Crow listened bemusedly as Penelope and Naida spoke. He found it funny that Penelope would befriend one of the members of the royal family without realizing who she was, but when Olivia’s name was thrown into the mix, it began to make more sense to him. He snorted softly. Of course the chaos-loving knight would want to keep her friend in the dark about Naida’s relationship to the king. However, he was a bit surprised that his own sister had never mentioned it to her before.

He casted her a sidelong glance. Now that he thought about it a little more, he supposed that made sense too though. Even though he hadn’t known her for longer than the afternoon, she struck him as a bit easily distracted. It was likely that she had merely forgotten to tell Penelope about her status as a princess and just never brought it up in conversation afterwards. The thought caused an amused smile to form on his lips. Whatever had caused the confusion between them, he was enjoying seeing Penelope’s shocked reaction now.

As the knight congratulated them, Naida beamed. “Thanks! I can’t wait to show him around the inner kingdom.” She nudged Crow playfully. “You’re going to love it here.”

“Again, I never said I would take the job,” the thief shook his head.

“But you never said you wouldn’t either,” his sister smirked at him cunningly. “I’m certain you’ll take it. This place grows on you.”

“We’ll see,” Crow said noncommittally. “Just don’t get your hopes up, alright?”

“Too late for that,” Naida snickered and then sighed through her nose. “It’s going to be nice having another brother around here. Braden’s great, but he’s such a stickler for father’s rules. I can tell you’ll be much more fun, Crow.” Suddenly, her eyes widened as she seemed to have another thought. “Oh dammit! I was supposed to report to Tybalt today for a guard shift. He’s going to be so mad…”

She hurried past Penelope to the door, only pausing to cast them one more smile over her shoulder, “I’ll be sure to stop by again as soon as I can, alright, Crow? And Penelope,” her smile broadened into a toothy grin. “We definitely have to catch up soon. I want to hear all about what you’re been up to at the border. Anyway, I’ll see you both later!” Without waiting for a reply, she headed into the hallway, closing the door roughly behind her as she disappeared.

Crow blinked and turned to Penelope with a shrug. “So apparently I’ve got a sister now,” he chuckled, stepping forward to wrap his arms around her in an embrace. “Well, actually two sisters and a brother, but I don’t think the others like me very much.” He leaned down to press a kiss to her lips before pulling back to meet her gaze again more seriously. “How did your meeting with my father go? Did he agree to end the war?”