19. FugitivesThe days that followed Branwyn and Andor’s escape to the tower seemed endless. They went often up to the roof, gazing over the parapet to the City below. People had gradually returned to the streets, though there was a wariness in their steps that had not been there before. Brathadair flags appeared along the Wall and the snippets of conversation that reached them in the tower, told that all the gates to the inner City were barred and guarded.
Branwyn and Andor spent many hours up there, watching, but neither dared to admit that really it was their parents they watched for. Branwyn would not give voice to that tiny hope, but neither could she crush it. And yet every day she wondered if they were still alive. She tried to smile for Andor’s sake, but the expression felt sour on
