By the time Crow and John got back to the castle, the former was starting to feel his exhaustion catch up to him. Spending most of the day on horseback was a tiresome activity, especially since he wasn’t used to it, and he had a feeling he was going to wake up sore in all the muscles he wasn’t used to pushing for that long. On the contrary, Penelope’s father seemed to be doing fine. The viceroy wasn’t surprised though. John had been a knight long enough that he’d probably ridden horses far longer than just the middle of the afternoon. It would have been more shocking to see him worn down after just one training session in the field.

When they reached the Great Hall, the two parted ways without a word as the older man immediately headed toward a table of knights. Meanwhile, Crow lingered near the door as he sought Penelope’s face amongst the crowd. It took a moment before he spotted her, but then he stiffened when he caught sight of her company. He was careful not to let the full extent of his displeasure cross his face, but he still narrowed his eyes as he watched Cedric from across the room. Knowing that the other man was a former suitor of the woman he loved—and that he’d hurt her in the past—he detested seeing them together. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything he could do to separate the two without raising any brows, so he silently set his jaw and made his way over to join them.

Naida was the first to notice him approaching. “Hey, Collin!” she grinned broadly and gestured with one hand at the open seat beside Penelope. It was then that the viceroy realized she must have pulled her usual trick to make sure he sat beside the knight.

Normally, he would have rolled his eyes at his half-sister’s antics, but since she had kept Penelope away from Cedric, he was grateful enough for the intervention that he didn’t express any annoyance. Instead, he took the spot compliantly and leaned in to rest his forearms on the table. “Hey,” he yawned, not bothering to hide his weariness from the others. “What have you been up to all day?”

“Party planning!” the princess sat up straighter and shot a glance at Penelope. “We finished all the invitations before supper.”

“Is that so?” Crow raised a brow, mildly impressed that they had written so many letters. Just one always took a toll on him. Sitting for a whole day writing one after another after another sounded torturous to him. It also reminded him that he still had to talk to the few noblemen and women that he had enough influence over to invite. He wasn’t fond of conversing with people who just wanted to use him—especially with the women who would flirt and bat their eyes—so he had been putting it off, but he’d promised Penelope he would do it, so he had to get it over with at some point.

“How is that going anyway?” he asked, turning to the knight beside him and lifting one hand to prop his cheek against in a lazy manner. The fact that he was avoiding eye contact with Cedric wasn’t completely discreet, but he used the excuse of talking to his sister and secret lover so his cold behavior wasn’t too out of place.