Despite his interest in the Gorman language, the afternoon went by slowly to Crow. He started by going over the characters his father had taught him again, identifying their sounds and pointing out which special symbols could be used on what kinds of words. Albin seemed pleased with his recollection, as he only mixed up a few of the characters throughout the repetition, and it didn’t take long before they moved on to reading. The king gave him a thin book to work through and instructed him to write down any words he didn’t know, explaining that the assignment would help to further develop his vocabulary in the foreign tongue.

The former thief spent the rest of the lesson lounging in a cushioned chair in the chamber library as he read the book. To his surprise, there were quite a few words he didn’t know, and he wrote down more than he had been expecting. His confusion was cleared up when, at the end of the class, his father looked over his list and translated each of the words he couldn’t understand. Apparently, they all had to do with political discourse and economic jargon that he couldn’t describe even in Missenar. Knowing that made him feel better about the gap in his knowledge, and he left the room pleased with himself for already being so accomplished in the neighboring kingdom’s speech.

He was also in a good mood because Albin had dismissed him early enough to fit in a nap before supper. The king seemed to have noticed his lethargy and thought it would do him some good to rest instead of fitting anything more than they already had into his lesson. He couldn’t wait to lay down, so he would finally stop feeling so exhausted. In his excitement about finishing the class early, he realized he’d forgotten to bring up the prospect of taking an entire day off, but he didn’t mind. There was plenty of time for him to bring up the subject during the next time they met. For now, he was content with getting some much-needed sleep.

When he got back to his room, Crow barely took the time to take off his boots before he flopped heavily onto the mattress of his bed, drawing the blankets up to his chin as he settled down. Knowing that Preston would stop by to wake him up when he needed to leave for supper, he didn’t even have to worry about panicking from his nightmare when he got up. He closed his eyes serenely, looking forward to taking a peaceful nap for the first time in too long.

Unfortunately, he didn’t even have time to begin drifting off before a knock sounded on the door.

The viceroy groaned, jumping to the conclusion that Preston had come to fetch him early for supper. But that didn’t seem to be the case as the person on the other side of his door knocked a second time instead of coming in. Mildly annoyed by the disruption, he sat up on his bed and rubbed his eyes, calling out a moody “What is it?” to whoever was so insistent on ruining his nap.

There was a brief pause before the door opened, and Crow tensed as he watched Elizabeth step inside.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize you were sleeping,” she apologized, shuffling her feet.

“I wasn’t,” he muttered, keeping a wary eye on her as she shut the door behind her. Still angry with her for the way she had treated Penelope at breakfast, he shot her a wary glare, “So, what do you want?”

“The same thing I’ve wanted from the start,” Liz smiled at him halfheartedly, lifting her narrow shoulders in a shrug. “To spend time with you.”

“Is that right?” Crow said dryly, leaning back on the palms of his hands. “Well then you might as well leave now, because I don’t want anything more to do with you.”

Liz winced, “If this is about what I said to that knight, I’m really sorry. I was just jealous... I mean, I haven’t been able to see you in seven years, and she’s gotten to spend every day with you since you arrived at the castle. I didn’t mean it…”

“I think you did,” Crow scoffed, not bothering to filter himself while he was still seething about what had happened. “Besides, I don’t know why you’re apologizing to me right now. Penelope was the one you tried to hurt. If you’re truly sorry, then you should tell her when she comes back to the castle tomorrow.”

“I know,” the noblewoman sighed, lowering her gaze to her shoes. “I just had to say something to someone, and you’re the only one who’s still around.”

Crow studied her for a moment longer before looking away again. “Well then, you’ve said your piece,” he grumbled. “So now, you can go. I still want to sleep before supper anyway.”

“Okay,” Liz complied meekly. She dipped her head in a graceful bow, “Have a good nap, Collin.”

The viceroy just grunted in response as he laid down again, waiting for the sound of the door to open and close before he closed his eyes. With matters seemingly settled between him and Elizabeth for now, he finally drifted off into a light sleep.