Frostbitten Past

X L I V

NOW THAT Oberon, Lithe, and Melisande were over, Andorra felt a lot less sure of how she was going to accomplish everything. She knew immediately she had a hard decision to make: did she start in the palace, or start in the town?

Andorra sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes. Those in the palace hard guards and places to hide. The townspeople, however, had no-one to protect them. She pictured the town center and stepped in the in-between, shaking out her arms before she exited and stepped into the town. It was dead, with no one there at all. It was so different than before, when she had gone into town. Now, it was deserted.

Andorra hurried towards the first street of houses, knocking on the first door. When no one answered, she sucked in a breath and yelled. "It's me! Princess Andorra! I'm here to bring you to Anlithamy!"

The houses on the street she was standing on were nice homes, with two floors and spacious lawns. Each house looked in good condition, making Andorra wonder if there had been an attack in town yet.

She heard shuffling behind the door, and suddenly there was the face of a man, peering back at her. His eyes were weary, tired, scared. When he saw it was just her, he opened the door wider. "It's really you."

"Yep! Get everyone in your house, quick. Bring them to the door, and I'll bring them through. Hurry!" She turned as she said this, running across the street to knock on the next door. She had to yell the same thing just to get someone to open the door, then she relayed the same information: get your family and come to the door.

She did that for every house on the street, as quickly as she could, beckoning people out of their homes. All of them were scared, huddled together, crying. Even if they had yet to be personally attacked, it was obvious they were frightened. Some wouldn't step out of their homes at all.

Andorra pulled everyone she could into the middle of the street, opening the gate. She stepped through, opened the other side, and then began ushering people through, one by one, rushing them in. The first few were hesitant, not quite trusting the process, but more and more began to pile through, rushing past Andorra and into Anlithamy.

She watched as dozens of families rushed through the gate, landing on the other side, hopefully safe. By the time the last family on that street had made it through, she saw others from the next street stepping out of their homes, watching with hopeful eyes, wondering what was happening in their neighborhood.

"Get your families! I'm bringing us over to Anlithamy!"

That was the catalyst. Families were flooding from all over, tripping over themselves to get to her, a mess of snot and tears as they ran for their lives. Parents were pushing children over first, then stepping through. Some were carrying their children, others were holding their hands. Everyone was rushing through with nothing but their clothes on their backs, leaving everything behind to get to freedom and safety.

One man pushed his family through, kissing his wife, then turned towards Andorra. "I'll get others. Stay here, I'll send people to you!"

Andorra couldn't nod or say yes; the man was running off before she could say anything regarding her reservations. She didn't want him getting hurt because of this, but there was nothing she could do as he ran off, one of his friends joining him after saying goodbye to his own family.

Andorra couldn't stop them as she continued to pull people through the gate. Her head was beginning to pound from keeping the gate open for so long, but she ignored it as she continued to usher people through, reassuring them they would be safe.

They had to be safe. Andorra had to believe Princess Carling would take them to safety, regardless of their status as a banished clan. After all, these people were innocent. All of them were just trapped at the hands of their clan leader, unable to do a thing about it.