As Crow and Preston walked down the corridor that led to the Great Hall, an uncomfortable silence fell between them. Still unsettled by the talk with his father, the thief was in no mood to converse with anyone. All he wanted was to pick up a couple plates of food and head back to his room to turn in early for the night. It seemed that the servant had picked up on his change in mood this time too, as he made no attempt to interrupt the quiet. It was a good thing, since the thief wasn’t sure how patient he would be if the boy tried to ask him the questions that were surely on his mind: What had happened during his talk with the king? What had been said? Why was he so upset?

Crow felt sure that after he had some time to process everything, he would feel better than he felt now, but at the moment, he just wanted to be left alone. He needed to deal with all the changes that were flying at him without the distraction of explaining himself to anyone else. He needed time to accept that as of tomorrow afternoon, he was going to be a nobleman; that he was going to go back to using his real name that had been formerly buried with time; that everything in his life was going to be shifting. He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, reigning in the overwhelming tangle of emotions that threatened to boil over inside of him.

This was fine; everything was going to be fine. He’d been expecting this… right? He’d told Penelope that he had. However, as the time for the titling ceremony drew closer, he began to feel like he was being backed up against a wall. He hadn’t even taken the position yet, and he’d already had to make a change that he hadn’t been expecting. What if he wasn’t as prepared as he’d thought? The panic that welled up within him now reminded him of the day he’d stolen the staff from the Younisian king, when he’d nearly turned tail and abandoned the mission altogether.

He let out another slow breath. Just like last time, he couldn’t leave Penelope to protect himself. He’d already told her that he was going to go through with this. Just because it wasn’t as simple as he had first thought didn’t mean he had an excuse to back out. He would have to learn to get used to making a few changes whether he liked it or not. Surely he could handle that.

When Crow and Preston arrived at the Great Hall, the attendant was quick to pull open the door for him. He murmured a word of thanks, still slightly uncomfortable with having someone else do favors for him that he could easily take care of by himself, and stepped inside. However, as soon as the door closed behind them again, he froze.

The Great Hall looked quite different when it was being used. The gilded walls and ceiling were the same, but the floor was packed with people in all sorts of elaborate outfits, talking jovially with each other as they ate their suppers. He’d never seen so many nobles in the same place at once—well, aside from when he’d been sentenced to prison in front of a crowd in the castle courtyard three years ago. It was unnerving to stand in full view of the all the people he normally tried to hide from. He had to fight the urge to duck his head and keep to the edge of the room.

“Crow,” Preston spoke up suddenly from his side. The shortish boy was craning his neck to peer through the crowd. “I think someone’s trying to get your attention.”

The thief blinked, snapping out of his trance, and followed the servant’s line of sight until his gaze landed on Naida, who was waving at him from a table near the middle of the room. He shifted his weight. If he approached her now, that would mean blatantly walking through the center of the crowd to reach her. For a moment, he humored the idea of just waving back to acknowledge her, picking up some food, and returning to his room to eat in private. However, he changed his mind when he caught sight of the knight who was sitting at his sister’s side: Penelope.

He bit the inside of his lip. As uncomfortable as it was to be among so many nobles, he couldn’t deny that he wanted to be close to her—especially after the talk he’d just had with his father. [i]I don’t have to stay for long,[/i] he reassured himself, standing up a little straighter. [i]I’ll just stay to have some food with them, and then I can go rest.[/i] Having regained a bit of confidence, he took a hesitant step forward and then made his way toward the two noblewomen.

As he expected, the people he walked by parted like water. They wrinkled their noses and kept their distance as if he was some sort of rabid animal that might snap at them. He forced himself to ignore their disgusted behavior. After all, it wasn’t like he expected to be treated any better. He was well aware of how much they all hated him, and he cared little about earning any of their respect. The only thing that mattered to him was making sure none of them hated him enough to knife him in the back. He kept the closest nobles in the corner of his eye, just in case.

To Crow’s relief, he made it through the crowd without any trouble. He slid onto the bench across from the two knights with a sigh, putting his unease behind him now that he was among friendlier faces. “Tell me something,” he said, casting Naida a tired smile. “Do you nobles ever find time between your responsibilities to take a nap?”

“Sometimes,” she shrugged, tilting her head slightly and cracked a smirk. “Why? Are you worried you won’t have another chance after today?”

“I didn’t even get a chance today,” he snorted.

“Penelope said you went to nap in your room though,” Naida said, gesturing to her friend. “Is that not what you did?”

“No,” Crow shook his head. He propped his elbow on the table and rested his cheek against his hand. “The king had more he wanted to talk to me about. I didn’t even have time to lay down.”

Suddenly, someone cleared their throat, drawing Crow’s attention. The thief turned to see that Preston was still standing behind him. “What would you like for dinner?” the servant asked. “I’ll bring it out to you.”

“I can get my own food,” Crow frowned. “Why don’t you take a break?”

“No no,” the boy shook his head. “Only servants should enter the kitchen. I’ll eat only after you’ve been served.”

The thief rolled his eyes, “I don’t see why you should wait on me, but if you insist, I’ll just have something with venison—and a lot of it.”

“Of course,” Preston bowed in that elegant way of his before turning to make his way through the throng of people.

Once the attendant was gone, Crow laid his head on the table with a groan. “[i]Gods[/i], everything keeps changing so fast here,” he whined. “Is it too much to ask for just one day to settle in?”