With Iris looking well enough to be left on her own, Jacob returned to the palace to resume his duties as the head of security. No one seemed to have noticed his absence, fortunately, and Caspian was still locked up in his room, so it was easy to slip back into place as one cog in the royal machine. He went back to work for the next few days, only checking in on Iris as needed to make sure she was still recovering and had enough supplies to last in between his visits. And once the pattern was established, he kept it up for the rest of the following month. Every three days, he would drop by the condo to see her and restock groceries, stay for no more than one hour, and then drive back to the palace as if he had just been on a lunch break. If any of his colleagues noticed the slight change to his schedule, they didn’t say anything about it.

Meanwhile, Caspian took the same month to readjust to life as king—without Iris. Losing his father not long before her murder, it was difficult for him to pull himself out of the depression that gripped him for the first two weeks. At least with Atlas’s passing, he’d been able to grieve publicly. He had a reasonable excuse to keep a light schedule and give himself time and space away from other people until he’d moved on. However, since his relationship with Iris had been a secret, his mourning over her had to be done privately too. The only time he could let himself become emotional was when he was behind closed doors in the palace. It was exhausting, especially when he was roped into meetings that dragged on too long or when he had too many tasks to do with deadlines that were too close together.

Almost on a daily basis, he wished he wasn’t Aspiria’s king. He wished he could have been a normal guy in the capital with a normal life, normal friends and a normal girlfriend. Maybe if he hadn’t been born into the royal family, Iris wouldn’t have died. Maybe they could have been together, or, if not, then maybe at least she could have met someone else who was better for her and who wouldn’t have led her to such a horrible end. Whenever his emotions turned dark, it was difficult to escape from the guilt. He was convinced it was his fault that she was gone. As much as he wanted to choose his own life partner, he was starting to wonder if he father had been right. He should have just agreed to an arranged marriage after all. Apparently the only kind of woman he was cut out to be with was someone who already belonged to his world. It would have been a lot harder for him to hurt a princess.

Time was the only thing that helped him move forward. After the first two weeks, it steadily began to get easier for him to go about his routine. The pain of losing Iris never faded, but the kingdom wasn’t going to put everything on hold for him to get past her death completely. For the next two weeks following, he made a real effort to be the leader his country needed. It was his duty. Knowing that there were plenty of things that needed to be done, decisions that needed to be made, and legal changes that needed to be enacted, he pored over his work until the loss of his girlfriend was pushed to the back of his mind. He’d let her down, but he didn’t have to let the rest of his people down too.

His main agenda was the ongoing civil war. After seeing firsthand how it had ravaged the people of the outer districts, he wanted to end it as quickly as possible. While organizing the military to strike the rebels in the most meaningful points, he also worked with a well-spoken ambassador on composing a letter of peace that he hoped the leaders of the rebellion would be open to receiving. If they were willing to surrender, he could start implementing some of his plans to restore the districts that had been destroyed in the fighting. At the moment, he had no clue if they would listen though, so he didn’t hold out much hope that the letter would be received well.

Within the capital, life continued moving as if the war didn’t exist. The people went about their daily routines without fear or worry, operating their businesses, traveling to vacation spots, and organizing parties—the same parties he used to make appearances at before his father had died. It was a little surreal to see it all happening from a distance, but he was optimistic that would be changing soon. Later that evening—exactly one month after Ethan had killed Iris—the palace would be hosting its annual banquet to honor a few royal families from nearby kingdoms who had been longstanding allies of Aspiria. Cas had been going to the event since he was a kid, so he was looking forward to seeing old friends again and re-greeting the men and women his father had once seen as equals. The only thing he was nervous about was a letter he’d received from the king of Suphate a week before the event.

It wasn’t the first time the older man had tried to interest him in courting his daughter, but with Iris’s death still fresh in the background of his mind, it had almost stung to read an official proposal. Unlike the hints and prods of times past, the most recent message had been a formal offer to unite the bond between Aspiria and Suphate through Caspian’s marriage to Quincy’s oldest daughter, Raine. It had caught him off guard, and at first, he’d been disgusted that the other king would even suggest it—until he’d grounded himself in the reality that Quincy had no idea he’d just lost another woman that he cared about. He was making the offer because he thought it was a strong political move for their respective kingdoms. And, if he was honest, he could see the benefit of agreeing to the plan.

The civil war against the Scourge had been a drain on Aspirian resources for years, and an alliance with Suphate would be a powerful move against the enemies of the monarchy. It would show the people of the capital that their leadership was still strong and their country was still growing, and it would show the rebels that they were outmatched and outnumbered. Taking all emotion out of the equation, he had to admit the pros outweighed the cons. So, reluctantly, he sent an email back to the Suphate palace that he would agree to meet with Raine at the banquet.

Which was in one hour.

[color=#b97703]“Can anybody tell me where Jacob is?”[/color]

Craning his neck to peer over his shoulder, Cas frowned as the guard standing by his bedroom door shrugged at his question. He’d spent the last half hour getting ready, fussing over his clothes and hair like a teenager going on a date. All he’d committed to was talking to Quincy’s daughter, but he was still anxious about making a good first impression—Well, sort of first impression. They had met before when they were much younger, but it had been about ten years since the last time he’d seen Raine. He had no idea what she looked like or what kind of person she’d become, and he didn’t want her to think she was getting the short end of the stick if they found themselves in an arranged marriage. Doing his best to look presentable, he’d put on his favorite slate gray suit with a dark blue, silk tie and run a thin layer of gel through his hair.

“If that doesn’t impress the princess, I don’t know what will, Your Majesty,” one of the palace servants complimented when he noticed the king fiddling with his hair again.

[color=#b97703]“Thanks,”[/color] Cas sighed, frowning at his reflection. He still wished he was dressing up for Iris though. The thought of her cut him like a knife, and he took a deep breath to fight off a wince. [color=#b97703]“I hope you’re right.”[/color]