But wait... they weren't whispering... not anymore.

They were yelling, shouting. 

Charlotte sat up, and hurriedly lit a candle of her own. Panicked voices went up and down the hall outside the door. She could hear their running footsteps. What was happening? Had the attacking forces finally broken into the city? Charlotte wished that one of the people rushing by her door would stop, open it, and tell her what was happening. She looked to her balcony. Maybe she could see from there. 

She flung the covers off, carefully picked up the lit candle, and went around the bed to the double-pane glass doors that led to the balcony. She carefully turned the ornate brass doorknob and opened the door. A cool breeze blew past as she walked across the cold stone to look over the balcony railing. The wind blew some of the hairs that had escaped her bedtime braid around her head, and her long night gown moved with the wind, too. High above her head countless stars twinkled brightly, oblivious to the chaos that unfolded beneath them.

Charlotte stared out in horror from the balcony. The enemy soldiers had broken through and were swarming the city. Some held torches, looking like minuscule balls of light zigzagging through the streets. She saw giant balls of light where houses had been set on fire. There was no stop to the flow of lit torches, and they were rapidly approaching. What would happen when they got into the castle? She shuddered to think it. 

Her feet were freezing from the cold stone, and she quickly went back inside and put some slippers on. Then, after a moment of thought, she opened the wardrobe and got out her warmest cloak. Surely someone would be coming any second to take her away to safety. There wasn't enough time to change into a real dress, and she would need assistance from her maid anyway, so the cloak would have to do. As she draped it around her shoulders and fastened the clasp, her door swung wide open, and a tall, bearded man rushed in, sword held tightly in his large hand.

"Father!" she cried, and ran to him.

"Charlotte, there is no time, we must go, now!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room and into the corridor. His heavy boots thundered on the stone floor, and she tried her best to keep up. "The enemy has broken through... We must hurry to the dungeons."

"Why?" she asked as they started down a set of stairs.

"There is a tunnel... a secret passage. It leads out of the city. We must get there before we are found." She caught a glimpse of his face as they passed a lit torch. His skin was pale and his jaw was set. This was not good at all, if her father was so afraid. She stopped asking questions and concentrated on keeping up with his long legs. 

Charlotte knew the many corridors and hallways of the castle perfectly, and knew that he was leading them through a round-about way to the kitchens, and on to the dungeons. She wondered why he didn't take a more direct path through the dining hall, but then remembered that the dining hall was very close to the front doors, where the enemy was probably entering the castle right now. 

As they descended another flight of stairs and rounded a corner, almost to the kitchens, Father quickly pulled her aside, into another passageway, and into a dark room. Gently closing the door, he put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. A second later she heard many pairs of boots storm by, accompanied by loud, shouting voices.

"I want every nook and cranny of this castle searched!" a man boomed, answered by a chorus of his men shouting back "Yes, sir!" Then was heard the sound of doors being kicked in and the contents of the rooms beyond being tossed and toppled. Father guided her away from the door and they both hid behind a changing screen in the corner of the room. She nervously clutched his hand and tried to quiet her breathing. The door to the room they were hiding in was kicked in and she heard men entering and rummaging around the bed, wardrobe, and cabinets. Her father squeezed her hand, and wrapped both of his hands around the hilt of his sword, ready to strike down any man that found their hiding place.

"Nothing here, sir!" one of the men in the room shouted.

"Move onto the next corridor," the first man shouted back. Charlotte held her breath until the last echoing footsteps had receded. She felt her father relax beside her. Then he again took her hand.

"We must go more carefully now, Charlotte. We must not be found."

"Yes, Father." They slipped out of the room and continued on their way. Three more times they had to duck into a room or rush down a different passage than her father wanted to go down to avoid the soldiers. All the while she saw no one she knew, no servants, no guards. She wondered where they had gone, and hoped that they knew of the tunnel as well, or had somehow made it out of the castle. 

After passing through the kitchens and running down many other passages and stairs, they came to the great hall, which wasn't that great, the dining hall was much bigger, but it was the name of it and it stuck. Tall, arching windows lined the north wall, framed with velvet curtains, and a large brass chandelier hung from the ceiling. Father pulled her across the room, both of them huffing and puffing from their run, when he suddenly stopped at the door leading out. 

Charlotte heard heavy, running footsteps beyond the door. He quickly spun around and went back the way they had come, but on the other side of that door they also heard soldiers coming. There was no where else to go. They were trapped.

To be continued...