Crow clicked his tongue when Penelope said that going to his father probably wouldn’t work. Naida had gone on and on about how he would be safe in the castle as long as he had Albin’s protection, but it was starting to look like his sister had been wrong. If the nobles that were conspiring to remove him were high enough in rank, it was going to be difficult to do anything to stop them. Unsettled by this new information, he took a long swig of wine in an attempt to calm his nerves.

When Penelope rested her hand on his arm, he turned back to her with a frown. Despite the confidence in her words, he wasn’t so sure she was right about the nobles refraining from doing anything drastic. Because of his history, they already wanted to see him hanged. What was there to stop them from taking matters into their own hands and offing him, themselves? They had plenty of money to hire someone else to do the dirty work for them too.

[i]Looks like I’m going to be on the run no matter what my title is,[/i] he thought with a sigh. As a thief, he had been chased by knights and bounty hunters. Now as a viceroy, he might find himself the target of a hired assassin—an even more dangerous enemy to make. It was starting to feel like he wouldn’t ever be able to stop running.

Crow met Penelope’s gaze as she went on to assure him that her conversation with the baron had been enough to force him to act discreetly. “Maybe,” he shrugged, still not fully convinced. “But that’s just one man. What if there are others?” He frowned as he admitted the worry that was still weighing on his chest. “If there are more people of equally high rank who want me gone, the baron you spoke with could easily go to one of them. As you said, he probably has a lot of support, so even if you come forward about what he said, it’s going to be hard to convince anyone to listen to you.”

He ran a hand nervously through his hair. “Gods, I haven’t even been here for a [i]week[/i] and there are already people out to get me. I haven’t even done anything to offend them either. It’s ridiculous.”