Crow grimaced when Naida called him out for the way he’d been acting since Penelope had kissed him too. He would have liked to be able to meet her lips so passionately and then pretend like nothing had happened, but the fact of the matter was, he couldn’t turn his feelings for her on and off like a spigot. They’d managed to have a little more time together than usual since the party, but it was still far from enough to satisfy the longing he had to be close to her. The unexpected kiss just now had felt like a cold drink of water after a drought. He couldn’t hide the excitement he’d felt upon receiving it.

To make the situation worse, his sister chose that moment to declare the worst challenge for her friend that she could have come up with. The viceroy tensed involuntarily, taking a slow breath to stop the look of dismay that threatened to take over his features as she told the knight to kiss Kane. After everything that had happened the night before, the last thing he wanted was to watch the woman he loved be pressured into a romantic dalliance with another man. The defeated expression he’d seen on her face after Cedric had forced himself on her was ingrained vividly in his mind. He couldn’t bear the thought of seeing it again.

Feeling Penelope’s hand slip into his lap beneath the table, Crow glanced down at her with a frown. The uncertainty in her eyes had gone unnoticed by his drunken sister, but he caught sight of it right away. The princess had gone too far this time. “Naida, enough,” he snapped in a low tone, shooting her a warning scowl. He didn’t care how she interpreted his sudden change of mood as long as she stopped pushing Penelope to kiss the other nobleman.

The princess gawked at him confusedly. “Why? It’s just a li’l fun. We’ve all been drinkin’. He’ll know it didn’ mean any—”

“I’m serious,” he interrupted sternly, reaching underneath the table to lace his fingers with Penelope’s in a comforting gesture. “That’s enough. Leave her alone.”

Naida shrank down in her seat, but she seemed to get the message as she nodded a wordless agreement.

A tense silence fell over the group until Kane slid in next to Penelope again. The nobleman looked over them with a bemused expression, unsure what was going on since he’d been gone. “So,” he cleared his throat awkwardly, turning to the knight. “Did I miss anything?”

“Not much,” Naida mumbled across from him, dismally toying with her empty mug. “Collin and Penelope, just kissed, tha’s all…”