Crow laughed softly when Penelope said she was the light at the end of the tunnel for him. “You most certainly were,” he grinned, giving her hand another squeeze. “And a bright one, at that.” His pulse jumped slightly as another wave of joy hit him at the thought of her being his. He felt so lucky to be with her; he would have kissed her again if they weren’t trying to cover ground quickly.

As Penelope began to tell him more about her mother, he grew quiet and listened. He found it sad that she only knew about her mother from someone who didn’t like the woman. She must have been an incredible person to have won over Penelope’s father so completely that he had abandoned his life as a nobleman to be with her.

He wondered if Penelope had ever thought about doing the same for him. They both avoided bringing up the subject of the future since everything was so complicated, but he couldn’t help being curious. After all, it was impossible for him to be a noble like her. Sure, his father was an ambassador, but the man had never reached out to Crow before and, frankly, Crow didn’t know if he wanted him to try. He had fallen for Penelope, but he still despised other nobles and their way of life. He couldn’t imagine trying to adopt their ways.

[i]If Penelope is willing to give up everything she knows for me, I should be willing to do the same for her,[/i] he thought, although he doubted they would ever be in a situation where that would be possible for him. Even if his father somehow tried to un-disown him, the king still despised him. He would never allow a thief in his royal courts.

Crow glanced at Penelope as she became quiet. When she met his gaze again, her expression was different than before—curious, but also slightly nervous. He eyed her inquisitively, wondering what she was so apprehensive to ask him.

After a moment, she finally spoke, [color=fff79a][b]“Crow, what is your real name? Y-You don’t have to answer… You can tell me something else if you prefer… I was just curious.”[/b][/color]

He blinked, caught off guard by the question. It had been so long ago that he had forgotten about mentioning to her that the name ‘Crow’ was an alias. He shook his head and sighed, “No, I told you I was going to be honest. Besides,” he smiled at her affectionately. “You deserve to know the name of the man you said you love.”

Crow shifted his weight slightly and averted his gaze as they walked. It had been almost a decade since he had last heard anyone use his real name. In fact, he doubted anyone who was still alive knew it besides himself. [i]Someone else should know,[/i] he resolved, slowing to a stop.

He met Penelope’s gaze once more, taking a steeling breath before finally replying: “My real name is Collin… Collin Lockton.”