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Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

As a silence fell over the car, Caspian’s thoughts wandered to what he was going to do if his father didn’t come out of his stupor in time to handle the aftermath of the crisis. First and foremost, he knew he wanted to have Jacob assemble a task force to comb through the files they had on the Scourge. If a rebel hacker had infiltrated the system, they needed to remove the threat as quickly as possible. There was also the chance that they could trace the hacker’s source, although he wasn’t as confident about that. From what he knew about computers, it wasn’t hard for a tech savvy individual to throw their location as far away as another continent, so he planned to tell the security team to prioritize forcing them out rather than investing precious time into tracking them down.

He was drawn from his thoughts when Iris placed her hand over his. He’d been so caught up in everything that was going on that he’d forgotten that he had rested his hand on her leg. The realization that he’d left it there the whole time made him flush scarlet with embarrassment. “It’s fine,” he murmured, shaking his head. “There’s no way you could have known you get motion sick.” Her upset stomach was the least of his concerns. Leather seats could be cleaned if she became ill, but members of the rebellion could do quite a bit of damage if they were left unchecked for too long.

However, her following words made him feel even more chagrined. He knew she was just trying to empathize with him, but he hated how obvious his discomfort was to her. This was exactly why he wished he wasn’t the crown prince. Being next in line for the throne meant making hard decisions confidently and without faltering. If he couldn’t even send arrested terrorists to the interrogators without wincing, how was he supposed to handle the care of an entire country? He didn’t feel like he had what it took to step into his father’s shoes, and he wished the king was coherent, so he wouldn’t have to try.

“Thanks, but you shouldn’t have to do that,” he sighed, turning to Iris with a solemn frown. “It’s my duty to take care of these things. I’m sorry you even got wrapped up in it.”

“We’re landing now, Your Highness,” the pilot spoke up from the front seat.

Cas glanced at him and then fixed his gaze on the window again as the force of gravity shifted on the hover car with their descent. He could feel the change in the pit of his stomach, and the buildings outside seemed to grow larger as they neared the ground. The vehicle touched down gently behind the mansion—the royal family employed the best pilots in the nation—and everyone began unbuckling their seatbelts.

Once his was off, the prince climbed out of the car and circled around to help Iris, but Harry beat him to it. The bodyguard assisted her with her crutches, and he turned away from them both as two more security members approached the newly arrived group from the house. One of them was Jacob.

“Your Highness,” the guard bowed respectfully and righted himself again. “The other members of the council are gathering now to discuss the situation. The king will be unable to participate for another three hours, so they need you to attend as his proxy.”

“I’ll head over now,” Cas nodded to him and peered back at Iris with a helpless shrug. “Sorry, but I have to deal with this. If you’re still hungry for dinner, Harry can walk you to the dining room from the tarmac. I’ll meet up with you later.”

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Great! I'm really enjoying this part cx

Okay, it'll probably be like 4 hours before I've got time.

Cas will have a lot to do when they get back to the palace too, since his father can't legally make any decisions until his medication wears off. At the moment, he's the one who has to review all the reports that come in and work with the security team to figure out how the rebels breached the capital.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Okay! I'm doing a module for my online class right now and then I have another in-person class to go to in two hours, so I might not be able to reply until 3, Arizona time (we don't follow daylight savings, so I don't know what timezone I'm in right now xD)

And yeah, it was a tough decision for him ^^;

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I don't remember if we did or not, but I can come up with something :) I've got a couple ideas already.

Poor John xD Meanwhile, Naida is gushing lol

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow casted Penelope an affectionate smile when she placed her hand on top of his, listening to her explain the reasons why they had kept their relationship under wraps for so long. Each point she listed felt like shackles being shed. All the reasons why they had decided not to tell anyone were valid, but now they didn’t have a hold on them anyone. After more than two years of waiting, he and the knight were finally on the right track to get married and have a life together.

As Penelope went on to tell Naida about their history in Younis, he smirked at his sister’s reaction. “Wait, what?” Naida squawked incredulously, eyes darting between them as she processed the information. “You’ve been together that long? And when he was your prisoner? I have so many questions.”

“Such as?” Crow prompted her amusedly and glanced at Penelope. “We don’t have anything to hide anymore, so go ahead and ask.”

“Well…” the princess started thoughtfully. She went on to inquire about their relationship, and Crow answered each question honestly, letting Penelope fill in details as well if she wished. He told her about how they had first gotten together while they were still prisoner and guard in Younis, why they had lost touch after they returned to Brerra, how they had reconnected when the knight’s battalion had joined the warfront, how they had gotten back together when she had ended things with her last suitor, Gavin, and more. It felt good to finally open up to someone about the true story when everyone always seemed to make so many assumptions when they found out about their unorthodox history.

His sister made a great listener too. She hung on every word, enraptured by the tale he told. When she finally ran out of questions, she shook her head, “When I saw you two kiss today, I thought I was going to take credit for this courtship, but it sounds like you didn’t need me at all.”

“Not a bit,” Crow grinned in agreement and took a bite of his food. The servants had arrived with their plates during the time he had been telling the princess about their past.

“Either way, I’m happy,” Naida professed, beaming at them joyfully. “My best friend and my brother are going to get married!” She reached out to clasp Penelope’s hand across the table. “Is it too soon to welcome you to the family?”

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Just out for dinner at a Mexican restaurant in town ^^

Oh no xD She got motion sick so fast lol

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

I ended up having a last minute date with my husband, so I didn't get my post done until late anyway lol

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

“No,” Cas shook his head when Iris asked if attacks happened often. “I mean, it isn’t the first time it’s happened, but it’s rare for the Scourge to get into the capital since all the security changes that were implemented last year. They must have either bypassed the vetting process somehow, or we didn’t have them logged in the system as members of the rebellion.” Pondering it silently, he wondered if he should ask Jacob to check their computers for viruses. If an enemy hacker had accessed classified files on the rebellion, they could have done more than just remove a few names from the list of known rebels.

Sitting close enough to Iris to feel her become tense when the hover car took off, the prince glanced at her in mild surprise. She looked pale, as if the ride was frightening her or making her ill. He had grown up flying to and from the Maydestone mansion, so the airborne vehicles didn’t bother him in the slightest. Gazing out the windows at the city down below had always felt exhilarating. However, the amnesiac clearly didn’t feel the same way. Hoping to put her at ease, he placed a hand on her knee, though he didn’t try to talk to her in case she needed to focus on keeping herself calm.

Instead, he leaned forward to speak with Harry in the front seat, “So, what did my dad decide to do with the terrorists?”

The guard exchanged a tentative look with the pilot before turning to the prince, “His Majesty is currently unable to make that decision. He’s on too many medications to comply with competency laws.”

“Oh,” Cas frowned. It wasn’t entirely surprising to find out that the bedridden king had been drugged to the point of delirium, but that didn’t change the fact that it pained him to know that his father was in such poor condition. It was a good thing the security team had stopped the terrorists before they had been able to reach him. He drummed his fingers restlessly against his leg, “Well, where are they now?”

“In a secure holding cell,” Harry replied, looking forward again. “Interrogators are on standby until they receive the order to question the prisoners.”

Cas bit the tip of his tongue. He knew more than he cared to about the soldiers’ interrogation techniques. Most of them were veritable torture, using physical and psychological pain to coerce an enemy to give up their valuable secrets. Usually the king personally took charge of such drastic measures, but if he was unable to legally call the shots, then the heir to the throne was next in line to give them the greenlight. The thought of sentencing anyone to such brutal treatment made him squirm, but they were killers who had just tried to assassinate his father. He took a steeling breath and tuned into the security team’s frequency.

“Jacob?” he spoke the name and then paused as he waited for a response.

I’m here, Your Highness, the guard’s voice transmitted through the earpiece a second later.

Cas swallowed, “Tell the soldiers to go ahead with the interrogation.”

Of course. I’ll send the word now.

With a sigh, the prince turned off his receiver, and Harry glanced at him over his shoulder. “It was the right call,” he assured him.

“I know,” Cas muttered, leaning into the side door of the car to watch the city buildings roll by as they flew overhead. It might have been the right call, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Nice! I'm mostly going to be writing how Crow copes with being forced to court Felicia. I think he'll be completely against it at first and slowly give up on fighting back until they come up with another solution for the peace treaty.

William is like a kid who didn't get his way xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow leaned into the kiss as Penelope brought her hand to his cheek, equally ecstatic and relieved that they could finally be together without fear of repercussions. It was the first time he’d ever felt so at peace about their relationship. Even though there were some who would wag their tongues in disapproval, no one could do or say anything to pull them apart. It was freeing to know that their fathers’ consent could offer so much protection. Even if the rest of the kingdom casted them disgusted scowls, all they needed was the approval of John and Albin to court in the open.

When Penelope pulled back, he mirrored her grin. Most of the people whom he’d wanted to witness their first major display of affection were present in the Great Hall. He could see them gawping and glaring with the realization that their opportunities to grab for power had disappeared with the passionate kiss. Particularly, he noticed Elizabeth swear and avert her gaze. She had said that she’d given up on pursuing him, but he could tell she was upset about “losing” to a woman she considered beneath her. He also caught sight of Kane and a few other noblemen take on disappointed looks. Their frustration gave him a smug sense of satisfaction, knowing that they couldn’t try to use the knight for her rising stardom in the inner kingdom anymore.

Most amusing of all was William, who looked completely enraged by the scene they had caused. Crow watched as the older knight stormed over to John, probably with the intent to convince him to break off their courtship. He rolled his eyes. Even though their relationship didn’t affect the other man in the slightest, it seemed he couldn’t bear to let them be together. He found it petty that William would continue to try to keep them apart more than two years after their mission in Younis, when their lives had diverged so far from his that they rarely even spoke to one another.

“Think so?” he turned back to Penelope with a playful smirk, sitting down beside her on the bench. As he did, he slipped his arm around her middle and squeezed her against his side in a half embrace before letting go again. Almost as soon as his hand was back in his own lap, he started at the sound of a gleeful voice.

“Oh my gods, oh my gods!” Naida squealed, rushing over to their table from where she had been sitting with a group of her fellow knights. “It took you two long enough! Are you finally courting?”

Crow laughed. “Calm down,” he chided her with a wave of his hand, though truthfully he found her excitement bolstering in a room full of people who weren’t nearly as happy as the princess. “But yes,” he confirmed with a nod and a fond smile at Penelope. “Her father gave us his blessing a few days ago, and the king approved it this morning.”

“What?” Naida gaped at them. “Wait, you’ve been planning this for days? Why did you keep telling me you weren’t interested in each other?”

“Because you don’t know how to keep your mouth shut,” Crow smiled at her slyly and leaned across the table to lower his voice. “Want to know a secret? We’ve actually been together for almost half a year.”

“You’re lying,” his sister’s eyes widened as round as disks.

“Nope,” he shook his head and pressed a kiss to Penelope’s cheek. “She’s the reason why I accepted the title of viceroy and left behind my life as a thief.”

“You know, I always knew there was something going on between you two,” the princess asserted and then turned to the lieutenant with a frown. “But if you were together the whole time, why did you pretend like you were just friends until now?”