Minutes passed as Jacob sat by the door in Iris’s room. He chewed idly on the inside of his lip, watching the screen of his phone in anticipation for his replacement. It would take the next guard fifteen minutes to travel from the palace to the hospital, plus another five or so for him to get through reception and up to the third floor of the building. Based on the time displayed on the top corner of the device, it had been about eighteen minutes since he’d started counting. He should be here any second.
At the sound of Iris’s voice, he glanced up at her and frowned. Her request was unexpected. He’d thought that she would have wanted Caspian to know what had happened to her, so he might be encouraged to rescue her from the penitentiary. Instead, it sounded like she didn’t want him to find out at all. She was either incredibly outward focused or had another reason why she was trying to keep the interrogation a secret. Either way, he had already planned on withholding the information from the prince for now, so he wouldn’t become distraught. As long as Atlas refused to permit her release, even the crown’s heir couldn’t do anything to veto the order, so it would just upset him to know that her life had been put at risk. For his sake, it was best to delay the news until something could be done about it.
He parted his lips to reply and then turned his head toward the door as the handle rattled and someone else stepped inside. “Oh good,” Jacob stood up from his seat, relieved to see that his replacement guard, Harry Calhoun, had arrived. “You’ll be able to stay for most of the day, right? I don’t want to give Matthew any chances to pull a fast one on me.”
“Yeah, Gary’s handling security at the palace just fine on his own,” the new guard shrugged and took the chair his boss had just abandoned.
“That’s one less thing for me to worry about then,” Jacob sighed and took a step toward the door. However, instead of leaving right away, he glanced over his shoulder at Iris. “I can’t make any promises, but I’m not planning to tell him if I don’t have to,” he said in belated response to her question before he strode out and closed the door behind him.
Meanwhile, at the exit, Cas drummed his fingers restlessly against his leg as he waited for Jacob to show up. There were a few other people in the reception area, all of whom were staring at him openly and whispering amongst themselves. He could have sworn he even saw a couple of them pull out their phones and discreetly take photos of him. Not wanting to be in the spotlight when he was wheelchair-bound, injured and hadn’t showered in a few days, he ducked his head with chagrin, hoping the guard would hurry up so he could get away from all the prying eyes.
It took a few minutes, but eventually Jacob came walking down the hallway and deposited his visitor’s pass with the receptionist. Once they were cleared to leave, he joined the prince and the doctor as they exited the building and headed toward the adjacent parking garage.
“I haven’t even been back for forty-eight hours, and I’m already being hounded by wannabe paparazzis,” Cas exhaled in exasperation, noticing yet another bystander point in his direction as they approached the other building.
“We’ll be back at the palace soon enough,” Jacob assured him, casting a hard stare at the same bystander until she scurried away. “You can stay out of the public eye as long as you need to as you finish recovering.”
“Right,” the prince murmured. He was still plotting to visit the penitentiary as soon as possible, but with the doctor accompanying them to Jacob’s car, he decided not to bring that up until he was alone with his bodyguard.
Fortunately, Jacob had parked on the ground level, so Cas insisted that he was capable of walking on his own when they reached the edge of the garage, and the doctor let him go, taking the wheelchair back to the hospital with him when he left. Cas’s leg still pained him when he put pressure on it, so his gait was marred with a limp, but he was able to get to the vehicle without leaning on his guard for support. He opened the passenger-side door and bowed his head to climb inside the low-riding car, letting out a sigh as he sat down and stretched his leg in front of him, “I wish I could drive. It’s been too long.”
“Next time,” Jacob promised, turning on the ignition and backing out of his spot. He drove the vehicle out to the road and turned on the radio as he began the trip back to the palace with his prince.
At the sound of Iris’s voice, he glanced up at her and frowned. Her request was unexpected. He’d thought that she would have wanted Caspian to know what had happened to her, so he might be encouraged to rescue her from the penitentiary. Instead, it sounded like she didn’t want him to find out at all. She was either incredibly outward focused or had another reason why she was trying to keep the interrogation a secret. Either way, he had already planned on withholding the information from the prince for now, so he wouldn’t become distraught. As long as Atlas refused to permit her release, even the crown’s heir couldn’t do anything to veto the order, so it would just upset him to know that her life had been put at risk. For his sake, it was best to delay the news until something could be done about it.
He parted his lips to reply and then turned his head toward the door as the handle rattled and someone else stepped inside. “Oh good,” Jacob stood up from his seat, relieved to see that his replacement guard, Harry Calhoun, had arrived. “You’ll be able to stay for most of the day, right? I don’t want to give Matthew any chances to pull a fast one on me.”
“Yeah, Gary’s handling security at the palace just fine on his own,” the new guard shrugged and took the chair his boss had just abandoned.
“That’s one less thing for me to worry about then,” Jacob sighed and took a step toward the door. However, instead of leaving right away, he glanced over his shoulder at Iris. “I can’t make any promises, but I’m not planning to tell him if I don’t have to,” he said in belated response to her question before he strode out and closed the door behind him.
Meanwhile, at the exit, Cas drummed his fingers restlessly against his leg as he waited for Jacob to show up. There were a few other people in the reception area, all of whom were staring at him openly and whispering amongst themselves. He could have sworn he even saw a couple of them pull out their phones and discreetly take photos of him. Not wanting to be in the spotlight when he was wheelchair-bound, injured and hadn’t showered in a few days, he ducked his head with chagrin, hoping the guard would hurry up so he could get away from all the prying eyes.
It took a few minutes, but eventually Jacob came walking down the hallway and deposited his visitor’s pass with the receptionist. Once they were cleared to leave, he joined the prince and the doctor as they exited the building and headed toward the adjacent parking garage.
“I haven’t even been back for forty-eight hours, and I’m already being hounded by wannabe paparazzis,” Cas exhaled in exasperation, noticing yet another bystander point in his direction as they approached the other building.
“We’ll be back at the palace soon enough,” Jacob assured him, casting a hard stare at the same bystander until she scurried away. “You can stay out of the public eye as long as you need to as you finish recovering.”
“Right,” the prince murmured. He was still plotting to visit the penitentiary as soon as possible, but with the doctor accompanying them to Jacob’s car, he decided not to bring that up until he was alone with his bodyguard.
Fortunately, Jacob had parked on the ground level, so Cas insisted that he was capable of walking on his own when they reached the edge of the garage, and the doctor let him go, taking the wheelchair back to the hospital with him when he left. Cas’s leg still pained him when he put pressure on it, so his gait was marred with a limp, but he was able to get to the vehicle without leaning on his guard for support. He opened the passenger-side door and bowed his head to climb inside the low-riding car, letting out a sigh as he sat down and stretched his leg in front of him, “I wish I could drive. It’s been too long.”
“Next time,” Jacob promised, turning on the ignition and backing out of his spot. He drove the vehicle out to the road and turned on the radio as he began the trip back to the palace with his prince.