In the weeks that had followed Iris’s disappearance, it had become easier for Caspian to think and talk about her to other people. Of course, he still missed her like a lost limb and felt the familiar tightness in his chest whenever her face appeared in his mind, but the passage of days replaced some of his sadness with more palatable emotions like frustration, bitterness and even a little indignation that she had chosen to leave him without so much as a goodbye. Even though things had soured between them, he felt like he was owed at least that much.

He’d gone out of his way to protect her from the military and had stayed completely loyal even when his relationship with her was to his own detriment. He had promised her that he wouldn’t go anywhere even when it was difficult for them to see each other in person. And although he knew he had been selfish at the end of it all, not all of their problems had been his fault. He couldn’t control his own schedule anymore, yet he’d still followed through on his promises to her—even if they had happened on a delayed timetable.

All of his emotions stirred up like dust as he filled Jay and Miles in on everything that had happened since they’d last seen each other. For their part, his friends listened patiently and didn’t interrupt. He could see the empathy on Miles’ face while Jay nodded along with his arms crossed over his chest and a deep frown on his lips. There wasn’t time to give them every detail of his relationship with the former rebel, but it still felt good to have some support from more people than just his bodyguard. As much as he appreciated Jacob’s attempts to help, the stoic man wasn’t the best shoulder to lean on while he was going through the thick of the breakup. Most of his solutions to deal with the hurt ended in a bottle of liquor or more tasks on his to-do list, so he would be too busy to think about his girlfriend.

When he finished catching them up, there was a short silent pause before Miles shook his head. “Well… I guess on the bright side, things can’t get worse than they are now, right?” he offered, propping an elbow on the table to rest his chin in his hand. “You’re gonna be on the up and up from here, man. No more girls to drag you down.”

Jay knocked him in the shoulder. “That still sucks though. I’m sorry she bailed on you, Cas.”

[color=#b97703]“It was going to happen eventually,”[/color] Cas lifted his shoulders, swirling the remains of the whiskey in his glass. [color=#b97703]“I think Jacob was right. It’s better that it happened now than it would’ve been if she broke up with me after everyone in Aspiria knew we were together… I was really close to making it public knowledge. Removed her criminal charges and everything the same day she left.”[/color]

“Yeah, you dodged a bullet there,” Miles agreed. “So… are you gonna reverse the charges again to put them back on her?”

[color=#b97703]“No, I’m not that petty,”[/color] Cas managed a smile. [color=#b97703]“I don’t like how things ended, but I still believe Iris is a good person. She doesn’t deserve to go to prison just because she broke up with me on a piece of paper.”[/color]

“You’re a better man than I am,” Jay quipped.

Cas and Miles laughed and the three friends fell into a more lighthearted conversation that was relieving to the king now that he’d gotten the worst part out of the way. They watched the game he’d put up on the TV, downed a few more cocktails and cracked jokes at one another’s expense like they always had before Atlas had passed away. The night helped to take his mind off everything that had been stressing him, and by the end of it, he could even say he was in a genuinely good mood for the first time since he’d found the executive suite empty.

Around eleven, he walked his friends to the door and then headed up to his room to get ready for bed. Fortunately, he didn’t have much scheduled for the next day, so he could set his alarm late and sleep off the alcohol that still lingered in his system. With a plan to do just that, he showered and went through his usual hygiene routine and then climbed under his duvet, plugging in his phone on the side table to charge overnight.

He had just gotten it put away and rolled over to sleep when he noticed the screen light up with an incoming message. He shook his head to himself. Assuming Miles had left something behind at the palace, he turned back over to skim the text—and then promptly sat up on his bed as he read it again.

[color=#b97703][i]Girlfriend?[/i][/color] The color drained from his face, and he opened the message fully to find an attached photo of the last person he’d expected to appear in his inbox. His hands shook, and he swallowed hard, his mind racing as he labored to put together the pieces of what was happening. Was it a sick joke? Who would have even sent the text in the first place? He knew of one person who would call Iris his girlfriend, but how could that man have gotten ahold of his personal number? It didn’t make any sense.

With a tremor in his fingers, he typed back furiously:

[center][b]Who is this? What happened to Iris?[/b][/center]
In the back of his head, he knew it would have been smarter to alert Jacob immediately. Someone had gotten his contact information without the security team’s permission, and he didn’t know exactly who he was speaking with. However, the sight of Iris, beaten and bloodied on the ground, had swept away all sense of reason. The only thing he cared about was getting answers.