Royal Blood

Chapter Thirteen

Everything smells. The floor smells, the walls smell, we now smell. I can't get away from it. Jasper and Max keep trying to reassure me that all the human waste was removed before completely abandoning these tunnels but I don't think I believe them. And when it doesn't smell of toilet waste then the air is completely damp making everything smell worse. This is certainly not the life that I am used to.

For the most part I end up following Jasper and Max around as they seem to know their way around the tunnels very well. It all looks the same to me. It is dark but not as dark as outside which I can't understand as to why. At least we can use our torches down here without worrying about being caught. Every now and then the tunnel turns or there is a junction and I wonder how we are ever going to find our way to ocean tunnel but while panic fills my head at these points, the two guys just look at each, mumble something and then we turn right, or go left. Sometimes we even carry on walking forward.

Time seems to pass slowly down here though. There is obviously nothing to do other than to keep walking. I can't tell if we have been walking for hours or minutes. It feels like hours and my feet are already screaming at me to stop walking. I'm pathetic and I know it. What I need is a distraction.

"Did I ever tell you about the times where I would annoy the palace staff?" I ask them both hoping that starting a conversation will help time pass faster.

"Why doesn't that sound surprising?" I hear Max say but I just ignore him.

"No you haven't but I'd love to hear about it." Jasper tells me.

"I always used to have nannies that would look after me when I was little because you know, my mother would be to busy running the country. Anyway I would always do my best to annoy them, to see how long they could last. Some were harder to break than others. I did have one nanny that lasted only a week. Apparently she didn't like being tormented by a five year old. Can you believe that?

I had another nanny who I thought would never leave. She stuck around for months and months. No matter what I did, she just wouldn't leave. I did everything that a six year old would do; I talked back to her, made up rumours about her. I tried everything but nothing happened. I used to sit alone in my bedroom, plotting ways to get rid of her. Eventually she left but it had nothing to do with me. She supposedly said something that my mother didn't like and before I knew it, she was gone." I tell the two of them.

"Your mother must be so proud of you." Max says to me in a sarcastic tone.

"It was all fun and games. There's no need to be a smart mouth. And besides, I was only young and I thought the world owed me everything. I wouldn't do anything like that now though. I realise everything is quite the opposite. I owe the world everything after my stupid family has ruined everything for everyone. I know that my mother will never be proud of me as long as I have different ideology's to her." I tell him which quickly shuts him up. "What about you guys, any exciting stories to share?" I ask them.

"Well I was never like you as a child, I don't think anyone was but I do remember that I loved spending time with my parents, before they kicked me out of course. One of the memories that sticks out the most to me is when we went to a park once. The three of us went, I couldn't have been more than eight at the time, and we had this picnic under a huge oak tree. Everything about that day was perfect; the weather, the food, the atmosphere. No one was yelling at anyone or wishing that they were somewhere else. For some reason that memory has always stuck with me." Jasper tells us and I listen intently to him.

"That's actually really nice. I wish I had memories of my parents being like that together. All I have are memories of them yelling at each other about how they choose to run the country. There was never any time for family picnics or even just spending time together as a family." I tell Jasper who nods at me as if he understands.