As the wench walked away with their orders, the knights returned to their boring conversation. Crow let his eyes rove across the room again. There were few other commoners in the restaurant. He suspected the men and women who frequented this place were mostly travelers or wandering merchants, since locals in the outer villages didn’t usually waste money on eating outside of their homes. Many of them grew their own food or bartered for it at a communal market so they could afford to pay their taxes to the king at the end of the season. To eat in a diner such as this one was a luxury to the average peasant.

His green eyes rested on a table of rowdy young men seated at the other end of the room. He felt a pang of envy. Their high spirits and boisterousness reminded him of his life before prison, when he would wander from town to town in search of worthy targets to rob. The thought made him feel nostalgic, so he pushed it away. No point dwelling on what once was when he could work on what was to come. If everything went according to plan, he would be the one sitting at a table with other villagers by the same time tomorrow. 

Layth’s reaction to the peasants was much bitterer. He glowered at them in annoyance and muttered under his breath, “Why must commoners be so loud?”

“They’re just having fun,” Crow rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair, meeting the knight’s gaze evenly. “You know, laughing is a surprisingly enjoyable activity. You should try it sometime.”