When Iris commented that the dinner had been intense, Cas winced. He had been hoping his home would be a safe haven for her until she recovered her memories, but his father had successfully destroyed that image in less than an hour. If it wasn’t for the fact that she had nowhere else to go, he wouldn’t have been surprised if she requested to leave before the sun set. After all, who would want to stay in the house of a monarch who clearly didn’t want her around? Atlas had been unnecessarily hostile with his accusative questions. She was clearly just a girl from the capital who had hit her head and nothing more. There was no reason to mistrust her.

[color=#b97703]“It’s not your fault,”[/color] he assured her quickly with a shake of his head. Glancing over his shoulder to make sure his father had traveled far enough down the hallway that he wouldn’t hear them talk, he dropped his volume slightly as he explained, [color=#b97703]“Since the rebellion started, he just thinks everyone and everything is out to get us. Even the staff and guards have to go through months of background checks before they can start working for us. I’m pretty sure the only reason he even agreed to let you in was because Dr. Emett confirmed your amnesia. If you knew who you were, he wouldn’t trust you either.”[/color] It was also why the king had sent away the rest of the family to another estate and halved the number of servants in the mansion. The less people there were, the easier it was for the paranoid monarch to keep tabs on everyone.

When Iris said she would go with him to the bar, Cas brightened. Though their reason for wanting to drink wasn’t the most exciting, he was glad that he’d have some company. Most of the time, it was just him and whichever bartender was working that night, watching reruns of games while the latter fed the prince cocktails whenever he emptied his glass. She would be much more fun to spend the rest of the evening with.

[color=#b97703]“Gladly,”[/color] he returned her teasing with a playful smile when she said he would have to show her the way. However, when she rested her hand on his arm, his expression wavered slightly. The lack of distance between them for that brief moment derailed his thoughts and made his heartbeat quicken with uncontrolled eagerness. He silently reprimanded himself, even though he knew trying to tame a crush was pointless. He couldn’t stop himself from being attracted to her no matter how hard he tried.

[color=#b97703][i]Maybe it’s not such a great idea to get drunk tonight,[/i][/color] he cringed at the thought of losing his inhibitions and making a move on Iris. Not wanting to make her even more uncomfortable than his father already had, he internally vowed to pay attention to how much he drank, so he wouldn’t do anything he would regret later.

[color=#b97703]“Someone had to,”[/color] he shrugged at her grateful words. [color=#b97703]“If my dad doesn’t have any pushback, he tends to just steamroll over everyone. I didn’t want to watch him do it to you too.”[/color] His brown eyes flicked to her blue and then away again, and he cleared his throat. [color=#b97703]“Anyway, I need a drink. The bar is over here.”[/color]

Leading her down another hallway, Cas brought Iris to a room that had been designed to look reminiscent of a sports bar with flat screen TVs scattered around the walls and plenty of seating in a variety of barstools and booths. If it had been filled, it would have made an enjoyable spot to watch games with friends; but like the rest of the mansion, the space was empty aside from the bartender, who scrambled up from the booth he had been lounging in to take his place behind the counter at the first sight of his prince.

[color=#b97703]“So, what do you think?”[/color] Cas turned to her with a grin. [color=#b97703]“Great place to unwind after sitting through an entire dinner with my dad, am I right?”[/color]