When Iris insisted that nothing he did would work, Cas furrowed his brows, perplexed by her pessimistic attitude. He didn’t understand why she was so cynical about it. Yes, it was going to be difficult, but it was still worth trying if it meant she would be safe. Even if they failed, the consequences wouldn’t be worse than what she would face if she didn’t leave. In his mind, there was no reason not to take the plunge and do their best to save her from the soldiers and his father if there was even a hair of a chance that they could succeed.

Her acceptance of her own death was concerning to him as well. When he’d been trapped as the rebels’ captive, he’d had the opposite response: He’d been desperate to do whatever it took to save his own life. His will to live had prompted him to spend all of his waking hours in Regis’s basement prodding about until he found a way out of the makeshift cell. He’d loosened the bars and tried to climb out the window, and even when he’d been caught, he’d fought back to keep the rebel leader from killing him with his knife. Later on, he’d also defended himself and Iris against Ethan and Thomas in the street and at the prison. When staring death in the face, he’d refused to give up every time. Only when he’d been so beaten and battered that he could barely breathe had he changed his outlook on dying, and even then, when a chance to escape had presented itself, he’d still taken it without a second thought. Comparatively, Iris’s certainty that she was going to lose her life was disconcerting to him.

As she admitted that she’d told the interrogators that she had feelings for him, he shifted his weight, somewhat worried about what would happen when that bit of information found its way to his father. Given how protective Atlas was of him, he was sure the king would be furious to find out that a member of the rebellion had developed feelings for him. It wasn’t the end of the world though. Judging by the way she phrased it, it sounded like the soldiers only knew that she loved him, not that the feelings were mutual. If it meant keeping her safe, he could always lie and tell his father that he’d had no idea that she’d fallen for him and that he had no such affection for her. Hopefully that would be enough to throw the monarch off their scent long enough for him to get her away from the soldiers.

 With no time to discuss escape plans with her while the guards were waiting to come into the room, he decided to keep them to himself until he could secure another moment alone with her. [color=#b97703]“I know you can do it,”[/color] he assured her with a more genuine smile, stepping back to put some distance between them. [color=#b97703]“And don’t worry about what you might have said during the interrogation. I’ll take care of it.”[/color] With that, he turned his head toward the door and called to Jacob, [color=#b97703]“You can come in now.”[/color]

The latch on the door clicked, and Cas slipped his good hand into his pocket, taking on a casual posture to mask the serious conversation he’d just had with Iris. Jacob stepped into the room first, glancing between the two with subtle curiosity. Unfortunately for the prince, he was more aware of the taboo romance that had developed than he let on. Although he still had no solid evidence, he could read Caspian well enough to know that he was hiding something, and the passion that entered his voice every time they discussed the rebel girl filled in the gaps.

“How long did you intend to stay here, Your Highness?” he asked rigidly, still on edge around the royal after their argument in the car. “You need your own rest too.”

[color=#b97703]“I don’t know,”[/color] Cas replied with a shrug. [color=#b97703]“You don’t have to wait here with me. If you have other things to do, you can go. I’ll just have someone pick me up later.”[/color]

[i]Now he’s just being unreasonable,[/i] the guard fought the urge to roll his eyes at the prince’s obvious attempt to get rid of him. “That’s alright, Your Highness,” he said with forced politeness, ambling over to the chair by the door and sitting down. “I don’t have anything else to do, so I’ll wait for you right here until you’re ready to leave.”