“And I’m glad we have,” Crow wrapped his arm around Penelope to pull her into a hug on the bench. He hadn’t even thought they would be able to properly court until a month ago. As disappointing as it was that he would only be able to see her for a couple more days before they parted, he couldn’t complain too much. Instead of trying to figure things out in the outer villages and feeling guilty for taking her away from all the people she knew and loved, they just had to wait a couple more weeks before they could start planning to get married in the inner kingdom. He was excited about what their future had in store.

As Naida spoke up, the viceroy glanced at her and rolled his eyes. “You know you like me,” he teased, reaching across the table to prod his sister’s arm. As he and Penelope bantered with the princess, Crow noticed that Rayner was watching them with an expression that he could only compare to abject horror. He supposed their closeness would have looked strange to someone on the outside, since no one knew that he and Naida were related through the king, but he wondered why the knight cared so much. For a moment, he considered asking him what he was staring at, but before he could, he heard his sibling address a different member of the group.

He twisted at the waist to see that Otto was approaching them from behind. The baron’s subtle glance at Preston didn’t slip past him, but since the older man said nothing about the attendant’s presence at the table, the former thief didn’t speak up either. Idly, he wondered what had kept Theroulde so long, since Percy and Preston had put up all seven horses in the stable behind the inn before he’d caught up with them. His unasked question was answered quickly though as the baron responded to Naida.

“As well as it could be,” he sighed, searching the restaurant for a bar wench to take his order.

“What does that mean?” the princess frowned.

“With the ongoing war, the inn is so crowded that there were hardly any rooms still available,” the baron explained with a mildly irritable edge to his voice. “I made sure to book one, but there are only three beds.”

“Why didn’t you just purchase two rooms?” Crow asked. It seemed like the simplest solution to the problem to him.

“Because of you,” Otto turned to him with an unreadable expression. “Everyone here, with the exception of Vermillion, has been assigned to this party to keep you safe. We would not be doing our jobs if we left you with just two pitiable guards for the night. We’ll have to make do with what was left over.”

“I see,” Crow mused, looking away from the baron as he caught the smell of hot food. Two servers had returned to bring out the dishes for him, Penelope, Naida, and Rayner, while a third approached to ask the remaining three what they wanted to eat.