As Penelope and Naida talked about Olivia, Crow’s thoughts wandered to imaginings of what the castle would be like when the war was over. He hadn’t really considered it before, but things would probably be different than what he was getting used to after the knights returned from the battlefront. All the people who had been involved in the war would be coming home. That meant the inner kingdom would likely be even more populated than it had been when he’d received his title from his father. Whether that was a good or bad thing remained to be seen. There would be some knights like Olivia and Gavin who he would be happy to see, but then there would be others like Layth who would probably making his life more difficult. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it, but at least the change would be a byproduct of the war’s end. That was more important than anything else.

Spotting Percival and Preston rounding the corner of the inn with their horses, the viceroy sighed under his breath. The time had come for him and Penelope to part ways. He turned toward her, waiting while his sister said her goodbyes first before he met the knight halfway in a kiss. Knowing that it would be the last time they saw each other for a while, he savored the feeling of her lips pressed against his, imprinting the sensation on his memory to the best of his ability. Although there were others around, he didn’t hold back. He reached out to hold her by the waist while he leaned into her deeply without a care as to who was watching. For that moment, the only thing that mattered was the woman standing in front of him.

When she finally pulled back, he met her gaze breathlessly. “I’ll see you soon,” he said back to her. “You stay safe too. I love you, Penelope.” Touching one more quick kiss to her lips, he stepped back to let her go, waiting for her to climb on her horse before he walked over to Baine. In the corner of his eye, he could see Otto staring at him tensely, as if he was barely restraining himself from hurrying him along. He ignored the cold looks though. This was the last time he was going to see the woman he loved—the woman he was going to marry—for two weeks, so the baron could wait just a few seconds longer while he said bade her goodbye.

Hauling himself onto his stallion’s back, he casted one final glance after Penelope before he fell in line with the rest of the group. Now that the lieutenant was gone, Naida took up her old spot on his left side while Preston rode to the right. The Therouldes rode at the front of the procession, and Percival followed along at the rear. He guessed this was a formation they were going to use for the rest of the trip to the Younisian castle as long as none of the knights did much shuffling around.

[i]Naida won’t let them,[/i] he thought with an amused smirk. Knowing his half-sister, he was sure she would prefer to rise alongside him to make sure she had a chance to chat instead of keep watch like she would be expected to if she was taking up a guard position in the front or back. He didn’t mind her company though. Now that he wasn’t trying to spend each minute with Penelope, it would be nice to have someone else around to keep him occupied during the journey.

Once they were all in place, Otto craned his neck to check on them and then nodded to himself. “Let’s get moving,” he said sternly. “This is the last village we’re stopping in before we cross the border, so I want everyone to get good sleep tonight.” Taking charge as usual, he spurred his horse and led the way down the road northwest toward Younis.