Crow wondered at the brief hesitation that followed his question to Penelope. She might have just been thinking about how to answer him, but his suspicion towards the men who had been vying for her time all evening made him wary that one of them had said or done something to her when he wasn’t looking. Distracted by the thought, he fumbled slightly through the next move, although he managed to correct himself before the slip up became too noticeable by the onlookers.

If something had happened, the knight didn’t clue him into it. He studied her face as she spoke but decided not to press the matter. Surely she would have said something if anything had gone wrong that he should know about. Comforted by the thought, he mirrored her smile and shifted his hand from her hand to her waist as they continued to the next part of the dance.

“It’s interesting,” he mused when she asked him the same question he’d thrown at her. “Like everything else I’ve seen in the inner kingdom, it gives me mixed feelings, but I’ve been enjoying myself. It also turns out that not all the nobles here are entitled prats.” He smirked amusedly. “They’re rare, but there are a couple people at this party that I don’t find insufferable to be around.” Fye and Percival were the first to come to mind. The knight had accompanied him in the crowded bathhouse when he didn’t have to, and the noblewoman had actually held a decent conversation with him during their dance. Granted, he was sure that both of them were after his power just like everyone else, but at least they were subtler with their intentions.

“When will you be giving your speech?” he asked next, drawing her in for a series of close-quarters steps. Closing the distance between them was pleasant—he liked being near enough to feel the warmth of her breath and skin—but he kept the exchange short, so it wouldn’t stand out to any of the men or women watching them from a distance.