Crow nodded as Penelope told him about her day, taking another bite of his supper. When it came to parting ways on the trip, he hadn’t thought much about location or time, but he supposed he preferred to wait until the last possible moment. After all, they would be spending at least two weeks away from each other once they split off at the border. He wanted to see her as much as he could, before he wouldn’t be able to see her at all in Younis.

Thinking about the border, he wondered if he would be able to slip away from the group at all to visit his old companions. Their hideout wasn’t anywhere near Wellspring or Silverpool, but he had promised them that he would stop by whenever he returned to the outer villages. If his father hadn’t already outlined the route he wanted them to take, he would have redirected his entourage to travel further north before making the journey westward toward their neighbor’s citadel. He drummed his fingers contemplatively against the table, trying to come up with a way to stop by without drawing attention to himself when William’s voice jarred him from his planning.

The viceroy groaned and turned around to see that the older knight had come to harass them one more time. He didn’t understand why William cared so much. It wasn’t like he was still a wanted thief. He and Penelope had taken every measure to ensure that they could be together the “right way,” or so the nobles in the inner kingdom would have said. It was ridiculous that their long-ago comrade was still going out of his way to try to keep them apart.

“Not as long as you continue to bring disgrace to the knights of this kingdom who work hard to uphold our values,” William snapped. “A guard should never be romantically involved with her convict. It’s shameful.”

“I’m not a convict anymore, so that point is moot,” Crow shot the knight a glare, disliking the words he used to describe the woman he loved. “In fact, she and I are both higher ranking than you, so I don’t think you have a right to stand there and act like you have any authority over either of us.” Usually, he wouldn’t drag the status card into an argument, but having gotten to know William in the past, he was well aware that nothing else would make the stubborn man bite his tongue.

“You may have convinced the king somehow, but I’m not so easily fooled,” William growled under his breath. “Once a criminal, always a criminal. It’s only a matter of time before you slip up, and the whole kingdom will see your true colors, [i]thief[/i].”

“Careful,” Crow narrowed his eyes. “That almost sounds like treason.” He glanced past the knight to make sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation. It surprised him that the knight would go so far as to say that he was smarter than their ruler, but even more than that, he was concerned about what would happen if Albin found out that William had called him ‘thief.’ He disliked the older man, but he didn’t want to see him sentenced to death over words spoken in anger.