As Naida bantered with Kane, Crow murmured a ‘thank you’ to the wench who had brought him a fresh mug of mead. With just enough alcohol in his system to make him slightly drowsy and nothing to do while the others continued to pound their drinks, he was tiring out faster than he’d thought he would. He bit his tongue to stifle a yawn and leaned closer to Penelope, letting his gaze wander over the other noblemen and women in the tavern. It almost seemed to be getting busier as the night wore on. More tables were packed with knights who were still in their snow-covered armor.

He wondered offhandedly if the men—and a sparse few women—had recently gotten off shifts around various parts of the citadel. Back when he was a thief, he would have paid more attention to such details, since knowing when the guards were nearing the end of a long watch had helped him slip past their glazed-over eye unnoticed before. With no use for that information now, he wasn’t actively listening to find out, but he decided he might as well keep in practice. There was no telling if his old habits would come in handy again someday, after all.

After a few minutes of eavesdropping on other groups of patrons, Crow turned back to his own companions when Kane rose from his seat. At first, he felt a thrill of excitement, hoping that the nobleman had decided to call it a night and return to him home. But his enthusiasm was squashed when the blonde announced that he was just stepping outside to clear his head. He pressed his cheek irritably into the palm of his hand. It seemed like they would be stuck with the nosey interloper for the rest of the celebration.

To make matters worse, the noble was apparently bold enough to try and take Penelope with him. The viceroy side-eyed him untrustingly as he offered her a hand. Ever since Cedric had forced himself on her at the party, Crow didn’t like the idea of leaving any man alone with the knight for any length of time, especially when she was intoxicated enough that she would make an easy target for someone with ill intentions. Kane had given him no reason to believe he wouldn’t try to coax her away from them either. Naida was just as drunk as she was, so if he really cared about sobering up, then why didn’t he invite both of them? The red flag was too suspicious to ignore.

“Hang on,” he rested a firm hand on Penelope’s shoulder before Kane could pull her up from her seat. “It’s still snowing out there. You don’t want to freeze, do you?” His pale eyes lifted to meet the other man’s gaze, though his words were directed to the lieutenant. “Just stay here and have some water if you feel like you need to fight off those drinks.”