Rogue Sloth

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

“Your Majesty,” Dr. Foster rose from her seat and bowed to the king formally, gesturing to the now-open chair she’d just given up. “Please, sit. I think I’ve heard enough to make a diagnosis.”

“What happened to doctor-patient confidentiality?” Caspian muttered, folding his arms over his middle as he slouched in his chair. The question was rhetorical. He knew that the code of ethics that applied to normal doctor-patient relationships didn’t apply to him because he was the king’s son. His father had the right to know everything about everyone, so there was no information that could be withheld from him. In this case, his medical records and psychiatric evaluation were public knowledge to the monarch.

Ignoring the prince’s halfhearted protest, Atlas strode into the room with the assistance of his cane and took a seat in the chair across from his son. Both royals were still tense in each other’s presence, and they avoided eye contact with each other. Instead, the king turned toward the psychiatrist, who was now standing at the edge of the desk. “What are your thoughts? Has he been brainwashed by those anarchists?”

“‘Brainwashed’ isn’t a proper medical term, sire,” Dr. Foster corrected him gently. “But I do believe Prince Caspian has been psychologically afflicted by the trauma he’s endured. He’s expressed multiple symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome during the time I’ve spoken with him.”

Keep talking about me like I’m not even here, why don’t you? Cas thought sarcastically, averting his gaze while she conversed with his father. Part of him was tempted to try slipping out of the office while they discussed what was “wrong” with him. However, he couldn’t bring himself to walk away when he knew that he might need to defend himself against their baseless accusations, so he remained where he was.

“What is that, exactly?” Atlas asked, knitting his brows bemusedly.

“It’s a condition in which a victim identifies with his abuser and forms an emotional attachment with her,” the psychiatrist explained, reviewing her notes. “I noticed a few different signs of it in His Highness during the interview. For example, he holds one of his kidnappers, Iris Nox-Fleuret, in a positive regard and seems to have formed a bond with her in spite of the emotional abuse she put him through. He is also uncooperative with when it comes to holding her accountable for the crimes she’s committed, and he didn’t try to escape from her when he had multiple opportunities to do so.” She turned the page of her notebook. “A less common symptom I noticed was that he feels pity towards her and seems to genuinely believe she’s a victim as well. Overall, everything points to Stockholm Syndrome as the most likely culprit for the delusion.”

“I’m not delusional,” Cas snapped, unable to hold his tongue when they were treating him like an unstable mental patient. “And Iris wasn’t abusing me either. If she was on Regis and Ethan’s side, why would she have tried to run away with me? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“I have a theory,” Dr. Foster revealed, causing the prince to grow quiet in surprise.

“What is it?” Atlas prompted.

“I believe the Scourge’s goal wasn’t to kill Prince Caspian, but to alter his allegiance,” she stated confidently. “By abducting and tormenting him, they were intentionally pushing him toward one of their own members who would then persuade him to lose faith in the crown. They manipulated him into believing that she wasn’t a bad person by exposing him to ‘villains’ who were worse: Regis and Ethan. Once he’d seen just how cruel those two were, he would have viewed Iris as a beacon of hope, which would in turn draw him closer to her. She supposedly tried to help him escape, when in reality, she was taking time to grow the attachment he had formed with her, so he wouldn’t try to run away. In psychology, we call this a trauma bond, which comes about when a victim is isolated from others and exposed to intermittent good/bad behavior by an abuser.

“Anyway, this went on for a few days until she had successfully won his trust and had time to fill his head with doubts about the people he previously held close—”

“That would explain the outburst at the hospital,” Atlas interrupted with a nod of understanding.

“It would,” Dr. Foster agreed. “When he and Iris were ‘captured’ again, I believe it was the Scourge’s last move to solidify his bond with her by convincing him that they had both been tormented together, so that by the time she brought him to the border, he would be compelled to take her side and choose to further the rebellion’s cause rather than fight for the capital.”

“I see,” Atlas mused, gripping the arm of his chair in anger. “So, they’ve turned my own heir against me… Is there any way to reverse the damage?”

“Yes, but it may take a long time…”

As the psychiatrist went on to describe how she believed he was going to need years of intensive counseling, Caspian felt like he was in a daze. After listening her to describe such an elaborately wicked plan in depth, he couldn’t help but wonder if she was right. What if he really had been tricked while he’d been made into the rebels’ prisoner? Was his relationship with Iris just a figment of his deranged imagination? No. He shook his head, dragging his hand over his face as he tried to ground himself. I’m not going to let her get inside my head. I’m fine. I know I’m fine. She just thinks Iris is an enemy because she hasn’t met her for herself, but I know she would never do something so cruel.

“Very well,” Atlas heaved a sigh, standing up from his seat. “When can you come back to meet with him again?”

“I can schedule regular appointments for two hours every week at this time,” Dr. Foster said, glancing at the prince, who seemed to have fallen under a trance. “Until next week, please be patient with him, sire. He’s convinced himself that Iris is his ally, and his loyalty to her will run deep until he’s able to accept that she isn’t who she thinks she is.”

As the appointment was concluded, a guard escorted the psychiatrist out of the building, and Atlas returned to his private quarters, continuing to avoid speaking with his son. Cas didn’t mind the cold shoulder though. At the moment, he didn’t want to talk to the king either. Frustrated with his father’s decision to put him in therapy for a made-up reason and reminding himself of the all the moments he’d had with Iris that hadn’t been fake, he headed back to his bedroom to hide away for a few hours before he needed to get ready for the plan he’d made with Jay and Miles to rescue her.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Me too! I've wanted to see it for a while now.

Cas is having a rough morning now too ^^;

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

“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.

“I already told you,” 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. “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.” 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. “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—”

“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.

“What do you mean?” 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.”

“What?” Cas gawked at her. “That’s ridiculous! I don’t have a syndrome.”

“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. “That doesn’t make any sense though,” he defended himself after a pause. “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.”

“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?”

“But she didn’t—”

“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?”

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Not sure yet. We might watch Onward on my laptop, since neither of us have seen that yet.

That was an intense dream, haha. I'm eating lunch right now, but I'll get started on a reply once I'm done!

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Yeah, we're planning do do a few hikes, try out some fancy restaurants, and watch movies in the jacuzzi in our hotel room ^^ It'll be a lot of fun!

And that's fine with me! I don't count dream versions of a character as borrowing the real one, since dreams are rarely realistic anyway. It's interesting to me to see how different characters perceive each other subconsciously too, even if they get completely warped :)

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Excited to read it!

And thanks! We got sushi and watched some TV at home ^^ We're going away for the weekend to celebrate more thoroughly this upcoming Friday though. We'll be staying at the same hotel that we did right after our wedding, so I'm looking forward to it.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

For the rest of the evening, Caspian and his friends developed a plan to sneak Iris out of the hospital behind the sounds of the basketball game playing on the TV. Jay looked up floor plans of the building on his phone, pointing out exits on different parts of the ground level and connecting hallways on the inside that they could use to get in and out quickly. Cas and Miles helped him with that while also brainstorming the various obstacles they might face during their “operation” that could lead to their arrest. They played out a few realistic scenarios that could come up and worked out viable solutions to each one until they felt confident that they were prepared for anything, barring any wildly unlikely problems, of course.

By the end of their meeting, they’d put together a solid plan that made the prince feel more confident that they weren’t in over their heads. There was very little left up to luck, so as long as all three of them remembered their roles and didn’t miss any of the most crucial steps, he was sure they would be able to get Iris out of the hospital the next night. As he walked Jay and Miles back to the door and bade them goodbye, he could already feel excitement and determination swelling inside his chest. He’d done a few things here and there that weren’t fully legal throughout his life, but this was by far the most daring endeavor he’d ever taken part in. The risks were high, but the reward was even higher, and all three of them were now committed to seeing things through to the end.

Unable to turn his brain off now that he knew what was going to happen tomorrow, Cas was unable to sleep for most of the night. He tossed and turned, ruminating on the plan until almost four in the morning before he eventually grew too exhausted to stay awake any longer and fell asleep.

The next morning, he felt the effects of his insomnia heavily. Stirring at about eight in the morning, he was reluctant to get out of bed, feeling like his body was being weighed down by a sack of bricks. The mattress was plush and heavenly, and the duvet was equally so, both more comfortable than anything he’d slept on while he’d been outside the capital. Captured within their enticing grasp, he almost drifted off again when someone knocked on his door. Groaning something incoherent, he pulled the covers over his head in the hopes that the visitor would go away. Unfortunately, they did not.

“Your Highness?” one of the servants—a man this time, he noticed idly—stepped just inside the doorway and bowed. “You have an appointment today at nine-thirty. Would you like any assistance getting ready?”

“What appointment?” Cas half asked-half grunted without removing the covers from his head. In his half-asleep state, he couldn’t think of a reason why anyone should need to see him when he’d only just come home the previous afternoon. Jay and Miles weren’t supposed to pick him up until after nightfall either.

“The, err… evaluation with Dr. Foster,” the servant explained awkwardly. “His Majesty scheduled it yesterday?” Although he’d spoken a statement, he inflected his voice as if worried he’d gotten his information mixed up. Most likely trying to avoid being accused of incompetence, the prince guessed.

“Oh… that,” Cas grumbled, reminded instantly of the argument he’d had with his father the day before. It seemed like the king hadn’t changed his mind about having him psychologically evaluated after all. He felt a pang of annoyance that he was still being forced to go through with it when he was clearly fine. Anyone who’d spoken with him aside from Atlas could see it. If he could have cancelled the appointment altogether, he would have. However, he knew he couldn’t overrule something his father had arranged. He didn’t have the authority. “I’ll get dressed on my own,” he told the servant, reluctantly pulling the duvet down to chest-level and rubbing his eyes with the heel of his left palm. “If you could tell the cooks to send breakfast up to my room, that would be great though.”

“I’ll do that right away, Your Highness,” the servant complied with another bow before he exited the room.

As soon as the other man was gone, the prince let out a frustrated huff and sat up on his bed. He supposed he might as well get the unnecessary evaluation over with if it was inevitable. Tiredly, he slid down from the tall mattress and ambled over to his closet to find something comfortable to wear.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

I got started on a post, but one of my friends just texted me asking if we can hang out, so I'm gonna be doing that now. I also might not get a post up til later tonight or tomorrow, because today is my wedding anniversary, so my husband and I have plans for a dinner date after he's off work later ^^

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Gotta throw in a little awkwardness just to keep things interesting lol
I also think I'll skip over most of their planning, so I don't have to describe it twice. It'll be easier to just write it out when it happens later :)

If you want, you can either write one more post during the night or skip ahead to the next morning, and I'll summarize Cas's POV to catch up

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

“Look at that. The prince lives.”

Making his way down the stairs, Caspian smirked amusedly as Jay flashed him a teasing grin and leaned forward in an exaggerated bow. After a week of madness, his friend’s antics were a welcomed greeting back to some sense of normalcy. He hadn’t realized just how much he’d missed both him and Miles until he saw them standing just inside the main door. He also appreciated that they were treating him the same way they always had instead of fawning over him or pitying him because of the abduction. Although he didn’t mind the latter, it only served to remind him of the hardship that he didn’t want to think about at the moment. Right now, Iris came first. He could deal with his own trauma after he knew she was safe.

“Hey, guys,” he returned Jay’s grin as he stepped over to them. “It’s good to see you again. Why don’t we head to the bar to have some drinks while we catch up?” And discuss their plans to free Iris from the soldiers, but he couldn’t say that in front of the guard who had let the two into the building.

“I can’t turn down free drinks,” Jay agreed without hesitation, catching on to the ploy. He and Miles followed Cas’s lead and headed further into the mansion, leaving the security guard behind.

“I still can’t believe you were taken by the Scourge and survived,” Miles shook his head as they walked. “I thought I’d gotten a little too high when I read that article, so I didn’t believe it was real until Jay told me you called him. Ghosts can’t do that.”

“It was pretty rough,” Cas admitted. “I couldn’t do it alone either… which is why you two are here.” He added the second part under his breath, just in case there were and guards or servants nearby. The mansion was always buzzing with activity, and he couldn’t afford to let anyone eavesdrop on their conversation.

“Does it have anything to do with that limp you’re sporting?” Miles asked, phrasing the question just vaguely enough to sound innocent.

“Yeah,” Cas confirmed. “I’ll tell you more after we get to the bar.”

Taking a hint, the other two men changed the subject by telling him a little bit about what they had been doing during the past week. Apparently Jay had finally decided to follow his dream of becoming an autobody technician against his parents’ wishes—they had wanted him to take over their family business in pharmaceuticals—and was looking for a mentor to show him the ropes. Meanwhile, Miles hadn’t really done anything new. He reported that he was still bouncing between parties that the other high borns put on, living off his inheritance rather than working. Both of them were doing well and seemed happy though, which was all Cas cared about. He was glad to hear that they were making the most of their lives in their own individual ways.

When they got to the bar, they all sat down at the booth in the far back corner of the room, away from the counter where Martin was setting up to make their drinks. The bartender hurried over to take their requests, and all three asked for lagers. Once they’d been given the dark, glass bottles, Jay proposed a toast to the fact that the prince had made it back to the capital alive, and they shared a celebratory drink. To Cas, it was just a cover-up though. He couldn’t sincerely celebrate anything while Iris’s life was still in danger, so while he put on a fake smile for show, he was inwardly tense, focused on coming up with a plan to get her out of the hospital.

As they set their drinks back down on the table, Miles peered over his shoulder to call to Martin, “Hey, I haven’t seen this rerun yet.” He gestured to one of the nearby flat screens broadcasting a recent basketball game. “Mind turning up the volume? All of us want to watch it.”

“Of course, sir,” the bartender nodded and adjusted the sound controls, so the TV played more loudly.

Cas shot his friend a subtle nod of appreciation, glad that he’d thought of such an easy way to conceal the conversation they were about to have from the servant. He might have been able to pay Martin off to keep his interest in a woman a secret, but he couldn’t be certain that he could offer any amount of money to stop the bartender from telling his father that they were about to commit treason.

As soon as they were comfortably isolated in the corner of the room, Jay asked, “So, did you come up with a plan since the last time we talked?”

“No,” Cas shook his head. “I pretty much conked out after I hung up the phone. The medication I’m on makes me really tired.”

“What are you taking it for?” Miles asked. “Broken wrist?” He indicated the silicon brace on the prince’s forearm.

“Among other things,” Cas replied. “Broken wrist, two fractured ribs, stab wound to my arm, and a gunshot wound in my leg. Plus a lot of cuts and bruises. If I wasn’t on a strong painkiller right now, I’d be miserable.”

Jay and Miles stared at him, dumbfounded by the list of afflictions, until the former broke the silence. “Damn, dude,” he shook his head. “I can’t even imagine what you must have gone through out there.”

“Yeah,” Miles agreed. “But… what was it like to get shot? Or even stabbed? Both of those wounds sound awful.”

“They were,” Cas shuddered, absentmindedly touching the bandages underneath his shirt sleeve. “Getting stabbed felt kind of like being punched really hard and then setting the entire spot on fire. It happened in the middle of a fight, so it didn’t really hurt like hell until a few minutes later because of the adrenaline rush. Being shot with a gun from five feet away made me want to kill myself though.” He grimaced as he remembered how Ethan had stood over him and pulled the trigger so mercilessly. He hoped he never had to see that man again. “I don’t really know how to describe it except for sheer blinding pain.”

“Christ,” Jay breathed, lifting his beer to his lips and downing a large swig. “Sounds like everyone wasn’t too far off in assuming you were dead, huh?”

“I would have been dead if Iris hadn’t been there to help me escape,” Cas reminded him, following suit with a smaller sip from his drink.

“Right,” Miles frowned. “And why did she help you? Are you guys an item or something?”

The prince paused before responding to the question, debating the best answer to give. Although he trusted his friends and wanted to tell them that he and Iris were romantically involved, he was hesitant to leave a trail that his father might use against him later on. Deciding that he would have plenty of time to tell them the truth later on, he picked the safer option: “No, the other rebels just manipulated her into helping them. She’s not actually on their side, and she didn’t want to let them kill me in cold blood, so she turned traitor by helping me get away.”

“And now you’re returning the favor,” Jay nodded in understanding.

“Exactly,” Cas lied through his teeth, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt beneath the table. “I can’t let her die after she saved my life. She doesn’t deserve that.”

“Then let’s get her out of that hospital,” Miles grinned ferally, placing his hands on the table and leaning toward the others with an eager glint in his eyes. “Alright, boys, let’s get started on Operation: Badass in Distress.”