Crow stretched his arms as he headed back to his bedchamber for the night, trying to wake up a little more after the long nap he’d just taken. Inside the room, he made his way by memory over to the table by the window to light a lantern. Knowing that he might fall asleep if he laid down in the dark, the flickering glow brought him some comfort and helped him to relax. He sat down at the table, idly drumming his fingers against the wooden surface as he decided what to do to entertain himself while he stayed up. After a moment, his eyes drifted to the book Udolf had given him during their last lesson together. It laid on the opposite side of the table, unopened since the day his tutor had introduced him to it. He supposed he should have put more time into reading it, but with everything else that had been going on, he’d completely forgotten about the assignment. Deciding that now was as good a time as ever to catch up, he picked up the book and leafed through the pages to figure out where he’d left off last time. -- Crow wasn’t sure how much time passed between the moment he started reading and the time Preston arrived in his bedchamber. All he knew was that the sun had come up sometime during the middle, and the energy he’d gained from his earlier nap had faded significantly. Towards the end of it, he was nearly tempted to go back to sleep and probably would have if he didn’t have to worry about dealing with his nightmare again. But, such as it was, he forced himself to stay awake to avoid having another panic attack that morning. When Preston stepped into his room, the attendant froze by the door, clearly surprised to see the viceroy awake and reading a book. “You’re up,” he commented obviously, hesitating for a moment before he asked, “Did your nightmare happen earlier today?” “No,” Crow shook his head, standing up and arching his back to get his blood flowing after sitting for so long. “I’ve been up for most of the night.” “Why?” Preston frowned. He walked over to the viceroy and handed off the water he’d brought for him. “Unplanned circumstances,” Crow answered vaguely, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture as he downed a large portion of the drink. The servant eyed him for a moment longer before he spoke again, “Did you have Penelope over?” Crow nearly choked, unprepared for the boy’s question. “No, I did not have Penelope over,” he scoffed. Finishing off the rest of his water, he set the empty glass down on the table and brushed past the attendant to put his boots on. Since he hadn’t bothered to change out of the clothes he’d worn the day before, he decided to save himself some effort and just wear the tunic and trouser he already had on instead of finding a new outfit in the wardrobe. “Oh,” Preston trailed after him, still interested in finding out what had happened. “Why else would you have stayed up?” “Sometimes you’re too nosy for your own good, kid,” Crow rolled his eyes without answering the question. He straightened his posture once he finished putting his shoes on and headed for the door. “Come on. I may not have met with Penelope last night, but I did tell her I’d meet her for breakfast this morning. I’d rather not keep her waiting.” “Alright,” Preston relented, seeming disappointed that the viceroy wouldn’t tell him anything else. However, he didn’t press the matter and followed along compliantly as his master led the way to the Great Hall. -- When they arrived, Crow performed his usual sweep of the room to look for Penelope. It seemed that he was the first to arrive though because the knight was nowhere to be seen. Assuming he had just beaten her there that morning, he sat down at the closest empty table to wait for her, reclining tiredly on the bench while Preston hurried off to get him a plate for breakfast. Once he was alone, the viceroy leaned forward to rest his arms on the table and yawned broadly. It was starting to appear that even though the nap he’d taken in Naida’s bedchamber had helped him stay awake long enough to avoid another nightmare, it hadn’t been enough to give him the energy he needed to get through the day. He hoped his lesson that afternoon wouldn’t be too difficult, since he wasn’t sure how much he could take in after staying awake most of the night. “Good morning, Collin.” Crow startled faintly at the sound of a voice, having come close to drifting off while his thoughts had been wandering. He turned around in his seat, expecting that Penelope had caught up with him, only to stiffen in surprise as his gaze landed on the last person he wanted to see. “How was your meeting with the princess last night?” Liz grinned, smoothly circling around the table to sit across from him. Like the last time, she was wearing a provocative dress in the color red. “Um,” Crow’s mind went blank as he took a moment to process what was going on. “It was fine. I think we got done with everything we needed to.” “That’s good to hear,” Elizabeth leaned forward to lace her slender fingers together on the table. The angle at which she was sitting offered a direct view down the front of her dress, which Crow felt quite certain she had arranged on purpose. He reddened slightly and averted his gaze, pretending to look around the Great Hall as if the rest of the nobles were suddenly interesting. “Did you need something?” he asked with forced nonchalance, hoping to send her away before Penelope arrived, since he knew the noblewoman bothered the knight. “Not particularly,” Liz shrugged. “Like I told you before, I just want to catch up.” She tilted her head, frowning with a hint of disappointment as he avoided looking at her. “Are you searching for someone?” “Just my attendant,” the viceroy lied in a low voice. “He’s been gone for a while and has yet to return with my breakfast.” “I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” Liz assured him, reaching across the table to rest her hand on his arm. “Besides, the longer he’s gone, the more time we’ll have to talk.” Crow fought the urge to groan in frustration. It seemed that no matter what he said or did, Liz wasn’t going anywhere. He found himself hoping that Penelope would just sleep in that morning, so she wouldn’t see them together again, since he couldn’t shake the stubborn noblewoman off.