That’s when she saw the woman, also calling to them, begging them to cease and promising to choose one. She must be Lady Isolda, the ghost who had been pestering James. But none of them appeared to be ghosts, not even their swords that clanged with each strike. They were as real as she and not one of them noticed her.
“Lady Isolda,” Diana cried. “Listen to me. I’m in love. I love Somerton. He loves me. Stop this madness.”
Why wasn’t anyone listening to her? She was proclaiming the very thing they needed to hear but it changed nothing.
As panic rose that she’d not be able to stop their deaths, Diana circled and continued to try and gain their attention, yelling louder and louder until she was nearly screaming at them.
They shifted toward the edge of the cliff, as did Lady Isolda and Diana cried out a warning to her, just as her own foot slipped over the edge.
* * *
By the timeJames caught up to Diana, she was circling the two knights locked in battle, yelling at them, but he was still too far away to hear what she screamed at them. Further, they weren’t ghosts at all and appeared very real, and at the edge of the cliff stood Lady Isolda, but none of them appeared to even notice Diana, who stood far too close to the edge.
She needed to move further inland and away from the fighting knights before harm came to her.
“Diana?” he called.
She didn’t respond and James wasn’t certain if it was because she was ignoring him, or she simply couldn’t hear over the crash of the waves on the rocks below.
He rushed forward so that he could pull her to a safer place, as there was nothing either of them could do to stop what was unfolding before them. As he did, more thunder rumbled as lightning lit the sky and the wind pushed against him.
Diana took a step back and he fought against the wind to get to her.
When the lightning flashed again, she was gone.
Heart in his throat, James ran to the edge of the cliff and fell to his knees, afraid that he’d find her crumpled on the rocks below, just as Lady Isolda had died.
Instead, she held tight to rocks in a crevice just within his reach, not that his panic lessened, as he still needed to bring her to safety. James reached for her. “Take my hand, Diana.”
She glanced up at him. Terror filled her emerald eyes and he never wanted to see that fear in them again. He had to save her.
“I can’t,” she cried.
“I will not let you fall.”
She looked to his hand, then into his eyes. “I’m too afraid to let go.”
Her situation was precarious, but if she didn’t reach for him, soon she’d slip and he’d lose her forever. “I am too but trust me. I will not let you fall.”
“What if you miss or can’t hold on?”
As she said the words, her right hand began to slip from the crevice, and he feared she’d lose her grip before she reached out to him. It wasn’t as if she had anything substantial to hold on to, only a flat surface carved out of the stone, which was becoming wet from the splash of the sea against the rocks.
“You must trust me, Diana. I will not let you fall.” And he prayed that he could grab her hand, hold on and pull her to safety.
At his words, her right hand lost its grip, and she reached up to grasp again before both hands slipped and she fell to her death.
“Trust in me Diana. I will not let you fall.”
Her left hand started to slip.
“Do not leave me,” he ordered. “I love you too much to let you die. I don’t care that you loathe me, but I love you. I need you.”
Tears spilled from her cheeks.
“Blast it all! Take my hand before you fall.”
Before he could finish the words, her left hand slipped just as she brought her right arm up. He stretched out as far as he dared and grasped her right forearm before it was too late. She tightened her hold on his arm as James braced himself so that he didn’t tumble forward and then he lifted Diana, who now clung to him with both hands. The muscles in his shoulder and arm burned, but he continued to lift until he was finally able to pull most of her body up and over the edge, then he moved back, taking her with him until they were both far enough away that they no longer risked falling.
