Crow clicked his tongue in mock disappointment when Penelope told him to stop his humming, “What? It’s just a bit of music.” While he enjoyed the fact that he was able to get inside her head so easily, he was a bit surprised to hear the sharpness in her tone. He supposed that in the more nonsensical part of his mind, he had hoped that she would still be at least a little friendly towards him, as she had been before. Instead, she was understandably furious with him for attempting to run away. She would likely never be kind to him again.

He frowned. He wasn’t sure why, but he was somehow upset that she had reverted to treating him like a common criminal. He had only gained her trust to use as a tool for his escape, but he found that he had come to genuinely enjoy her company. Bantering with her had been fun, and it had been nice to have someone on his side when William had been hostile. To lose that was surprisingly upsetting to him.

“Can’t you at least [i]try[/i] to look at this from my point of view?” Crow said abruptly, giving Penelope a frustrated look. “I’ve been locked up for an entire year, and then I’m only released find out that the king wants to send me on a ridiculous mission in another kingdom, where I could be wounded or even killed just so he can manipulate the neighboring ruler into merging their lands. If I fail, I may end up dead in some foreign land while he will still get what he wants through other, less convenient methods. If I succeed, I will receive no recognition, and the king will get all the glory for [i]my[/i] accomplishments.”

Crow kicked a small rock and watched it bounce into the river, getting swept away by the current as they walked along its bank. He sighed and went on in a quieter tone, “He hasn’t said it yet, but I know he’s planning to send me back to prison when I return. I’m just a tool to him, to be used and thrown away.” He looked up again. “So, yeah… of course I wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to get out of this mess. I don’t want to go back to a cell; I want to go home. Can you really say you don’t understand that?”