Of course, the first thing Naida did after everyone had ordered their drinks was suggest a drinking game. Crow rolled his eyes. He supposed he should have expected it since the princess was also friends with Olivia, and the wild knight was known for causing trouble whenever there was a mug in her hand. However, she was going to be disappointed, because he’d learned his lesson the last time he’d gotten roped into drinking more than he felt comfortable with. This time, he planned to have no more than two glasses of mead that he would make sure he didn’t take his eyes off, in case his sister decided to try the same trick Olivia had by switching his drink.

It seemed like he wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to get drunk that night either. He glanced sideways at Penelope as she quickly shut down the princess’s idea. He hadn’t been sure if she would agree to participate or not, since she didn’t have the same reservations around alcohol that he did, but he was relieved that she had chosen not to play Naida’s game. Knowing how much of a lightweight she was, it could have been trouble if she’d had too many drinks and forgot that they were trying to keep their relationship a secret until after he spoke to his father about courting her.

When Naida protested by saying that they hadn’t celebrated since the knight’s speech, Crow bit his lip to stifle a laugh. They certainly [i]had[/i] celebrated her success, but it had been a bit of a private affair. “No, you don’t,” he shook his head when his sister wrongfully assumed that he would join them. “I’ve told you before that I prefer to be sober. That still hasn’t changed.”

“Why are you both being so boring tonight?” Naida whined. “I don’t want to be the only one who’s drinking. That’s not fun at all.”

“Maybe you should have asked us about our plans before we got here,” Crow teased her, folding his arms on the table. “Anyway, we can still enjoy ourselves without getting drunk. We do it all the time.”

“I wish Olivia was here,” Naida groaned, dramatically laying her head down on the table. “She’s always willing to drink with me.”

“Trying to guilt us isn’t going to work,” Crow said dryly. He casted Penelope a mock look of exasperation and then glanced over his shoulder as the bar wench returned with their drinks.