I run faster than I have ever run before. Following Max and Jasper's lead, I run down a hill away from the graveyard and away from the family. The only problem is that by now that family will have alerted the authorities that I am here and the guards won't be that far behind us. I keep looking over my shoulder to check if there is anyone after us but so far I can't see anyone.

"How. Much. Longer. Do. I. Have. To. Run. For?" I ask through panted breathes when I have finally caught up with the other two.

"I'm not sure we will ever stop running, princess." Jasper says to me, not sounding out of breath at all. I know he is right.

The three of us end up running through numerous fields, all which never seem to end. We are lucky that it is the middle of night so there is no one else around to watch us run through the fields. I feel calmer being out in the open where I can see if anyone is approaching us. There's nowhere for anyone to hide, meaning we have a clear advantage. That is until we reach a town.

"Where are we?" I ask as we reach the outskirts of the town.

"I don't know but we can't stop. We have to keep going until we know that we have made enough distance between us and them." Max says.

"We've haven't even seen any guards. How do we know that family ever got in touch with them? They could have been bluffing. Anyway we have run for miles so far, we really need to stop." I try to explain to him.

"I don't know. It seems risky. Where would we stop anyway?" He asks and all I can do is shale my head at him because I don't know where we would stop.

On one hand there are certainly more places to hide in a town compared to an empty field but that also means there are plenty of places for the guards to hide.

"I don't know but I'm sure we will find somewhere. We always do, don't we?" I finally reply.

Just like the first town that Jasper and I travelled through, there is no one on the streets at all. The lights in every building are all off and it looks like no one is around. There are no cars or any vehicles on the streets either. I would call it peaceful if my heart wasn't beating so fast and my palms weren't sweating.

"Where is everyone?" Max asks while he is looking around confused.

"Curfew." Jasper and I reply in unison as if that explains everything. Max's facial expression to begin with is just a blank stare but he soon realises what we mean.

"We really should find some cover. The three of us will get in trouble just for being out on the streets, never mind the fact that we have a runaway princess in our presence." Max says having a change of heart.

"The only problem is where...?" I mutter mainly to myself and nobody replies to me because they can't think of anywhere either. We are trapped in a city so big and there's no way out.

Silence echoes all-around of us as none us know what to say. It's not like we can check ourselves into a hotel and stay there for the night. To start off with there would be no one working because of the curfew so we actually wouldn't be able to check in. Secondly, I think we would get recognised very quickly. What name would we put down if we did check in anyway?

"It's not entirely impossible?" I hear Jasper say and I look up at him wondering what he is on about. He must have understood just my facial expression that I did not know what he was on about. "You were thinking out loud to yourself princess. I think the hotel thing could work but only for a night. Two at the very most if we had to." He replies. I still don't understand where he is going with this.

"That won't work. You said I was mumbling out loud so you must have heard the part about curfew and our names? Also, it is probably best that you do not call me princess at the moment given our current situation." I tell him.

"But we could do it during the day." When Jasper says this, I look over at Max who looks just as confused as me.

Max leans over and whispers in my ear "Do you think he is going insane?" and I have to hold back the urge to laugh at him.

Instead I lean towards him and say "I don't know. You have known him a lot longer than what I have." I turn my attention back towards Jasper. "Please explain to us how this would ever work."

"First of all we would have to find somewhere for the rest of the night but as soon as curfew is over, Max will go and book a hotel room for three people. He'll ask for three keys, making up some excuse that we will all be going in and out of the room at different times. Once you have done that, you will then come back to us, give us the other two keys and then we will stagger our entrances in. We should stay there all of tomorrow and during the night and then during the day you can look for somewhere else for us to stay." Jasper explains to us and I can't decide whether it's a good plan or not. 

Max doesn't seem thrilled by the plan though. "How come I have to be the one to book the hotel and then wonder around to find somewhere else for us?" he whines at Jasper.

"Because you're the only one that is currently not on the 'worlds most wanted list' although I'm sure it won't be long until you are. Therefore we need to keep moving otherwise we will never make it to the boarder." Jasper replies.

"If I didn't love you then I really would hate you." Max replies back.

For the rest of the night, we end up hiding behind a couple of bins that are outside a hotel. It's a quiet area and hopefully if any guards do walk up and down this street then they shouldn't see us. I manage to get some sleep for a couple of hours but it wasn't much. At least I didn't have a nightmare which is always a positive thing.

When the sun does rise, we wait a while before sending Max into the hotel because otherwise it looks suspicious that he was there so early. Jasper and I move away from the bins as the staff from the hotel will probably come out and move them at some point and we do not want to be caught there. Between the two of us, we decide that the best place to hide is in plain sight, in the town square where people won't expect to see us.

Sun shines onto us as we wait for Max to come back. Children are playing everywhere while their parents talk among each other. It feels like a completely different world to the one I have been living in during the past few weeks. It has been so long since I have been around so many people; I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the company. The warmth of the sun is another thing that I have missed. Normally during the day I have either been cooped up in a tunnel, hiding in a forest or just hiding altogether. Even when I have been able to be outside during the day, it has often been raining. Today it actually feels like summer with the sun shining down on me and the streets filled with people. I enjoy it while I can.

Max returns with three hotel keys for us to use. "I've booked us under different names, of course. You are now Cassie Lewis." Max whispers in my ear so the people around us can't hear anything. "You are Clarke Lewis and I am Noel Lewis. Try and remember that when we are in the hotel. And our room number is two-oh-two, it should be on the second floor." He then goes onto say.

"Who wants to go in first?" Jasper asks once he has been handed his key.

"One of you two will have to. I need to go find more food and apparently another hotel for tomorrow." Max says sounding annoyed before walking off.

"Just when I thought we were all getting along he goes and acts like this." I mutter to Jasper.

"In fairness we are making him do most of the work. I would be getting annoyed as well. Anyway shall I go first or you?" I assume he is talking about going into the hotel so I nod at him. "I'd say wait out here for another half an hour, maybe find somewhere quieter and obviously don't talk to anyone." Jasper instructs before leaving me to be sat on my own.

There is not much for me to do out here all by myself other than watch the people live their day to day lives. I really wish that I could be one of those people whose main worry is what they are going to eat for dinner later. To never have the weight of the world on their shoulders. It must be nice.

Eventually I decide that half an hour must be up so I go back the way I came to the hotel. In my opinion it is quite a basic hotel. The front of it is painted a dark brown colour and there's a sign hanging above the door with cobwebs on it. The hotel is ironically called 'La Belle' which during the days before the unspeakable disease, translated to 'The Beautiful' which it certainly is not.

Once inside I am not surprised to find out that it is so darkly lit. Even though it is day time outside there are still lights on inside but they do not make much difference to the ambience. To my left is the front desk where there is a woman working. She doesn't pay me any attention as she seems focused on the computer in front of her. Quickly I walk past the desk and I look for a staircase.

The first hallway I go down seems to be hotel rooms so I turn around and go back the way I came. Only, when I do turn around, I bump into the woman at the desk.

"Are you alright sweetie? I haven't seen you here before, did you check in?" she asks me. I freeze on the spot, unsure whether I should say anything or not. I decide that nodding is probably my safest move. "Can I see your room key please then?" I pull it out and she inspects it for a couple of moments. "When did you check in and what is your name please? Ever since the princess ran away we have had to be very strict with our security." The lady then goes on to informing me.

"Someone else checked in for me earlier today." I reply to her, trying to deepen my voice so it isn't recognisable.

The lady who looks to be in her late forties walks back over to the desk and checks the books. "Who was it that checked in my dear?" she then asks me.

My heart begins to beat uncontrollably in my chest as I suddenly realise that I have forgotten Max's new name. "I know it was one of my brothers, the only thing is I'm not sure which one. I had to come in later so they said they would get the key for me and would meet me in the town square. They were both there and both had keys so it could have been either one of them. I never thought to ask." I quickly say, making the story up as I go along.

The desk lady narrows her eyes at me and for a moment I am sure she recognises me. Instead she turns around and says "that's fine sweetie. What is your surname? I can help you find your room."

This one I remember, "Lewis, our surname is Lewis."

"Ahh yes, the young man was here only a couple of hours ago. Your brother is a handsome one with that dark hair and stubble across his face. I'm sure he has all the girls swooning after him. It's strange though, you look nothing alike." If only she knew the truth. "You are in room two-oh-two, so you need to follow this hallway, make a left and you should find a staircase. Follow it up to the second floor and it will be the first door to your right. Enjoy your stay."                                                  

"Thank you so much for your help. I better go." I say before rushing off to find my room. Following desk lady's instructions, I manage to find my way to the room.

I open the door to find Jasper sitting on one of the two beds that are in the room. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Jasper, I think I nearly went and ruined it for us all." I tell him as soon as I have sat down myself.

"Why? What happened?" He asks sounding concerned.

"The woman at the desk kept asking me all of these questions about when I checked in so I told her that my brother had done it for me. She then asked for his name but I couldn't remember the name that Max had given himself. I think I may have ruined it for us." I explain almost in tears.

Jasper walks over to me and wraps his arms around me. "Did she suspect anything?"

"I do not think so. I'm not sure. I told her I did not know which brother had checked me in so I gave her the surname which I had remembered and then she showed me the directions to the room. I left before she had the chance to say anything else."

"It will be fine. Try not to worry about it." Jasper says to me in a reassuring voice. "Max should be back soon and then we can plan where we need to go next."

Wiping the tears from my eyes, I look around the room. There are two single beds that only just look clean. One of the beds is in front of a window which I notice has no curtains. In the corner of the room is a wardrobe which is rather small. Luckily we do not have many clothes between the three of us. There is a small bathroom attached to the room which only just manages to fit a toilet and shower in. The sink is in the bedroom area next to the wardrobe. It pains me to look at the walls as they are painted the same brown colour as the outside of the building which darkens the room.

"This place is awful." I tell Jasper.

"We get to sleep in a bed, have a roof over our heads and have a shower. Compared to the last few weeks, this is practically heaven."

"Speak for yourself. I know what luxury is." I mutter to myself. I turn towards Jasper and he rolls his eyes at me. I roll mine back him.

A few hours pass and there is still no sing of Max. I try not to worry about him; after all he is probably doing more shopping, collecting more food for us to store. Jasper on the other hand keeps pacing around the room and looking out of the front window.

"You need to stop doing that because if someone from outside sees you then it looks suspicious." I tell him. He sits down on the bed next to mine.

"What if something has happened?" he asks his voice barely above a whisper.

"You cannot think like that. He will be fine." I try and comfort him.

A few more hours pass and there is still no sign of him. The hotel begins to get busier as the sun is now close to setting. The panic within me begins to build up more as it is only a matter of minutes before curfew. From my bed, I watch the sun set through the window and it seems to happen all at once that it turns dark outside.

"What the hell do we do now?" Jasper asks.

"We'll look for him tomorrow. There's no way we can leave now without being caught and anyway Jasper, you are still wanted so it's not as if you can just go marching out by yourself. For now we will just have to wait and see what happens." I tell him, knowing that I am playing with his emotions though.

"I can't just stay here! I need to be out there."

"You can and you will. Now go and have a shower and then go to bed." I order him, feeling more like the princess I am rather than a friend.

Jasper opens his mouth to argue with me but then decides against it. He makes his way into the shower and comes out again in about ten minutes. I hop into the shower after him and stay in it lot longer than ten minutes. It's not often I get the chance to shower anymore so when I do get the opportunity, I make the most of it.

When I come out of the shower I find Jasper asleep under the covers. Or at least he is pretending to be asleep for my benefit. I crawl under my own covers and go to sleep myself, hoping that tomorrow we are able to find Max.

A/N: I almost forgot that it was #RoyalWednesday guys. I am literally sat here writing chapter 36(!!!) of RB and then I suddenly remembered that I needed to post this chapter.

I want to say a big thank you for getting this story to 3000 reads already! I have one other story that I first started two years ago with that amount of reads and this has gotten it in five months so thank you for that!

This was a long chapter for you so I hope you enjoyed it. Any thoughts?
What do you think will happen next?
Any guesses on how the story will end?

Also if you have any questions then let me know because I want to do a Q&A so you can either leave them here or pm me.

As always, don't forget to vote and comment. The story is so close to 1k votes so every little helps!