Escape would not be easy. Imperial forces had thrown a noose around the city, one made of steel and blood, and slowly tightened it. From a high enough vantage point, one might be able to see where was quiet, unmarked by flickering flame and distant crash of steel, the air not rent with screams. At street level, chaos reigned, and anyone on the streets would be hard pressed to tell what was happening two streets away, let alone further.<br/><br/>The palace itself was a lodestone, drawing the Imperial troops closer, each seeking to bring honour to their House by being the first inside. The streets and courtyards were littered with the injured, dead and dying, as a storm of steel threw itself again and again against the doorways. Others sought to elude the main defenses, small groups going over walls and climbing through second and third floor windows, and some the corridors of the palace echoed to the clash of arms and screams of anger and pain.<br/><br/>The princess and her small enterage had crept through several corridors, managing to avoid the nearby sounds of combat, before their luck ran out. A party of Imperial troops charged out of a cross corridor and her own guards barely had time to form a shieldwall before they were engaged.<br/><br/>"Run!" one of the guards shouted, smart enough not to identify the Princess. If the Imperial forces knew who was behind that thin line of steel they would spare no effort to capture or kill her.