When Iris ‘refused’ to share her ice cream with him, Caspian rolled his eyes in mock exasperation. Her playful humor continued to put him in a good mood. Spending time with someone who wasn’t afraid of offending him because he was the crown prince was a breath of fresh air compared with the people he usually interacted with. Even when they were friendly, it wasn’t hard to see that they were guarded with their speech. His father had set a strict precedent that citizens of their country had to show the royal family nothing but reverence and respect or risk facing a penalty of jail time. Cas thought the law was overkill and never enforced it unless someone was going out of their way to heckle him.

As they ate, his thoughts wandered again to how similar their hang out felt to a date. Granted, he didn’t have any close female friends, so he wasn’t used to spending one on one time with a woman outside of a romantic context, but there were more parallels than just that. He was sure the few paparazzi who had found them were eating up the scene. It wouldn’t be long before all the news sites were flooded with headlines about him and the new mystery girl who seemed to have won his affection. He shook his head to himself. The one good thing that might come out of the journalists’ misplaced assumptions was that someone who knew her might stumble across one of the articles and recognize her.

Distracted by his idle musings, he didn’t notice Iris’s belated reaction to his question. [color=#b97703]“That’s good,”[/color] he nodded, glad that she was enjoying her ice cream. In his biased opinion, Ellen made the best ice cream anyone could get in the capital. While he didn’t particularly care if she agreed with him about that or not, he was happy that she thought it was good.

In the next moment, he blinked as she swiped a spoonful from his cup and tasted it. Even though he’d already told her that she could try a bite, her boldness caught him off guard. An amused laugh escaped his lips. [i]That[/i] was something even Jay and Miles wouldn’t have tried. His father’s laws about speaking out of turn were stringent, but the ones surrounding anything that could even remotely resemble stealing from a member of the royal family were even harsher. Of course, he wouldn’t actually let a solider arrest her if one had seen her and tried, but she didn’t seem to care one way or the other. She was either fearless or fully trusted that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

[color=#b97703]“I don’t believe you,”[/color] he teased when she said the flavor she had picked was better. No sooner had the words left his mouth than the amnesiac’s spoon moved toward his face, leaving a dot of chocolate ice cream on his nose as she missed his mouth. He froze in surprise at first and then rolled his eyes at her again while she giggled. [color=#b97703]“No you’re not,”[/color] he poked her in the side when she said she was sorry, trying hard not to laugh with her. After rubbing the ice cream off with the back of his wrist, he reached out to clasp her hand in his, pointedly holding it steady as he closed his mouth around the spoon she had offered.

[color=#b97703]“Not bad,”[/color] he smirked at her when he pulled back. [color=#b97703]“But I can’t say it’s better than mine. Too much chocolate and not enough mint.”[/color] He winked at her jokingly, but the jovial expression faded as he realized how close together they were now. Her hand was still in his, and her face wasn’t that far away since he’d moved closer to take a bite of her ice cream. The lack of distance made his heart hammer, and his dark eyes drifted down to her lips. If he just leaned in a little further, he could kiss her…

[color=#b97703][i]But what if she has a boyfriend?[/i][/color] The thought made him pause. There was no way of knowing if she was taken by someone else, but he had to think that if someone was out there who loved her, they would have reached out to find her by now. That they hadn’t meant, to him, that she must have been single. He swallowed hard. Since he’d first found her in the woods, he’d been trying to keep things platonic between them, so she wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. Yet, he was hovering close to her now with her hand in his, and she hadn’t pulled away. Maybe she wanted him to kiss her too… [color=#b97703][i]Screw it.[/i][/color]

Throwing caution to the wind, Cas caved to his desire and leaned in. His eyes closed, and he squeezed her hand, but just before their lips touched, he halted as the sound of an alarm went off on a device attached to his belt. The noise jarred him out of the moment, and he abruptly turned away from her, releasing her hand to unclip the device from its spot at his waist. It was a communication tool used exclusively by the royal family and their security team to liaise when there was an emergency in the capital that required immediate attention.

[color=#b97703]“Shit,”[/color] he muttered to himself, putting in the earpiece. It had been months since the last time they had needed to use the device. The fact that the alarm had gone off now meant something new must have happened. Pressing the handheld part of the device to his thumb—it used fingerprint data to give the user clearance to join the frequency used by the security team—he spoke in a clear tone, [color=#b97703]“This is Caspian. What’s going on?”[/color]

The voice of a man named Jacob, one of the security guards who worked directly for the king, replied through the earpiece: [i]Your Highness, there has been an attempted terrorist attack on the palace. The criminals have been apprehended, but we must request that you return at once for your safety, because there may be others.[/i]

Cas felt a chill shoot up his spine, [color=#b97703]“Is my father okay?”[/color]

[i]His Majesty is unharmed. A vehicle has already been dispatched to your location and will arrive shortly to collect you. Confirmation code: AEX779.[/i]

[color=#b97703]“Thank you, Jacob,”[/color] Cas said tensely and stood up from the bench, turning back to Iris. [color=#b97703]“We have to leave. There might be rebels in the city.”[/color] Despite the seriousness of the situation, a half smile tugged at his lip as he offered her his hand. [color=#b97703]“Ever ridden in a hover car before?”[/color]