When Iris pointed out that he was hurt, Cas brushed off the observation with a half shrug. She wasn’t wrong. He’d come off pretty terribly after his scuffle with Thomas, even though he’d tried his best to win. The only good thing was that he could say “you should see the other guy.” The prince had come away with damaged ribs and a mottling of bruises, but the rebel had left with a broken nose. As petty as it was, a vengeful part of him hoped that the nose would heal crooked, just so Thomas would never forget their fight.

However, he didn’t feel like talking about the pain he was in. Dwelling on it wouldn’t change what had happened, and he was sure she would just blame herself again if he acknowledged it. At the moment, he preferred to focus on the bruises on her neck that Ethan had caused when he’d choked her. She seemed to be doing okay, but that didn’t change the fact that he was concerned about her wellbeing. Watching her ex-boyfriend shove her to the ground and try to kill her had been infuriating as it had been terrifying. Now that they finally had a moment to catch their breaths and check their wounds, he wanted to see how she was doing.

Gingerly, he reached out to brush her long hair away from her neck and frowned as his gaze fell on her budding bruises. She didn’t answer his question, but he was sure she was hurting too. Again, he wished they had access to the capital’s advanced medicines. There was a salve they could have gotten from the pharmacy to ease the ache of their injuries. He remembered that when he’d used it on the bruises he’d gotten when he played rugby that it was an effective treatment for minor wounds.

[color=#b97703]“Maybe,”[/color] he sighed, unconvinced when she tried to suggest that her father might see reason. After his first encounter Regis, he’d been thoroughly convinced that there wasn’t even a sliver of morality left in the man’s heart. If there was anyone who wanted to see him dead, it was the leader of the rebellion. But that wasn’t all. [color=#b97703]“I don’t think it would matter though,”[/color] he went on, searching her eyes with a concerned expression. [color=#b97703]“Ethan said your dad is in ‘retirement,’ so I don’t think he has the power to make that decision anymore. It sounds like it’s up to Ethan to decide what to do with us, and you know how he feels about me.”[/color]

He was reluctant to get his hopes up now that he had been caught by the rebels a second time. Before, he’d had Iris to break him out of his cell, but this time, they were both trapped with no way out. So, when she mentioned his father, he dropped his gaze to the cement floor. [color=#b97703]“That’s assuming he was looking at all,”[/color] he muttered pessimistically, still residually frustrated and disappointed that Atlas didn’t seem to care that he was gone. In fact, that was the worst part. If he died at the hands of the rebels, he would most likely die alone. No one else in the prison cared about him besides Iris, and honestly, he would have preferred if she wasn’t with him, just because it could mean that she would survive after everything was over.

With nervousness fluttering in his stomach like frantic bird wings, he sat himself down on the edge of the bed and leaned lightly into her side, taking solace in her presence while they were still together.