He’d been alone for a while, he knew that, but Caspian still stalled at the end of the hallway when his gaze passed over the other people in the bunker. He’d thought he would find Raine right where he’d left her, but instead, it was Iris on the couch while the princess was nowhere to be seen. He blinked and glanced toward the kitchen, where the rest of the security team was focused back on its own operation. Seeing Jacob among them, quietly working on a laptop, sent a jolt of annoyance through him, and he turned away again with a low huff. A part of him still wanted to send the older man far away from him, but he couldn’t do that as long as Jacob held the title of security head, so instead, he made his way over to the living room without a word, following through on his want to be with Iris.

Circling around the side of the couch, he paused for a moment rather than sitting down right away though. [i]‘If you step back out there and choose Iris over Raine, you’ll prove it to me.’[/i] The words echoed in his head, and he pressed his tongue against his teeth. His eyes flicked back toward Jacob, and this time, he caught the other man looking in his direction before the security lead promptly dropped his own gaze back to the screen in front of him. Even though the other man’s expression was unreadable, the king could take a guess at what was going on inside his head, and he clenched his fists at his sides. It wasn’t Jacob’s business. It didn’t [i]matter[/i] what he thought. Who he courted was his own decision, so, stubbornly, he dropped onto the couch next to Iris, reaching to take her hand in his.

[color=#b97703]“Sorry,”[/color] he murmured, his gaze low as he leaned lightly against her side. [color=#b97703]“I didn’t mean for you to end up in the middle of so much shit.”[/color]

Even with his back turned, he could practically feel the burning of furtive eyes on them from the kitchen. None of the other guards had spoken up, but he was sure it wasn’t only Jacob who was confused and uneasy about this unexpected arrival in their bunker. At least some of them had to be aware of Iris’s criminal past and her ties to the rebellion too. Acutely aware of the questions he was raising by cozying up to a member of the Scourge over the princess he was supposed to be marrying, he clutched her hand a little tighter, equally as protective of her as he was torn over the mess of their situation.