Crow was relieved when the subject was dropped quickly. He lowered his gaze to his plate, digging into his meal as a silence fell amongst them. Though he was nervous about the ceremony and the changes it would bring, his worries didn’t do much to lessen his appetite. After spending so many days traveling, he doubted much could snuff out the hunger he’d built up from walking. Plus, the food served in the Great Hall was just as delicious as the dishes he’d had delivered to his room.

Offhandedly, he wondered if he would be able to start having private meals again once everything settled down or if he would have to eat with the rest of the nobles in the castle permanently now. He liked to think he had the right to keep to himself, but then again, the private dinners had probably just been something his father had done to convince him to take the job. He popped another strip of venison into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. It seemed likely that since the king wasn’t trying to get anything else out of him, some of the special treatment was going to stop.

The thief looked up again, drawn from his thoughts when Naida spoke up to Penelope. At his sister’s question, his eyes flicked to the knight. He was hoping she would be coming to the ceremony, if only to have someone around whom he felt comfortable spending time with. At the moment, he wasn’t sure if they would be able to talk much during all the festivities tomorrow, but it was at least nice to know she would be in the room. So, when she said she would attend the ceremony, he felt his shoulders relax.

As the two noblewomen began to talk about dresses, Crow turned back to his plate to continue eating. However, it wasn’t long before Naida said something that nearly made him choke on his food. He quickly downed a long draught of the wine that had been brought out with their suppers to recover from his sister’s comment about Penelope “finding someone new” now that she was no longer with Gavin. Of course, he knew Naida couldn’t have known about their relationship, but hearing her suggest that the knight should start thinking about other men made him cringe.

Eager to change the subject, he jumped into the conversation when Penelope finished speaking. “They can complain all they want,” he said with a shake of his head. “As long as I don’t feel a dagger between my shoulders tomorrow, I think it’ll be a successful day.”

“You won’t have to worry about that,” Naida shrugged, poking at a few cooked vegetables on her plate. “It doesn’t matter how much the hate you now. If anyone tried to attack you, father would have them hanged.”

“Perhaps,” he took another sip of his drink. “But I’d rather be paranoid and alive than trusting and dead. Until things settle down around here, I’m going to keep sleeping with one eye open.”

“Suit yourself,” Naida quipped. “But that’s why we have the royal guard.”

“Yeah, well I don’t trust them either,” Crow scoffed. He finished off the rest of his supper and let out his breath in a long exhale, pleasantly full on the richly spiced meat. Though dining in the Great Hall hadn’t been as comfortable as being in the security of his own bed chambers, he was glad he’d gotten a chance to see Penelope and his sister one more time before the approaching ceremony. Now, he wanted to catch up on the sleep he’d been missing.

“I should get going,” he said, standing up from the table. His eyes flickered briefly to Penelope before returning to Naida’s face. “It sounds like tomorrow is going to be long and exhausting, so I need to get some sleep. I’ll see you both later.”

“Alright,” Naida smiled. “Goodnight!”

Crow nodded wearily, feeling his tiredness settle over him again more strongly now that he was digesting a heavy supper. With nothing left to say to the knights, he turned to head back to his room, with Preston hurriedly falling in step beside him when the attendant noticed he was leaving the Great Hall from where he’d been sitting.