Twist Of Fate: Three Little Miracles

Meanwhile….

The prison cells -dungeons- were at the very lowest level of the Military base, beneath the graveyard levels where thousands of buried dead rested in silence.

The cells were reserved for the worst of criminals: assassin’s gone rogue, betrayals who broke the Covenant Law, soldiers who betrayed or violated the military covenant rules. Diana as none of those things. How could Mark even suggest sending her there? Oh yeah, she was set up.

The darkness of the military base dungeons was more profound than any darkness Diana had ever known. She couldn’t see the shape of her own hand in front of her eyes, couldn’t see the floor or ceiling of her dungeon. What she knew of the cell, she knew from the torchlit first glimpse she’d had, guided down here by a contingent of soldiers, who had opened the barred gate of the dungeon for her and ushered her inside as if she were a common criminal. Then again, that’s probably exactly what they thought she was. A criminal who tried to paralyze the president general, sent some bloody civilians to extort information and steal the staff of honour and also was working for the enemies.

Diana knew that the cell had a flagged stone floor, that three of the walls were hewn rock, and that the fourth was made of narrowly spaced electrum bars, each end sunk deeply into stone. She knew there was a door set into those bars. He also knew that a long metal bar ran along the east wall, because the military soldiers had attached one loop of a pair of silver cuffs to this bar, and the other cuff to her wrist.

She could walk up and down the cell a few steps, rattling like a ghost, but that was as far as she could go. She had already rubbed her right wrist raw yanking thoughtlessly at the cuff. At least she was left-handed-a small bright spot in the impenetrable blackness. Not that it mattered much, but it was reassuring to have her better hand free.

She began another slow promenade along the length of her dungeons, trailing her fingers along the wall as she walked. It was unnerving not to know what time it was. She had begun to wonder if she would ever see the sky again. Diana paused. Now, why had she wondered that? Of course she’d see the sky again. Mark was’nt going to kill her. The penalty of death was reserved for betrayals and yea, Mark might sentence her to execution since she is been tagged a betrayal.

So, the flutter of fear stayed with her, just under her rib cage, strange as an unexpected twinge of pain. Diana wasn’t exactly prone to random fits of panic- Fear wasn’t something that had ever affected her much.

She has never been afraid of darkness. It was true. This anxiety was unnatural, not like her at all. There had to be more to it than simple darkness. She took another shallow breath. She just had to get through it. That was it. She took another step forward, with her manacle jingling drearily.

A sound split the air, freezing her in her tracks. It was a high, howling groaning pain like sound, a sound of pure and mindless terror. It seemed to go on and on like a singing note plucked from a violin, growing higher and thinner and sharper until it was abruptly cut off.

Diana swore. Her ears were ringing, and she could taste terror in her mouth, like bitter metal. She pressed her back against the wall of the cell, willing herself to calm down.

The sound came again, louder this time, and then there was another scream, and another. Then she overhead footsteps and she ducked involuntarily before remembering that she was several levels below ground.

In a jiffy, some female soldiers came in, some held torchlight on their hands and the others dragged her out of the dungeons.

She was brought before a desk and made to kneel down. Before her was Mark who had blank expression on his face.

While in the spot, she raised her head and saw Mark in a casual wear standing about seventeen kilometers from her, staring at her with an unreadable expression.

“Tell me the truth Diana. And I’d bend the rules to save you if eventually you’re found guilty…!” Mark stated as he started towards her. He was asking to be sure and that he was very reluctant to give the order. If it were Someone else, by now he or she should have been executed or punished.

Many wonder what was actually under the delay….

“Huh…. I’m innocent of the crimes charged against me!” She responded and tried to stand up instinctively but the chains around her legs didn’t let her. She was Maddened as why Mark wouldn’t believe her… Then again she doesn’t blame him. The person who set her up was a genius, she added fake evidences..

“And that’s by the way…. I’m here to give you this…” Mark dipped his hands into his pocket and brought out the letter and dropped it before Diana.

Her right hand was still free.. she picked it up and with the aid of her mouth she opened the letter and read the contents through with anxiousness written all over her face.

“Never! Never… He is not their father! This test must be fake!”

“You tell that to the court in ten days time..” Mark gestured and then left ..

Fast forward, a week later…

Diana was now tattered having stayed in the dungeon unkept and barely had something to eat. Her children were not allowed to meet her all through.

And now, all officer were gathered at the central field to witness Diana’s execution. Amidst the soldiers was Hannah who has a glad expression on her face, impatiently waiting for Diana to get her head cut off or expelled and once she is out of the way, the plan Jake has with her to destroy Mark’s life would be flawless….. But then again, Jake didn’t want Diana dead!. He wants her back into his life. Jake in a way to the best of his knowledge loved Diana.

Sooner, the three little rugrats arrived. Stoic held a laptop by his side and his siblings holding small briefcase as they walked up the large podium. Their eyes were burnt with tears when they saw their mum.

She had not taken her bath for a week now, her clothes were torn and her hair scattered all over her body. She definitely had suffered down there in the dungeons, she still however managed to gather strength to stand.

Richarlison who was on top the podium already spoke into the microphone “Last week, surgeon general Diana tried to paralyze the president general and accused of sending some bloody civilians to steal the staff of honour and transfer the military codes information to an unknown device and during that operation Ten of our comrades lost their life’s and thirteen of our comrades injured”..

Richarlison cleared his throat and continued ‘Surgeon General Diana ought to have been executed last week but due to some reasons best known to president general it was delayed to today”

Richarlison then walked up to Diana who stood there half consciously, “Do you plead guilty or not guilty?, General Diana.”

Once the three little miracles climbed the podium and Stoic shouted loudly “Not guilty!”

Diana too blurted ‘Not guilty’ it coincided.

“What?” Richarlison’s eyes deepened. ‘Does this little brats thinks we’re playing or joking here?NôvelDrama.Org © 2024.

Everyone swept their gaze over the small children as they walked gallantly and stopped before Richarlison. The two boys wore military camouflage and Jennifer wore a military skirt with a white top and a nice cap which reminded her of Felicity back at Delta City.

Owens and Mark who sat the a majestic couch behind the podium were shocked to see the volt of this children’s confidence. He was looking with a very dark painful expression. Only God knows how he has been coping with the fact Diana was suffering at a dungeon. Occasionally, he would go see Diana and each time he felt pain in his heart. “No, I can’t pity her! She almost killed me!” Then another part of his thought questioned “what if she is lady from that night? I mean she can be!”