When Maisie said the same thing about the rebellion that Iris had earlier, Cas contemplated her words. Unless the two women had rehearsed their spiel in advance, it sounded like they both believed there really had been a good reason for the Scourge to form. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of that, since he’d always been told that the rebels were just power-hungry troublemakers who wanted to usurp the throne for their own selfish gain. In contrast, he was starting to wonder if there was more to their cause than his father had asserted. Everything in Tongsen was deteriorating and filthy, and he’d seen more homeless people in one district than he’d thought existed in the nation altogether. Even though the people leading the rebellion seemed to be just as corrupt as he’d imagined, he felt a little sympathetic for their original cause if their lives were actually as difficult as they claimed.

Taking the slice of pie from Maisie, he murmured his gratitude and ate a piece while she explained that she hadn’t just been referring to breaking Iris’s heart when she’d told him not to hurt her. [color=#b97703]“Oh, well if that’s what you’re worried about, I can promise you that she’ll be fine,”[/color] he assured her confidently. [color=#b97703]“Even if the guards at the border try to do anything to her, they can’t if I order them to stand down. My authority trumps even their highest-ranking officers, so Iris will be fine. I won’t let them arrest the person who saved my life.”[/color] Objectively, he knew that per the law, Iris should have been arrested for treason since she was part of the Scourge, but she had helped him escape from her father and was now smuggling him back into the capital. Political affiliations aside, she didn’t deserve to end up in a prison cell after everything she had done for him.

As Maisie went on to answer his question, he nodded in agreement that Iris needed to get out of her house. He understood that all too well after watching her father strike her across the face. Regis was an abusive man, and he hoped she wouldn’t go back to him after she brought him back to the inner-city district. Moving in with a close friend seemed like a far better option for her.

Left alone while she walked off to check on her friend, he finished his pie and the beer she had given him. It was a strange combination of flavors, but he enjoyed both anyway, well aware that he couldn’t be picky in a district where even common foods seemed to be in low supply. It also helped that Maisie was a talented baker. She had been right when she’d said this pie was better than the last one. He scarfed it down hungrily, taking hardly any time at all to polish off his plate and then leaning back into the sofa with a contented sigh when he was done.

In a land stripped down from all the luxuries he was used to, he was starting to appreciate simple pleasures more. The food had been good, the furniture was comfortable, and he was going to enjoy being clean for the first time in days. Maisie didn’t have much, but she did have enough to create a warm and welcoming home, and he was grateful that she had been willing to take him and Iris in. This was far better than the bomb shelter they’d stayed in the night before.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, he turned toward the door as the hostess returned from checking on Iris. [color=#b97703]“How’s Iris doing?”[/color] he asked, curious if she was almost done showering but also genuinely wondering about her wellbeing. He’d noticed that she had been gone for a while.