Crow gave a one-shouldered shrug when Penelope pointed out that she didn’t have guard duty every day. He wondered if his tutors ever planned to give him a day off or if he would be kept busy every afternoon until his training was complete. He hoped they would let him rest sometime. If they expected him to keep up with this rigorous schedule every day for a whole month, they had another thing coming. He needed to recuperate sometime or else his performance was going to wane—and that was only if he didn’t start skipping lessons first.

“I hope so,” he muttered in response to his sister. As things were, it was hard for him to imagine having any sort of a “life” in the castle. Everything nobles seemed to do for fun were uninteresting to him, and he was quite sure that anything he found enjoyable would just get him into trouble with his father. He thoughtfully chewed another bite of food. Well, there were some things he might be able to do if he ever found himself with free time. During his time with the other thieves, he had gotten skilled at hunting. Even though he wouldn’t be able to keep up with the noblemen who hunted on horseback, he felt confident that he could best them with a bow from the ground.

There were also plenty of places around the inner kingdom to explore. The cities around the castle may not have had the same charm as the villages that he had grown up with, but they were still fascinating to him. He would have liked to get to know the area better, especially since he was going to be living here indefinitely. 

After a period of silence, Penelope’s voice drew Crow from his thoughts. He looked up with a frown as she announced that she had to go. However, catching her gaze, he caught the look she was casting him. His eyes flicked toward Naida for a moment before he stood up as well. “I should get going too,” he yawned, stretching his arms tiredly. “I need to sleep off this soreness.”

“You’re both leaving me already?” Naida pouted. Crow shrugged, and she let out a sigh. “Fine, but you’d better stick around longer next time! We need to catch up.” She winked at her brother and gestured subtly at Penelope.

Crow rolled his eyes, “Only if you don’t mind explaining to Udolf why I’m late for my lesson.”

“Aw, he likes me, so that won’t be a problem,” Naida grinned.

“It’s your funeral,” Crow snorted. He raised his hand in a brief wave as he turned to walk after Penelope. “See you later.”

“Bye, Collin!” Naida returned the gesture.

With that, Crow headed away from the table and trotted to catch up with the knight. He casted her a curious look when he reached her side, “Did you have something you wanted to talk about?”