Away from Relda's sight range, Anniston threw a blanket, concealing them. For now, anyway.
"Why'd you do that?" Sariah asked.
"They'll come after you," Anniston explained. "It'll hold them off. Not for long. It'll buy us time."
Anniston dropped into her cot and crossed her legs.
"You're pretty brave, Sariah," she commented to a pacing princess.
Sariah made a sudden halt. She flailed her arms and thrust her toro forward.
"How'd you know my name?" She demanded.
Anniston stared into the distance.
"I saw you when they kidnapped you," she told her. "We tried to get you."
Sariah's body went limp. She shifted from the prancing, pacing princess to a trembling frame that cowered in the corner. Memories flashed through her mind. She smacked the heel of her hand against her forehead until they went blank.
"I'm sorry," Anniston whispered.
"Not your fault," Sariah said with a grunt.
She continued hitting her head. Harder than the first time. When she lowered her hand, Anniston gasped at the purplish mark.
"Is it the memory of the kidnapping?" She asked.
Anniston abandoned her cot and knelt beside Sariah. Sariah nodded.
"And when they killed my parents," she said.
Anniston rubbed Sariah's back as she whimpered. Sariah started to hit her head. Anniston held the attacking hand and grasped it. Anniston paused, anticipating recoil. For a moment, silence fell between them.
"I can adopt you," she told a trembling Sariah. "I know you don't know me very well, but I can give you a safe place."
"I want my mama," Sariah said, "but I'll live with you."
They both looked at the door. A pounding echoed outside.
"Footsteps," Sariah said. "They're onto us. We gotta free the others.