Crow shifted slightly as the room fell silent. He glanced between Olivia and Gavin, trying to read their facial expressions since he couldn’t tell what was going through their minds. When Olivia finally spoke up in a frustrated groan, the thief frowned. He opened his mouth to tell her that it wasn’t a lie, but Penelope spoke first. Casting her a sideways look, he nodded as she told her friends that he really had been offered the title, and he was going to be taking it when they got back to the castle.

When Olivia teased him, Crow just rolled his eyes. Though he had been willing to explain his reasoning to his companions, he was more hesitant to do so with the knights. They had earned some of his trust, but he hadn’t known either of them for very long—he didn’t really count his brief encounter with Olivia two years ago, since they had only spoken for a day—and he was naturally reluctant to talk about himself to others in general. Still, it seemed like they needed more details to really believe him.

Gavin confirmed his suspicion when he went on to question why the king would offer him such a title. The harshness of his words didn’t bother Crow. After all, he had been just as dumbfounded when his father had originally made him the offer. To anyone on the outside, it simply didn’t make sense.

He averted his gaze, fidgeting with the hem of his tunic as he tried to decide how much to tell them. After a moment, he looked up again to meet Gavin’s gaze, “He found out I’m multilingual, so he decided I was a good fit for the job.” He shrugged. “Since I already know the languages of all our neighboring kingdoms, I only have to learn whatever else there is to being a viceroy.”

“I didn’t know you knew other languages,” Olivia studied him with intrigue.

“I don’t know,” Gavin frowned. “It still doesn’t add up to me. Even if you’re fluent in foreign languages, you don’t know as much in other areas as someone born in the inner kingdom. Why would the king choose a hated criminal instead of a nobleman with an upstanding reputation?”

Crow lightly bit the tip of his tongue and casted an uncertain look at Penelope. He didn’t like the idea of telling the knights any more than he already had, but it seemed like Gavin was already suspicious that he was leaving out crucial information. He let out a sigh of resignation. It looked like he was going to have to admit the truth to them after all.

“Because that hated criminal technically has more of a right to the title than any noble,” he said in a quiet voice, looking up to meet the knight’s eyes again.

“What does that mean?” Gavin asked with clear confusion.

Crow took a steeling breath. “This [i]really[/i] can’t leave the tent,” he murmured, glancing over his shoulder as if he was worried someone might be eavesdropping on them outside.

“Okay,” Gavin said, eyeing him hesitantly.

“What is it?” Olivia leaned forward, obviously excited by the prospect of learning something secretive.

Crow wavered for a moment longer before he admitted: “I’m sort of… the king’s firstborn son.”