Crow blinked when Penelope said that the posture she had taught him was only the beginning of the dance. Already, he was starting to wonder if he had gotten in over his head by agreeing to learn how to dance with her in the first place. The way she spoke, it sounded like there was still quite a bit left that he didn’t know. With the addition of how exhausted he was from the long day, he could tell it was going to be difficult for him to keep up with the rest of the lesson. Regardless, he didn’t voice his concerns. It might have turned out to be harder than he expected, but he was still fairly sure he could follow along if he focused enough.

His eyes flicked toward Naida when he saw Penelope look in her direction. The sight of the grin on her face made him roll his eyes again. His sister was clearly excited to watch them dance together. He suspected she believed it would encourage them to get together if they proved to be a good match during a dance.

As Penelope went on to explain the next part of the dance, Crow turned back to her, trying to keep up with the instructions she was giving him. It was tough to do, when his attention kept wandering back to the soft looking bed behind him, but he thought he understood the directions well enough. He looked down at her legs when she bent her knees, only to be immediately corrected by Naida, who told him to keep eye contact with her at all times.

[i]There’s a rule about everything,[/i] he thought dryly as he lifted his gaze to meet the knight’s eyes again. Despite the mild annoyance, he found that he didn’t really mind this particular instruction as much. At least it gave him an excuse to stare at her without coming off as suspicious. A faint smile tugged at his lip as he held Penelope’s gaze, enjoying the luxury of being at least a little closer to her than he was usually able to get when his sister was around.

Crow nodded when Penelope said they could try the first part of the dance together while she led. That was something else that was new to him. In the outer villages, everyone danced together a bit haphazardly, so there wasn’t a “leader.” At least, not that he was aware of. He never attended village dances regularly enough to really figure them out though.

“As I’ll ever be,” Crow grinned. Though he wasn’t sure if he would do well on his first try, he enjoyed a good challenge, so he felt ready to take it on with some amount of confidence. “Lead the way.”