Crow chewed on the inside of his lip as Penelope told him that when Albin had risen to power, not much had changed in the inner kingdom. He didn’t know what to make of that. On one hand, his father had only been king for less than a year, so he hadn’t had very much time to enact any changes as the new ruler of Brerra. However, he was a little put off to know that his style of leadership didn’t seem very different from the last greedy king. He knew that if he had been put in the same position, he would have begun to change the way the kingdom was run right away.

[i]Then again, I’m not a noble,[/i] he argued with himself as they rounded the corner of the hallway. [i]I don’t know how rulemaking works around here. Maybe it’s more complicated than I think.[/i] No matter what he found out about Albin, it was difficult for him to make a judgement call about a man he barely knew. He didn’t want to decide that his father was the greedy man his mother claimed that he was when he might be mistaken about the efforts the king had really made to better the kingdom. Similarly, he didn’t want to side with his father when there could be something he was missing. He sighed to himself. The more he tried to solve the puzzle, the more frustrating everything became.

Crow turned to Penelope as she went on to tell him why she was confused too. Like the other things she had told him about his father, he didn’t know what to think of the new information. It almost seemed like there were two completely separate men on the throne. One version of his father was adored by the public and came across like a fair and just man, while the other was despised for being selfish and cruel. He wished there was a way for him to find out which picture was the real one.

As Penelope suggested that he should talk to her father to learn why the older knight hated Albin, he nodded. “I might just do that,” he exhaled. “It would be nice to finally start getting some answers, and I have a feeling I’ll just end up more confused if I only talk to my father.”

“Well, well. Look at you two, together again.”

Crow looked up at the sound of a bitter voice, only to see that William was walking towards them from an adjoining corridor. It seemed the knight had been serious when he’d told them he planned to keep a close eye on them while they stayed in the castle. He rolled his eyes. “Oh, just drop it, would you?” he said dryly. “We’ve already let go of the past. Why can’t you?”

“Because I’m not a gullible fool,” William growled. “You both managed to trick me once. I will not let that happen again.”

“You’re wasting your time,” Crow shrugged, folding his arms over his chest as he met the other man’s gaze evenly.

“I’m sure I’m not,” William argued coldly. “Besides,” he narrowed his eyes. “I dislike knowing there’s a thief wandering freely in the castle. Regardless of who was officially assigned to guard you, I intend to make sure you don’t touch anything you’re not supposed to, myself.”

“Go ahead,” Crow waved his hand apathetically. “I already told you: I’m here on invitation from the king. I have no intention of ruining my welcome by stealing.”

“Snake. I know you’re lying through your teeth.”

“Perhaps,” Crow’s eyes wandered to a nearby window as he began to lose interest in the conversation. “Or maybe your time would be better spent patrolling the hallways for [i]real[/i] threats instead of harassing His Majesty’s guest.”

“Nice try,” William curled his lip. “But I’m not going anywhere. Given both of your history,” he gestured at Crow and Penelope in turn. “I plan to stay quite close and make sure you have a guard who won’t let you get away with your usual antics, thief.”