Royal Blood

Chapter Sixteen

I am woken to many noises that next morning. The first is the pounding of the rain which can be heard even from here, deep, down in these tunnels. The second noise is the wind accompanying the rain, making the morning even more miserable than it would already be. The third and final noise is the humming Jasper is doing to himself as he seems to making his own breakfast.

I groggily rub my eye to check that what I am seeing is correct. And it is. Jasper is sat within his sleeping bag, eating the few berries that we have left and looking like he doesn't have one single care in the world. I think about rolling over in my sleeping bag, wondering if he wants privacy but then it is too late.

"Morning princess. How are you feeling today?" Jasper asks me in a cheerful voice, one that certainly confuses me.

"I'm okay, thank you. What about yourself. How are you feeling Jasper?" I ask not wanting to pry but giving him the opportunity to say something if he wishes.

"I am doing great thanks. The only thing is, I wish that your mother had never killed my auntie so then Max would have gotten us more food. These berries are not going to last us much longer. Nor am I if these are the only things in my system." He says to me and I can't help but feel confused.

The one thing that Jasper seems upset about this morning is his food. Not the fact that his auntie was killed live on television, by my mother. Or that he is a wanted accomplice in my disappearing act. It puzzles me that he is thinking this way.

I decide that he must not want to talk about what happened so I play along with his game. "I wish we had more food as well. My stomach has not stopped rumbling since we left... well since I left the palace. I feel like I haven't had a proper meal since then. What I wouldn't do for one." I smile at him but then realise that I genuinely mean it.

Before Jasper has time to respond, Max wakes up. I notice that he instantly looks over at Jasper to check how he is doing before fully getting up himself. I mumble a 'morning' at him because I am still feeling really tired. Yesterday was an exhausting day for everyone and it shows, well at least on Max and I it does.

"I assume you are going to try and get us some more food today?" Jasper asks him before even saying hello.

"Honestly Jas, I can't say that was very high on my to-do list. I thought that right now we had bigger concerns?" Max asks, seeming really confused.

"No, apparently we don't. Today we hate berries. We want more food to eat." I explain to him but it doesn't seem to help.

"Alexandria, can I talk with you for a minute?" Max asks.

"You may." I reply and follow him down another tunnel. "Something is not right. Jasper is far too cheerful to say that his auntie was killed yesterday. What can we do?" I ask him once we are out of earshot.

Max shakes his head at me with a confused expression on his face. "Honestly I don't know. I wasn't expecting him to be like this. Maybe this is just how he grieves? They do say that everybody grieves differently." Max says, mainly to try and convince himself that that is what is happening.

"Let's hope it is that then. We should get back to him though otherwise he will eat the berries that we have. You really do need to get us more food." I tell Max as we make our way back.

The next few minutes are spent eating, trying to get ourselves fuelled for the day. Hearing the weather outside doesn't rev up anyone's enthusiasm to go outside though but we do it. I follow Jasper and Max as they lead me through the rain and through a small field towards the start of the ocean tunnel. We follow the same order as before; Jasper goes down first, then I do and then finally Max after he has kept a look out.