Crow shrugged when Penelope explained that Gavin had been chosen by her father. He supposed it made sense. From the little he knew of noble courtship, it seemed like suitors were often chosen by the woman’s parents, and she was obviously no exception. Thinking back on his one encounter with John during their last mission, it also made sense that he would have selected someone as work-focused as Gavin for his daughter. Although, he had to wonder why John arranged their marriage in the first place. He had thought that Penelope’s father had wanted her to become a knight rather than settle down. Had something changed his mind?

Deciding it probably wasn’t the best idea to ask her while Olivia and Gavin were around, he kept the question to himself. Instead, he planted a quick kiss on her cheek and reached to take her hand. “Well, it’s too late to stop him now,” he said, following the others as they walked on ahead. “We might as well try not to give him another reason to be angry with me.”

As they continued towards Aramoor, another thought passed through Crow’s mind that made him frown. If Penelope’s engagement had been arranged by her father, was it really broken off just because she had said she didn’t want to marry Gavin? It sounded like the power to terminate the courtship rested with John. 

[i]Maybe that’s why Gavin didn’t try very hard to keep her from leaving him for me,[/i] he mused with a shudder. If her father really was the one who had the final say on her marriage to the knight, then it might be harder than they thought to get her out of it. The thought was upsetting to him.

“Hey,” he said softly, casting her a concerned glance and slowing his pace a bit to put some more distance between them and the others. “If your courtship was arranged by your father, then what’s going to happen if he finds out you left your suitor before the war ends?” He held her gaze searchingly. He wanted to believe John wouldn’t cause them any trouble when they eventually left to be together in the outer villages, but that hope was looking less and less likely the more he thought about it. “Don’t tell me he’d rush your marriage,” he stepped a bit closer to her, as if the gesture could somehow prevent her father from taking her away.