Crow nodded, chewing thoughtfully on his food. He wasn’t sure how his presence at the party would help anything since most of the nobles in the castle still seemed to hate him, but he didn’t want to point that out to Penelope. Regardless of whether or not anyone else wanted him there, he intended to go to support her. She had been working hard on her mission from the gods since the day they’d arrived in the inner kingdom, and this party could be the turning point they needed to end the war. He wasn’t about to sit it out in his room and ask her how it went. If there was even a chance that he could help her in some way, he wanted to be there to do just that.

At Naida’s words of encouragement, he shrugged. He knew she meant well by reminding him about all the people who had approached him at the banquet, but all he could think about were ones who probably despised him even more now that he was the king’s viceroy. For every man and woman who had congratulated him, there had to be at least two or three who would be happy to see him dead. Of course, he wasn’t overly concerned about being knifed in the back at a public event, but he was a little worried that the nobles who disliked him would be less willing to take Penelope’s side if they realized that meant they would be aligning with him too. He would likely have to keep his head down during the party until after the knight gained the support she needed.

When Penelope spoke up again, Crow glanced at her with a frown, noticing the sudden dip in her enthusiasm. He wished he could comfort her and remind her of all the reasons why he thought she was the perfect person to handle the job, but he couldn’t say any of that with Naida around. Instead, he subtly brushed his leg against hers beneath the table and tried a more neutral approach.

“I’m sure you’ll do just fine,” he assured her, turning to his sister with a smirk. “We can make it our job to keep everyone drinking, so they’ll be easier to convince.”

“Yeah,” Naida grinned back at him before reaching across the table to pat her friend’s shoulder. “Plus, I know you’ll do great even without our help. This is obviously something you care a lot about. As long as you show that care at the party, I’m sure it’ll bleed into everyone else too. You have nothing to worry about!”