-My name is Diane, Diane Stanley- it had been for so long that she didn't reveal her real name to anyone, so long, she had passed into her masculine form, that she no longer recognised that name, it no longer belonged to her.
-I know the story of your brother Gilbert, his tragic death, I'm incredibly sorry... -lady Meredith Dustin looked down in condolence, brought one of her small and light hands to her chest, squeezed it like a fist to her heart.
Diane was incredibly sorry for the deaths of both of Meredith's younger brothers, William and Dickon, who had died in such a painful and pitiful way, she knew how much it had brought anger and pain to the Dustin family.
Brooke's stomach rumbled once again, seriously she was starving.
-You are hungry... - Lady Meredith realised, looking up at the other again, she knew exactly what to do -let me offer you and your baby some food, maybe a hot soup, lunch time is starting to approach...-.
Diane had no words for the kindness and education of the young woman, who even though she hardly knew she had immediately taken her under her protection, without hesitation.
The Dustins knew what Isabelle was capable of, so it was like an act of charity to be able to protect and save a person from her physical and psychological pain.
-Seriously, I don't want to cause too much trouble...- Diane tried to apologise, she was suffering more and more from hunger and cold.
She had given too much confidence to the bourgeois, to the revolutionaries, they had betrayed her, beat her, even knowing she was pregnant, they had left her there all night without water or food to simply die.
Meredith grabbed her hands they were cold, almost frozen, she understood, all the cold that she was feeling.
-I know what you feel, I know what Isabelle is capable of, after the death of my brothers, I took as a mission, the task of helping all those in difficulty and fleeing from her...-.
Those words were sensationally sweet and full of understanding, but at no cost Diane wanted someone to bother for her, to welcome her, to give her food and water.
-Thank you very much, everything will be better, just let me go back again...-.
-Do not even think about it...- Lady Meredith's hands tightened around the wrist of the woman next to her.
-You are pregnant, injured, tired and hungry, returning to the castle would simply be an extra risk for you, for your child...- Meredith Dustin tried to persuade her -I could not save my brothers, but you, who have escaped from the walls...why do you insist so much to return there?-.
-I have no other choice- Diane tried to explain hissing unduly between her lips -there I have a bed and I get food...if I don't go back, I would find myself on the street...-.
Meredith smiled, with one hand clutching those of her little Olivia, with the other she tried to calm the woman, desperate and with no future.
-My husband, John is an Hannover, we own a mansion and lands, further north, Olivia and I will go to that place to celebrate the Christmas holidays, please...come with me, I could never bear to let that you ruin your life in such a way...-.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein