sukikyoufu

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

To not know what was going to happen was so unnerving, Iris found herself at a loss and even though she accepted this was probably the end of the road for her she didn’t know what he was going to do now. It threw her back when he told her to sit but she found herself complying because there was no other option. Iris could peg it from the room and try to escape, but he would catch her and then there would be a commotion and it just wouldn’t end well for anyone involved. Taking a seat, she found herself fiddling with her hands not knowing what to do with them as she avoided making eye contact with him because it felt awkward.

Even as he sat and started to speak, she knew he was telling the truth, but the difference with hearing it from him was that she knew it was not just because he cared about the monarchy but because he actually cared for Cas. Hearing the words from him hit differently. “Don’t apologise.” There was no need for him to say sorry to her when she knew he was right with everything he said. “You think I don’t know that?” Sighing heavily as she placed her head in her hands knowing that their relationship wouldn’t last, and it was silly to even think it would have. It was a stupid dream and even as Jacob spoke about it, she found herself saddened by the fact he was just confirming what she already knew to be true.

“I know I’ll never be good enough for him, that he would lose the trust and faith of so many people if they knew about me. Some non highborn girl from the districts, part of the rebellion. Daughter to the leader of Hope… I couldn’t do that to him, not when he made the decision to go back and take responsibility.” Iris could feel the tears in her eyes, but she didn’t want to cry in front of him, so she blinked them back before looking up to meet his gaze again.

“Truth is..." Hesitating for a moment before she continued on. "I had planned to disappear tonight before all this.” Hinting towards the fact he had visited as well as Cas as it had been completely unexpected for her else, she would have made an effort to clean it. “I was going to try and make an attempt at returning to the districts.” Whether or not it would be successful was a different matter, but Iris already knew she had to leave Cas. Between the threat to his life with Ethan with the threats that she believed he would act on and knowing just how the country would react to her being with him was enough to know in her heart it was the right decision.

“I’m not about to bring him down, not when I firmly believe he will make changes for the good of all the people and I know he will be better off without me.” Reaching to her pocket she pulled out the note she had addressed to Cas, looking at it in her hands. Everyone would be better off without me here.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Feeling the sweet release of his hand that had gripped her arm Iris rubbed where he had held tightly to soothe it from throbbing pain. It was then she found herself laughing bitterly when Jacob continued to interrogate her about the big plan and what was going to happen next. “You’re quick to make assumptions, but you don’t know what’s been going on with Cas at all. There was no elaborate plan to keep me here. The most elaborate part of the plan as you put it was when he broke me out of the hospital before I was sent back to prison.”

Iris understood why he was questioning her so heavily, she got it but at the same time it was a little too much and somewhat overwhelming. It brought back horrid memories of when she had been questioned in the prison multiple times to only be forced into giving away the answers from that truth serum. Shuddering at the thought of it she hoped that it would not be the same again, that he didn’t have an emergency one on him for dire situations. The thought of that drug alone made her feel sick to her core, colour all gone from her face as she reminded herself of the horror from the prison.

Dragging a hand down her face as she tried to compose herself, she looked back at Jacob meeting his gaze and she could see the sceptical expression he held. “You know the night he disappeared. We had planned to run away together if you want to call that elaborate, but then everything got complicated.”

Finding herself peek over her shoulder towards the window for a split-second Iris debated her chances of using the window as an escape. Problem was it was far too high up, but the thought of going back to the prison felt worse. “Sure, I claim to be in love with him. Nothing will convince you otherwise, right?” She felt tired of this, tired of trying to prove she meant no harm and at the end of it all it didn’t matter. Her fate was sealed, there was nothing she could do to save herself but oddly enough it had been something she had accepted. As long as Cas and Maisie were well and safe, she could be happy with that.

“Just… get it over and done with already. Lock me up and throw away the key, have me killed as I’m sure that I have a death warrant out for me.” Iris sounded defeated as she carelessly shrugged her shoulders no fire left inside to even bother with fighting him. “Have them interrogate me with that drug again. I don’t care anymore. I’m done.” What else could she do in this situation? Beg for her life? That wouldn’t happen, not when deep down she still had little care for it and even with the brief visit from Cas it hadn’t changed anything apart from her resolve to protect him from Ethan. As dark as it sounded Ethan couldn’t blackmail her if she was dead and maybe the security team would protect him? They had finally found her after all.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Feeling constricted by the tightening grip on her arm it only worsened the panic she felt being caught red handed and she couldn’t help but continue to struggle against him. Fears of being thrown back into prison kept creeping in and she knew this was the end of the road for her, she just wasn’t sure on what part was now coming to an end. Acceptance to the end of her relationship with Cas was something she had come to terms with because she knew it was something that could never happen. That was something she knew would happen, but if she got herself thrown into prison now who would stop Ethan? Then it would the end to someone who she truly believed could make a change for the better.

“Do you really need me to spell that one out for you?” Hissing out her words as she still tried to free her arm from his grasp, “Let me go already! You’re hurting me. I can’t exactly go anywhere.” Once more she tried to snatch her arm back grimacing because he had a vice like grip. “There is no charade, no big plan. No secret. You know full well what happened the night I disappeared, you figured it out. You confronted Cas about it, and he told you everything what more do you want to know?”

It was like word vomit because of the panic and fear she felt inside, rambling on when she didn’t even know what to say to him. What use would it be to plead her case to him? There would be no sympathy, he wouldn’t care what she had been through and all of it was down to the Capital. The massive divide between people, the previous monarchs who had been a part of causing the rift and all the hatred for them to create a rebellion for equal rights. None of it mattered, she was just another member of the scourge to him that was probably trying to stick her claws into the King to live a life of luxury. That’s all anyone would see in her.

“I can’t tell you how long I’ve been in this hotel room because all the days roll into one. I don’t want to cause damage. I know I’m not good enough for him and that he would do so much better without me, but I’m still stuck here because the minute I leave is the minute I go back into a cell.” Shaking her head, she looked away from Jacob and glanced towards the kitchen still stacked with untouched meals. Between the fear of her life and now the upset of admitting just how wrong she was for Cas she did her best to hide the emotions from her face, trying not to let herself get so worked up again and fall into a pit of emotion whilst he was here.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Feeling her heart race as the door wouldn’t shut and the fact Jacob had blocked it with ease her instinct was telling her to run, to get far away from this security guard who would be able to take her straight back to that prison. The thought of it made her head spin because the memory of the questioning was still fresh in her mind, it had played its own part in her not being able to sleep at night. Remembering the pain of the truth drug, the cruel way the interrogator had dealt with her and then ending up in hospital. It was all coming back to her when she had tried to hard to forget it all.

The panic only increased when she had tried to move further back into the room only to be stopped before the thought had fully crossed her mind. Feeling his hand wrap around her arm felt like a death sentence and as much as that would be the easy way out, she knew she couldn’t. Right now, she needed to stop Ethan and his plans to hurt Cas, Jacob wouldn’t understand that, and neither would Cas and both would be for two separate reasons. Cas wouldn’t see that she was trying to help him, and would no doubt say that he was safe, Jacob wouldn’t believe her or simply use their security team to ‘fix’ the problem.

“N-No!” Trying to wriggle out of his grasp and put distance between them Iris could feel herself shake, her world crashing down before her. “Let me go!” Desperation sinking in as she held back a sob when he pulled her roughly towards him.

Iris fought against it, she kept struggling against his grasp not wanting to be held by him because he could just easily drag her away and back to that hell hole that kept her up at night. “Nothing is going on here. I just want to go home.” Even if it wasn’t the complete truth Jacob didn’t need to know that, perhaps he would take pity on her and even escort her back to the districts which would make things easier on her.

“What is it you want to hear from me? That I’m not supposed to be here? That Cas could do so much better than me and wouldn’t have to worry about keeping me hidden? I know I shouldn’t be here, but I can’t exactly walk out that door and stroll on down to the districts can I now?” Iris knew she was rambling on, part of it due to panic but she didn’t know what else to say to him. It was now down to Jacob on what he was going to do with her because there was no way Cas had removed the warrant on her and it was clear the guard wasn’t here to take her to the palace because he seemed surprised to see she was in here and demanded to know what was going on.

Pressure [Suki & Bee]

Having strolled through the campus and taking in the sights Arya ended up at a standstill just watching from afar all the activities going on around her. Various stalls full of students trying to see what clubs and social activities to join and demonstrations of afterschool activities she found herself intrigued by a lot of it. Partly even tempted to look at joining something, it would look good on her if she contributed with one of the clubs that was going on and she was certain it wouldn’t affect her studies too much.

“H-Hey!” Frowning as she felt someone bump into her, stumbling on her feet for a moment as she regained her balance completely drawn from her thoughts as she glanced at the culprit wondering if it had been done on purpose. Tilting her head slightly as she watched the hand on his heart apologising for bumping into her, she knew then it had to have been an accident.

Smiling slightly, she held both hands in defence, “Oh no it’s fine honestly. Don’t worry about it. I probably shouldn’t have just been standing around in the way. My bad for that.” Shrugging it off like it was no big deal as she smoothed down her simple green top that paired with her jeans not having brought a jacket. “Is this your first time here too?” Assuming that he was new around here like her. “It’s quite mesmerising watching everything that’s going on, I found myself kind of lost in it.” Chuckling as she thought that had been the reason, he had bumped into her, that he had been just as overwhelmed by everything not noticing his actual surroundings.

“I guess that’s how they get new members to join there clubs though. Make some flashy show so everyone thinks it’s amazing.” Glancing back over towards the stalls that had been set up for first day of term. Arya found herself smiling again, it was hard not to be excited when she had wanted to attend this University for so long that it now felt like a dream she was actually here.

“Sorry, I’m just rambling on. You probably have places to be. It was a pleasure to meet you?”

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Settling into her usual position casually strewn across the couch Iris found herself watching the daytime TV shows as there wasn’t much else to choose from, her mind wandered to the idea of Cas being able to free her from this hotel prison. Guilt rising in the pit of her stomach because she hadn’t planned on staying around long enough to see if he could do it, plus if by some miracle he fixed it all today which was highly unlikely she knew just leaving the palace would be harder to do than this hotel room.

Fiddling about with the remote-control sighing as she thought about leaving Cas, worrying on if he would be okay because the young royal had gone through a lot in the space of a few weeks. Was it fair of her to add to his worries? To not be there and support him when he’d just lost his father and gained a whole country to worry about? Was she being selfish?

No. I can’t think like that. Me going is protecting him, it ensures that Ethan won’t harm him anymore and leave him in peace. This is a good thing, and I can be the bad guy so Cas will move on and forget about me.

As if confirming her own thoughts Iris nodded to herself trying to be assertive with it, this was going to be for the best and it wouldn’t be all bad. Maisie would be there to help her, and they’d get to spend more time together, so it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Even if it meant she’d have to also worry about Ethan once more. There has to be some paper and a pen lying around here. Thinking to herself as she pushed off the sofa again her eyes darting to the kitchen knowing it was probably by the phone as she had seen the pad there plenty of times.

Wandering over back into the kitchen she ignored the stack of uneaten food piled into the corner and smiled seeing the pad of paper where she thought it was. Rummaging around for a pen in the draws near the phone she pulled the pad closer to her as she considered what she was going to write. Iris wanted to leave Cas a letter of some kind, even if it was just to apologise for what she was about to do without going into anything specific. The problem she now faced was just how she wanted to write it. Tapping the pen against her chin she wasn’t going to write him an essay, there was no need to do that and if she told him about her feelings, he could then find it difficult to move on and want to find her and she didn’t want that. Iris wanted him as far away from Ethan has possible.

Cas,

I’m sorry…

Grimacing at the fact she didn’t know what else to say on this piece of paper as she looked at the three words inked onto it, perhaps that was just enough? She doubted he would accept the apology, but it was something. Deciding she had nothing else better to write on it without making things worse she signed her name at the bottom before ripping it away from the pad and folding it neatly in half only to jump out of her skin when she heard three knocks at the door.

Panicked Iris shoved the note into her pocket hastily as she looked towards the door, she hadn’t ordered any sort of food and she doubted Cas would have done that for her as he was probably still driving back to the palace. Unless… maybe he has forgotten something? It hadn’t been too long ago since he had left so it seemed plausible, either that or he had decided to spend the rest of the day with her. Smiling at the thought she knew it had to be him, it made sense so without even thinking she headed over not even looking through the peep whole as she opened the door.

“Oh Cas, what did you forget?” Amused as she finally took a look at who was standing in the door and when her eyes met Jacob the colour drained from her face as the smile dropped and out of sheer panic and instinct her hand went to slam the door in his face.

The Arrangement [Suki & Kassarock]

Oh no I am still with the bank! We just usually call them stores? It's a weird concept haha.

Oh nice! Least it is well paid, I can't imagine night work being all that fun. Is it really busy or like a graveyard shift? Nice, do you know what car you're looking to get?

The Arrangement [Suki & Kassarock]

Although Elise had planned to use this free time to rest, she found herself unable to settle. Listening to the sounds around her, the calling of birds, muffled voices and shuffling of materials surrounded the hunting camp. It wasn’t exactly a small camp, it was full of people that Elise knew she couldn’t openly trust right away, this would be the perfect opportunity for some sort of assassination plan, and she knew she shouldn’t always worry about that.

Will I ever not worry for my life?

Eyes flicked to her wrist as she pushed up the sleeve of her dress revealing the faded scar that she kept hidden to everyone. She could count on one hand at how many people knew the truth behind this story and one of them was a man she never thought she’d confide in like that. Oddly it had felt nice to be able to open up, but at the same time she couldn’t help but think at how worrying for her life was going to be a natural part of her day.

Is this a natural thought for him?

Brushing her finger against the scar as she began to think about Ozragad and wondered if he had consistent thoughts about the threat to his life. Earlier on the trip he had spoken about how he had felt so afraid the first time he had a brush with death, but that it also became less the longer he kept surviving and she wondered if that was truly the case. The fact he understood the very feeling she had spoken of, feeling the moment when you thought your life would slip from your fingers she wondered if he truly ever could forget that feeling when faced with yet another attempt on his life. Questions she wished she felt comfortable enough to ask, but yet she knew it was best to keep some distance for now.

Right now, they were playing a game of politics, appeasing the people before them with their marriage and showing a united front even though she was sure he still suspected her of the earlier attempt. It did make her wonder about Treville, what if he had a hand in it without her knowledge? What if somehow, he was still taking orders from her father now that they were behind enemy lines.

No, surely not.

And now Elise was left with conspiracies plaguing her mind as she started to doubt those who had been sent here to help her.

______________________________________________

“Your highness?”

After having been left in her tent alone for a few hours Elise heard the voice from one of her ladies that had chosen this time to disturb her. Glancing up from the book she had been reading she smiled and nodded towards Flora who stepped inside bowing to the Princess before lifting her head once more. “I thought you’d might like to eat something.” Flora spoke her eyes glancing towards the plate that had been brought in for the Princess earlier, the fruit still intact untouched and the jug of water looked the same. Atarah who oversaw the Princesses household had mentioned for her to keep an eye on what the Princess was eating, but it was more the lack of food they had been watching for the past week. The elder Formori was incredibly perceptive, and Flora knew this, it was probably why she had been entrusted by the King with looking over the household for the Princess.

“Oh, right. I didn’t realise the time.” Elise smiled politely not catching the glance from her lady in waiting as her own eyes went to the plate and bowl in hand which had to be some sort of dinner that had been cooked by the campfire.

“Did you manage to get much rest?” Making idle chatter as she placed the plate down that held the warm bowl that was filled with a healthy serving of stew.

“I did.” The lie left her lips before she could even think of correcting it or consider opening up to her lady in waiting about the sleepless nights and failure to get enough rest at the moment. “Any news on the hunt?” Changing the subject completely meant she could stay in control of the information she wanted to give.

“Not yet, though I suspect it won’t be too much longer. The King does not hang around when it comes to hunting, he is certainly skilled in that area.”

“Of course, well thank you for bringing me dinner. I appreciate it.” Elise spoke calmly her tone suggesting for Flora to leave if there was nothing else needed. Flora of course picked up on it, smiling in response knowing she had been dismissed and bowed her head respectfully before she left the tent knowing that she needed to relay the information onto Atarah. The elder Formori would know what to do, they were trying to mitigate the Eorzian girl falling sick whilst under their care but there was only so much, they could do.

______________________________________________

By now nightfall had fallen and Elise had returned to her tent after having spent the early hours of the evening pushing herself by talking with the guests that had attended their premarital tradition. Flora and Ida had been ready to assist with names and general information, everyone had been mostly polite to her, but it was clear there was still some resentment towards her because of her heritage. Elise caught the sneers, the side eyes and scoffs that people thought they had hidden very well, but it had been so obvious to her that not everyone liked her.

Elise hadn’t let it show, the polite smile had remained plastered on her face throughout as she endured the idle chatter of his people and remained positive. As she often reminded herself this was a show and any sign of weakness would just cause problems in the long run, there were people out here that wanted her dead and not just her but Ozragad too which was even more concerning to know. Now, however sat in the tent she was exhausted from all the acting that she had kept up for the evening but the thought of actually sleeping whilst so exposed didn’t feel right with her.

Even so she leaned her head back closing her eyes thinking that maybe she could get a little bit of rest, pushing back all the worries of someone just coming in to cause her harm. Just as she was about to finally nod off the calm soothing her, she jolted awake startled as she began to panic at the sound of someone bursting into her tent. Out of instinct her hand went to reach for some sort of weapon, there was nothing around for her to grab so she rose to her feet to defend herself only to realise it was one of her ladies who had burst inside.

“Sorry your highness, I did not mean to wake you. It’s just. There is news of the hunt.” Ida stated bowing quickly catching how startled the Princess had been at her sudden interruption. On reflection Ida knew she probably should have approached it differently, but Atarah had told her to inform the Princess right away of what had happened.

“No need to apologise, you said there was news?” Brushing herself down as she calmed herself from the sudden panic she had felt. “What happened? Is he… the King, okay?” Without realising she had started to worry that something bad had happened to Ozragad and she quickly put that down to her worry about her own survival and not anything deeper than she wanted to admit.

“Well, he has been injured. It’s nothing too serious, and he still brought back a mighty prize, but he has been woun…”

“Take me to him.” Without even letting Ida finish her last sentence Elise demanded to see Ozragad, she needed to see with her own eyes what had happened. Striding out of the tent she followed Ida who quietly escorted her to him.

The Arrangement [Suki & Kassarock]

That was! I'm pretty excited to finish my response for it!

Ah good, I can work with that!

The new house is great! I've kind of been travelling a lot around with work until my Store is all up and running so that's been a little hectic.

Apologies for taking a while with my response! I should have something up by Friday!

How have you been?

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

When it was time for Cas to leave Iris felt the pang in her chest, she knew she had enjoyed their time together and she knew how much she would have loved to have lived with him in the palace and actually spending time with someone she had truly bonded with. It was also the reason why she knew she had to do it, she had to protect him from Ethan because Cas was a person she never wanted to lose. If it meant she had to put up with never seeing him again, him hating her for leaving then she would do that because she’d be happy in knowing that he was safe. It couldn’t be all bad, at least she would have Maisie, the other person she was fighting desperately to protect.

“I… I will.” Iris smiled knowing she meant her words; she would try for him in these last few days. Savour each moment she got to talk with him on the phone. Returning his kiss before he stepped back ready to leave. “I love you too Cas, I’ll call you and you can tell me how the rest of your day went, maybe you’ll even have good news.” It was hard not to feel sad at watching him leave, although it hadn’t been the most pleasant conversation that day, she had still enjoyed spending time with him. Shutting the door behind Cas she glanced at the mess in the kitchen wondering if she should try to clear it up a little, organise it so it was less disgusting and it could even help with the smell maybe.

Shaking her head against that idea, she could do that tomorrow. It was something for her to be motivated to get out of bed or the sofa depending on where she ended up crashing that night. At least it was some sort of plan for her to hold onto and then she could think about how to slip through the hotel without being seen to leave. Instead, Iris opted to plop herself on the sofa once more and resume watching the daytime TV that had become mind numbing the past few weeks, it was easy to watch and then she could call Cas later.

Getting herself comfortable she grabbed the remote and began to flick through the channels looking for something easy to watch, or maybe even something interesting. There was a few good reality shows she had managed to get addicted too, but then there was nothing else for her to do right now so it was either watch TV or sit in silence.

It was interesting to think that she had all the time in the world now whereas Cas had to plan everything, the impromptu visit must have been hard if he had all these meetings about the country. Iris knew she shouldn’t have let herself get upset over the phone calls, she knew he was just tired and not losing interest in her but then it was hard to fight with your own thoughts when it was the only thing you could do whilst locked up in the hotel room.