The Last Princess [EDITED]

Chapter 7

IT took me only a moment to decide. If rebels were attacking, this might be my only chance. I could easily slip away and get lost among the crowd. Surely one more running person wouldn't be noticed.

So, I ran back, through the sewer, up the staircase. The guards were all gone, probably fighting the rebels. I ran back to the main hall.

Maids and servants were running everywhere, the guards all gone. Probably at the doors, where the rebels were trying to break in.

The hall was full of screams. I clamped my hands over my ears, trying to focus. I just had to make it to one of the back doors, and I'd run away. Out of the palace. What I'd do out of the palace would be decided later. Right now, I was focusing on staying alive.

I turned and ran the way the maids were going, but before I got too far, there was a loud crash. There were louder screams, and everyone started running faster, if that was possible.

The rebels had broken in.

The crowd was getting too thick, so I flung myself down a deserted corridor to catch my breath. As I panted, I planned my escape route. Now that the rebels were in, the doors would be unguarded.

All of them.

I went in the opposite direction and ended up in a hall with less maids running through. There were no guards, and there were a few elves dressed in brown leather, masks covering their faces.

Rebels.

One rebel's mask had come off. He didn't look too much older than me. His brown hair was messy, and his dark, green eyes widened when he saw me, though I didn't know see how he could possibly know I was the Princess.

He started running towards me, and I started to run away.

Who knew what would happen to me if I went with the rebels. They w ere against the Monarchy, so, by extension, they were against me. I wasn't fast enough, especially because I was still weak.

I felt a hand clamp around my arm, and I whirled around to see that the rebel had caught up to me.

I panicked.

I was shocked when he grabbed my arm. So shocked that I raised my other hand and hit him hard across the face.

He yelped, his deep green eyes now showing nothing but surprise and pain. He stumbled back, clutching the left side of his face. I took my chance and sprinted away, running as fast as I could. I only stopped at the end of the corridor and looked back.

He'd blended back into the group of rebels.

I sighed in relief, and continued running, not knowing where I was going, turning into unused halls, rounding corners, and occasionally hiding in a deserted room when a rebel came by. I ended up in front of a slightly familiar door.

No one was around.

It opened to somewhere behind the palace, a dark meadow. I put my hand on my chest and bent over, catching my breath.

It was perfect. Nobody was there, and, because it was dark, nobody would be able to see me either. I straightened up and looked around. This place looked familiar.

Too familiar.

I gasped, the ghostly sound echoing through the quiet night.

This wasn't just any old meadow. This was where my sisters had been murdered.

All seven of them had been killed here by my mother. From Laurel to Juniper, their dead bodies had been found here. I'd seen them, dead, lying in this very meadow, on the morning of the sixteenth birthday they'd never have.