Jacob took Iris’s silence as compliance. Without asking her again to verify it, he pulled his car forward with the slowly moving line until they reached the uniformed guards at the edge of the city. Each one was dressed in the army colors of Aspiria and toted heavy weaponry that was usually more for intimidation than actual use. The rebellion had been quiet for weeks, so the soldiers hadn’t been required to do much more than stand at their posts and keep a lookout for signs of anything changing.

He brought his car to an easy stop at the gate and rolled his window down as one of the men strode over to look inside the cab. Fortunately, it was someone he knew, and he greeted him with a nod of acknowledgement when they made eye contact. “Garret, it’s been a while,” he mused.

“Good to see you again, Jacob,” the guard smiled, though his brows were quirked with slight bemusement. “What’re you doing all the way out here? No one told me you were gonna be passing through today.”

“Escort assignment,” Jacob lifted his shoulders as he gave the vague answer and gestured at Iris in the passenger seat. “I can’t give you too many details, but I won’t be out of the capital for long. I have some other work to do at the palace when I get back.”

Garret bowed his head to get a look at the girl sitting next to him through the window. Jacob held his breath while the other man studied her face, hoping to himself that he wouldn’t recognize her from the wanted posters around the city. After a moment, the other man simply nodded and took a step back again, and Jacob let out a silent sigh as the guard signaled to another soldier to open the gate.

“Well, it was good to see you even though it was brief,” Garret shot him a grin. “We should get drinks and catch up sometime, man.”

“I’ll let you know when I have some time off,” Jacob promised, although he didn’t know when that would be. As the head of security for the royal family, he worked seven days a week and was always on call, even during his off hours. It was an all-consuming job that demanded the utmost sacrifice from the person who accepted the duties that came with it, which was why he rarely ever went out on dates or with old friends anymore.

He’d accepted the good and the bad of his work long ago though. Letting the reminder of his busyness roll off his shoulders, he put his car in drive again and continued on through the open gate to bring Iris back to her home.