The way Gavin avoided eye contact with him didn’t slip past Crow’s observant gaze. He let out his breath in a soft exhale. Despite his hopes that his new title wouldn’t change the way anyone treated him, it seemed like it already was. When he had told his companions, he had noticed that they looked at him differently too. They had still acted the same around him as they always had, but there was something new in their eyes whenever they had spoken to each other. He still couldn’t tell what it was, but he knew it was a sign that they didn’t think of him the same way anymore either. The news of his relation to the king and his position as the next viceroy had changed their relationship.

Now, Penelope’s friends were treating him differently too. He studied Gavin, who still refused to meet his gaze. It was hard to tell what was going on in the knight’s head, but it was clear that he wasn’t looking at him as the same peasant thief that he had been before. He just hoped the other man’s reaction had more to do with his shock over the new information than it did with the job itself, and that he would return to normal once the dust settled and they were used to his new title.

His eyes wandered to Olivia, who seemed like Gavin’s opposite at the moment. Her face was lit up with unbridled excitement over everything she was finding out. Crow had a feeling that Penelope was right when she had said that her friend would probably poke fun at him about his change in title. He fully expected her to tease him about it for quite a while. As long as she didn’t spread word to anyone else, he could handle that though. He just hoped she had enough sense not to bring it up when her comrades were around.

As the knights continued to converse, he leaned tiredly against Penelope’s side, finding it harder to stay awake now that the discomfort of telling her comrades about his situation had mostly passed. Luckily, Gavin seemed to notice his weariness. The knight stood up and announced that he and Olivia should get going. Crow nodded, yawning sleepily, “Alright. We’ll see you tomorrow before we leave.”

[color=fdc68a][b]“Congratulations.”[/b][/color]

The thief blinked in mild surprise as he looked up at the knight. He wasn’t sure why, but he hadn’t expected Gavin to say anything supportive about the job he’d taken, let alone congratulate him for it. After a moment, he offered the other man a smile. “Thanks,” he said with a one-shouldered shrug. “Although, we’ll see soon enough if it’s something worth congratulating or not.”

Gavin nodded and held the flap of the tent open. Olivia got up from where she had been sitting and mumbled a few words of farewell before stepping through the opening with the male knight close at her heels.

As soon as they were alone, Crow turned his head to press a kiss to Penelope’s cheek. “You know, this whole trip has been going a lot better than I was expecting,” he said amusedly. “No arguments with either of our companions, and nobody has attacked me either. I like it.”