Crow ground his teeth as Kane insisted that no one would be leaving with him alone. In that moment, he finally realized that the noble and his henchmen weren’t trying to separate him from Penelope so that the blonde could flirt with her, but rather because they thought he would take advantage of her while she was intoxicated. He couldn’t believe they had the audacity to accuse him of such a thing, even if they never expressed it directly. He had been known for thievery when he’d been a peasant, nothing more and nothing less. The men before him now had no grounds to assume he would sink so low as to get a woman drunk just to use her for his own selfish gain.

He clenched his fists at his sides, seething with thinly bridled rage. Like the three knights, Kane’s reminder that they should all keep level heads went in one ear and out the other for the viceroy. He knew he was at a disadvantage in numbers, skill and resources if a fight broke out, but as the noblemen continued to taunt him, he no longer cared about the odds. Not when they were berating him for a quality he had never possessed in his entire life. Even when he’d slept around in the outer villages, he had not once forced a woman into bed with him against her will. He had been a criminal, but no one who had known him well would have said he was a bad man. Luring away an inebriated woman was beneath him.

As the drunkest of the knights got close enough that Crow could smell the reek of ale on his breath, he narrowed his eyes furiously and tensed to throw a punch. All reason had flown out the window when his honor as a decent human being had been slandered to his face. However, before he could even cock back an arm, he stared in astonishment as Penelope lunged first. Though unstable, she succeeded in landing a blow to the knight’s jaw that sent him crashing to the ground. In the next instant, the viceroy staggered as she latched onto him to keep from collapsing as well.

He gripped her sturdily and planted his feet until she regained her balance, studying her with a mixture of fondness and admiration. He hadn’t expected her to be able to knock a man over when she’d had so much to drink. Perhaps he wasn’t quite as outnumbered as he’d thought.

Promptly, she seemed to feel sick from the rapid motion, and Crow paled. “Wait, wait,” he pressed a hand to her back to usher her quickly toward the door. “Hold on. Don’t throw up until we’re outside.”

“The rest of ye had better go with them,” a new voice barked angrily. Crow glanced over his shoulder to see that a short man with a bushy, well-groomed beard had stormed over to them and now stood with his hands on his round hips. “Troublemakers, all of ye!” he waved his hands in a shooing fashion. “Get out, get out! I won’t stand for ye ruining the atmosphere of my tavern with yer squabbling. This is a classy place.”

“I guess that’s our cue,” Naida groaned, climbing reluctantly to her feet and shuffling toward the exit after the lieutenant and viceroy. Kane and the knights walked with her, the former moving with haste in his attempt to catch up with Penelope.

Outside the building, Crow led the knight to the closest snowbank, watching her concernedly and rubbing her shoulders with one hand. “Are you still feeling ill, love?” he asked gently, all animosity toward the other noblemen momentarily forgotten as he focused on making sure she was okay.