The ground below my feet feels softer than the previous forest and the atmosphere around me feels damp. Entering the forest makes me feel blind. The trees are so tall that they are blocking any light there would have been from the moon, making it hard to see things that are directly in front of me. Including Jasper. The only indicator I have that he is still here is the faint sound of his footsteps as they press against the soft floor. Other than that I could quite easily pretend that he wasn't there.

Because of how dark it is, it is hard to follow Jasper around the forest, especially when makes sudden turns through trees. "Right then princess, we are turning left now." He says to me and I follow him. This happens for a while, the two of us staying quiet so we can concentrate on where we are going and also to make sure we are not getting followed by anyone. As far as I can tell, it is only the two of us in the forest.

After a couple of hours, the air seems to become cooler, the coolest I have felt it over the last few days. The hairs on my arm begin to stand up and I begin to wish I had kept the jumper that I originally had. In the distance I can hear a rumble of what I think to be thunder. "Do you think we should find a place to take cover?" I ask Jasper.

He stoops walking for a minute and replies to me; "no, I think we should keep going. Hopefully the leaves will catch most of the rain, they often do. If we keep going we'll reach our next spot by sunrise. When we get there we'll then be able to think of a more permanent plan rather just running."

"I guess I'll just have to take your word for it. I wish I had a jumper, or a coat or something. It's really cold." I shiver in the spot where I am stood.

"Well you haven't. Now you have the choice of standing there and moaning about how cold you are or you can keep walking and we will reach our destination sooner." In the short amount of time that I have known Jasper, I have never heard him speak like that. His voice was full of authority but it was also spiteful.

Instead of replying I just stay quiet and follow him, keeping any complaints I may have to myself. The rumbles of thunder seem to grow closer and soon there are brief flashes of light which light up the forest. I keep a brave face on though in my head I am screaming internally.

Growing up I always hated thunder storms. There was always something about how loud the thunder can get that made me feel unsafe. When they used to occur when I was a child, I would hide in the kitchens. There was one room in there which had no windows and the kitchen staff used to make so much noise that I wouldn't be able to hear the thunder. As I got older, I was told that it was childish for me to hide in the kitchen when there was a storm so instead I would retreat to my bedroom, grab a book and sit in my wardrobe. No one bothered me in there and it became a safe haven for me. Now I'm walking around in a forest, during a storm, shivering, wishing more than anything that I was in my wardrobe.

I didn't realise until I walked into him that Jasper had stopped walking. "Are you alright?" he asks me while steadying me.

"Yes, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" I say not letting him know how I really feel.

"Are you sure? You're really cold." He says and then there is a flash of lightening. "You also look terrified. Did you hear or see something?" Jasper lowers his voice and asks.

I shake my head at him, "I'm fine, honestly. I'm not a fan of storms, which is all."

"Really?" Jasper seems surprised by this which I don't understand.

"Yes, everyone has something that they are afraid of. For me it happens to be storms and it does not help being stuck in a forest during one where there are really tall trees which the lightening could strike. Even you must be afraid of something." I say to him.

"I am but it is nothing as common as storms." He laughs at me. Or my fear, one of the two.

I stare at Jasper, raising my eyebrows at him but then I realise he probably can't see me "So what is your fear then?" I encourage him to go on.

"The truth. There is nothing scarier than people finding out who you really are." Jasper says casually as if it doesn't really scare him.

"I feel like there is a lot that you are hiding from me. I'm not sure why I trust you."

"There are a lot of things about myself that I haven't told you but I will one day. You have to trust me about that. I just don't want to tell you something and then you run back to the palace. I need to know you are here for the long run." He tells me.

"Well I am. Have I not proved that? I ran away from the palace guards with you. I could have easily walked back to them." I tell him while I am getting slightly frustrated.

Jasper starts walking again and I have to run to keep up. "I know you could have. I'm sorry for sounding like a jerk but I will tell you more about myself. Hopefully sooner rather than later." Jasper says but then he suddenly stops walking. "Shhh... Did you hear that?" he asks.

I stay stood in the spot where I am and listen out to see if I can hear anything. "Was it thunder?"

"Shhh... No it wasn't. It sounded like voices in the distance." He signals for me to be quiet again so I am.

That's when I hear them. The voices. All shouting the same name.

Alexandria.

"We need to get out of here." I frantically tell Jasper while pulling on his arm.

"I know but we are too far into the forest. There is only one way for us to go." He says which confuses me because there are literally dozens of ways to go. Then he points upwards.

"You have to be kidding me. I am not climbing up a tree. I don't even know how to." I tell him.

"Fine then. I'll go up and you can stay down there. I hope you enjoy palace life again." Jasper winds me up and I end up giving in.

"Follow me, I'll lead you up safely." He takes my hand leading me towards his tree of choice. "This one seems like a good one to climb. Come on."

I watch Jasper as closely as I can with the minimal light that I have. The lightening helps guide us but it is not as often as we would like it to be and it could lead to the guards finding us. Basically it is a blessing and a curse. The tree is not as hard to climb as I thought it would be. My feet easily slide onto the branches and I find that I am able to keep pulling myself up as I go along. The only problem is when I look down. Although I can't really see the ground below, I can feel how high I am. It doesn't feel natural to me.

Jasper pulls me up onto a big branch which seems to be at the top of the tree. "Well done, you did it." He whispers to me.

I jokingly push him, being careful not to be too hard and say "well that wasn't patronising at all." Jasper just laughs back at me.

The two of us listen out to see if we can hear anyone below. The voices seem to have gotten louder and our heading in our direction. My stomach is doing flips and I feel so sick. This could be the end.

Along with the voices, I can now see some lights. It looks like the guards have torches with them. "Jasper, what if they point the lights at the tree?"

He turns towards me, "hopefully they won't and if they do we will have to pray that we are high enough that they can't see us. The best thing we can do is to remain quiet." I nod at him, hoping he is right.

After about ten minutes, the voices are near the tree where we are, with some of the people standing directly under the tree. "Breathe." Jasper whispers in my ear. I hadn't realised that I had stopped breathing though he told me that I realised I was holding my breath. I let out sigh without being too loud.

"Oi, did somert move up there?" someone asks from beneath us.

Some more people gather around him and they all look up at our tree. I see Jasper look at me with an expression that says 'keep very still' which is something I knew myself.

"Come 'ere, lemme see." Another voice says. This voice is a lot deeper than the other. A light begins to bring the tree to life and luckily Jasper was right. It never seems to hit us. "Urrgh I don't see ought. Must've been an owl or somert mate. This princess better be round 'ere somewhere. We told the boss that we would get her before those bloody palace guards do. Maybe then the queen will start listening to us common folk and listen to us properly. Not just at meetings she decides to make while callin' us rebels. If we have somert of ers then she'll give us somert back. Our freedom!" the man yells and all of a sudden the group begin to chant freedom. It is terrifying.

Neither Jasper nor I speak for the next few minutes that pass. I try and sink in the information that I have just learnt. Not only are the palace guards searching for me but so are the Group A rebels so they can take revenge on my mother. It must mean that over the course of the last few days my mother has spoken to the rebel group and has asked them what they want. Knowing my mother, she probably will not have like their answer and denied them their requests without even listening to the people properly.

After about twenty minutes of sitting on the tree branch, we decide that it is finally time to climb down. "Will you lead the way?" I ask Jasper who just nods. This is the first time I have spoken to him since hearing the A Group. Climbing down the tree seems to be easier than climbing up it and soon enough my feet are touching the solid ground again.

"I understand if you want to leave me now. I never planned myself to become a manhunt from any rebel group and it is not what you signed up for. One group of people hunting me is enough." I tell him when we have started walking again.

"Really princess? You think I'm going to leave now? As far as we know there are two large groups of people chasing after you. One group probably wants to you back in the palace nice and safe and unscathed which happens to be the place where you don't want to be, whereas the other may or may not want to kill, depending on how the queen acts. I'm not leaving you now. Besides, you have made my life a lot more interesting." Jasper says to me which makes me feel grateful.

"And your are completely sure?" I ask just to double check.

"Of course. What is life without a little danger?" he shrugs his shoulders at me.

I laugh at him while thinking about all the danger that lies ahead. "So does this make you my prince charming?" I ask him mischievously.

"Not really, you're not exactly my type." Jasper says with a smile forming across his face.

"Really? So you're trying to tell me that a powerful, rich and beautiful woman is not your type?" I'm still joking but I'm also genuinely curious about who is his type.

"That is exactly what I am trying to say." He says to me very casually.

"Hmm, I be you're into natural blondes, aren't you?" Jasper just laughs at me when I ask him this.

"I'm not too fussy when it comes to hair colour." He grins at me.

"So then what is your type?"

"Let's put it this way. You would be more my type if you were a runaway prince rather than a princess."

"That doesn't make ant sen... oh." And then the penny drops. I feel so stupid.

"I told you that you would be learning more about me. You seem shocked, that doesn't surprise me." Learning about the rebel group was less confusing than this.

I can't seem to get my words out when I begin to talk again. "I didn't think people still felt that way." I say sounding dumb.

Jasper just shakes his head at me. "That's what your grandfather, who was the king at the time, told people decades ago. That the unspeakable disease altered the way that people think and feel so that they could only love those who were of the other sex. He only said that so the population numbers would rise. People tried to tell him that what he was saying wasn't true but he banished the thought and basically said people who thought they were gay were insane.

It has led to anyone who is gay, or a lesbian or bi go into hiding. Your grandfather basically made it illegal, just like hundreds of years ago." I stand there feeling stunned after what Jasper has just told me.

"I'm so sorry. If it helps, I always thought he sounded like a jerk... I honestly believed what he said though like some dumb fool." I hate myself for believing what he said.

"You're not a dumb fool, you're a royal and to be honest with you, you seem to be the most compassionate one out of them. You are actually care about the people, so much that you want to runaway so you can understand how the people live and how you can improve that. The past is the past but the future is yet to be written and I think you can write a great future princess. That is why I am going to show you my home. That is the next stop, my house."

I look at Jasper with disbelief, feeling so grateful about the kind words he is saying to me. All I have ever been told is that I am too young to have an opinion on serious matters but Jasper actually has faith in me. And now he finally trusts me with some of the biggest details of his life. First his sexuality and now his house. I feel honoured even though it is my family that have gotten him into this mess. "I can't wait to see your house. It will be nice to see where you live."

A/N: happy #RoyalWednesday everyone! First thing today is the cover winners. The one in the banner was made by maisiemdb and is the winning one. Your prize is a dedication, the edit used as the cover for a few weeks along with votes on as many books as you want.

This is the first of the runners up one by Nadeen-Hussien. You get 10 votes across as many books as you want and a dedication.

This next one is the second runner up by kaseyswift7. You also get 10 votes across as many books as you want and a dedication.

The final entry was by crazylazysubu and even though I said there would only be three prizes given out, I'm still going to let you have five votes across any of your books.

All of these amazing edits will be used as a banner at some point through the novel. Thank you so much to everyone who entered!!

Right then, what did you think of this chapter? I've been so excited to show you guys this chapter. Did you expect that from Jasper?

I'm currently in the process of writing two new stories as well. One for a competition and another for a project. What I need is names for the characters. If you want your name to be used then leave me a comment with it (or pm if you want) or you can even suggest other names that you like. Thank you.

Don't forget to vote and comment as always! Thank you!