Crow glanced up from his plate when he heard Penelope speak up to Preston. The attendant looked uncertain about how to respond to her, and the viceroy had to fill his mouth with another bite of food to stifle the amused smirk that threatened to take over his lips. Now that he knew a little more about the boy’s history at the castle, he was fairly certain that, like Hunter, the servant wasn’t used to being addressed by anyone who held a higher rank than himself.

As the knight went on to make a teasing comment about him, Crow rolled his eyes. “I prefer to think of it as: I know what I like, and I don’t like to settle for anything less,” he said flippantly, casting her a wry grin. “If anyone finds that ‘troublesome,’ that isn’t my problem.”

“It’s no trouble,” Preston shrugged in response to Penelope’s remark. “I used to take care of Duke Adeney’s unbroken horses, so I can handle a temperamental viceroy.”

Naida snorted and quickly brought a hand to her mouth to hide her laugh.

Crow reddened slightly and shot the boy a glare, unappreciative of being compared to a horse. “You’re getting cocky with those comments, kid,” he growled.

“What? I said you [i]weren’t[/i] as bad as the horses,” Preston frowned.

“I don’t think that’s the part he’s upset about,” Naida snickered.

Preston glanced at her and shrugged again before giving a curt bow and turning to walk away.

Crow watched him go and then turned back to the others with a shake of his head. “Sometimes I can’t tell if he says stuff like that on purpose,” he muttered, lifting another bite of food to his mouth.