“Keep close and stay alert. I have a feeling about this one.”

Jacob signaled to his team as they approached the door to the fourth house on the block. The first three they had investigated in Parkside had all been empty. Dusty rooms, splintered windows and empty cabinets were all that had greeted the men in their search for the rebel hideout. There weren’t even civilians around like the other team had reported on Hawthorn Circle. But that detail alone had convinced the security guard they were on the right track. Placing himself in the shoes of the people who lived in this district, he wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere near the Scourge’s base of operations either.

They jogged quietly up to the front of the building, weapons drawn and eyes peeled as they watched out for any signs that the rebels knew they were coming. Nearby, the drone being operated from the palace’s security room hummed like a wasp in the air. Caspian was fixed on the screen from the same room, holding his breath as he hoped this house would turn out to be different than the last few. There were only three left in the part of the neighborhood his guard had pinpointed as a possible location, so they had to be getting close to Iris. In just a few more minutes, she could be on her way back to the palace, and he could keep her safe from the rebels that had been tormenting her. He could hear his heartbeat thudding in his ears with the anticipation.

Meanwhile on the ground, Jacob stood back to watch one of the men on his team pick the lock open on the door, then, once it was open, he led the way inside. Like the other houses they’d passed through, there was no immediate sign of life, but this building didn’t seem quite as desolate as the others. The dust in the living room was settled irregularly, as if there had been people standing and sitting and using the table space not that long ago. He even spotted a plastic wrapper wedged halfway under the couch and narrowed his eyes. This had to be it.

“Fan out in groups of two,” he said to the others under his breath. “Henry, you’re with me.”

His team dispersed at his order to search the ground level, while Jacob took his partner up the stairs to cover the top. Everything was quiet, so there was no telling if there was still anyone around. It was possible that the rebels had even gotten wind of their raids in the other neighborhood and had already fled the area. He clenched his jaw, wincing at the creak of a floorboard under his boot. For Iris’s sake, he hoped that wasn’t the case.

With another signal to the man behind him to watch his back, he approached the door at the top of the stairs, bracing himself for anything, and levied his pistol in one hand as he took the knob in the other. After a short pause, he pushed the door open and raised his weapon, only to find himself eye to eye with the same man he’d seen in the video on Caspian’s phone—alone in the same room, with the girl’s crumpled body at his feet.

In a fraction of a second, his old combat reflexes kicked in, and he fired a shot at the rebel’s leg without hesitation, attempting to incapacitate the other man before he could get up from the bed he was sitting on. It was tempting to shoot to kill, but hostages were always a benefit when they could be taken. Nonlethal force had to be the default unless he was pushed to escalate the situation.

Ethans intent stare did not leave her body, eyes sweeping the figure up and down as if she was about to spring to life again. Knife still embedded in her skin having not been pulled, but he was certain she was dead now or just barely clinging to life because the rise and fall of her chest was so faint, he couldn’t see, and he wasn’t about to leave the comfort of the bed to go check. It didn’t matter now anyway; she was dead, and the King had not come for her, so it meant he’d have to rethink his plan.

Leaning forward he began to tap his foot just waiting for time to pass and to finally make a move, thinking over everything that had led up to this moment until he heard it a creak of a floorboard. Eyes going to the door and listening just in case he had imagined it as the house was old, or it could have even been a gust of wind passing through the old building.

As Ethan stared at the door his hand twitched to his trousers where a gun was sat, it was always good to be alert especially as there was still a chance that Cassian would burst through the door in hopes to save the girl. Noticing the door handle move he knew he had been right, that they would come for her and he was ready to take action, but he was facing off members of the military all highly trained and ready to shoot without hesitation and he heard the gunshot ring out before he felt the sharp pain in his leg.

“Shit!” Hissing out as his left hand went to the wound that had hit just below his knees, blood gushing out of the wound as he looked at Ethan who had entered the room between them both Iris laid on the floor and it was then he noticed a drone buzzing around. “Well, well, well… it seems his majesty didn’t disappoint.” Words spat out through gritted teeth as he watched the drone knowing that the young royal prick was sat behind it safely as he sent his dogs to deal with this matter.

Only then did a malicious grin spread across his lips as he eyed the drone not phased by the rest of the army that was here for just one man. “You’re too late, she’s dead. You should have listened to me whilst you had the chance.” Dramatically he gestured to the pale body on the floor surrounded by her own blood, at first glance she looked dead, and he truly believed so and he had to make sure that Cassian would see it.

“Goodbye your majesty.” With his point made his right hand quickly grabbed the gun in his pocket and without hesitation he fired the shot. It would have made sense if he retaliated at the military who had shot him first, make some dramatic exit but he wasn’t there to punish them. His goal was to end the royal line and if all else this guilt would eat away at the King, because he hoped he would blame himself for this. With his target hit he watched the drone he had shot fall to floor with a loud crash clearly broken and disconnected from whatever feed it had been giving.

Ethans eyes were wild and with the same gun he swung it round and aimed a shot towards Jacob because he would go out with a bang, quite literally. If he became lethal, they wouldn’t bring him in for questioning, if they feared he was there to harm then he would be killed and it meant not giving them any sort of information so he began to shoot wildly emptying the case of the gun as a manic laughter left his lips.

The instant the first gunshot had been fired, every soldier in the building had changed course to sprint upstairs. Meanwhile, Jacob clenched his jaw as he watched his target’s hand fly to his leg where the bullet had made contact. It was satisfying, in a way, to hurt the man who had tortured Iris, but it still didn’t make up for everything he’d done to her. One wound wasn’t vengeance for a life lost. His eyes flicked to her unmoving, bloodstained body on the floor just as the security team’s drone hovered into the line of sight. He didn’t need to see his king to know what the scene in this room was going to do to him. That was a situation for the men in the palace to deal with.

And they did. When Iris came into view on Caspian’s screen, he had jumped up from his seat with a shouted ‘no,’ only to be restrained by the shoulder immediately by the nearest guard. All the color drained from his face, and his eyes were as round as disks as he stared at her crumpled form on the screen, the knife protruding sinisterly from her middle and the blood that had pooled around her on the floorboards. This couldn’t be real. There was no way. He refused to believe she was dead, even as Ethan grinned and said so on the other side of the drone.

He parted his lips to demand that Jacob check her for a pulse, but before he could get the words out, there was a second bang, and suddenly the screen went black. “Wait. No. What happened!?” Tearing his arm out of the guard’s grip, the king lunged at the monitor, checking it over as if he would find a loose cord that he could plug back into place to fix the issue.

“It looked like he shot the drone, Your Majesty.” Behind him, the guard frowned as he watched his ruler obsess over the darkened screen. “It wasn’t built to withstand bullets.”

“Shit!” Cas, raked his fingers through his hair. He still needed to get ahold of Jacob even if he couldn’t see… He still had his comm device. It wasn’t the drone he’d been using to communicate with his security officer. He needed to focus. Gathering the pieces of his composure, he lifted his trembling hand to the earpiece he was still wearing to tap into the line. “Jacob, check to see if she’s still alive!” he ordered.

“I’m a little busy right now, Your Majesty,” the guard hissed back through gritted teeth. In the time it had taken the king to remember his comm device, the team’s target had started returning fire, and Jacob had ducked for cover just outside the bedroom door. Luckily, he was wearing the same standard bulletproof uniform as the rest of the soldiers, but he’d still taken a shot to the sternum that had winded him on his way to safety. He pressed a hand against the afflicted spot as he fought to catch his breath.

Unsurprisingly, Caspian had started arguing with him through his earpiece, demanding that he check on Iris right away to make sure that they could get her medical attention if she needed it. However, he ignored the shouting to focus on the more pressing issue at that moment: the man waving an automatic weapon around like a madman in the next room over.

He took a breath and leaned toward the door frame with his own gun. It was starting to seem like ‘nonlethal’ wasn’t an option here. He wasn’t going to sacrifice any of his men just to take an unruly hostage—especially one who didn’t appear to be in his right mind—so, raising the pistol in his hands, he braced himself to take another shot and whirled around to plant himself in the open doorway as he fired back, this time aiming at the other man’s head.

The laughter of his could be heard throughout the home, a crazed madman who had felt like he had won everything. Plans upon plans, getting them all to this current place and of course it wasn’t over, for him it was the end of the line but there were still whispers and rumours of the rebellion now fled from these walls. People would still join the cause, especially now a young King was on the throne who was full of inexperience. Things would only get worse and hopefully go downhill, but right now Ethan would at least leave his last mark by firing off the last bullets of his gun aiming for the soldiers that had come tonight.

Eyes wide and wild as he watched the soldiers all scramble, jumping out of the way of his shots and the impact against the old house was causing structural damage. One gunshot went right through the ceiling causing a chunk of it to crack and fall with a crash to the floor, dust and debris scattering across the room as the last few shots had been fired and his gun now empty. Blood poured down his leg from the gunshot he had received earlier, adrenaline wearing off as pain started to seep through, but it wasn’t long now until they would assess him as a threat to kill.

It was then he saw the guard in the doorway, quick and fast and he held his own composure the sinister grin plastered on his face as the gunshot went right through his head killing him in moments clearly expecting this. For a few seconds he was sat grinning madly on the bed, blood seeping out of his new wound in the head before the body crumpled falling forward to the floor in a heap. Ethan was dead and in his last moments he hoped that they truly believed the rebellion was finally over by killing him.

Silence now greeted them and some of the soldiers started to move from their positions entering the room now the target was dead. Harry was one of the soldiers who had accompanied Jacob on this mission, and he had previously guarded Iris in the hospital after a rather sour interrogation. Things had certainly changed for them now to be completing some sort of rescue mission for her, but their efforts appeared to be in vain as he stepped into the room looking at a rather bloody scene before him.

Carefully he stepped over the falling debris of the ceiling and knelt down in front of the girl he had once guarded and placed two fingers against her cold skin looking for a pulse. In the background he could hear shuffle of feet of the other soldiers approaching the madman, one of them calling out to the room confirming he was indeed dead, and no threat remained. Shaking his own head, he was about to call it himself for the girl on the floor until he paused, pressing his fingers harder as he felt something so faint, he had almost missed it.

“Jacob.” Nodding his head down to the girl to get him to check, “I’m probably imaging it. Ignore me” Shaking his head he put it down to false hope as he rose to his feet eyes sweeping over the body, he couldn’t be sure if he had felt a pulse or not, but she had been here for a while he doubted she had survived.

“Sick fuck,” Jacob curled his lip in disgust as he watched Ethan’s lifeless body crumple to the floor. While his team filed into the room to investigate it for anything useful, he lifted a hand to, finally, respond to Caspian, who had been verbally barraging him since the drone had been destroyed. “The obstacle is clear now, Your Majesty. Harry is checking for signs of life.” As he spoke, he watched the other man kneel at Iris’s side, slipping two fingers under her chin in search of a pulse.

“And?” Cas pressed immediately, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. He wished Ethan hadn’t destroyed the drone. He couldn’t see anything, and the last thing on his screen had been Iris with a knife sticking out of her middle. His hands were shaking as he waited, hoping against hope that the other man hadn’t killed her—that they weren’t too late to bring her back to the palace. He didn’t know what he would do if she was dead.

Meanwhile, Jacob arched a brow when Harry said his name. He’d expected the other man to pronounce her gone, so when Harry acted like he might have noticed something, the security head stepped over to see for himself what was going on. “Stand back,” he ordered, dropping low to the ground to press two fingers against Iris’s throat. He stayed still for a few seconds with eyes narrowed in focus. Just as he was about to agree with the other man that he’d imagined a pulse, he felt a faint thump underneath his fingertips. She was still alive.

He almost parted his lips to tell Caspian, but before the words could leave his mouth, he hesitated. Iris was alive, but there had been a reason why he’d separated her from the fledgling king. Instead of reaching for his comm device, he considered the situation. Iris wasn’t going to last much longer without immediate medical attention, and he wasn’t cold-blooded enough to leave her to die. However, he also knew that bringing her back to his ruler would just put them back at square one—perhaps even lower, since he imagined Caspian would be ten times as protective of her after everything that had just happened. Even though the part of his that was bound to serving his king squirmed at the thought, he knew deep down that it was better for the people of Aspiria if their current liege moved on. He was going to have to pull some treasonous strings.

An idea formed, and he touched his device, taking a deep breath before he finally answered Caspian’s question.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

“No way.” The color drained from Cas’s face, and he collapsed backwards into the seat he’d earlier abandoned. “A-Are you sure? She can’t be dead. There’s no way.”

“She no longer has a pulse,” Jacob lied. “I truly am sorry for your loss… If you’d like, I can stay behind to give her a proper burial.”

Cas pressed a hand down over his face. He didn’t want Jacob to bury her. He didn’t want anyone to bury her. He wanted to bring her back to the palace to be by his side, where she would be safe and they wouldn’t have to worry about these kinds of sick attacks by the rebellion. In the time they’d been together, she had become more important to him than anyone else, and now she was just gone? He bit down on his lower lip as it started to quiver. “This is my fault,” he whispered, unable to raise his voice any louder without breaking it. “I shouldn’t have left her all alone in that place, without anyone to protect her. If I’d just ignored the people who would protest, I could have brought her into the palace with me sooner, and she wouldn’t have ended up with him again—”

“It isn’t your fault,” Jacob interrupted his spiraling. “You didn’t know he was looking for her. No one did. The way this ended was regrettable, but you did everything you could, you hear me?”

For a few beats, Cas didn’t respond. At that moment, he couldn’t bring himself to agree with the guard. He felt like he could have done more—should have done more—to prevent Ethan from doing this. He’d let Iris down again, and this time, there was nothing he could do to fix it. “Bury her in the capital cemetery. Please,” he murmured, his voice cracking on the last word as the emotions finally spilled over along with his tears.

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

With their assignment over and the house cleared as vacant, the soldiers filed back out to the crafts they’d taken to return to the capital. On their way out, one of the men stopped by the top floor to get Jacob. “Are you coming, sir?” he asked, pointing down the stairs toward the front door.

“Go on without me. I just have a few more things to wrap up here before I leave,” Jacob shook his head. “I’ll take another vehicle back.”

“If you say so,” the soldier shrugged, turning to leave him to his business.

The security head watched him go for a few seconds. As soon as the other man was out of earshot, he spun around and took the sleeve of his shirt between his teeth, giving it a sharp tug to tear and pressing it down against Iris’s midriff, where the blood was pooling around the blade of the knife. “Come on,” he muttered as he worked to staunch the wound. “Stay with me, Iris. You just need to hang on a little longer now…”

What was reality? Iris couldn’t even be sure she was truly feeling anything in and out of her daze and on occasion sounds would break through. It was hard to describe what she was going through, the closest explanation she had was that it was simply like a dream. It was easy to slip in and out of consciousness, but more often than not she opted for the darkness not having much of a will to fight against the numbing feeling it gave her. It was a blanket of comfort staying within the depths of darkness and even as the sounds of reality penetrated through it wasn’t enough to pull her back.

Focusing on them meant she had to question her existence, had she really heard all that gunfire? Manic laughter? Her name? It hurt to question it because if she focused on it the lull of the darkness started to seep away and a pain began to return. Floating, that was another way she could describe it, right now she felt like she weighed nothing and could just glide through. Glide through what? What was she doing? Then there would be a flash of memory, blood. Blood everywhere and she could feel the internal panic there.

And then… nothing.

In and out, a strange cycle she began going through. It would start with the floating, feeling weightless almost limitless and just when she felt like she could reach it panic would settle in. Then fear. Then flashes of memories always ending up with blood before it would return to nothing. Over and over this happened and it almost felt routine, constantly playing on a loop for hours until it started to feel like days. Each section in the cycle began to drag on, lasting ages until she felt the release of the next stage to it.

Desperately she wanted to be free of this panic, the flashes of memory that had lasted for hours. Right now, she should be feeling the darkness, being numb to everything but the loop was stuck on this very segment, and she wanted to be free of it. The intensity began to grow as if building up to something and she could feel it in the pit of her stomach, she could feel her heart in her chest and just when she thought the loop would continue it all faded away as finally her eyes began to flutter open washing away the odd state of mind, she had been in.

Bright, there was so much light that eyes began to water as she adjusted to it. Is this real? How long have I been out? Wincing as she tried to get a better look at her surroundings, but her body felt heavy and even as she willed herself to move, she couldn’t. Tears left her eyes and she heard herself whimper from the pain in her side, she was alive. This was real. As she began to adjust to the lighting, she established she was in a room, it wasn’t a hospital? Dread began to settle in because the only reason she could think of as to why she wasn’t in a hospital was that Ethan still had a hold of her.

“N-No…” Hearing the rasp of her voice as she tried with all her might to push herself up on the bed, crying to herself at the pain she felt as she desperately tried to get out of the bed and somehow make a run for it. It was then she began to remember everything he had done to her, the beatings, the cracking of bones in her left arm all the way to when he had stabbed her. No, she would not go through it all again, but the sudden rush of pain from all the movement she tried bought a wave of nausea and she had to stop herself before she threw up.

Jacob had never been specifically trained to treat wounds, but the combination of fighting in a civil war and working closely with an ailing king had lent him the skills he needed to keep Iris from succumbing to her injuries. He worked tirelessly in the house where he’d found her, using what little equipment and resources he had available until he felt like she was stable enough to move. The open wound in her midriff had been staunched, her broken bones had been set, and he finally picked her up, carefully, off the floor to bring her down to the first working car he could find on the street down below.

He picked the door open, hotwired it to get it running, and laid Iris’s limp body across the backseat with a blanket spread over her both for warmth and to conceal her identity when he drove back to the capital. There was no getting inside the city without passing through a security checkpoint equipped with infrared cameras. There, he leveraged his status as the head of capital security to avoid having the car searched. When the border patrol questioned him about the second body in the vehicle, he explained it away as a captured, unconscious prisoner from the rebellion that he was bringing in for interrogation.

The guards took him at his word, and he was permitted to pass through, driving along the highway that would take him to his condo on the north side of the capital. When he’d accepted the job as head of security for King Atlas, he’d moved into a room in the palace to stay close to his monarch. However, he had never stopped making payments on the other unit, just in case he ever needed it. Until now, nothing else had come up, but with Iris barely clinging to life in his backseat, he was glad he’d had the foresight to continue renewing his lease.

He pulled the borrowed car around the back side of the building, where there was less foot traffic and witnesses to worry about, and gingerly lifted the unconscious girl to carry her up the back stairs to his condo. Unlocking the door was a little tricky, but he managed to get it open by using the wall as a brace for his shoulder while he fished in his pocket. Once they were safely inside, he finally set her down on the bed and set about tending to her wounds more properly than he had when they were in the districts.

The bloodstained clothing was exchanged for an old t-shirt and basketball shorts—though he left her undergarments in place, uncomfortable with the thought of removing them when she was someone important to Caspian—and he scrubbed the dried blood from her skin. The stab wound was stitched with his own kit, the makeshift brace on her arm was replaced with a sturdier binding, and when he was confident that she would start recovering on her own, he finally returned to the palace to check on his king, stifling the guilt he felt about telling the other man that she was dead when she was really locked up in his condo only a few miles away.

When he got back, he found the palace in the exact state he expected. All function had ceased. The halls were quiet, visiting representatives had been sent away, and two guards stood posted outside the doors to the king’s bedroom with orders not to let anyone inside until told otherwise. He could tell that many of the other security workers were confused about Caspian’s reaction to the raid, since none of them had known how close their monarch had been to the woman they’d been trying to rescue, but he also knew it wouldn’t take long for them to put the pieces together and figure out why he was so devastated—if they hadn’t already.

In that way, Jacob was glad he’d made the decision that he had to keep her survival a secret. If there was to be any blemish on the fledgling king’s reputation because of his affection for a rebel, it would quickly pass. That relationship was over and done with, so there would be no reason for concern among the Aspirian people that their leader’s allegiance was divided with the Scourge.

He spent the night in his room in the palace, just in case Caspian needed him for anything before the morning. However, when the sun rose and nothing changed while the other man continued to grieve his loss, he decided to return to the condo to see how Iris was doing since he’d left her the day before. He took his own car this time to make the drive back, but still parked behind the building. Inside again, he found the former rebel passed out where he’d left her, so he settled in the living room and flipped through channels on the TV to catch up on the local news, leaving her to rest in the bedroom.

An hour passed quietly while he lounged on the couch with a beer. In a way, it felt like a vacation, since he was usually busy at the palace seven days a week with security work and management, but the peace was eventually broken when he heard a faint, muffled voice cry out behind the door. He got up right away and turned the TV off, heading back into the bedroom where he saw that Iris was awake and struggling to climb out of the bed.

“Iris.” With a tone both firm and soft, Jacob stepped over to lay a hand on her shoulder. “Lay still or you’ll reopen your wound. You’re safe now. Ethan is dead.”

As the nausea passed Iris tried to calm herself from the panic she felt as her mind continued to race thinking over every single possibility that brought her here to this home. Nothing made sense to her and during her spiral of panic she hadn’t even noticed that Jacob had entered the room let alone call her name. Not until his hand touched her shoulder causing her to flinch in reaction expecting the worst, but as she finally gathered the courage to look at him, she felt herself relax a little at seeing him. Jacob had never hurt her, even when she had been imprisoned by the Capital, he had never raised his hand to her and in fact had helped her with her escape back to the districts and it was highly unlikely he was about to start now.

“Jacob?” Her voice still hoarse, throat dry as she followed his instruction to lay back down feeling the pain ease up a little. Why was he here? In fact, she should be asking why she was there? Trying to remember back to what had happened only to find her mind still hazy and not one hundred percent there with being able to piece it together. “Cas… is he okay? Is he safe?” The first thought of hers was wondering if the young monarch was safe, if Jacob was here then somehow, he would have to be involved. There was no doubt in her mind that this was a simple coincidence and that Cas had to have a part of it somehow.

Slowly Iris began to relax knowing she was in no immediate danger; Jacob had said so himself that she was safe, and she had no reason to believe otherwise or that he would lie on that fact. Still, she had a ton of questions for him because he had to have known what had happened and she needed answers for her own sanity. “Dead?” Jacob had said that Ethan was dead, and a part of her didn’t quite believe that fact, but again why would he lie to her. The pain she could feel told her that this was reality so it wasn’t some warped fantasy or dream of hers, and she had thought that should it have been a dream she wouldn’t have dreamt Jacob to be there.

“What happened?” Hoping that he would explain to her, he didn’t have too, and she couldn’t do anything about it if he did refuse. “Where am I?” Knowing it wasn’t the palace, as much as her memories had been hit and miss, she knew this little home that she had woken up in wasn’t the palace. It also didn’t look like a place that was in the districts either. Rubbing her eyes with her good arm she still felt tired, she didn’t even know how long she had been asleep for which could in turn be a worrying problem. Although, who really cared about her now? No one would be waiting… unless maybe Cas was?

Grimacing the pain was becoming more apparent, now awake she got to enjoy feeling each ache and pain that she had manage to avoid. In truth she hadn’t expected to wake back up, she had been fully ready for death to take her at that moment because she didn’t think that anyone was coming for her.

At the rasp in Iris’s voice, Jacob picked up a glass of water he’d left on the nightstand and offered it to her once she’d calmed down enough that she wouldn’t knock it out of his hand. All the while, he eyed the shirt she was wearing—intentionally white—for any blood spots, making sure she hadn’t reopened her wound in the midst of her thrashing. Fortunately, he didn’t see anything concerning, so he settled on the edge of the mattress and lifted his gaze to meet hers when she asked about Caspian.

“He is safe, but he isn’t here. You’re in my condo,” he answered succinctly, rolling his shoulders in a mindless stretch. He hadn’t realized how long he’d been sitting on the living room sofa, and he’d gotten a little stiff. He was also hesitant to tell Iris much more than he just had, since he didn’t want to argue with her if she insisted on being moved to see the king in the palace. Right now, all he cared about was seeing that she recovered properly and then returning her to the districts where she belonged. Caspian couldn’t know she had ever been here.

He was less secretive about the fate of her abductor though, so when she asked about Ethan next, he nodded in confirmation. “Yes, dead. I watched him take a bullet between the eyes when my strike team found his hiding place.” Technically, he was the one who had fired the shot, but he wasn’t looking to take credit, so he left that part of the explanation ambiguous. “You won’t have to worry about him ever again. He’s gone for good.” As he spoke, his eyes wandered to the room they were in. White paint, old motel-like artwork on the walls and a ceiling fan spinning lazy circles above their heads. He probably should have been more invested in a conversation about a man’s gruesome death, but his years in service to his country had made him numb to the harsher side of war. Instead, he had noticed how vacant his old bedroom felt.

As he turned back to Iris, he caught the grimace on her face and furrowed his brows. “You should lie back down. It’s only been a day since I moved you here, and you’ve barely started to heal. Some rest will do you good.” He got up from the edge of the bed again, readying himself to leave if she took him up on the suggestion. “Is there anything else you need from me?”

Taking the glass of water offered she took a sip only to realise how thirsty she had been, draining the cup quickly she hadn’t noticed how dry her mouth was, but she doubted she had been able to drink much before now. Holding the glass in her hands she could feel the burning sensation to her side reminding her of the wound and she was certain no hospital had been involved, not when she felt this tender to the pain, and she had been lucky enough to receive care at the top-notch hospitals they had here in the Capital. Cas was safe, but not here. Could she blame him? The way she had left him had been cruel. Maybe he had already move on and didn’t care for her now and that was why she was in Jacob’s condo, not the palace and not a hospital but it still left the question as to why Jacob had saved her of all people.

How did they know where she was? It wasn’t a coincidence that Jacob had saved her of all people, but she doubted he had kept an eye on her movements when leaving the Capital before. Iris knew that Ethan had been texting Cas, winding him up even though he had promised that he would leave him alone because she had returned to the districts to him. It had been stupid of her, but she had hoped that it would mean Cas could focus on the more important stuff, like running the kingdom. Yet, she had been saved. Maybe Cas wasn’t angry with her? But he wasn’t here so maybe he just didn’t want her life on his conscious?

“Dead…” Repeating the words to herself, confirming for herself that Ethan was dead and wouldn’t be there to harm her or Cas anymore. His vengeance had been somewhat personal, poisoning those around him making them believe it was for the rebellion. It wasn’t over, sure Ethan was dead, but the rebellion wasn’t and now she didn’t have any insight on what could potentially harm the new King, but they now knew of a potential weakness in the fact that the King would send a strike team out for a hostage. “He shouldn’t have sent anyone… you shouldn’t have saved me.”

Without thinking her hand went to her side pressing the white fabric into the wound and she felt a wetness beneath it, pulling it back to reveal blood underneath. “I can’t stay here.” Whispering more to herself than anything, she couldn’t be here in Jacobs condo regardless on if she needed to heal or not. Sighing it was all too much, the pain in her side wasn’t helping her think straight either and she didn’t feel comfortable asking for pain relief. Rest would be good, but she wasn’t comfortable in the slightest. “Is Cas mad at me?” It was the only explanation she could think of, and it made sense as to why he wasn’t here. Glancing back at Jacob as he looked to leave so she could rest, not that she wanted too. Being left to her own thoughts wasn’t what she wanted in the slightest, but she doubted Jacob wanted to stick around.

At Iris’s quiet objection to Caspian’s role in her rescue, Jacob stood beside the bed with pursed lips. “No, he shouldn’t have,” he agreed after a moment, though there was no anger in his voice. The statement was made just as calmly as if he’d agreed that chocolate cake was better than vanilla. Maybe it was harsh to say so, but she wasn’t wrong in her assessment. Ethan had used her to bait the king out and exploit his weaknesses, and his plan had worked. Now, as the head of security, he was going to have to double down on his efforts to ensure it didn’t happen again, and there was a chance that Caspian had lost favor in the eyes of the military members who knew about the strike team to rescue one politically unimportant girl. The whole campaign had been a mistake.

“But he did.”

Sliding his hands into his pockets, Jacob concluded his thought in the same casual manner with which he’d spoken the first half. No matter what he thought about it all, he knew his king wouldn’t have had it any other way. Plus, he had seen the video Ethan had sent for himself. He’d only gotten a taste of the rage Caspian must have felt, and it had been enough to push him over the edge to obey the order to assemble the soldiers. “And I don’t regret saving you,” he added with a frown. “What Ethan did to you just to provoke King Caspian… it was abhorrent. I’m glad you’re away from him now.”

Watching Iris inspect the wound in her side, he hovered for a little while longer. She didn’t look like she was going to lay back down yet, and he didn’t want to walk out and leave her alone to hurt herself unintentionally. When she whispered, he shook his head. “There is nowhere else for you to stay in the capital, and I’m not going to release you back into the districts in that condition,” he said firmly. “Until you’re well enough to be on your own and no longer at risk of infection, you need to stay here.”

The question she asked next was a touchier subject, and the guard shifted his weight slightly as he considered how best to answer it. “No,” he said after another pause, lifting his gaze from the corner of the bed to the former rebel’s eyes. “The king believes Ethan kidnapped you from the capital. He isn’t aware you left of your own volition, which is part of the reason why he organized a rescue team. However… he also doesn’t know you’re still alive.”

Studying her carefully, he explained: “When my team found you, you were barely clinging to life. I wasn’t even sure if you would last the next hour. If King Caspian found out the condition you were in, I knew he would do everything in his power to bring you back to health... but he would also be so worried about keeping you alive that he would lose sight of his other duties as the ruler of Aspiria, so I made the decision to bring you back here quietly—without his knowledge.”

“I should have known better, he promised to leave well alone with the Capital and Cas if I returned, but… well.” Sighing softly at the realization it had ultimately been her own fault for believing he would honour his promise. It hadn’t been the first broken one he’d made, nor would it have been the last. Except now he was dead, so it would be the last promise he could break. Frowning as she heard him admit that he didn’t regret saving her she had to wonder why, he had no personal relations to her. Sure, there was Cas, but that wasn’t enough. Yet, this was now the second time he had saved her.

“Twice you have saved me now. I’m building up a debt I can’t repay.” Iris winced at his next words, there was nowhere else for her to stay. That and he planned on releasing her back to the districts, but only when she was well enough. Which by the looks of it was going to be a while before she’d be up on her feet. Curling her hand into a fist to hide the blood from pressing her wound she watched him shift his weight, this time meeting her gaze. Moments later she felt her heart drop upon learning that Cas thought she was dead.

“Dead?” At first, she sounded outraged because Cas had lost so much lately to death. The first being his father and now he thought she was dead? Trying to move herself she couldn’t help the whimper leaving her lips still tender and sore for the wound, it wasn’t her best idea to try and move but she soon stopped finding it taxing on herself. Whether or not she agreed with the fact he had told Cassian she was dead she couldn’t leave his place and go tell him herself, she wasn’t ready for that.

“Why bother going to all this trouble? If you’d have walked away, I’d have died ending the problem. What’s to say I now won’t tell him about the lie?” It was plausible enough, when healed even if returned to the Capital she could find a way to get his number again. Deep down it was for the best, initially she had wanted him to focus on being a ruler knowing she would only bring him down. Sighing again he was right; it was probably better this way.

“I’m sorry…” Looking back up at Jacob she knew he had the Kings best interest at heart, after all he had agreed to sneaking her back into the districts because he knew how distracted Cas was over her. “It’s probably for the best this way…” It hurt to say, she had been ready to accept her death but then she’d be free of the guilt and upset lying to Cas because she would have been dead. Even if the decision was the right one, it didn’t stop her from hurting at the thought because she was certain he would blame himself for not knowing sooner. Especially if he now believed she had hadn’t left on her on accord.

Settling back down on the bed she felt exhausted, energy spent from her little outburst and trying to move. It would be wise to rest, there was nothing else to be gained right now and she couldn’t exactly run. “I might get some more rest if that’s okay?” She doubted he would mind, he probably had a bunch of things to be doing than babysitting her right now.

“I don’t need repayment for following orders,” Jacob said simply, folding his arms across the t-shirt he was wearing. “My king asked me to rescue you, so I did. That’s all there is to it.” Technically. Caspian had been the one to assemble the strike team and assign him to lead it, but seeing the video from Ethan and watching her nearly die in the house had been the deciding factors in the rest of his actions. In fact, he was disobeying his liege by harboring her in his condo, risking the loss of his job and even a potential prison sentence for keeping this secret from the Aspirian ruler. He never would have asked or expected a common girl from the districts to repay him for that though. She had nothing while he had everything he wanted out of life as a respected capital citizen and leader of the monarchy’s elite security team.

The anger in Iris’s voice didn’t faze the guard when she reacted to his announcement that Caspian thought she was dead. Holding her gaze unflinchingly, he just stayed where he was, leaving her to process the news however she needed to until she asked him why he was going to so much trouble for her sake. “Honestly? Spite,” he replied with a half-smirk on his lips. “I didn’t want to give Ethan the satisfaction of taking you with him when he died, and…” he trailed off, averting his gaze to look out the window with a shrug of his shoulders. “I suppose you could also say that I care when I see someone get hurt who didn’t deserve to be.”

He didn’t care to elaborate more than that though, so he turned back to her again when she mentioned telling Caspian she was still alive. “I know you won’t, because you know just as well as I do that it’s for the best that you two never see each other again.” Once again, he was blunt with her, but he’d never been the type to beat around the bush. Holding her eyes without wavering, he watched the emotions flicker across her face as the initial burst of anger faded. She might not have been capital-born, but he could tell she was a smart girl. Given time to think and process, he trusted her to make the right decision. She had been a brief chapter in the king’s life that needed to come to a close, both for their sakes and for that of the country. He wouldn’t be changing his mind about that.

Their conversation seemed to be draining on her, and he wanted her to recover as quickly as possible, so when she requested to get some more rest, he nodded. “Please do.” Turning to the door, he took a few steps away from her and only glanced over his shoulder once more as he took the knob in his hand. “I need to check in with my men at the palace, but I left a sheet with a number you can call if you need something. First aid supplies are in the washroom, and food is in the kitchen if you have an appetite. Just try not to move around too much while I’m gone.”

It was a lot of information to process, and she could feel a headache forming as she settled back down on the bed. Somehow, she had survived when in truth she shouldn’t have still been here. To Jacob it was simple, he had been given an order to rescue her and he had followed it. Had Caspian not sent anyone it would be a different story, one that she wouldn’t have woken up from, but she had been given another chance at life for whatever reason. Jacob had a lot to lose if Cas found out about this, but even with her threatening to tell the King the truth he had called her bluff.

Jacob knew she wouldn’t, not when originally her plan to leave had been aided by him because she knew it was for the best this way. Even if she had wanted too, she knew she couldn’t bring him down with her when Cas was destined for far better things without her dragging him down. It hurt to admit that Jacob was right so she kept quiet watching as he made to leave so she could rest some more. “Thank you.”

Just as she was about to close her eyes and try to get some more sleep, she heard him speak up again, only to give her insight on where important things where if she needed. Nodding along she doubted she would move from the bed; the pain of moving was far too strong to consider anything other than getting some more sleep. “That shouldn’t be a problem.” Smiling ever so slightly as they both knew she wouldn’t be up running around so soon.

Food was out of the question; first aid would be useful, and she could clean up the wound from aggravating it, but resting was the best option for her. Curious to who the number would call she nearly asked him before he left, but she couldn’t imagine anyone else knew about this situation, so it had to go through to him. It didn’t really matter, it’s not like she would call anyway when she was planning to sleep the ret of the day.

Awkwardly she didn’t know what else to say, should she say have a good day? Or just a simple goodbye? Iris knew she was just overthinking something very minor in the grand scheme of things and instead of saying anything she closed her eyes to try and get some sleep. Currently she could feel the pain returning and she wanted to be ahead of it and hopefully fall asleep before it became a problem. Even if there were painkillers in the first aid box it meant moving and she didn’t feel she was quite ready to do that so soon.

Trying to focus on falling asleep she was glad for how drained she already felt, thankfully the exhaustion didn’t make it too difficult for her to return to her dreams and get some much-needed rest allowing the wound its time to heal.

With Iris looking well enough to be left on her own, Jacob returned to the palace to resume his duties as the head of security. No one seemed to have noticed his absence, fortunately, and Caspian was still locked up in his room, so it was easy to slip back into place as one cog in the royal machine. He went back to work for the next few days, only checking in on Iris as needed to make sure she was still recovering and had enough supplies to last in between his visits. And once the pattern was established, he kept it up for the rest of the following month. Every three days, he would drop by the condo to see her and restock groceries, stay for no more than one hour, and then drive back to the palace as if he had just been on a lunch break. If any of his colleagues noticed the slight change to his schedule, they didn’t say anything about it.

Meanwhile, Caspian took the same month to readjust to life as king—without Iris. Losing his father not long before her murder, it was difficult for him to pull himself out of the depression that gripped him for the first two weeks. At least with Atlas’s passing, he’d been able to grieve publicly. He had a reasonable excuse to keep a light schedule and give himself time and space away from other people until he’d moved on. However, since his relationship with Iris had been a secret, his mourning over her had to be done privately too. The only time he could let himself become emotional was when he was behind closed doors in the palace. It was exhausting, especially when he was roped into meetings that dragged on too long or when he had too many tasks to do with deadlines that were too close together.

Almost on a daily basis, he wished he wasn’t Aspiria’s king. He wished he could have been a normal guy in the capital with a normal life, normal friends and a normal girlfriend. Maybe if he hadn’t been born into the royal family, Iris wouldn’t have died. Maybe they could have been together, or, if not, then maybe at least she could have met someone else who was better for her and who wouldn’t have led her to such a horrible end. Whenever his emotions turned dark, it was difficult to escape from the guilt. He was convinced it was his fault that she was gone. As much as he wanted to choose his own life partner, he was starting to wonder if he father had been right. He should have just agreed to an arranged marriage after all. Apparently the only kind of woman he was cut out to be with was someone who already belonged to his world. It would have been a lot harder for him to hurt a princess.

Time was the only thing that helped him move forward. After the first two weeks, it steadily began to get easier for him to go about his routine. The pain of losing Iris never faded, but the kingdom wasn’t going to put everything on hold for him to get past her death completely. For the next two weeks following, he made a real effort to be the leader his country needed. It was his duty. Knowing that there were plenty of things that needed to be done, decisions that needed to be made, and legal changes that needed to be enacted, he pored over his work until the loss of his girlfriend was pushed to the back of his mind. He’d let her down, but he didn’t have to let the rest of his people down too.

His main agenda was the ongoing civil war. After seeing firsthand how it had ravaged the people of the outer districts, he wanted to end it as quickly as possible. While organizing the military to strike the rebels in the most meaningful points, he also worked with a well-spoken ambassador on composing a letter of peace that he hoped the leaders of the rebellion would be open to receiving. If they were willing to surrender, he could start implementing some of his plans to restore the districts that had been destroyed in the fighting. At the moment, he had no clue if they would listen though, so he didn’t hold out much hope that the letter would be received well.

Within the capital, life continued moving as if the war didn’t exist. The people went about their daily routines without fear or worry, operating their businesses, traveling to vacation spots, and organizing parties—the same parties he used to make appearances at before his father had died. It was a little surreal to see it all happening from a distance, but he was optimistic that would be changing soon. Later that evening—exactly one month after Ethan had killed Iris—the palace would be hosting its annual banquet to honor a few royal families from nearby kingdoms who had been longstanding allies of Aspiria. Cas had been going to the event since he was a kid, so he was looking forward to seeing old friends again and re-greeting the men and women his father had once seen as equals. The only thing he was nervous about was a letter he’d received from the king of Suphate a week before the event.

It wasn’t the first time the older man had tried to interest him in courting his daughter, but with Iris’s death still fresh in the background of his mind, it had almost stung to read an official proposal. Unlike the hints and prods of times past, the most recent message had been a formal offer to unite the bond between Aspiria and Suphate through Caspian’s marriage to Quincy’s oldest daughter, Raine. It had caught him off guard, and at first, he’d been disgusted that the other king would even suggest it—until he’d grounded himself in the reality that Quincy had no idea he’d just lost another woman that he cared about. He was making the offer because he thought it was a strong political move for their respective kingdoms. And, if he was honest, he could see the benefit of agreeing to the plan.

The civil war against the Scourge had been a drain on Aspirian resources for years, and an alliance with Suphate would be a powerful move against the enemies of the monarchy. It would show the people of the capital that their leadership was still strong and their country was still growing, and it would show the rebels that they were outmatched and outnumbered. Taking all emotion out of the equation, he had to admit the pros outweighed the cons. So, reluctantly, he sent an email back to the Suphate palace that he would agree to meet with Raine at the banquet.

Which was in one hour.

“Can anybody tell me where Jacob is?”

Craning his neck to peer over his shoulder, Cas frowned as the guard standing by his bedroom door shrugged at his question. He’d spent the last half hour getting ready, fussing over his clothes and hair like a teenager going on a date. All he’d committed to was talking to Quincy’s daughter, but he was still anxious about making a good first impression—Well, sort of first impression. They had met before when they were much younger, but it had been about ten years since the last time he’d seen Raine. He had no idea what she looked like or what kind of person she’d become, and he didn’t want her to think she was getting the short end of the stick if they found themselves in an arranged marriage. Doing his best to look presentable, he’d put on his favorite slate gray suit with a dark blue, silk tie and run a thin layer of gel through his hair.

“If that doesn’t impress the princess, I don’t know what will, Your Majesty,” one of the palace servants complimented when he noticed the king fiddling with his hair again.

“Thanks,” Cas sighed, frowning at his reflection. He still wished he was dressing up for Iris though. The thought of her cut him like a knife, and he took a deep breath to fight off a wince. “I hope you’re right.”

Recovery had been difficult and painful, although she didn’t have any sort of complications healing naturally took far longer than it did with modern medicine, and she didn’t help herself by not sitting still. The first couple of weeks had been spent mostly in bed, unable to move too much due to the stab wound she had spent more time in and out of sleep until she had gained enough strength to try moving. The minute her energy levels returned Iris became restless and had been rebandaged more times than she could count due to carelessness and pushing herself far too quickly. Even though she knew she should have been resting she was up and trying to walk around the apartment. The only saving grace was the fact that Jacob had been kind enough to give her some sort of pain management to help her through the tougher times, thankfully she hadn’t caused herself much damage, but she had delayed her healing.

Jacob hadn’t been the most talkative person either, conversations had started off quite awkward between them and she knew he only came back to check she hadn’t run or died. Ultimately, she knew he’d take her back to the districts and this time she didn’t want to go back, although it had been the best decision at the time, she couldn’t help but regret it. Not only had she lost Cas in the process, but she had nothing. Home destroyed; previous contacts would want nothing to do with her after throwing the rebellion and she hadn’t heard from her only friend there for a while.

Iris would never be a part of his world, but she no longer felt part of her own. Right now, she felt like she was at some sort of crossroads, nothing was clear, and she had to somehow find her way back to a sense of normality? Nothing in her life had been normal, her father had been so consumed with bringing down the monarchy she felt she had to take part in it just to get his attention. Life in the districts wasn’t glamourous in the slightest, but she could have dealt with it. Who knew what she would have done had there been no rebellion? She could have had some sort of normal job, earning small amounts of money to get by.

It was hard as at times she understood what the rebellion had meant to the districts, but their methods had changed over the time. In some cases, they had acted just as bad as the Capital had towards them.

Left alone to her thoughts yet again was not ideal. Yet again she still felt like another prisoner held captive and she did want to feel some sort of freedom, but not if it meant going back to the districts. Haunted by her last ordeal with Ethan, Iris wanted to forget about it, but she knew Jacob would take her back soon. Having been at least a month of healing there was no risk of her getting ill or the wound getting infected, she was capable enough to fend for herself again and each time Jacob came home she was worried he would finally get rid of her.

Often, she’d find herself daydreaming, thinking back to her time with Cas when everything felt so carefree. When he had taken her to his favourite ice cream spot and she knew she had been happy, albeit without her memories but look at what pain regaining them had caused. If she could turn back time, she’d do it in a heartbeat and not try so hard to get them back, she’d never have led him out to the woods to be captured. A part of her even thought how she’d keep going back to a point where they would never have met. It would have saved so much pain and regret.

Maybe if she was honest with Jacob he’d understand? Maybe if she told him she didn’t want to go back he could think of something? It seemed like a lost cause, but it wouldn’t hurt in asking. Maybe she could even get a job in the Capital somewhere and attempt a normal life. At least in the Capital she’d be able to keep tabs on how Cas was doing, watch him grow into a great leader and see him be truly happy.

Events at the palace were always extravagant, but the yearly banquet was a creature all its own. Every spare room in the building had been filled the night before with guests from around the continent, rich and royal supporters of the Aspirian monarchy, while the on-site servants had been hard at work decorating the ballroom. Every table, chair, banister and wall was practically dripping in luxury by the time they were done with it, and visitors were already milling about admiring the sights and sampling the hors d'oeuvres before the party. Both the men and the women were dressed in expensive, colorful dresses and suits, washing the ballroom floor in painted fabrics that created an impressive tapestry from above—which was where Caspian found himself at the start of that evening.

Once he’d settled himself over his appearance in his room, Harry had stopped by to let him know it was time for him to make his grand appearance for the banquet. With one last glance in the mirror, Cas had followed him and two other guards out to the top of the staircase, where he hovered as his presence was announced to the crowd below, and he stood with a forced smile as the sea of politicians applauded as if he was a celebrity. He’d never liked all the pomp and pageantry at these things—showing up for a rooftop party with a bunch of people his own age was much more appealing—but he just grinned and bore it until the clapping tapered off, and he could descend the stairs while everyone else resumed their mingling.

It felt a little surreal to be back in front of a capital crowd. The last time he’d seen this many people gathered in one place had been his father’s funeral. He swallowed as the thought threatened to stir up unwanted memories of Atlas. Of Iris. Her face flashed through his mind again, and he felt his lip twitch, fighting against the frown that tried to take over. He still missed her deeply, but he couldn’t think about that now. There was nothing he could do to bring her back, he reminded himself for the thousandth time, and fixating on her would just exhaust him. Right now, he needed to get through the banquet, make his rounds among the invited guests, and find Suphate King Quincy to talk about his proposition.

Who knew? Maybe somewhere along the way, he would even start to enjoy himself.

That was what he hoped for as the evening wore on, and he circled around the ballroom, greeting people he hadn’t seen in a year and answering questions about his plans as the new ruler of Aspiria. Everyone seemed most curious about his agendas—and about whether he had any plans to find himself a queen. He knew why they were asking, of course, since he was acutely aware of the fact that the entire royal line hinged on him now that his father was gone, the rest of his extended family had been cut from the will, and he had no siblings or heirs of his own. If anything happened to him, the monarchy would crumble, and Aspiria had no backup plan in place.

Still, he didn’t like feeling pressured into a relationship, so even though he understood the weight his singleness carried in the eyes of his allies, he kept his answers vague, only telling the politicians that he had some prospects on the horizon but hadn’t made any firm commitments yet. That was enough to keep them off his back, and he would move on to the next groups, repeating most of the same topics with them.

After about two hours, he was finally approached by one of his guards, who let him know that the royal family from Suphate had arrived and were looking to speak with him. Excusing himself from the family he had just been conversing with—and breathing an inward sigh of relief that he didn’t have to humor their suggestion of taking more than one bride to grow the Maydestone royal tree faster—he followed the guard over to the base of the grand stairs, where he spotted a familiar face through the crowd.

“King Caspian,” Quincy greeted him with a broad smile, one hand resting on the shoulder of a young woman dressed in all white at his side. “Thank you for responding to my letter. You remember my daughter, Raine, don’t you?”

“It’s been a while, but yes, I do,” Cas nodded, offering a smile of his own. “It’s good to see you again.”

“You as well, Your Majesty,” Raine dipped into a curtsey and extended a gloved hand toward him. Her long, dark hair had been pinned up in loose curls, framing her olive-skinned cheeks. She was short and lithe—very unlike her stout father—with a cinched waist and supple curves that had been highlighted by her fitted cocktail dress. However, the most striking feature about her were her bright green eyes, highlighted piercingly with black liner. After ten years apart, she certainly knew how to make an impression.

Following the steps of tradition, Cas placed a kiss to the back of her hand and inclined his head toward one of the drink tables near the edge of the ballroom. “Why don’t we grab something to drink while we catch up? The champagne is excellent tonight.”

“Let’s,” Quincy agreed eagerly.

As the visiting king shepherded them both over to the table, Cas could see that he was practically buzzing with excitement. He felt a little guilty for not matching the Suphates’ enthusiasm, but ultimately, their meeting wasn’t about his feelings anyway. He was considering their proposal because it was a good move for Aspiria. It was just politics, nothing more. And it was better this way. If he left his feelings out of it, like he should have done with Iris, no one else would get hurt. So, taking a steeling breath, he picked up a champagne flute and readied himself to discuss options for an arranged marriage.

Pacing had become a new habit of hers, when she couldn’t sit still and focus on something walking around Jacob’s home had been an option to help her feel in control. Ultimately, she couldn’t make any decisions when it came to her life right now as she was stuck yet again hiding away like some dirty little secret. That’s all I will be to everyone. Some dirty little secret to keep hidden. It was hard to keep thoughts like that at bay, when everyone had chosen to hide her in life it was hard to see herself with any sort of significance.

Driving herself insane with her thoughts already she moved to the living room to numb her brain with mindless television. Even though she was a prisoner here, Jacob had been accommodating allowing her to use any item within his home. Food had also been stocked in the fridge to ensure she would eat and since being here in his apartment it had honestly looked more lived in rather than some sort of show room. Grabbing the remote she flicked on the TV ready to channel hop until she found some boring reality show, but just as she was about to change it, she glanced at the screen noting the scenery behind the reporter.

Hesitant to change the channel she watched as the cameras began to pan to the front of the building show casing cars that were pulling up to the extravagant home. A reported was stood in front of the camera dressed to the nines, a beautiful black sparkly number which oozed elegance and class as she spoke to the audience explaining what was happening. Noise and sounds could be heard in the background of her microphone as important people where announced and Iris couldn’t help but watch, holding her breath in anticipation to see him hoping the cameras would change to shots inside the home.

Then she saw it, the camera panned to the inside and even with the sea of guests all dressed to the nines she sought out the one person she wanted to see. Gnawing at the bottom of her lip she found herself captivated by the screen perching on the edge of the sofa afraid to miss it for a second. It was silly of her, to get so worked up over this in hopes she could see him, but her heart still raced at the thought. “Cas…” Whispering his name as she finally saw a glimpse of him on screen, he looked stunning in his suit all dressed up fitting in naturally with the glamorous people surrounding him.

Fixated on the screen watching him she felt something wet running down her cheek, fingers brushing against tears she hadn’t known where falling until now. Sighing heavily, she wished things could have been different for them.

Amongst all the hype and excitement of the event four shadowed figures where creeping round the back of palace. A black duffle bag full of items inside ready for the plan. A big event like this happened regularly and it was only a matter of time until the next one. Thankfully there was now only one monarch left to deal with and they’d managed to slip past all the security so far. They knew none of them may not make it back, but they’d be going out with a bang that’s for sure.

“Quickly, start planting these.” One of the men hissed to another shoving home-made explosives into their hands. A loud enough diversion would bring people to the back allowing someone to sneak inside and make an attempt on the new Kings life.

“Shh, not too loud you’ll alert someone.”

The group began to start shoving the explosive into the ground by the walls at the back of the palace, they knew it wasn’t enough to bring the palace down, but it would cause enough damage to be alerted and they had to be quick. Mud and dirt began to stain their already dark clothes as they began to embed the hand made explosives into the ground trying to be quick with their work. Startled as they heard a twig snap near them, they all froze for a second looking into the distance to see if they could see anything. “Let’s get this done quick. I have a bad feeling.” A gruff voice mumbled as they scrambled around putting the last one into place.

Despite all of his father’s prodding over the years, this was the furthest Caspian had ever gotten in a political relationship before. Before the former king’s death, he had been adamant that he would never agree to an arranged marriage. They were outdated, suffocating, and honestly kind of dehumanizing, he felt. When he’d pictured himself proposing to a girl, he had always thought she would be someone he’d chosen for himself, someone he cared about and who cared about him in return. Maybe he was just a romantic, but he didn’t like the idea of exchanging vows with someone like a business transaction.

And yet, that was exactly where he found himself as Quincy prattled off the list of agreements and compromises between Aspiria and Suphate that he wanted to see take place if their kingdoms unified through marriage. Economic policies, trade deals, military alliance, and other terms that would have never made it onto the pages of a romance novel flowed through their conversation while Raine sipped quietly at her champagne. It was hard to tell what she thought about everything. Cas wondered if she genuinely didn’t care that her father was using her as a bargaining chip or if she was just a very good actress.

Either way, he didn’t love the fact that he was making plans with his potential future bride’s father—God, that still felt weird to think about—when she was standing right next to him. So, after Quincy finished making his pitch, the Aspirian king flashed a smile that looked warmer than it felt to him inside. “You’ve definitely given me a lot to think about… I’ll meet with my advisor and have an answer for you tomorrow. For now, if you don’t mind, could I have some time to talk with Raine? Alone?” the last word was tacked on after a shot pause, since he realized belatedly that her father might try to stick around if he wasn’t explicitly asked to leave.

Quincy didn’t seem to mind, fortunately. He just seemed excited that the younger ruler was giving his proposal genuine consideration. “Of course, Your Highness,” he agreed readily, his smile as broad as ever. “Take as much time together as you’d like. Eat, drink, enjoy each other’s company. I’m sure you’ll have a splendid evening.”

Turning to his daughter, the Suphate king touched an encouraging hand to her shoulder and then stepped away to mingle with another group, leaving the young royals alone at the champagne table. Cas watched him go until he was out of earshot before he turned back to Raine and smiled behind the rim of his flute. “So, your father is…”

“A lot?” She supplied with a smirk on her painted lips. Resting a hand on her waist with her forearm crossing her stomach, she leaned toward him and lowered her voice. “I love him dearly, but he doesn’t realize how overwhelming he can be when he rambles like that.”

Cas laughed. “Okay, I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks so.”

“You wouldn’t be the first suitor he’s scared off,” she rolled her eyes.

“Who said he scared me off?” Setting his empty glass aside on the table to be collected by the waitstaff, he picked up another and shot her a look with raised brows. “He didn’t let me get a word in, but I appreciate his enthusiasm. And besides, I’m not going to make any decisions based on what another king thinks… If we do this, you’re the one I’ll be marrying, so tell me about yourself. Is this marriage even something you want to be doing?”

Raine studied him for a moment, seeming surprised by the question. After a thoughtful pause though, the emotion passed, and she smiled up at him in a way he interpreted as flirtatious, her green eyes peering beneath hooded lashes. “I’ve always thought you were cute, Cas,” she crooned. “I guess you just didn’t notice when we were kids.”

This time, it was his turn to be surprised, and she laughed. The sound of it was less demure than he was expecting too. Most noble-born girls had melodic, chime-like chuckles that seemed to have been rehearsed from an early age, but hers was a louder, more boisterous laugh. More raw and real. He actually kind of liked it. “You’re blushing,” she teased, pointing at her own cheek with a gloved finger.

“Yeah, that happens,” he winced, glancing away from her and tipping his head to the side as he dragged a hand across his jawline. As he fumbled to recompose himself, he caught sight of another woman across the ballroom, decorated in a light pink dress and wearing her blonde hair down in a thick braid. Her back was turned toward him, and he knew she was one of the high ranking guests that had been invited to the banquet, but somehow, his heart still skipped a beat in his chest.

Iris.

As her name crossed his mind once again, he felt a fresh stab of pain. Maybe it showed on his face or maybe he had fallen quiet long enough that Raine noticed his thoughts were elsewhere, but either way, he nearly startled when she suddenly touched his arm and nodded at a side door. “Hey, do you want to get some fresh air with me?” she offered with a smile that anchored him back into the present moment.

He took a breath and managed to give her one in return. “Sure.”

Offering her his arm, he led the way to the door to the garden, where they could escape from the crowd for a bit. He really needed to keep it together, he told himself along the way. Iris was gone, and he needed to move on. Raine was even turning out to be a fun person, yet he couldn’t stop himself from fixating on the woman he couldn’t have anymore. Not wanting to sabotage himself, he pointedly put her out of his mind and slipped out the door with Quincy’s daughter. Hopefully, some time alone would help him clear his head.

“You are so easily spooked!” One of the younger looking lads barely in his adulthood chuckled as he nudged his senior. They had all been staring into the distance waiting to see if someone was about to appear from the shadows, but no one showed, and it had probably been an animal startling the bunch.

“Forgive me for being a little paranoid, but the Capital aren’t exactly our friends now, are they?” The elder gentleman hissed back towards the young. “We can thank your pal Ethan for that can’t we? Royally fucked it for us all didn’t he Jack?”

The young adult now named Jack cast his eyes downwards knowing very well that Ethans plans had not been the right way to go about things, it had become personal but the minute it had been agreed to send Regis’s daughter to assassinate the monarchy had been truly where the downfall started of their rebellion. Sighing to himself he leaned down tying what looked like some sort of wire spool linking the explosives together, “Regis didn’t really help though.”

“We all said he was a liability, but he went ahead with his own plans anyway and in the end, what happened to that family? Go on tell me Jack, what happened to them?”

“We don’t know if she’s dead too, there wasn’t a body and she said…”

“Shhh…” Hissing out for the Jack to hush as the elder glanced around definitely hearing some sort of hurried footsteps towards them, holding his breath as he lowered himself towards the ground as if he was hiding.

“Quick, they’re coming. You need to set them off now and scatter! They’ve caught wind.” Another male figure came into view, warning them to flee as the guard had spotted something. They all needed to make haste back through the woods that they slipped through to get here, this was only a small part of the plan but even as they had planned a distraction the others weren’t in position and Sven was not about to send anyone to a needless death. They’d regroup and make a new plan if that’s what it took, he had seen first-hand what their military and guards were like. Healed burns covered his face and scars could be seen running down his neck. He had been lucky to survive the assault on the prison and he firmly believed that was down to him taking a risk that night and setting Iris free to escape. It didn’t however ease the guilt of her disappearance, everyone believed she was dead, and he had caused that by setting her free that night.

“RUN!” Sven began to shout as he saw uniformed figures rounding the corner in the distance, “Jack!” Cursing as the youngest of the group faltered, he was scrambling to set off the explosion and it was about to get him caught. “LEAVE IT!”

“BOY!”

“Shit!” Sven started to real off every curse he could think of as he and the elder man gained distance, both glancing back in horror as Jack finally lit the fuse and a loud bang could be heard. It was a split-second decision, but Sven knew that the explosion allowed both him and the other to slip away back into the woods with no harm leaving Jack behind to deal with the terrifying military.

Panting Jack fumbled around trying to light the fuse, he could see the uniformed group approach and he began to tremble. He had to set this off, he had to prove himself to the group he could do it and be a part of the rebellion. The true cause and not the one he had been following with Ethan in charge. Crying out as he managed to set it off a chorus of loud bangs could be heard against the building. Mud and debris began flying out, part of the building began to crumble which was hosting the party and he could smell burning flesh as he had burnt his hands in the process. For a split second his hearing had gone, and he could hear this loud ringing and he glanced in the distance to see the other two escape, smiling he knew he had done it only to now be surrounded by the military.

Harry one of the members of the security team had been on patrol that night, listening over his comms piece as he watched the party and all the guests partying away without a care. Frowning as intelligence was spoken about a plot of a terrorist attack, they hadn’t heard anything against the rebellion since Ethan and the incident over a month ago, so it felt strange to even be thinking about the Scourge again when they had thought it had died. Now he stood surrounding a male who was barely old enough to be an adult with singed hands frowning as he looked down, one of the guards had moved forward to restrain him and this was when the child began to thrash not going quietly.

“You all deserve this! Everyone in that room deserves to be hurt!” Jack started to shout out defensively as he was roughly grabbed by the arms, kicking his feet out causing issues.

“Send him to the penitentiary, scout the area for more. There were at least two others.” Harry spoke calmly as he gave the order.

“Where is she? What did you do with Iris!” Jack continued to shout including slurs and insults towards the higher ups and how they were living like Kings when the districts still suffered.

Harry stopped for a moment looking over the boy, surely, he couldn’t be talking about the very same girl that he had pronounced dead. “Iris is dead.” His voice was calm as he spoke folding his arms across his chest.

“There wasn’t a body.”

Not wanting to waste any more time on the matter he waved his hands signaling the guards to send him away, frowning at the thought because Jacob had buried the girl at the Kings request. Sighing he rubbed his temples before pressing on his comms device, “Jacob, we have a situation.”