Almost as soon as he had recovered from the panic that came along with his nightmare, Crow’s eyes widened with the realization that he was still in Penelope’s bedchamber when there was light coming in through the window. The events of the previous night came back to him in a rush, and he hissed a curse under his breath. By now, the guards in the hall would have switched shifts, but the early risers in the castle were probably getting up for the day as well. It was going to be difficult for him to get back to his own room without being spotted. From there, he was sure it was only a matter of time before the rumors would start circulating that the king’s viceroy had been caught dallying with another woman just a week after Elizabeth had been spotted leaving his room in a bedsheet. He really needed to learn how to get better at maintaining his reputation or else the other nobles were going to think he was a lecher.

“I’m fine,” he said dismissively, scrambling to disentangle himself from the blanket while the knight retrieved his clothes from the floor. “It’s not your fault. We both fell asleep,” he reassured her as he caught the undershirt and trousers she tossed to him. What had seemed like a good idea to his hazy, post coital mind was quickly turning out to be a disaster. He wished he would have thought through the consequences before he’d recklessly decided to throw caution to the wind and drift off next to her. Unfortunately, it was too late to take it back now. He just hoped the early risers had been drunk enough at the party last night to sleep in.

As if the gods were mocking him, a knock sounded on Penelope’s door just as Crow was fumbling to put one foot in his pant leg. “Damnit,” he muttered, hurrying to pull his trousers on since he was already halfway there. “Who would want to speak with you this early in the morning?” he whispered incredulously to the knight, foregoing his shirt since there wasn’t time to put that on too. With the tunic bunched up in his hand, he looked around the bare room for a place to hide, but there was nothing big enough to conceal his stature. The bed was too low to the ground for him to slide under and the dresser was too short for him to fit inside.

With no better options, he dipped behind the far side of the latter piece of furniture and pressed his back to the wall. The dresser stood between him and the door, so as long as no one came inside the bedchamber, they wouldn’t know he was there. With a helpless shrug, he gestured for Penelope to answer the knock.