Crow shook his head when Penelope said she wouldn’t have been surprised if Elizabeth was still waiting for him in the Great Hall. As much as he wanted to disagree with her, he knew she was probably right. Liz had come to the castle with the sole purpose of persuading him to court her, so she had every reason to loiter around until he showed up. He couldn’t wait until he and the knight could start courting openly, if only to prove to the stubborn noblewoman that he was never going to take her back. With the way things had been going so far, he doubted anything less would be enough to convince her to go back to her home in Colchester.

In the next moment, the viceroy smirked as Penelope seemed to echo his thoughts. “Well I think I’m quite a prize, if I do say so, myself. You have every reason to be proud to be with me,” he quipped cockily, giving her a playful nudge as they got up from the bed. All joking aside, he didn’t blame her for wanting to flaunt their relationship in front of the other woman though. Elizabeth had been terrible to her since the day they’d met, and she didn’t seem intent on easing up anytime soon. Honestly, he was impressed the knight had managed to stay so level headed around her thus far. If their positions had been reversed and another man had been trying to get in his way, he was certain he would have started behaving far pettier than she had yet to be.

Deciding to put the unpleasant thought aside for now, Crow waited for Penelope to make sure she was ready before he followed her over to the door. He trailed slightly behind her while she checked the hallway, ensuring that they could leave without being spotted by a passing guard. With rumors already flying around the castle about him “sleeping” with Elizabeth, the last thing he wanted was for another knight to add that he’d been seen with a different woman just one day later. He was hoping to salvage what he could of his name before he and Penelope started courting. That couldn’t happen if everyone thought he was just using noblewomen for his own gain.

Fortunately, it seemed like they had gotten lucky as the knight announced that the corridor was quiet and they began the short walk to the Great Hall.

As they traveled, Crow trotted up to fall in step beside her, enjoying their rekindled closeness after the conversation they’d had in the early morning. He was glad that everything had been settled between them so smoothly. If she hadn’t believed that the gossip had been false, or if they hadn’t come to a compromise about how to handle similar situations in the future, he didn’t know where they would be now. The thought of drifting away from her over such a ridiculous misunderstanding made him shudder, and he quickened his pace slightly, eager to put it behind him in favor of focusing on breakfast.

When they reached the Great Hall, the viceroy glanced over the room to see if Liz was still there. To his disappointment, he saw the noblewoman sitting alone at a table off to the side, already watching him with a hawk like gaze. He grimaced and quickly turned away from her. “Maybe she’ll leave us alone if I pretend I didn’t notice her…” he muttered to Penelope.