Caspian would have been content sitting in silence to brood over his situation, but Ethan apparently wasn’t as content with the lack of conversation. After he had spent a few minutes working on the rope around his wrists, he had given up on making it more comfortable. His efforts were getting him nowhere, and the rough material was starting to chafe even worse than before. If the lights had been turned on, he was sure he’d left a red mark on each hand from all the shuffling he’d done. With nothing else to do, he’d closed his eyes to try to nap. It was then that his guard had decided to speak up.

When Ethan said he’d ruined everything, the prince rolled his eyes in disbelief. He couldn’t imagine how he could have ruined anything at all aside from making his own life worse for the next few hours or days. The rebels had gotten what they wanted. The sole heir to the throne was in their custody to do with as they pleased. If he hadn’t been in such a vulnerable state, he would have been tempted to ask Ethan what he thought he’d “ruined” just to ruffle him up. Unfortunately, he was acutely aware that if the guard decided to become violent, he was at his mercy. At least, he was until he figured out how to get out of his bonds.

[color=#b97703]“You may have made it out, but I hope [i]you [/i]realize my ‘stupid security’ is going to come at you with the full weight of the military behind them,”[/color] he pointed out blandly. In the back of his head, he knew he should keep his mouth shut, but a small part of him hoped that the rebels would suddenly comprehend the position they had put themselves in by kidnapping the kingdom’s crown prince. All the soldiers who had previously been monitoring other Scourge activity were about to be enlisted to achieve the same goal: to bring their future king back to the capital. His father would probably revoke some of the measures that had previously been in place to prevent the ongoing war from harming too many innocent civilians too. If he did that, the rebellion wouldn’t stand a chance.

[color=#b97703]“Even if you kill me, they’re still going to come for you,”[/color] he went on, looking up at Ethan through the shadows. [color=#b97703]“Since you brought me here, they never saw a body. They’ll have to assume I’m still alive, and they’ll raze the country to the ground until they find me. The only way you can save yourselves now is to let me go.”[/color] It was sort of a bluff. He wasn’t entirely sure. It was true that the military would raise hell to bring him back, but there were most likely other actions the rebels could take before they were found. If they had access to the internet to upload videos of him in his cell or even of someone shooting him in the head, he was screwed.

He was just starting to get his confidence back when Ethan said something that made him falter. The rebel knew somehow that he’d been smitten with Iris. [color=#b97703][i]She must have been in contact with him,[/i][/color] he thought, biting down on his lower lip as he tried to force down the pain that reared up inside of him. [color=#b97703][i]Or maybe she told him after they knocked me out.[/i][/color] He could picture them laughing at him for giving his heart away so easily. The image stung, and he clenched his hands into fists in a mixture of anger and humiliation.

[color=#b97703]“Shut up,”[/color] Cas muttered to the guard. He didn’t care that he’d just given away that the it was a sore subject for him right now. He just didn’t want to think about Iris anymore.