When Penelope agreed to stick around a little longer, Crow grinned and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. It wasn’t much, but he would take every second with her that he could get. He didn’t let go of her hand either as they followed Otto and Rayner out of the room to wait at the front of the inn. Although he hadn’t appreciated the way the baron had been rushing them until now, he had a feeling he wouldn’t object very much once they crossed into Younis. The sooner they made it to the foreign castle, the sooner he could parley with the king and they could return to Brerra with the good news that the war was over. At least, that was what he hoped would happen. In reality, there were still a number of things that could go wrong with the trip, but he was choosing to stay optimistic. The best he could do was hope that everything went according to plan.

At the sound of Naida’s voice, he turned his head to see that his sister had trotted up to walk on Penelope’s other side. She was pouting as usual, but he couldn’t blame her for being disappointed that the knight was going to be leaving them soon. He was a little tempted to sulk about it as well.

“Me too,” he mused when Penelope said she had a good feeling about reaching an agreement with Younis. “I heard the ambassador is very persuasive.”

“He better be,” Naida shot him a stern glance. “The castle is so dull without my best friend around. I want this war to be over, so she can come back as fast as possible.”

“Not to mention all the people who would die if this thing drags on any longer than it already has,” Crow rolled his eyes dryly.

“That too,” the princess shrugged.

The viceroy shook his head. His sister wasn’t a bad person, but every once in a while, he was reminded of how detached she was from the people who lived beyond the inner kingdom. She probably had no idea how terrible the war had been for the peasants who lived on the border. And how could she? From what he’d heard, it sounded like Albin never let her leave the inner kingdom. He wondered if he would ever find the opportunity to bring her to the northern villages, where he could show her what life was like for him and all the other commoners who didn’t have the luxury of growing up surrounded by wealth and prestige.

As they stepped outside to wait for Preston and Percival to return from the stables, another thought seemed to cross Naida’s mind. “Oh, Penelope,” she brightened, turning to her friend with a broad smile. “Tell Olivia I said hi. I can’t wait to see her too when everyone comes back from the warfront!”