When Penelope began to speak about his nightmares, Crow blinked, realizing she thought he was upset because of the risky situation Naida had almost put them in. While it was part of the reason why he’d snapped at his sister, he was far more concerned about the way she’d gotten him to stay in her bedchamber in the first place. Since he had gotten close to her, he’d let his guard down around the princess quite a bit. He hadn’t thought she would lie to him so blatantly. It was distressing to know that he couldn’t trust her as he’d previously thought.

[i]But that’s not true,[/i] he clenched his jaw. All she’d done was play a joke on him and Penelope. It wasn’t like she had intentionally tried to put them in a position where they could get caught by the royal guards. He knew he shouldn’t hold it against her when she was clueless about what she’d done. [i]But she also shouldn’t have lied to me in the first place,[/i] the part of him that was still bitter argued. He let out his breath in a conflicted sigh, hoping the remnants of his frustration would fade away by the morning.

“I know, and I will,” Crow promised, turning back to the knight again as they walked. Even though he was upset, he knew Naida didn’t deserve to be snapped at. He didn’t want his sister to think she had ruined their relationship over one stupid prank. The only way to make things right between them was to apologize for being so quick to snarl and hope she wasn’t mad at him for treating her unfairly at the time.

As Penelope nudged his side, Crow offered her a halfhearted smile. He could tell she was trying to cheer him up, and he appreciated her effort, but he still needed some time to process before he could let go of what had happened. “I guess we will,” he agreed, looking ahead again as his room came into sight up ahead.

“Yeah,” he nodded reluctantly, wishing they didn’t have to part ways. Since he’d gotten decent sleep for the first time in a while, he had no intention of trying to go back to sleep that night only to wake up again in a panic. For a moment, he was tempted to invite her to stay up with him but, knowing she was going on a long trip tomorrow, he held back from proposing the idea. “I’m going to stay up, so I’ll be at breakfast early,” he told her with a more genuine smile. “I’m sure we’ll run into each other before you leave.”

His expression softened as he held her gaze, and he went on in a soft tone so the guards in the corridor wouldn’t overhear him: “I love you, Penelope. I’ll see you in the morning.”