Cas couldn’t tell if his efforts to jumpstart Iris’s memory were working or not. She seemed to get little bits and pieces back as he spoke, but nothing was coherent enough to tell them who she was or even where she had come from. He sighed to himself, slouching a little lower in his chair. Dr. Emett was probably right when he’d said it would take time for her to remember everything. He shouldn’t have expected his words to click with her right away. Amnesia seemed like a condition that required a lot of patience from everyone involved. When she asked him why he’d never gone to college, he pondered how to answer. In truth, he hadn’t bothered to enroll in higher education because there was no degree for “King of Aspiria,” but he still didn’t want to tell her he was the heir to the throne unless he had to. Instead, he settled for a vaguer version of the truth: [color=#b97703]“I’m just studying a trade instead. It’s not something you can learn in college.”[/color] That was close enough, right? Technically he was his father’s protégé, even if he wasn’t studying at a trade school. A homeschooled apprentice, that’s what he was. At last, something seemed to get through to Iris more than the rest. Cas sat up a little straighter with interest as she mentioned her mother. So she had a family. That was good news, since he was still hoping her parents or other relatives would come looking for her when they realized she was missing in the morning. Maybe seeing someone she actually knew would help her remember who she was too. At least they could tell her about herself, whereas he could only talk about the city and cross his fingers that something would spark a fire in her fuzzy brain. [color=#b97703]“That’s alright,”[/color] he smiled when she apologized for spacing out. [color=#b97703]“Think as much as you need to. The sooner you remember who you are, the sooner the doctors can get you home.”[/color] If she found any leads that would tell her where she’d come from, he didn’t care if she zoned out for a whole hour. He was only here to make sure she wasn’t alone, after all. It didn’t matter to him if they chatted or sat in silence. As Iris spoke about the time and said she should rest, he nodded, standing up from his seat and stretching his arms lazily over his head. [color=#b97703]“I don’t blame you,”[/color] he agreed when she said she disliked hospitals. [color=#b97703]“They’re kind of creepy and they always smell like sick people. I don’t like them either.”[/color] At her following comment, he laughed. [color=#b97703]“My dad worries about everything, so this is nothing new. As long as I get home in one piece, he’ll let it go.”[/color] He paused for a moment before he added with another smile: [color=#b97703]“But… getting a drink sounds like fun. I might just take you up on that.”[/color] Cute girl who didn’t throw fake flattery at him every other sentence? How could he say no to that? As he stepped over to grab his phone—it was all the way up to a ripe eight percent after the short time it had spent charging—a knock sounded at the door. He looked up to see another nurse poke her head into the room, which she quickly bowed to him out of customary respect, “Caspian, there’s a sedan waiting for you outside.” [color=#b97703][i]Looks like daddy sent a ride,[/i][/color] Cas nearly rolled his eyes at the over-the-top gesture. [color=#b97703]“Perfect timing,”[/color] he turned back to the girl. [color=#b97703]“Well, I guess I’m out of here. I’ll see you around, Iris. Hope you get your memories back.”[/color] With a curt wave of his hand, he followed the nurse out of the room and headed to the black vehicle waiting in the pick-up area in front of the lobby. Like all the private cars the Maydestones used to get around the city, it had tinted windows that were too dark to see through from the outside. He climbed into the back with a yawn, ready to get some sleep after the long night he’d had. -- The ride back to his family’s mansion—well, some might call it a [i]castle[/i], but Cas thought the term was gaudy—was short and uneventful. The driver pulled the sedan around to the back, where the prince was able to get out and walk inside far from view of any skulking paparazzi who might want to get a picture of him for a sultry gossip article. It was nearly four in the morning, and he practically swayed on his feet from exhaustion as he shuffled up the stairs to his room. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it all the way there before he was stopped. “Just where have you been all night, Caspian?” He cringed at the sound of his father’s voice. Looking up from the floor, he found the king standing by his bedroom door with his arms crossed tensely over his chest. [color=#b97703]“Hospital,”[/color] Cas answered tiredly. [color=#b97703]“Dr. Emett filled you in, right?”[/color] He frowned as another thought crossed his mind. [color=#b97703]“Besides, what are you doing up anyway? I thought he wants you to rest. You’re going to wear yourself out.”[/color] “I’m not going to sleep knowing my son isn’t safe in his own bed,” Atlas scoffed. “You should have been home hours ago. Emett said you dropped that girl off not long after midnight. There was no reason for you to linger as long as you did.” [color=#b97703]“I was trying to be nice,”[/color] Cas rolled his eyes. [color=#b97703]“And look,”[/color] he held up his hands. [color=#b97703]“I’m home safe and sound.”[/color] He paused, glancing down at the bloodstain on his shoulder. [color=#b97703]“Well, my shirt didn’t survive the night, but I swear the rest of me did. Now can I please get some sleep? I might pass out at any second.”[/color] “You still don’t understand the gravity of the situation, do you?” his father pinched the bridge of his nose. “You can’t just play hero every time you think you can help someone. That’s what the military is for. You should have called one of the soldiers to help you the second you felt like something was wrong.” [color=#b97703]“But there was no one else nearby, and—”[/color] Atlas held up his hand, “You’re going to be the next king, Caspian. There are no lives equal to yours. Dr. Emett told me you found that girl in the woods [i]outside[/i] the capital. What if it had been the Scourge, trying to lure you into a trap?” He paused, but Cas said nothing. “You were lucky this time. Don’t be so reckless the next or there will be consequences.” Cas ground his teeth, [color=#b97703]“Fine.”[/color] “I’m only hard on you for your own good,” the king sighed. “You’ll thank me someday. Now then,” he stepped away from the door, picking up a cane he’d left propped against the wall to support his weight as he limped down the hallway. “Get some sleep. Your economics tutor will arrive at ten.” At least his father had pushed his lesson back a couple hours. Cas nodded tiredly, [color=#b97703]“’Night, dad.”[/color] “Goodnight, son.”