I run down the corridor which is luckily still empty and I keep running, even when I am out of breath. I soon reach a junction where I can go either left or right so on impulse, I choose right. There are still no guards in the area but I bet that they are not far behind me. Someone must have heard the gunshot, probably from the other side; I went one way out of my cell when I could have gone another. Maybe if I had gone the other way, I would have ran into a group of guards. I do not have the time to think about that now though.

I keep running down the corridor which I notice does not have any cells. Instead there are three doors on each side so I try to open a couple of them but they are locked. Sighing in frustration, I keep going, gripping the gun in my hand as tight as I can.

It is strange, I have always viewed guns as something scary. Whenever a guard at the palace used to walk past me with one, I used to always shudder at them. The thought that you might accidently pull the trigger and shoot yourself was always a fear of mine. Even when I ran away and met Jasper and Max, the guns still made me feel weird, even more so after Jasper got shot in the leg at the station. Now though, the cool metal feels like a comfort blanket against my hand. It almost sooths me, knowing it is there if I need it. I really hope that I do not need it.

Eventually, I reach the end of the corridor with still no signs of an attack. This all seems to easy so far. What is happening? I turn right once again and this time I am presented with a staircase. There is one flight of stairs going up and the other going down. Up feels like the more obvious choice, I already feel like I am underground but hopefully, there are less people down stairs. I imagine there to be Crow's office upstairs and things like it. Hopefully, downstairs, there will be some kind of fire exit. I run down the stairs, which soon turns into two flights of stairs, and I find myself in front of more cells. What surprises me once again is the lack of guards.

There is a door between me and the cells, with a glass panel in it so I can see right through to the other side. What I can see is one guard at the other end of the corridor who is not paying any attention to the prisoners in the cell.

Ducking back down away from the panel, I sit and think about that I should do next. I need to go through there, even though I do not know where it will lead, it will be better than staying here though. If I go through, I need to make sure I do it when the guard has his back against the door so that way, I have more time to act.

Feeling the cool metal of the gun against my hand, I take a deep breath in and look through the panel again. The guard is close to the door but his back is against it. He is also walking away from the door which is perfect timing for me. One last deep intake of breath before I open the door, clutching hold of the gun.

The door creeks open by I do not think the guard hears it. Taking a couple of steps forward, I raise the gun and aim it at the guard, level to his chest. Quickly, I pull the trigger and let the bullet fly out but at the last minute, I change my aim to the back of his knee.

"'Oo did that?" He grumbles as he falls onto the floor.

I watch in fright as he lifts his walking talkie to his mouth, I assume to alert people of what has happened. Suddenly I come back to my senses and run towards him and swing the gun around his head, knocking him completely out.

"Oh no, oh no..." I mutter out loud to myself. Who am I tuning into? This whole trip has turned me toxic, already since escaping the cell I have shot two people and I will do it again if I have to.

Hopefully I have a good head start before he wakes up and gets in touch with more guards who will then come after me. I need to try and find a way out first of all. Some of the prisoners in the cell begin to look at me and start shouting for their release, screaming hat they have done no wrong. A part of me really wants to help these people but the other part knows there is nothing I can do. Once I get out of here properly, I should be able to give the official orders of release for them.

I reach another junction and this time I decide to turn left rather than right which leads me to another row of cells. And straight into the back of another guard.

He turns around to look at me, his face already shaped into a nasty scowl. Instead of raising his gun, he raises his walking talkie and grumbles a message in code to whoever is on the other end.

"Today of all days a prisoner had to escape... typical." He says before taking a leap to grab hold of me. I mange to jump out of the way just in time which leads to his falling on his face.

I manage to shoot him through him in the leg while he is on the floor, causing him to shout it in pain. I am about to run off again but then I realise what he actually said.

Pointing the gun to his head I ask him "what do you mean by 'today of all days'?"

He scoffs at me before saying "I'm not telling you. You're practically scum here." His hand then reaches towards his own gun so the insane part of my mind shoots his hand so he cannot reach it.

"Tell me or I... I... I'll shoot you through the head." I threaten him, trying to sound confident but failing miserably.

"What've I got to lose? I'm gonna die anyway. The whole place is under attack. You have probably noticed the lack of guards around 'ere, yeah? Well they're all guarding Crow. Won't be long till they infiltrate their way down 'here though. Then they'll shoot me through the head if you haven't already."

"Who is attacking here?"

"His should I know? I'm not important enough to be told that. Could be anyone, other rebels of this group. Maybe those of Shadowfell, they've been quiet lately. Could even be the palace, 'ere to take their precious princess home. For your sake you better hope it's them cause any other group will kill you as soon as they see you. Trust me, Crow has been quite kind to you compared to them."

"So you really do not know?" I ask, not completely believing his story.

"Nope... if I were you, I'd turn right at the next junction and then another right. You'll find a fire exit near there. Shoot down anyone who stands in your way. I'm only 'ere for the money and it doesn't look like I'll be 'ere for much longer. Can't stand everyone 'ere, you ever meet Smythe? He's Crow best man, rotten person he is.

'Anyway, leave through the fire exit. An alarm will be triggered so be ready to run as fast as you can. As far as I'm aware, whoever is attacking is only attacking here so head straight for the city and go home. Now do me a favour and shoot me straight through the head like you have been threatening to do for the last ten minutes. I'd rather you do it than someone else. I don't fancy being shot by anyone else, in fact it would be quite an honour to be killed by you."

"I do not want to kill you."

"You've shot me twice already..."

"Only so you would not kill me first." I tell him.

"I would've done the same. Now I'm begging you, shoot me." He pleads with me, looking honesty quite pathetic.

Shaking my head, I tell him "I'm sorry but I cannot do that. It just does not seem right." before running off.

Right, I need to take the next right, I keep thinking to myself as I run past the cells, holding back prisoners. The guards stays where he is on the floor, not moving and not saying a single word. A part of me feels guilty for not doing what he asks by I really hope that I will be able to come back soon and help him in some way. He seemed like he genuinely wanted to do better in life.

This hallway seems to go on forever, cell after cell I last before eventually coming to anther junction. I do as I was told and go right which leads me to another dark and gloomy corridor full of cells. I am lucky because there does not seem to be any guards around here as well. I keep the gun steady in my hand though, not ready to take any risks.

I slow my pace down, not wanting to run into anyone like I had done before. I have a look int to the cells as I walk past, looking at the state of the people in there. They range from very fragile old people, to young, some who were even children. Everyone looks like they have been starved though and for all I know, they have.

A horrible smell lingers in the air. It smells like a mixture of tribe and poo, the closer to the cells I get, the stronger it gets. Picking my pace up slightly, to get away from the cell, I notice one person who likes they have wet themselves and then another with sick all down their front. My stomach turns sick because of how mistreated these people are. I make a mental note to come back for these people when I can, get my own guards to rescue them. Most of the people here look like they can barely stand up, never mind rebel against a country. What could they have done to be locked up in here?

These thoughts haunt me as I keep going, gun hovering I the air and my heart beating fast in my chest. As soon as I get back to the palace, I will be making a list of things that need to change and will force my mother to help. She has caused enough pain in these people's lives already.

I keep going, determined to get out of here as soon as I can, keeping a lookout as I go along. I keep looking in at all of the cells but not starting too deeply until I reach one near the end. At first I think it is my mind playing tricks on me because it cannot possible be who I think it is laying in that cell. I take a couple of steps back and have another look in.

There, right in that cell, is Max and he looks pretty alive to me.

"Max!" I yell at him who lifts his head straight up when he hears my voice.

"Ria, you broke out?" He scrambles to his feet and makes his way towards the bars.

"I did but you are dead. You are suppose to be dead!" I yell back at him as if it was all his fault.

"Sorry to disappoint you but I'm not. And neither is Jasper, his cell is down one of those corridors. I've heard him a couple of times. Can you get me out of here?" Max asks me.

I still have the key that I used to unlock my own cell so I try it on his own to see if t works. Luckily Crow is an idiot who decided to use all the same locks on his cell. Max comes running out and pulls me straight into a hug. I have never been this happy to see him, in fact, I do not think I ever been this happy to see anyone.

"Let's get Jasper and get out of here. We can catch up properly then!" I say to Max before breaking off into a run once again. "Which way do we go? I got told by one of the guards that if we go right then we will reach a fire exit." I let Max know.

"I'm not entirely sure but his voice always sounded like it was coming from this way," he points in the direction of left. "When we first got here, we used to scream for each other." Max then admits, turning red in the face slightly.

"I can understand that. When I realised where I was, I stared to scream the place down but no one was near me. I was upstairs somewhere." I tell him and the two of us turn left.

"HOLD IT WHERE YOU ARE!" Someone yells at us, by the looks of things it is another guard.

Without even thinking, I lift the gun and shoot it straight ahead. The bullet flies straight into the guards chest, knocking him over without having the time to say anything else.

"Ria, what did you?"

"I... I... I do not know." I say with my voice shaking uncontrollably. I then realise that my whole body is shaking and tears are slowly streaming down my face. "Let's find Jasper and get out of here!"

I take one side of the row of cells while Max takes the other. The people here look just as mistreated as those in the other cells but I am in too much shock to think too much about it.

"Ria, he's here!" Max calls me over to the cell he is at, and there in front of me is Jasper, gripping g hold of the bars in front of him.

"How the hell did you two get out?" He asks us.

"I will explain later, there's no time now. We just have to find out way out of here... and quickly." I say to Jasper while unlocking his door with the same success I had with Max's.

Just as Jasper gets out, I hear the sounds of footsteps behind us.

"Guys follow me, and quickly!" I say and the three of us break into a run. I try and retrace my steps from before but the panic that is now filling my body up is confusing my mind.

I reach the junction that where we took the left turn, or was it a right? I know I needed to take a right somewhere... just think Alexandria, think! I turn left which immediately I regret because facing me is a group of men. They do not look like the guards here or any other rebels I have seen before and yet they still terrify me.

"Not this way guys, the other way!" I tell Jasper and Max who nod at me.

"STOP RIGHT THERE PRINCESS!" Someone yells but I do not look back to see who. Instead I turn the other way only to run into another group of men. It then hits me that these must be the people who are attacking this building, or prison or whatever this place of Crow's is.

The men are also behind us now, in fact they are slowly beginning to circle us. They are saying something to me but I cannot make out what it is. All of a sudden my hearing has gone funny, everything sounds off pitch, like there is a constant ringing in my ear and I begin to fill dizzy. My stomach feels sick, as if I am actually going to throw up. I try to grip onto Jasper who is standing next to me but I miss him by just a couple of inches and fall to the ground instead...

A/N: a bit of a longer chapter for you guys in this #RoyalWednesday and I hope you enjoyed it.

This week, Royal Blood has reached 6k reads, 3k comments and 2k votes along with reaching a new peak in the fantasy chart at #243! Thank you so much for all of that!

Anyway, back to this chapter. What were you thoughts? On a scale of 1-10 how glad are you that Max and Jasper are alive? I'm pretty happy that they are alive.

Also what's going to happen next? What's going to happen to the princess and co now?

I also want to know who you imagine as the characters. I've mentioned previously that I picture Kendall Jenner as Alexandria but who do you picture her to be? I also picture Max as Matthew Daddario but I don't have a clear image of Jasper in my head so I'm interested to know who you picture.

That's all for today so don't forget to vote and comment if you've enjoyed this chapter.