Crow nodded faintly when Penelope told him not to be sorry. He was glad she understood that he needed to go. Even though he would have preferred to escape so he could stay with her in the outer villages, this was something he knew was just going to weigh on his mind if he didn’t do it now. He had to find out what his father wanted from him, despite the fact that he felt quite certain that he would have a difficult time speaking civilly to the man who had abandoned his family.

That was something else that was worrying him. He had decided to face Albin, but he didn’t know the first thing to say to him. Of course, he knew what he wanted to say. He wanted to tell the king off for everything the man had put his mother through; he wanted to yell and fight, not stand back and have a peaceful conversation. Just thinking about it now made his heart pound with adrenaline. However, he doubted it would be possible for him to do any of that. Albin was the ruler of Brerra. The man could have him imprisoned in a heartbeat if he spoke out as harshly as he wished to. So, no matter how badly the thief craved to speak his mind to his father, he knew he couldn’t do it.

[color=fff79a][b]“What if I could go with you?”[/b][/color]

Crow blinked as Penelope’s voice caught his attention and looked down to meet her gaze while she went on to explain her reasoning. As she spoke, he felt a pulse of excitement rush through him. The idea of bringing her along when he confronted his father was more than just a little appealing to him. She had always been able to calm him down when his temper had flared up in the past, so if she was able to be by his side when he stood before Albin, he might actually be able to muster up the restraint to carry out a full conversation with the man without landing himself behind bars for lashing out at the king.

“Do you really think you could get away?” he asked, his hopefulness seeping into his voice as he held her gaze. “I mean, I’d love to have you along, but how will you be able to convince your baroness to let you go?”