Ignited - Tiger's Eye Spin-Off

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

We did not find any other people in the next two villages we searched the next day. It seems that every family this close to the castle made it into hiding. Sam and I kept with our plan to search houses for extra food and supplies. We always stayed in some kind of basement or cellar just in case somebody did stop by. We got lucky the day after when we reached a new town and found a family in hiding in the cellar that we searched. The family consisted of a mother, father, and two children. The children huddled in the corner while the parents stood up to shield them from us. I looked over at Sam and we both hoped that one of them would recognize me.

"Princess Topanga?" the mother finally asked.

I nodded.

Tears appeared in her eyes, "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"How long have you been hiding down here?" I asked her.

She quickly replied, "Since we heard news of the King and Queen's death. We did not know what to believe."

"What do you mean you did not know what to believe?" Sam asked.

"We heard two stories," the father answered, "And we did not know which one was true. Of course we wanted to believe the royal guards, but our close friends told us the Tigma race was in trouble. They told us we were better off forming an alliance with another race otherwise we would all be killed."

"Tigmas were telling you this?" I asked surprised.

The mother and father both nodded their heads. "Was it true? Should we have believed the royal guards instead?"

"If they wanted you to ally with another race then why are hiding in your house?" I asked them.

"It is like we already said: we did not know who to believe. We could not make a decision so we hid away."

I sighed, "The royal guards were telling the truth. Most of the Tigma race is already safely hidden away. My uncle has taken throne."

"What about you princess?" the young daughter had stood up and stepped in front of her parents, "are you hiding too?"

"In a way, I am hiding. My husband and I have research we need to be doing so we could not take the throne. My uncle is more than ready to be King."

"Are we doomed?" the mother asked, "Is there no chance for us?"

"What are your names?" I asked them, "Full names."

I went through the same process I went through with the other two Tigmas we found. Their names checked out and Sam even talked with them about their lives just in case they truly believed their friends. In the end, after a debate, we decided to tell them where the hide out was. It would not be right to leave an entire family and let them die knowing we could do something to help them. Maybe part of our duty was also to save as many Tigmas as we could. We made sure the mother and father both memorized the way to the underground city and told them the same rules we told the last two people. We kept lookout while they packed a bag and started their journey to the castle. They gave us permission to take anything else left in the house and told us we could stay in the cellar.

"I need to open this book," I pulled out the book from Caroline. "She gave us a lot of books, but I think it is time to open this one. I need to know what she has planned for us."

"I think it might be safe now that we are on the run."

I slowly opened the book, but was surprised by another letter from Caroline on the first page. The top of the page was titled: Now that you are gone.