A sly smile crossed Crow’s lips when Cedric interjected the conversation in astonishment. He knew it was petty—the knight didn’t even know he had any romantic interest in Penelope—but he enjoyed reminding her former suitor that he had a history with her too. He didn’t have any particular agenda to go along with the comment. It wasn’t like he could follow it up with any hints about their whirlwind relationship in Younis either, since Naida would hound them to the ends of the earth to find out more. The expression on his face was satisfying enough though, and it felt like he’d gotten his point across without giving anything detrimental away.

When Penelope corrected her former suitor by explaining that stealing the horse had been her idea, the viceroy watched him subtly across the table. Cedric’s stunned silence was too good. Maybe he would decide to stop grasping at the straws of a second chance with her—as that was what the thief was convinced he was trying to do—if he thought she had been corrupted by a criminal. That certainly would have made things easier for him. However, in the next moment, his smug look was replaced with a baffled frown when the knight barked out a laugh. He hadn’t thought anything she had said was funny.

Apparently Cedric had decided that her lawless deed was amusing. Crow averted his gaze, pretending to look for the servants who would bring their food as the knight went on to talk about how he had taken time out of his shifts to meet with her. He wasn’t jealous of the short story, since Penelope had told him that she and the knight had been together long before they had ever met, but still irritated him because it sounded like her former suitor was trying to remind [i]her[/i] of the things he had done for her in the past. Another move to try and win a little more of her trust.

He bit the inside of his cheek, wishing again that he could just put an arm around her or take her hand or do [i]something[/i] to make it clear to the other man that they were together. Unfortunately, he had to sit still, keeping his hands to himself, until their relationship wouldn’t have a negative impact on her efforts to end the war. Being patient was a grueling task.

When the attendants arrived with their plates, Crow turned his attention to his food. There wasn’t much else he could contribute to the conversation without delving into the parts of their history that would raise red flags in Cedric and Naida’s minds. It was better to let the subject drop.

His sister seemed to have different plans though.

“Well, I think you’ve gotten a lot more fun since you came back from Younis,” she chirped, looking between the two nobles sitting across from her. “It may have been desperate times, but the measures stuck around.” Her bright smile turned puckish. “And from what I just heard, it sounds like we’ve got Collin to thank for that. What else did you two get away with on that mission?”