Crow followed Penelope out of the room, letting his eyes wander over the inn as he got one last look at it before they left. It was still strange to him to think that he would be entering into this type of luxury permanently in less than a week’s time. Until now, he’d always gazed upon the lavish buildings of nobles with disgust and contempt. While he still believed the money that went into them could have better served the starving peasants in the outer villages, there was a part of him that was starting to try to associate the wealthy structures with home. It was still difficult to do at the moment, but he hoped it would get easier as he adjusted to the fact that he wasn’t a peasant anymore.

[i]Gods, that’s such a weird thought,[/i] Crow shuddered, still unsettled by the knowledge that he was about to formally accept a noble title. He slipped his hands into his pockets and moved to walk a little closer to Penelope, looking ahead again as she approached the innkeeper to drop off the room key. As he lingered behind her, he noticed the nobleman’s eyes drift toward him and narrow warily. He just smiled in response, a gesture which, to the thief’s amusement, only seemed to frustrate the innkeeper even more.

Once the key had been returned, Crow walked with Penelope back out to the road to continue on their way north. He fell in step beside her and smirked at her comment about ‘unwanted staring.’ “I hope you’re right about that,” he sighed with a shake of his head. “I used to like the attention a lot more when I was younger, but now it’s more annoying than fun.” He glanced off to the side where, as if on cue, a small group of noblewomen began whispering amongst themselves. He was quite certain that they were formulating a rumor to spread about why he wasn’t being hanged at the gallows, so he turned away again, uninterested in their gossip.

Three years ago, he might have even encouraged the rumors that would occasionally spread about him, but he was getting tired of all the attention. He’d had his fun as an infamous thief. Now, all he wanted was to keep his head down and focus on building his life with Penelope. Unfortunately, it looked like it was going to be a while before people stopped staring, especially since he was about to become his father’s royal ambassador. He exhaled softly. Until the excitement died down, he was just going to have to put up with being the center of attention for a little while longer.

He glanced down at Penelope as they walked, wishing he could take her hand but knowing that the gesture would be too risky while there were so many other people around. “So, do you have a plan for confronting your baroness yet?” he asked, wanting to get his mind off the onlookers as well as talk about the other issue that was still weighing on him.