That night, Caspian didn’t get much sleep, but the hours he spent lying awake under the covers gave him all the time he needed to mull over his dismal fate and hatch a plan to avoid it. Until now, he had never refused to follow his father’s orders, even when the tasks he fulfilled left a bitter taste in his mouth. This time, though, the king had pushed him too far. He would never willingly walk through the doors of an asylum to be locked up and veritably brainwashed into believing that he needed psychiatric treatment.

He’d never visited Eternity Meadows before, but he’d heard a few vague stories and rumors about the place over the years. If the whispers were to be believed, the doctors there would prescribe him strong drugs that would leave him in a stupor while they “corrected” his mental ailment, so he wouldn’t be a “danger” to himself, and he wouldn’t be allowed to leave until they deemed him cured. It was cruel and unusual to do to anyone, but it was especially so for someone who was being admitted because of a disagreement with his father. Just thinking about it made him seethe with resentment, and before dawn broke, he decided.

It was time for him to shed his chains and disappear.

The following morning, he was woken up around eight by a maid who stopped by his room to let him know that he had a lesson scheduled with his economics tutor at nine. He was quietly polite with her and climbed out of bed to take a shower and eat breakfast, hiding his roiling emotions underneath a docile mask. For now, he would let Atlas think he’d won. He’d go along with whatever plans the king had for him: attend his lessons, pack his duffle bag for the asylum, do any odd jobs that would keep from rousing anyone’s suspicions that he had a plan of his own. However, as he slid a shirt over his head to head down to the kitchen, he sent Miles a quick text:

[center][b]Hey man, something came up. I won’t be over this morning. Expect me to swing by later in the evening and I’ll explain everything then.[/b][/center]
With that done, he tucked his phone away in his pocket and made his way downstairs, his heart pounding with adrenaline in his chest. A part of him was nervous that he was making the wrong decision, but his father had given him no other choice. If his options were between being locked up in a mental institution and running, he was going to choose the latter. It wasn’t even a question. He just hoped the scheme he’d come up with overnight would be enough for him and Iris to get away without being caught.