Crow grinned when Penelope caught sight of him and began to make her way over. However, the expression quickly faded when he noticed the urgency in her walk. Suddenly worried that something was wrong, he studied her with a concerned look. Had something happened during her guard shift? Or perhaps the baron she had met with had opposed her idea of ending the war on peaceful terms. He felt a pang of frustration at the idea of some self-righteous nobleman upsetting the knight like that.

When she sat down at the table, he listened intently as she began to speak, only to be cut off by a passing servant who stopped by to ask if the knight wanted anything to eat. The viceroy casted the girl a sideways glance and then looked away, letting his gaze wander to Preston, who was now fidgeting uncomfortably in his seat. The boy was probably worried about what Penelope thought of him sitting at a table with nobles. After all, just because Crow was fine with it didn’t mean anyone else was.

He caught the attendant’s eye and made a calming gesture, hoping it would be enough to let him know that he wasn’t going to get in trouble with Penelope. It seemed to work. Preston nodded faintly and relaxed a bit, though he was still visibly tense as he met the knight’s gaze for a brief moment.

When Penelope said that the servant should listen too, Crow knitted his brow in confusion, wondering what she could possibly have to say that would affect both of them. He had been expecting her to tell him that her concern was about the baron, but maybe something else was going on that he didn’t know about.

The viceroy listened in surprise when the knight continued on to say that the baron she had met with was the one who had spoken out at his ceremony. He hadn’t expected her to meet with someone like that, but he supposed she would have to look for support wherever she could find it, even if some of the people she spoke with weren’t the most likeable. However, his frown deepened as she explained that the man had tried to use her for information.

“What a bastard,” Crow shook his head in disgust. Despite his outward calm, the news disturbed him more prominently than he let on. If there was already one person out to get him, then how many more could there be, just lying in wait for him to slip up somehow? The memory of the mercenary in his dream came back to him once more, and he shuddered. Recently, he’d been letting his guard down a bit more around the castle, but now he was starting to think it would be smarter to stay alert again.

[i]Maybe I should keep a dagger in my boot too,[/i] he thought, drumming his fingers absently on the table.

“I should tell the king, right?” he asked in a low voice, meeting Penelope’s gaze with a hint of worry in his eyes. “I mean, we have no idea what these people are capable of. I’d feel better if we stop them before they get desperate enough to do anything drastic.”