Royal Blood

Chapter Twenty-One

Sun streams through gaps in the curtains, lighting the dull, brown room into a bright golden colour. As beautiful as this is, it wakes me up leaving me to feel less than satisfied with the amount of sleep I managed to get. It was one of those nights where no matter how many sheep I counted, I just couldn't doze off and then when I did finally sleep I would wake up again within an hour. It's understandable really.

Yawning, I climb out of the hotel bed and make my way into the bathroom before Max and Jasper. I get ready as quickly as I can, washing my dark hair and then twisting it into a bun on the top of my head. I wrap a towel around my wet hair while I get changed. I decide to dry my hair back in the room to allow the boys the chance to use the bathroom. Who knows when we will next have hot running water?

Once I'm back in the room, I stand in front of a mirror and un-wrap the towel. My hair falls down my sides and slowly I begin to dry it. It takes a while due to its length but once I've done I stand back and just stare at my reflection.

The girl who is looking back at me is someone else. She is Princess Alexandria, the heir to the throne, the girl who used to follow every order from her mother until she finally got sick of it. She's the girl who stood back while her mother threw elegant balls feand would start conversations with possible suitors knowing that is what she has to do as the princess. She's the girl with the bright green eyes, a constant reminder of her mother, the queen who is slowly killing people. The girl with the dark hair, a reminder of her father, the late king with a bad reputation.

The girl looking back at me is not who I want to be.

Instead of dwelling on my reflection, I twist my hair back onto the top of my head and put one of my wigs on. I have quite a collection of them now, thanks to Max. Today I decide to wear a mid-length ginger wig with a full fringe; it's different to what I have worn so far. I feel ready to go.

This girl looking back at me is me.

Banging on the bathroom door with one fist, I shout "Are you two nearly ready yet? I thought we said we would leave as soon as we could?" I walk away from the door, feeling frustrated with the two of them because all I want to do now is get on a train and get as far from here as possible.

"We are here now. By the way, I forgot to give you these the other day." Max says while throwing a box over to me. I look down to see that it is a box of blue contact lenses. Without wasting any time, I rip open the packaging and place the contacts in my eyes. Luckily there are a few pairs of them in the box.

"Thanks Max." I say to him.

Curfew has been lifted so we make our way out of the hotel and onto the sun lit streets. To get back to the train station we have to walk back through the other villages and follow the trail down the mountains. It is quite a trek and because we want to get on the next train as quickly as we can, we walk as fast as we can. It is a struggle though with the sun beating down on us, making us sweat and slowing us down.

"Can you believe it is finally starting to feel like summer?" Jasper asks while we are walking through the villages which have the large houses and swimming pools.

"I know, it must nearly August as well. It is about time that we got some sun." I reply back realising I don't even know what month we are in anymore.

"Well when I was out buying more food I saw a newspaper saying that the date was the second of august so today must be the fourth I think." Max then tells us.

We keep walking through the heat and finally make it through the last, shabby village. It would have been easier if we had spent the night here. From the top of the trail, I can just see the roof of the train station, which is made out of glass. People are walking away from it and heading up the trail for themselves. I will be very jealous if they are staying in one of the hotels with a pool.