Crow smiled as Penelope kissed him on the cheek and walked with her to the door that led out of the room. He was glad that she seemed to be feeling at least a little better now. Though her reason for speaking with the king was vastly different than his, he could understand how she could be feeling so distraught about facing the man. After all, he had been a nervous wreck the day before, when he’d had to have an audience with his father for the first time. With the memory still fresh in his head, it was easy for him to empathize with her.

At her following question, he took a moment to think it over before replying, “I don’t know. He’s… definitely not what I was expecting him to be.” He reached for the door handle and pulled it open, allowing Penelope to step through first before he followed her into the corridor. After casting a quick look around to make sure they were still alone, he went on in a low voice, “I was honestly thinking he would be like most of the other nobles I’ve met in the past: arrogant, selfish, stubborn…” He shook his head. “Instead, he was actually [i]kind[/i] to me. He even apologized for everything he’d done to my mother before too. I wasn’t planning to ever forgive him for abandoning us, but… the way he explained his reasoning made it hard for me to stay mad at him.”

He fell quiet as a servant bustled past them with a basket full of richly-colored clothing, waiting until the girl was far enough away from them for him to continue. “I suppose I’m mostly just confused now,” he sighed once they were alone again. “My mother used to tell me he was a terrible and greedy man, but my father said he was just young and foolish and made a mistake, which is I can understand because I’ve done similar things.” He winced as the memory of how he’d hurt Hazel resurfaced in his mind. “But even now, your father has been warning me not to trust him. I’m inclined to believe everyone who’s known my father better than I do, but… it’s hard to do when he seems like a genuinely kind man.

“Plus, there’s the matter of his offer to me,” Crow turned to meet Penelope’s gaze with a deep frown. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I just can’t understand why someone as greedy as the man my mother told me about would give a thief such an honored title.” He lowered his gaze thoughtfully to the polished marble floor of the hallway. “He said he wants to make up for the wrongs of his past, but if he’s lying, then what other reason could there be? No matter how I look at it, his reputation is going to take a hit if I accept the position. I can’t see how he would gain anything by hiring me over any other noble in the kingdom. His explanation is the only one that makes sense, but if it’s really true, then I don’t see how he could possibly be the same person your father and my mother described to me.”

The thief ran a hand perplexedly through his hair. “I don’t know… It’s hard for me to have an opinion of the man when I’m getting such conflicting images of him.” He looked up again to meet the knight’s gaze searchingly. “What do you think about my father? You’ve been working for him for a while now, right? Surely you must have some sort of opinion of him.”