Even as he gripped Iris’s arm to stop her from wriggling out of his hand, Jacob’s mind was racing as he pieced together what was going on. He remembered that Caspian had taken an interest in this girl before any of them had known that she was a rebel, and even after she’d turned him over to her comrades, his infatuation hadn’t seemed to die out. Apparently he was still so taken with her that he was willing to betray the trust of his military and his people in order to keep her around. If anyone else found out he was hiding a member of the Scourge under the soldiers’ noses, there would be irreparable consequences. So, even though he harbored some respect for the young king, he wasn’t going to take this situation lightly. The more Iris fought against him, the tighter he held her arm, determined not to let her get away. It didn’t matter to him that Caspian was interested in her. She was an enemy of the state and a threat to the monarchy. He was especially concerned about the influence she had over Atlas’s son, since they were meeting in secret where she was the only voice in his ear. It wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that she was planting seeds to turn him against his own kingdom or to convince him to do something he would regret. If either case was true, he wouldn’t hesitate to drag her out of the suite and lock her in a prison cell no matter what his liege had to say about it. When Iris began talking, the guard was slightly thrown by her claim of wanting to go home followed by a mention of how it wasn’t possible for her to leave the capital. She didn’t sound like someone who was very invested in whatever sort of arrangement she and King Caspian had brewed up. However, he wasn’t going to simply take her word at face value. She was a fugitive who had just been found by someone who had every right to arrest her on the spot, so it could have been a desperate ploy to escape. “Yes, you [i]shouldn’t[/i] be here,” Jacob growled. He didn’t care about her comment about being unable to leave, but he could at least acknowledge that she’d gotten one thing right. If she was going to be in the capital, then she should have been locked away where she couldn’t do any more damage. But he wasn’t just there to slap her on the wrist and walk away. “I want you to tell me exactly what’s been going on between you and the king,” he demanded roughly. “We can start with when this charade began. How long have you been hiding here?”