Once again, Crow followed Penelope’s lead as she guided them through the next part of the dance. He paid attention to the subtle push and pull of her hand that told him what to do, knowing he would eventually have to learn how to lead on his own if he was to be able to dance with anyone else at the party. The moves were still simple enough that he followed her without too much trouble. For him, the hardest part was maintaining a decent posture, since his weariness tempted him to abandon grace for the ease of slouching. He managed not to give in though, since he knew that the sooner he perfected the routine, the sooner he could go back to his bedchamber to sleep.

The viceroy nodded a bit absentmindedly as Penelope went on to give him further instructions. He turned to keep facing her as she walked around him, losing some focus as his thoughts wandered to how elegant she looked performing the move. The more they danced together, the more he realized that his role seemed to be just to show her off as she completed more difficult maneuvers. It was actually a bit relieving, since he had a feeling that most of the dance would be simpler for him than it was for her.

When she guided his hand up and over her head, Crow smiled faintly to himself, feeling a burst of fondness for the knight as he watched her complete a single spin. She really was quite beautiful. He found himself distracted from the lesson as his mind continued to stray, not even realizing that he should have been preparing himself for the next round of directions when she finished her last move.

He was drawn from his musings when he felt her suddenly pull away from him and announce that they should take a break. More than eager to rest, he murmured his agreement, stretching languidly as he trailed after her to sit on Naida’s bed. Of course, his sister attempted to protest, but thankfully the knight seemed determined to stop for a moment, granting them a brief respite from the dance lesson.

Crow let out the yawn he’d been suppressing as he settled down on the edge of the mattress with Penelope, no longer caring about keeping up appearances as his exhaustion grew too strong to fight off. It was quite late now, and he wondered if he should go back to his own room. Even if Elizabeth had been bold enough to seek him out earlier, there was no way she would still be there now. He was just about to voice the suggestion when he felt the knight shift beside him on the bed. Glancing down at her, he blinked in mild surprise to see that she had laid back and appeared to already be falling asleep.

“‘Just a break,’ my ass,” Naida scoffed when she noticed that her friend was doing a little more than just resting.

“We should probably stop anyway,” Crow sighed softly, leaning back on the palms of his hands. He studied Penelope’s sleeping face for a moment before turning to the princess. “I’ll wake her for you, and we can go.”

Naida frowned, looking between the two for a moment before a sly smile crossed her lips, “You’re tired too, right?”

“Well, yes,” Crow admitted slowly, unsure where she was going with the remark. “But that’s why I was suggesting that we should go back to our own bedchambers.”

“You don’t have to go,” the princess waved her hand dismissively. “Let her sleep a little longer. In fact, you can too.” Her smile broadened. “I’ve got a couple of letters to write that I’ve been putting off anyway. You can nap while I work on those.”

Crow shifted his weight, his eyes flicking toward Penelope before returning to his sister’s face. The offer was tempting—he missed sleeping next to the knight—but he didn’t want to give Naida any ideas about them. “I don’t know…”

“It’ll be fine,” Naida insisted before he could object. “I won’t tell anyone if you won’t.”

Crow hesitated. Logically, it made much more sense for him to simply go back to his own room, whether he woke Penelope up or left her to nap. However, he knew that if he went back alone, he was just going to wake up feeling like he hadn’t slept at all again. He bit the inside of his lip. As long as the princess didn’t let him sleep through the night and woke him before his nightmare could reappear, this might be his only opportunity to get a few hours of decent rest in gods knew how long. The realization was persuading.

“Fine,” the viceroy relented with another yawn, rubbing his eyes tiredly. “Just for a little while though, okay? Wake me up as soon as you’re done with your letters and no later.”

“Alright,” his sister grinned.

Feeling satisfied with their deal, Crow shifted on the bed to put some distance between himself and Penelope before he laid down. As much as he would have liked to fall asleep right next to her, he couldn’t be that obvious in front of Naida. Being nearby would have to be good enough. With that thought in mind, he rolled over to face away from the knight and closed his eyes, drifting off almost as soon as his head touched the pillow.