Crow parted ways with Albin when they exited the throne room. The king went back to his private chamber for breakfast, while the viceroy made his way toward the stairs, heading for the Great Hall to eat amongst the other nobles in the castle. He wasn’t looking forward to appearing in front of them though. Considering how riled up the crowd had been in the early morning, he had a feeling word had already spread that he had “stolen” from those three men.

“Collin!”

He was drawn from his thoughts by the sound of a familiar voice as he headed down the corridor that led to the dining area. Looking up, he saw Preston walking toward him at a brisk pace. The attendant had a distressed look on his face and occasionally glanced over his shoulder as if he was afraid he was being followed.

“What’s going on?” Crow frowned, slowing to a stop as the servant reached him.

Preston took another quick look around. There were no guards posted in this part of the hallway, but he still spoke in a low voice as he explained the reason for his fluster, “The royal guards have begun searching the servants’ quarters for the missing jewelry. They’re starting with the lower level servants first, so they haven’t gotten to me yet, but it’s only a matter of time before they do.”

Crow cursed under his breath. “You still have them in your pocket, right?”

“Yes,” Preston nodded, fidgeting nervously with his shirt. “But they’re searching all the servants too, not just our rooms.” His eyes were wide with fright. “Collin, what should I do? I don’t want to go to prison!”

“Calm down,” the viceroy hushed him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You’re not going to prison. I’ll take care of it.”

“How?”

“Give me the jewels,” he held out his hand, keeping it low so the pass would be discreet. “The knights already searched me earlier and found nothing. If they try to do it again, I’ll just make a fuss.”

“Okay,” the attendant fumbled slightly in his anxiousness as he retrieved the pendants and rings from his shirt and slipped them to the viceroy.

Crow smoothly closed his hand around the jewelry and dropped it into his tunic. “Let’s keep going,” he said quietly, leading the way toward the Great Hall as soon as the stolen goods were secure. “It’ll look strange if someone catches us whispering in the hall.”

“Okay,” Preston said again, quickly falling in step beside the viceroy.

When they reached the Great Hall, Crow’s suspicion was proven to be true. Almost everyone turned to look at him as soon as he stepped through the doorway. There was a mixture of hatred and confusion on the nobles’ faces as they tried to figure out why the thief in their midst had yet to be punished for his crimes. He held his head high and avoided their searching gazes by looking for a place to sit. Yesterday, he had arranged to eat with the three noblemen he’d met before, but now he wasn’t sure if they would be willing to dine with him. After all, they were probably under the impression that he had been thieving too.

As his eyes swept over the room, he spotted Penelope sitting with the same man he had seen her with before. He shifted his weight slightly. He wanted to join her, since she was the only friendly face around, but he didn’t want to draw attention to their closeness while everyone was staring at him. Since Naida wasn’t around to give him a pass, he couldn’t go up to her.

Suddenly, Crow’s attention was drawn by a flash of motion to his left. He turned and was surprised to see Wayne waving at him from a table near the edge of the Great Hall. The gesture caught him off guard, since he had been expecting the noblemen to want nothing more to do with him, but it seemed that their drive to use him outweighed their reservations about eating with a thief.

After a moment of hesitation, he made his way over to join them.

“I’m guessing that, since you’re here and not in a cell, you weren’t the one who stole those pendants?” Wayne said as the viceroy sat down at his side.

“Of course not,” Crow snorted. He was relieved that at least some of the people here seemed to have their heads on straight. “They just assumed it was me because of my reputation.”

“It looks like plenty of them still do,” Percival noted as he looked over the crowd.

“They’ll figure it out soon enough,” Crow held up his hands. “See? No chains. That’s proof enough that I was cleared.”

“In the meantime, it’s probably a good idea for all of us to check our own belongings,” Robyn mused. “Three people were stolen from, so obviously someone is taking things.”

“If someone took any of my heirlooms, I’m going to make sure the king hears about it,” Wayne growled.

“I’m sure the criminal will be caught soon enough,” Percival said confidently.

“If there’s even a criminal at all,” Crow muttered, drawing the other’s attention to him.

“What do you mean?” Robyn asked.

“Well,” Crow looked up at them with a frown. “Think about the timing of all this. I just got here a week ago, and suddenly things are ‘going missing.’ I’d bet anything those men just checked their belongings because they didn’t trust me and discovered they were missing things that could have gotten lost a month or a year ago. There’s no way of proving that someone is stealing right now.”

“I suppose that’s true,” Wayne said contemplatively. “But I’m still going to go through my own valuables to be sure.”

“Me too,” Robyn agreed.

Percival just grunted noncommittally.

“Do it if you want to,” Crow shrugged. “I’ve just got a feeling that your thief is a phantom created by conjecture and paranoia.” He turned away from them as Preston appeared with a plate of food for him.

All in all, the viceroy was feeling quite pleased with himself. It seemed like he had successfully convinced the noblemen that they were overreacting—or at least planted doubts in their heads. Now all he had to do was wait for them to spread the word around to the other people in the castle, and hopefully the tension would die down before he made his attempt to return the missing jewelry later that night.

The rest of breakfast went by rather peacefully, which was a nice wind down from the chaos that the early morning had held. Her and Cedric spoke casually as they ate, discussing simple matters such as their work and other such topics. Despite having been skeptical of Cedric, she found herself beginning to view him as a friend. He was decent company and had apologized for the past. Plus it wasn't like she had anything to offer him. The wealth and power of the Vermillions that he had been looking for in the past was still out of her reach after all. In her opinion, there was nothing he'd have to gain aside from friendship.

Eventually the knight finished her meal and parted ways with the male knight as she headed off to take her guard shift. Luckily the weather seemed to be better today, despite the chilliness of the day. She relieved the guard that was on duty and took up her position in the corridor, letting a small yawn out as she began to watch over the hallway.

---

Her shift went by agonizingly slow. There wasn't much to worry about and she only saw a few people pass by, mainly servants but there were a couple other knights that were likely reporting to the king. All in all, Penelope found herself wishing she could have used the time for something more productive. Namely writing letters to the list of nobles that Jonathan had given her. However, she supposed that'd have to wait until the next day when she was free.

Another guard finally appeared to take her off for the evening and she dipped her head appreciatively before heading off down the staircase. Hungry, the knight made her way straight for the Great Hall and hoped she'd be able to catch Crow. With the events that took place that morning, she wanted to make sure he was still in the clear and that he'd get the chance to sneak the missing jewels back to their respective owners.

As soon as she stepped into the room, she swept her gaze over the tables looking for him. Unfortunately, the knight didn't spot him but she did see Naida. The princess spotted her from her seat and waved her friend over eagerly. Penelope smiled a little and walked over to join her at the table. With any luck, she'd still be able to catch the viceroy if he joined them for dinner.

“You have no common sense, boy! How do you expect to handle the duties of an ambassador when you can’t even show up for lessons that children go through?”

Crow let out his breath in a quiet sigh as Udolf continued to reprimand him for missing his last lesson. After breakfast, he had returned to his room to find the tutor waiting for him in a very foul mood. Apparently, he had gone to Albin completely incensed the day before and had demanded to be relieved from his duty of educating the new viceroy. Of course, the king had denied him, so now he was taking out his frustration on his student. He went on and on about how Crow was an “undisciplined peasant” and an “ungrateful criminal,” to the point where the former thief nearly wanted to go to his father and beg him to let the old man quit.

By the end of it, the viceroy was surprised that his ears weren’t bleeding.

Since Udolf was still furious, the tutor forced him to recite his etiquette twice before he even let him move on to practicing his literacy. Fortunately, even though he had missed one lesson, he managed to recall every letter except for ‘K’ and ‘Z’ on the first try, which seemed to put the old man in a slightly better mood. The tutor asked him to practice reading out loud for a while from the book he’d been working through and then left him to continue reading on his own. However, instead of letting him practice alone—he didn’t seem to trust his student enough for that anymore—Udolf planted himself at the table and worked on something of his own while the viceroy reclined on his bed to read.

After a while, Preston stopped in to announce that supper was being served, and Crow eagerly climbed down from his bed at the thought of getting away from his strict tutor. He slipped his book into his trouser pocket—there was no room for it in his tunic while he was still carrying the stolen jewelry—and walked with the attendant to the Great Hall.

“Have the guards tried to search you again?” Preston asked in a hushed voice as they made their way down the spiral stairs. He was eyeing the viceroy with a nervous expression. It was obvious that he wasn’t used to sneaking around the castle or harboring stolen goods. He looked like he could jump out of his skin at any second.

“Not once,” Crow casted him a sly smirk and lifted a finger to his lips. “But we shouldn’t discuss this right now.”

The servant nodded, and they made the rest of the trip in silence.

When they reached the Great Hall, Crow lingered by the front door as usual to see if he recognized anyone. Right away, he picked out Penelope and Naida from amongst the crowd. His sister spotted him in almost the same moment and waved him eagerly over to their table, grinning with her usual excitement as she nudged her friend in an indiscreet manner. He rolled his eyes at her antics but stepped over to join them nonetheless. Putting up with the princess was nothing if it meant he could spend more time with Penelope.

"I guess you must have been busy lately huh? I've barely seen much of you since we got back from our trip to Bellmare." Naida mused as soon as her friend joined her.

Penelope nodded her head and rested her arms on the table. "A little. Between regular work and having to work on gaining support for the end of the war, it definitely leaves me with very little free time." she admitted with a small shrug.

"True... I heard you were even involved in a serious case of missing jewelry this morning." Naida said leaning in curiously. "How'd that go?"

The knight smirked a little in amusement. She was a bit surprised the princes was even bringing it up since she was rather certain she must have heard all about it by now. It was the hot topic in every conversation that day after all. However, thinking it over again, she supposed that Naida was just eager to learn her side of the story. Although, there wasn't much of that story that she could tell to her unfortunately. "Fine, I suppose. I don't think they've recovered the missing objects yet but we were at least able to clear Collin's name." she said with a shrug.

"That's good." Naida nodded and smirked. "I bet he's quite grateful for that." She seemed ready to say something else but fell short as someone caught her attention. Penelope followed her gaze over to see Crow had entered the Great Hall. She bit back a smile and blinked as she felt Naida nudge her. She rolled her eyes at her friend, noticing the mischievous glint in her gaze. She shook her head and focused back on Crow as he joined them.

"Hey Collin!" Naida grinned.

Penelope gave him a small smirk. "Good to see you're still walking freely." she mused. Before he could reply, her gaze shifted on the figure of another approaching person and blinked in faint surprise as she noticed Cedric walking over to the table. The male knight offered her a friendly smile and hesitated as he reached them, his gaze glancing almost a bit nervously between Naida and Crow.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting," Cedric said politely before focusing his gaze onto Penelope. "I was just hoping to join you for supper if that's ok?"

Penelope glanced at Crow and Naida before shrugging her shoulders. "Go for it." she replied, figuring it was fine. Cedric smiled and wasted no time in moving to slid in besides her. He dipped his head respectfully to Naida and then shifted his gaze onto Crow. He wavered for a moment before offering the viceroy a smile.

"I don't believe we've formally met before." he mused politely and extended his hand. "I'm Cedric.

“Hey,” Crow greeted his sister as he sat down next to her at the table. He would have liked to sit beside Penelope again, but Naida had forgotten to “pressure” him into it, and he didn’t want her to get any ideas if he joined the knight on his own. Instead, he settled down comfortably across from her, returning her smirk when she commented on the fact that he was still roaming freely. He opened his mouth to reply, but then paused as he noticed her eyes wander to something past his shoulder.

Curious to find out what had caught her attention, he turned and found that the nobleman he had seen hanging around Penelope before was standing by their table. The viceroy studied him with a hint of interest in his gaze. Though he had no qualms with the knight spending time with other men—he’d only disliked Gavin because that particular man used to court her, and he’d been right that Gavin had been trying to win her back before—he did like to know what sort of people she spent her time with when she wasn’t with him. The interest was drawn more from his protectiveness of her than anything else.

As the stranger asked if he could eat with them, Crow glanced back at Penelope and raised a brow when she told him it was fine. He supposed he shouldn’t have been that surprised though. Since he had reunited with her in the outer villages, he’d learned that she was quite sociable with her comrades, especially those whom she was close to. She wasn’t the type to turn someone away without a good reason. So, he said nothing as the nobleman moved to join them at their table for supper.

That is, until he picked up on the eagerness in the other man’s movements as he sat next to Penelope. The viceroy narrowed his eyes slightly but remained quiet as he began to watch the noble a little more warily. Though he knew nothing about this stranger, he seemed strangely excited by the prospect of eating with the knight. He wondered if there was a reason to keep an eye on him. However, as the nobleman moved to greet Naida with a courteous nod, he second guessed himself.

Maybe it’s not Penelope he’s excited to eat with, he mused, suddenly thinking about Wayne and the other noblemen and women who had approached him at the banquet. Perhaps this man was just trying to form connections with people who ranked higher than him as well. He was probably eager for the opportunity his friend had provided by joining a princess and viceroy for supper.

Relaxing a bit, Crow met the other man’s gaze as he introduced himself. He studied him for a moment longer before taking Cedric’s extended hand. “Collin,” he greeted him curtly. Even if the new arrival wasn’t here for Penelope, the former thief wasn’t quick to warm up to someone he didn’t know.

Cedric seemed to sense his standoffishness. His friendly smile wavered slightly as he retracted his hand.

Naida briefly glanced between them before nudging Crow’s side. “So, what have you been up to?” she asked, breaking the momentary tension with the question. It was hard to tell if she had done so on purpose. “I haven’t seen you in over a day, and then I hear you’ve been accused of stealing?”

“If you heard that, then I’m sure you also heard that I took nothing,” Crow said, his eyes flicking to Penelope. “They just assumed it was me because of my past.”

“That doesn’t explain why you disappeared all of yesterday,” Naida frowned. “I didn’t see you at breakfast or supper.”

Crow shifted his weight slightly and glanced at Cedric. Normally, he wouldn’t have minded telling his sister about his intention to build connections around the castle nor about the dinner he’d shared with their father. However, with an unfamiliar presence at the table, he didn’t want to bring up either of those subjects. Instead, he just answered with a simple, noncommittal: “I’ve been busy” and turned away from her as the servants arrived with their food.

Penelope glanced between Cedric and Crow, noting a bit of tension. She said nothing on the matter though, assuming Crow was just acting guardly around the unfamiliar face, and focused onto Naida as she spoke up. She caught Crow's quick glance at her and nodded her head in confirmation of his words. His hesitation to explain himself to his sister didn't go unnoticed by the knight but knowing it was due to Cedric's presence, she didn't say anything and instead turned her focus onto the food they brought out.

"So how'd your guard shift go today?" Cedric asked turning to focus his gaze over on Penelope.

"Fine. Dull as midday shifts usually are." Penelope replied with a shrug as she poked at a bit of her food.

Cedric nodded his head and let out a sigh. "Well at least you don't have a night shift today. I've got to head straight to mine after I finish here." he mused. He shook his head. "Although it sounds like I'll have to keep extra alert tonight with all these jewels going missing."

Penelope took a bite from her food as Cedric spoke and shifted slightly at his words. "I wouldn't worry about it too much." she mused with a furtive glance at Crow. "Those nobles probably freaked out over nothing. I bet they just misplaced the items and freaked out because of who the new viceroy is. It's all just paranoia." She added with a dismissive wave.

He paused before nodding his head. "Well you have more knowledge about it than I do so I'll take your word for it." Cedric smiled.

Naida glanced between the two and pursed her lips together for a moment before nudging Crow with a smirk. "So have you been able to use that quill Penelope got you in your lessons yet?" she asked slyly, making Penelope roll her eyes at her choice of phrasing.

As Penelope spoke with Cedric, Crow turned his attention to his food. Now that he wasn’t as concerned about the nobleman’s motives, he didn’t feel the need to watch him as closely, so he kept to himself while they conversed. That, and he had other, more important things to think about. He chewed thoughtfully on a bite of venison, letting his mind wander to his plans for the night, but he didn’t have long to ponder over them before Naida’s voice drew his attention back to the others.

At his sister’s question, he looked up at her with an amused smirk. “If my memory serves me, that gift was from you too,” he pointed out.

“Penelope still picked it out,” Naida turned to Penelope with a mischievous grin. “She knew exactly what you would want.”

“I suppose so,” Crow shrugged, taking a swig of his wine. “I just want to give credit where credit is due.”

“Alright. Well, you still haven’t answered my question,” Naida rolled her eyes impatiently.

“I haven’t used it yet,” he admitted. “Udolf is having me focus on reading before I start learning to write. He said it’ll help me recognize and spell words better when I get around to it.”

He turned back to his plate to take another bite of his food. However, as he did, he caught a glimpse of Cedric’s face that gave him pause. The nobleman was eyeing him and Naida with a strange expression. His lips were pressed together in a thin line, and his brow was slightly knitted, giving him a contemplative look. It was difficult to tell what was on his mind, but whatever it was, the viceroy knew he didn’t like it. He kept the other man in the corner of his vision as he continued to eat.

Penelope gave a small shake of her head at Naida before focusing back on her food, eating as the two siblings spoke and missing the look that Cedric gave them. For a moment, the group lapsed into a small silence before Cedric decided to speak up once again, mainly just to chat casually with Penelope and seemingly unfazed by Naida's words, which she was partly thankful for. While the knight didn't care too much about Cedric's opinion, she was worried that he might get suspicious of them, especially since she hadn't completely hidden her support of the former thief rising to viceroy. One day soon she wouldn't bat an eye at it but for now, she still wanted to keep her head down.

After a bit, Cedric was the first to finish his meal and moved to stand up. "I better be off. Don't want to be late for my guard shift." he sighed. He dipped his head to Crow and Naida then turned to Penelope. "Wish me luck that I don't fall asleep." he grinned. "See you later Penelope."

"See ya." she said with a small wave as he hurried off. She watched him go for a brief moment before turning back to the other two, blinking as she noticed Naida had her arms crossed her her chest and her lips pursed. Penelope sighed and raised an eyebrow at her friend. "What? What's that face for?"

"I don't like him. He's too... I don't know but given his history, I don't like it." Naida frowned.

Penelope gave a small laugh. "I think you're just overly concerned about other things." she pointed out with a glance at Crow. She finished the last bite of her meal and stretched out her arms. The knight looked over at Crow's dish, checking to see if the viceroy had finished. She was hoping to leave at the same time as him so she could briefly speak with him about returning the jewels, mainly to make sure he knew which rooms to return which things. "Anyways, I better head off too. I may not have a guard shift tomorrow but I don't want to stay out too late." she mused as she moved to stand up.

As Cedric and Penelope continued to speak to each other, Crow focused on his meal again. Absently, he noticed that Naida seemed annoyed about something, although he wasn’t sure what had gotten under her skin. His best guess was that his sister didn’t want her friend to get close to any other men at the castle, since she was still hoping for the knight to be with him. However, if that was the case, he didn’t share in her concern. Penelope was already with him, after all, and Cedric didn’t look like he was flirting with her. The parts of their conversation that he picked up just sounded friendly to him.

When the nobleman eventually got up from the table to leave, Crow looked up briefly to watch him walk away. He picked up his drink to finish off the last of it and then turned back to Naida and Penelope as they began to talk. When the knight questioned his sister, he snuck a glance at the princess’s face, curious to hear what her answer would be. She had been in a strange mood since Cedric had shown up, and he wanted to know what she had against the man.

His history? He wondered, interest piqued. Though he wasn’t usually interested in castle gossip, he found that he did want to know a little more about this particular man. Cedric had been hanging around Penelope quite a bit from what he had seen, and he wanted to make sure there was nothing dangerous about him.

So, when the knight got up to leave, he rose from the table as well. “I should go too,” he announced. “Udolf was pretty upset with me today, so I want to make sure I’m well-rested for tomorrow’s lesson.”

“If you say so,” Naida winked at him knowingly.

Crow shook his head. “I’ll see you later,” he said, turning to walk with the knight toward the door.

“See you!” Naida waved.

For a while, Crow said nothing as he walked with Penelope. He didn’t want to ask her the question on his mind until they were out of earshot of the other nobles in the Great Hall. Once they made it to the hallway, however, he turned to her with an inquisitive look. “So,” he mused. “What was Naida talking about when she said, ‘given his history’?”

Penelope gave a small wave to Naida and turned to walk out of the Great Hall with Crow. Like him, she didn't want to say anything until they were away from other nobles. As they stepped out into the hallway, she turned to him, ready to say something but didn't get the chance to as he spoke up first. The knight blinked, caught off guard as he asked about what Naida had met. It made her hesitate to answer.

While she wasn't looking to keep it a secret from him, it was still an uncomfortable topic to discuss with the man she was currently with. Plus, knowing Crow, she was rather certain his attitude towards Cedric would only get worse. She let out a sigh and folded her arms over her chest. "Well...A year or two before we ever met, Cedric and I actually courted." she admitted awkwardly. "It-it didn't last long though."

She shrugged her shoulders and shifted her gaze away from him as she recalled the past. Everything had worked out for the best in her opinion now that she was with him, but the memory of almost being used wasn't a nice one. "While I was quite taken with him at the time, he was more interested in getting the wealth and power that came with the Vermillion name. Unfortunately for him, I didn't have access to either of those things and once he found that out, he broke off the courtship." Penelope looked back over at him. "So that's what Naida was talking about."

The knight held up her hands. "And I know that means I should be careful around him and I have. He apologized and said he'd like to be friends so I decided to give him a second chance. It has been years after all and it's not like he can get that close to me again." she pointed out.

Crow frowned when Penelope hesitated instead of answering him right away. Her reluctance made him suspicious that the “history” his sister had been talking about including her too. He studied her face, wondering what she knew about Cedric that she didn’t want to tell him about. However, he didn’t have to wait long before she explained.

As she told him that the nobleman had courted her long ago, the viceroy blinked in surprise. He vaguely recalled William mentioning something about a suitor in her life when they had been in Younis, but he had forgotten about it until now. She never talked to him about her past with any other men, so the detail had slipped his mind. Then again, he was private about his own romantic history, so he supposed he shouldn’t have expected her to tell him about hers without prompting.

He knitted his brow, about to question why the courtship hadn’t lasted long, but didn’t need to open his mouth as Penelope went on to explain how Cedric had been trying to use her for her family’s wealth and power. The new information made him feel a stab of annoyance. He didn’t like knowing that some other man had tried to take advantage of her like that, even if it was long in the past. He cared about her too much to just brush over that.

At the same time, he began to wonder a little more seriously about why Cedric was lingering around her so much. He thought about how eager the nobleman had been to join them all for supper. It seemed like his initial flinch had been right: Cedric hadn’t been trying to get closer to him and Naida; he had been excited by the chance to get closer to Penelope. Just the thought of it made him bristle.

Again, the knight didn’t give him the chance to speak before she went on to explain why she was giving the other man a second chance. When she finally finished, Crow remained quiet for a moment to take in everything she’d just told him. He still didn’t like the idea of her spending time with yet another ex-suitor—especially one who had hurt her before—but she was right that Cedric couldn’t get close to her as long as she was with him. Plus, a few years had passed since the two had courted. It wasn’t the same as the fresh break that had happened between her and Gavin.

He let out his breath in a sigh. “I’d be lying if I said I was comfortable with this,” he admitted, meeting her gaze with a halfhearted smile. “But I trust you. And besides, now that I know more about this guy, I can keep an eye on him too.” His expression softened slightly, and he went on in a quiet voice, “I know you can take care of yourself, but I can’t help it. I want to make sure he doesn’t find a way to hurt you again.”

Penelope looked up at him as he remained silent for a moment longer. As he finally spoke up, the knight returned his half-hearted smile. She had had a feeling he wouldn't exactly be thrilled about learning her history with Cedric, it only made sense considering how the thief could be quite protective, but she was glad that he trusted her enough to handle the situation on her own. Well, mostly on her own. As he said he'd be keeping an eye on Cedric too, she gave a small nod, not expecting anything less.

"I know but I'm sure it'll be fine. I still don't have either of the things he was after before anyways so I don't even know what more he could possibly want from me now." Penelope mused quietly. Doing a quick look over their surroundings, she moved to place a hand on his arm. "I don't mind someone watching my back for me though." Her expression softened as well and then she let her hand fall back to her side once more.

Remembering what she had meant to speak with him about, she shift a bit closer to him, wanting to make sure they weren't over heard if anyone passed by. "On a more serious note, I wanted to make sure you knew where you were supposed to go tonight for the jewels." she whispered, taking on a serious expression as she looked up at him. "I only know where Fischbach's room is but I'm not sure about the others. My father probably does though since he's been working with Tybalt all day."

When Penelope said she was sure everything would be fine, Crow just shrugged in response. He wasn’t as convinced that Cedric just wanted to be friends with her. If the nobleman had tried to get something out of her before, he was probably trying to do it again, even if they couldn’t see the reason why. He planned to stay on alert and watch the other man more carefully the next time they crossed paths, just in case his suspicion was correct.

As Penelope spoke to him again in a quiet voice, he turned to her with a smirk. “Well that’s good, because I intend to watch out for you whether you want me to or not,” he nudged her teasingly before moving to put some space between them again. Even if she’d asked him not to, he knew he couldn’t help himself. As long as he saw Cedric as a potential threat, he was going to try and stay a step ahead of the nobleman in order to keep her safe.

Crow glanced down at Penelope again when she shifted closer to him. “Right, I’ve been meaning to ask you about that,” he murmured back to her, his eyes flitting alertly over the corridor they were walking through as the sensitive subject was brought up. Being new to the castle, he still didn’t know where anyone lived aside from his father. He didn’t even know where either of the Vermillions were staying. It was rather impossible for him to return anything to anyone until he learned where to go.

“Tell me everything you know that could help,” he smiled at her slyly. “And if you could get me in touch with your father before nightfall, that would be great too.”

Penelope looked up at him and smirked. "I will and as for my father, he's probably retired to his room by now so I imagine it won't be hard to get in touch with him." she explained with a small nod. Her father often didn't stay up too late and ate his supper early. In her opinion, the man was almost nothing but eat, sleep, work and repeat. And that was saying something coming from the woman who usually was heavily involved in her own work.

"As for what I know," she added in a hushed tone, pausing slightly as she thought it over. In truth, she didn't have much information for him. She had gotten to the scene of the angry crowd a bit late and hadn't heard much aside from the angry protest and accusations. The most she had for him was where Adam's room was located. She just hoped her father would be able to fill in the rest of the gaps from there. "Fischbach's room is on this floor...Say you're coming down the stairs from the third floor, from there you'd take a right down the first corridor and then a left down the next hallway and then another left. It's three rooms down from there on the left."

She looked over at him and gave a small half hearted smile. "Think you'll be able to remember all that?" she asked then glanced ahead, thoughtfully. "If not... Maybe we can make you a map of sorts on where to go... Come on. We'll stop by my father's room." Penelope gave a small gesture for him to follow her as she turned down another corridor.

She fell quiet with a glance towards a passing guard that eyed Crow warily. It was obvious that even though his name had technically been cleared, there were still quite a few nobles that believed him to be responsible. Which meant they'd have to tread carefully. "If anyone asks, I figure we can just say we're questioning you again.. Or maybe asking for any tips on where to search for the jewels." she muttered to the former thief as she lead the way to her father's room.

Crow nodded when Penelope said her father was probably already in his room. That solved at least one of his dilemmas. He just hoped the older knight would be able to tell him where each of the noblemen’s bed chambers were, so he could find them later in the night. Worst case scenario, he planned to put everything in Adam’s room, so the baron would be forced to find his own way to put it all back where it belonged without being accused of stealing the jewelry, himself.

As the knight went on to describe in detail where Fischbach’s room was located, Crow turned to look ahead, carefully mapping the route in his mind. Even though he was new to living in the castle, he had been here enough times in the past to know how most of the lower-ranking nobles’ bed chambers were laid out. He had stolen from them quite a few times, after all. Tonight’s reverse raid would be no different than anything he had accomplished before.

By the end of Penelope’s description, Crow realized that Adam’s room wasn’t very far from his own. It seemed to be located in the same wing, just one floor below. He smirked to himself. That was going to make his job a lot easier. He only hoped the other two noblemen were nearby as well.

“I’ve got it,” the viceroy tapped his temple with one finger and casted her a wry grin. “Memorizing stuff like this is what I did for a living. I won’t forget it.”

He followed her lead as she directed him to her father’s room, keeping his head up and his eyes forward to pointedly ignore the guards who were watching him as he passed. Fortunately, even though they seemed wary of him, none of them questioned why he was in this part of the castle. The knights probably just assumed he was allowed to be there because he was being escorted by a one of their own. They made it to the chamber with no trouble.

When they stepped inside, Crow saw John sitting at a desk in the corner of the room, writing in what looked like a journal. The older knight looked up to see who had entered his chamber and then nodded his head in recognition, “Good. I was hoping you’d stop by.”

“Penelope said you might know where the noblemen’s rooms are,” Crow said a bit absently as he eyed the older man. Having only ever seen John in his armor, he wasn’t used to seeing the knight dress down. He nearly looked like a different person in just his trousers and undershirt—not nearly as intimidating as he usually was with a sword at his belt. The stark change caught the viceroy off guard.

John seemed to notice his staring but said nothing about it as he turned in his chair and gestured to the bed. “I do,” he confirmed. “You can sit over there.”

Crow glanced at Penelope before going along with her father’s suggestion and sitting on the edge of the mattress. “I need to know where the rooms are, but I was also hoping you could tell me something else.” He casted a wary look at the closed door, as if he could tell someone was listening on the other side with just a glance, before reaching into his tunic and pulling out the jewelry he’d been hiding in the inside pocket.

“I need to know which items belong to which person,” he finished in a lowered voice.

Penelope smirked a little at his confident words and nodded her head before focusing her gaze ahead as she took them to her father's room. She knocked once before stepping inside. As her father turned to them, she dipped her head to her father and closed the door softly behind them. The knight hesitated as Crow moved to sit on the edge of the bed before moving over to sit down besides him. She didn't want to bring up a certain memory with her father but with no other available seats, she assumed it was alright.

Her gaze shifted over to Crow besides her as he brought up the reason for their visit. Her gaze flickered over the jewelry as the viceroy pulled them out before shifting her gaze onto her father, looking hopeful. John crossed his arms over his chest and nodded his head. "Of course.. I got all of that information from Tybalt today." he mused and then lowered his gaze to the jewelry. "I figured we'd be needing it."

"That's a relief." Penelope sighed, grateful that her father had taken it upon himself to get the information for them. "I already told him where Fischbach's room is so that only leaves the other two."

"Well this should be fairly easy then." John said. "The rooms are all in the same corridor. He likely didn't think he had the time to go very far. Anyways, the two rings with the gold band encrusted with rubies belongs to Fischbach. The pendant with the diamonds belongs to a man by the name of Baltac and the bracelet belongs to a man named Christopher." He explained pointing to each item respectively.

"From Fischbach's room you go two down on the left side and that's Christopher's room. The one right after his is Baltac's. So long as you know how to get to Fischbach's room, I doubt you'll have any trouble with finding the others." John focused his gaze on Crow. "Still think you can handle sneaking them back in there without getting caught?"

Crow leaned back on the palm of his free hand as John confirmed that he could tell him everything he needed to know. He was glad to hear that the knight had gotten so much information. Knowing where the rooms were as well as which jewelry belonged to which nobleman, it was going to be much easier for him to put everything back where it came from. All that was left was to return it all without getting caught by a night guard—a simple enough task for the former thief.

As John went on to explain that all the noblemen had rooms in the same wing, the viceroy nodded thoughtfully. It may have been a convenient move for Fischbach to take jewelry from his neighbors, but it made the job of putting them all back convenient as well. He listened carefully as the knight described who owned each piece of jewelry, studying them all individually in his hand to better memorize the information as it was recited to him. Fortunately, because there weren’t very many items, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to remember whom they belonged to.

He paid just as close attention to John’s description of where the other two rooms were. It was a bit disappointing to find out that all three noblemen were located on the left side of the wing—the side without exterior-facing windows—but he knew he could manage. He would just have to be a bit more careful when he made his way to their corridor during the night.

“I can,” Crow smiled confidently when John questioned if he still thought he could handle the task.

The older knight grunted in response. “You may be living here now, but the guards aren’t going to let you just walk about freely in the middle of the night. I’d like to know what sort of plan you have to get past them, Lockton.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“You’ve been caught here before.”

“Once,” Crow groaned irritably. “Once, once, once. Gods, how long are you people going to hold that over my head? I’ve only been caught one time. I know what I’m doing, and I’m not going to let it happen again.”

“So, what is your plan?” John asked again

The viceroy rolled his eyes, tempted not to answer the question out of petty spite. However, in the end, his good sense won out, and he relented. “It’s easy to get past guards when there are none,” he said vaguely as he put the jewelry back inside his tunic pocket. The knight may have convinced him to talk, but that didn’t mean he was going to explain everything without making him wait a little.

“There are guards throughout this entire castle,” John snorted.

“Not everywhere,” Crow smirked. “There is one place they never watch.”

There was a brief pause before John seemed to realize the viceroy was waiting for him to respond. “And where would that be?” he asked dryly.

Crow’s smirk widened to a grin, and he leaned back to tap the wall behind him. “The archers only watch the courtyard,” he finally explained. “The battlements they perch on jut over the wall, which creates a blind spot beneath them. Since these men are all in the wing just below mine, I can climb down from my window and enter through whatever bed chamber is underneath. None of the guards will be able to see me.”

He leaned forward again to rest his forearms on his knees. “All I have to do after that is distract the guards posted in their wing—if there are any—long enough to put everything back and climb back out the way I came in. It’ll be easy.”

Penelope listened as Crow and John spoke, letting out a small sigh as the viceroy got irritated at the reminder of his one time failure. The knight looked over at him as he went on to explain his plan and gave a small nod. Unlike her father, she didn't doubt his abilities, though that was likely since due to the fact that she had seen him at work on several occasions.

John crossed his arms. "Very well... And for your information, there's going to be three guards posted in that wing."

"Three? Usually they don't even have one." Penelope frowned. "Did Tybalt really think that wing would be hit twice?"

"Not exactly... The other residents there are very concerned about their belongings and demanded they have the extra guards. Tybalt had no choice but to comply to demands." John explained with a shrug. "It'll probably be a one time thing after this but regardless it won't make putting those items back any easier."

Penelope gave a small nod, supposing she should have expected as much from the paranoid nobles. Still, three guards were a bit much in her opinion. The wing may have been long but surely didn't need that many eyes on it. Though the former thief could probably handle it, the knight was just a bit more worried for his safety. She shifted slightly and turned to look over at the viceroy, offering him a half smile.

"I know you'll be fine but be safe." she said moving to rest her hand on top of his. "And I can always help if you need an extra pair of eyes." Ignoring the disapproving look of her father, the knight nudged his side and smirked. "It wouldn't be my first raid in a castle after all. And at least I do know my way around this one."

Crow leaned back on his hands again and nodded thoughtfully when John said there would be three guards in the wing that night. Though he wouldn’t admit it out loud, the information was concerning to him. He could distract one guard easily enough. Two sometimes posed a problem. But three? That was going to take some creative thinking to overcome. Even if he managed to get one or two of them to chase a false tail to another part of the castle, the knights could choose to let one man stay to keep watch over the corridor. It wouldn’t be easy to coax all of them to abandon their posts.

His eyes flicked between John and Penelope as they discussed the reason why there were so many guards that night. Apparently, the noblemen in the palace were more paranoid than he’d thought. He nearly scoffed as the older knight explained that the other people in the wing were afraid of losing their valuables after their neighbors had been stolen from. No thief—not even himself—was brazen enough to waltz back onto the scene of their last crime just one day after he committed it. It was far safer to hit a different target or even wait a few days for everyone to lower their guards again before conducting a second heist.

Crow was drawn from his thoughts when he felt Penelope rest her hand on top of his. He turned to meet her gaze, casting her a fond smile as she expressed concern for his safety. At her offer to help, he mulled over his plan again, wondering if there was a way for him to take her up on the suggestion. A little more than two years ago, he would have denied her right away, but after she had aided him at the Younisian castle, he knew he could rely on her to get a job done. Plus, he had grown more used to accepting others’ help since he had been living with the other thieves. Perhaps there was a way he could use her skills now.

Suddenly, he blinked as an idea came to him and then laughed out loud. The plan was absurd, but the more he thought about it, the more it seemed like the perfect solution to getting rid of all three guards. He only hoped they would be just unobservant enough for him to pull it off—or at least confused enough not to question anything.

“Actually, there is a way you could help,” he said with a grin. “I’ll need you to come back to my room with me though.”

Penelope raised an eyebrow at him as he suddenly laughed, confused by what could have possibly crossed his mind. As he turned to her and said there was a way for her to help, she returned his grin with a smile, glad to hear the former thief accepting her offer. It'd give her a small piece of mind that night if she was able to help him out rather than just retiring to her room and hoping everything went well. However, she was slightly confused as he went on to say that she'd need to go to his room with him.

"Alright." she said tilting her head a bit confusedly. "What's the plan?"

"Yes I'd like to know that as well. Specifically why it involves her going to your room." her father growled. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were narrowed at the viceroy. It was easy to guess why he had a problem with that detail, especially given the past. She cringed at the memory of her father practically walking in on them. As much as she wished he would just willingly keep out of their personal business and trust at least her, she knew he was too protective to do so.

"Father, it's just to get the jewelry back, nothing more." Penelope muttered defensively.

"Which is exactly why I'm curious it involved you going to his room at this hour. Especially when you two are suppose to be keeping a distance from each other." John snorted. He shifted his gaze back to Crow, eying him warily. "What exactly are you planning, Lockton?"