Cas laughed softly, [color=#b97703]“I’ll do my best not to annoy you then.”[/color] He was glad that Iris was feeling well enough to joke with him over the phone. Even though he spent most of his day aching for that late evening phone call from her, there was a part of him that worried she would sound upset with him when she rang. She had every right to be mad. He’d up and left her stranded at a hotel with no company and not much to keep her entertained aside from the TV. The suite was little more than a glorified jail cell too, since she couldn’t even leave the room while his father’s warrant was still in effect. He still needed to figure out how to undo it, so she would no longer have to stay hidden from the guards that patrolled the capital.

Despite her quip about his name, the way she hesitated when he asked how she was doing raised a red flag in the back of the prince’s mind. He frowned at the silence that reached him almost palpably across the line. Maybe she wasn’t doing as well as he’d thought. She even seemed to confirm his suspicion when she finally told him that she was ‘alright’ and brushed off her answer as merely exhaustion. He didn’t buy it. [color=#b97703]“I’m sorry,”[/color] he sighed, leaning his head back into his pillow. For a moment, he debated if he should let her know that he didn’t believe her excuse, but they didn’t have much time to talk lately. Arguing about it wouldn’t change the fact that her situation was less than ideal, so he reluctantly let the subject drop.

[color=#b97703]“It really is,”[/color] he shook his head even though he knew she couldn’t see him. [color=#b97703]“I feel like I barely have time to breathe. Everyone wants something from me all the time, so I’m just running back and forth trying to get to all of their requests, while Jacob sends guys to make sure I don’t fall behind on the itinerary the PR team has set up every day. It’s a lot more stressful than it was when I was just lined up to take over as king.”[/color] Even though his father had done his best to prepare him for the inevitable power shift, he didn’t feel ready at all now that he was actually here. He hadn’t realized just how busy he would be when he was crowned as Aspiria’s next leader. He even had a little newfound respect for Atlas for dealing with everything while he was on bedrest. Monarchs had a lot of expectations on their shoulders.

A smile crossed his lips when Iris told him that she’d watched the coronation. He’d expected it, since there wasn’t anything else for her to do while she was locked up at the [i]Sunset Veil[/i]. However, hearing her confirm it and tell him that she thought he would do a good job of keeping to his word stirred a warm feeling inside his chest. [color=#b97703]“I hope you’re right,”[/color] he said, bringing his free hand up to rest behind his head. They would find out soon enough anyway. He was ill-equipped to take over, but he was smart enough to realize that his new duties as king would start the next morning. A shiver trickled up his spine at the thought. He wondered what kind of tasks he’d have to dip his feet into first. Some of the things he’d sworn to do didn’t settle well inside of him.

[color=#b97703]“I don’t care as long as you ate something,”[/color] he insisted with another pointless shake of his head. [color=#b97703]“I just need to know that you’re taking care of yourself and that the next time we see each other, you won’t be rail thin.”[/color] When she asked him about his own dinner, he thought back to the banquet. [color=#b97703]“I had a lot more to eat than you did. That’s for sure,”[/color] he mused. [color=#b97703]“Lobster frittata, roasted brussels sprouts, orzo pasta, and some other stuff that I don’t know the name of. It was all good though… The orzo was a simpler dish than I usually eat. You might like it. If you want, I could see if any restaurants around here make it and have it delivered to your room, so you can try it.”[/color]