“Tell me more about what happened after Iris helped you get back to the capital.”

As Dr. Foster prompted him with yet another question, Caspian wanted to rake his fingers through his hair in frustration. He had already described what had happened to him after the abduction at length, and now the psychiatrist had begun asking him to repeat or elaborate on certain points that she wanted to know more about. He was getting tired of what was beginning to feel like an interrogation, and he wanted to go back to his room to have some time to himself. His injuries were feeling a little sorer than usual that morning too, so sitting in the same chair for an hour was becoming harder to bear.

[color=#b97703]“I already told you,”[/color] he said with a frown, impatience seeping into his voice as his eyes flicked to the clock on the wall. They had taken up one of the semi-soundproofed offices on the second floor to prevent their conversation from being overheard by the staff. [color=#b97703]“She supported me on the walk to the border, because I couldn’t hold myself up alone. We didn’t talk much on the way, and when we got there, she was arrested almost immediately for treason. I was taken to the hospital, and I haven’t seen her since.”[/color] It was a thin lie, but he didn’t want to tell anyone that he knew where her room was at the hospital. Right now, only Jacob and Harry and a few nurses were aware that he’d visited her yesterday, and he wanted to keep it that way.

Crossing his arms defensively, he met the psychiatrist’s gaze across the desk. [color=#b97703]“I have nothing left to say that you don’t already know, so can I go now? I think I’ve made it pretty clear that there’s nothing wrong with me. You can tell my dad—”[/color]

“Actually, I’m not so sure that’s true,” Dr. Foster objected, lifting her gaze from the notepad on which she’d been taking notes.

[color=#b97703]“What do you mean?”[/color] Cas felt his stomach drop. He’d thought that a trained professional would realize right away that he was fine. If she thought there was something wrong with him too, it was going to be harder than he’d thought to convince his father otherwise.

Dr. Foster cleared her throat. “In my profession, it does more harm than good to beat around the bush, so I’ll be blunt. Based on everything I’ve been told by both you and your father, I believe you’re suffering from Stockholm Syndrome.”

[color=#b97703]“[i]What[/i]?”[/color] Cas gawked at her. [color=#b97703]“That’s ridiculous! I don’t have a syndrome.”[/color]

“Your Highness, please allow me to explain,” the psychiatrist said patiently. “When a person has Stockholm Syndrome, he doesn’t ever think there’s something wrong with him. It’s a condition in which a victim of abuse forms a positive bond with his abuser. Rather than seeing the situation for what it is—in your case, an abduction—you’ve reframed it into something more tolerable for your psyche to handle: a crusade to save both yourself and one of the perpetrators who tormented you. It’s a survival strategy you’ve subconsciously tapped into to increase your chances of surviving without even realizing what you were doing.”

Cas stared at her, stunned by the diagnosis. [color=#b97703]“That doesn’t make any sense though,”[/color] he defended himself after a pause. [color=#b97703]“Iris didn’t abuse me. In fact, I saw her be abused by Regis and Ethan just like I was. She’s a victim here too.”[/color]

“If your captors were trying to manipulate your emotions, they would have allowed you to see whatever they believed would make you more compliant,” Dr. Foster explained calmly. “And abuse isn’t always physical. It can be emotional as well. Wouldn’t you say it was abusive of Iris to pretend like she was your friend, betray your trust, and then do it all over again?”

[color=#b97703]“But she didn’t—”[/color]

“Prince Caspian, I understand this is a lot to take in,” she smiled at him sympathetically. “No one enjoys finding out that their perspectives have been manipulated by other people, but I firmly believe you’ve been victimized far more than you realized. Iris is a member of the rebellion. She isn’t your friend, and she doesn’t have your best interests at heart.”

Cas opened his mouth to argue with her again but turned his head toward the door as someone knocked on the other side. In the next moment, he blanched as his father stepped into the office. Having made no progress in convincing the psychiatrist that he didn’t have Stockholm Syndrome, seeing the king enter made his heart pound with anxiousness. Atlas couldn’t find out that she thought he was sick in the head. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a chance to tell him to go away before the king asked: “So, Dr. Foster, what do you think the traitors did to my son?”