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Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow used the extra time to get a little creative cx

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

As time passed, Crow began to wonder if Penelope had been able to sneak away from the party at all. He reclined on her bed with his arms propped underneath his head and his gaze fixed on the stone ceiling. After the busyness of the day, it was tempting to nod off, but he refrained from the urge. He had come to the knight’s room to spend time with her, and, knowing how she always put other’s needs before her own, he had a feeling she would just let him sleep if she saw him passed out when she arrived. So, he forced himself to get up and pace a bit to keep his blood flowing, so he would be alert by the time she showed up.

With so much extra time, his thoughts wandered back to the party and the results of the knight’s speech. She really had done an impressive job. Hearing her speak to an audience with such authority made him realize what a natural leader she was, and reassured him that he’d made the right choice when he had taken the title of viceroy. There would have been ways for her to use her talents in the outer villages too, but she could do far more good as a high-ranking noblewoman in the inner kingdom. If their efforts to end the war panned out, he was curious to see where her efforts would take her next.

Stopping in the center of the room, Crow let his gaze wander over her plain bedchamber. There wasn’t much around besides the bed and a desk in the corner, but he wondered if there was a way he could surprise her. She certainly deserved to be treated specially after all the hard work she’d put into the party over the last week. Deciding to be more productive with the time he had—and giving himself something to do to stave off boredom—he ambled over to the desk and began rifling through the drawers.

Unsurprisingly, all he could find were practical items. The same went for the dresser where she kept her clothes. Crossing his arms, the viceroy drummed his fingers against his bicep in thought. He didn’t have many options, so he would just have to make do with what he had. He went back to the desk and crouched down to look over the utensils in the bottom drawer one more time. As he did, an idea crossed his mind that made him grin. There was one thing he could do.

Gathering the spare candles and chambersticks from the desk, he placed them around the small room on the table, windowsill and floor near the wall. Once he liked the way they looked, he lit the arrangement with a couple matches and put out the lantern that had been glowing steadily in the corner of the bedchamber. In the dark, the candles were just bright enough to cast a low, orange radiance that danced on the walls of the room. He watched the display with interest until the doorknob rattled behind him. It seemed he’d finished just in time.

Turning around, Crow casted Penelope a mischievous smile and gestured with one hand to the ambiance he’d created for them, “Surprise.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow wasted no time xD They rarely get time alone anymore, so he got excited

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“I like it,” Crow grinned when Penelope suggested her bedchamber. He remembered where it was, so he was sure he could find it on his own while she stayed at the party to tie up loose ends with the other nobles. Getting past a couple guards would be child’s play for him too. All he needed was a simple distraction to coax them to abandon their posts, which he was sure wouldn’t take much, since palace guards were always bored out of their minds in his experience. Even better, it would look completely normal for her to walk back, since they were meeting in her room. Only one of them would need a distraction at all.

“I’ll see you there, love,” he winked at her playfully before dipping back into the crowd. He was sure Cedric would swoop in now that she was alone, but he trusted that Penelope would shut down any further physical advances from her former suitor. Plus, his excitement about spending some time alone with her drowned out the lingering frustrations he felt toward the male knight. Cedric might fit in a few more words with her, but the former thief was going to have her all to himself soon enough. He couldn’t wait.

To prevent their plans from becoming too obvious, he chatted briefly with a few of the other men and women he’d invited to the party before he discreetly slipped out the door. As he’d expected, the castle was eerily quiet outside the ballroom. Almost every noble in the building was crammed into the decorated room or had already retired to their bedchambers. The only people still out were the few night guards who had been posted to keep watch during the festivities.

The viceroy made a show of yawning as he walked away down the nearly empty hallway, so the knights would just think he had left early because he was tired. However, as soon as he was out of their sight, he hastened his pace, eager to get to Penelope’s room before anyone else decided to turn in for the night.

He made it to the corridor that led to the castle guards’ quarters and found that there were, in fact, two guards stationed around the corner. Both had half-closed eyelids and slouched shoulders that made him wonder if they’d notice if he just walked right in front of their noses. Deciding not to play with that fire, he knocked a pebble loose from the tread of his boot and tossed it down the adjoining hall. The knights perked up slightly at the sound and drew their swords as they wandered off to investigate the source of the noise.

With the passage clear, Crow slipped through silently and ducked into the corridor that would take him the rest of the way to Penelope’s bedchamber.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow is determined xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“I’m sober, and I thought it was great,” Crow pointed out with a smirk. He liked seeing Penelope look so happy after she had felt stressed about the speech and guilty when Cedric had kissed her. In his opinion, it was a great end to the night. As long as they could get out of the ballroom without any more interruptions, that was. He was well aware of the other people who were watching them, lying in wait for their chance to speak to the knight. However, almost every one of the noblemen had flushed faces. If they were careful, he was sure they could slip out without anyone realizing they were gone.

“They’re not as alert as they look,” the viceroy shrugged when Penelope pointed out the people keeping an eye on them. “We can leave at separate times just in case anyone happens to notice. I doubt anyone will care if I’m gone, but you can make up an excuse if you find it harder to get away.” He paused, his eyes flicking to Cedric, who looked like he was still considering approaching her. Even though he didn’t like the thought of leaving her alone while her former suitor was around, it would be easier if he went first. He just hoped the other man wouldn’t prevent her from following after him.

“All we need is a meeting place,” he mused softly, considering the next step of the plan. “My bedchamber is out of the question. The castle may be pretty empty right now, but there are still guards posted on the upper levels, since my father and the queen are in their quarters right now. They would find it strange if they saw you wandering around up there at this hour.” He turned back to her expectantly. “Do you have any other ideas? I’ll can go ahead and meet you there.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow's trying to get her away from Cedric (and sneak out before anyone else tries to take her away from him) xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

It seemed Crow wasn’t the only nobleman eager to congratulate Penelope on her speech. He slowed his pace as he watched another man he didn’t know step up to speak with her. A weary sigh escaped his lips. It was exhausting playing a game of tug-o-war with everyone else who was vying for her attention this evening. He was glad that she had managed to impress so many people though. Of course, there were still a few stragglers around the edges of the ballroom who were refusing to sign the petition, but the majority of the crowd had been convinced. All that was left now was to wait and find out what his father had to say about the long list of names opposing his plan to ally with Gorm.

Approaching the knight at a slower pace, he smiled when she caught his gaze. However, the expression faded slightly when he noticed her glance toward someone else: Cedric was hurrying to finish giving his signature so he could catch her next. A twinge of annoyance made the viceroy clench his jaw, and he hurried to meet her before her former suitor could even take a step away from the table. After what the male knight had done to her earlier, he wasn’t about to let him get between them again.

When he reached Penelope, he stopped a respectable distance away even though he wished he could sweep her into an embrace. “That was incredible,” he shook his head, still in disbelief that such a compelling speech had come out of her mouth. “My gods, love, you really know how to keep a man on his toes, don’t you? I had no idea you could speak like that.” His gaze wandered to the table again, where Oliver and Dimia were now organizing a queue because so many people had come over to sign the papers. Whatever the king had to say about it, the petition was going to be a powerful collection of voices in favor of ending the war.

And, better yet, Penelope’s role in the party was over.

Sidling a little closer to the knight, Crow casted her a coy smile and spoke in a low voice, “You know, now that you’re done, we don’t have to stick around any longer… Want to get out of here and celebrate without the audience?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow is even more amazed with Penelope after watching her give her speech cx

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow watched expectantly as Penelope prepared herself to address the crowd. Even though she was nervous, he was curious to see what kind of speech she would give. In the time he’d known her, he had never seen the knight take command of anything—at least, not on this scale. She had seemed comfortable enough giving him directions and instructions when they had been in Younis long ago, and he had heard that she’d been a catalyst for change in her battalion. The ability to lead was there. He had just never witnessed it for himself.

You can do it, Penelope, he thought hopefully, standing up a little straighter when she stumbled over her introduction to the crowd. It was hard for him to imagine what she was feeling as she spoke to a group of people as large as this. He had only been in a similar position twice in his life, the first being his public trail before the last king, when he had been sentenced to life in prison, and the second being his titling ceremony a few weeks ago. In both cases, he hadn’t needed to prepare a monologue to appease the people though. What she was doing now was far more demanding.

“She sounds nervous,” Fye whispered, leaning closer to the viceroy to keep the other nobles around them from overhearing her speak.

“Wouldn’t you be?” Crow casted her a sideways glance. “This room is packed.”

“But I’m not a lieutenant,” she pointed out, turning back to the stage. “Let’s just hope the audience is too drunk to notice her lack of confidence.”

The former thief rolled his eyes. Fye was generally pleasant company, but she was still a noblewoman. He supposed he should have expected her to be critical of the knight’s performance. Looking up at the pedestal as well, he caught Penelope’s gaze. She must have been seeking him out for reassurance. He offered her a smile and a subtle nod to encourage her to go on. Despite her evident nerves and Fye’s opinion about it all, he thought she was doing a good job.

Perhaps his gesture had helped or perhaps the gods had suddenly struck her with the gift of charisma, but for the rest of the speech, Crow stared at Penelope in amazement as she commanded the stage with newfound authority. He’d already known that she had the qualities of a leader, but it was something else entirely to see her take charge of a room with such honesty and passion that he couldn’t help but soak up every word. Discreetly, he glanced around at the other nobles to find that her description of the war and what needed to be done seemed to be affecting them as well. Almost every face was enraptured, and a few had even begun whispering amongst themselves. He caught the mentions of death and lost funds among the topics they discussed in lowered voices.

By the end of the speech, a proud grin spread over the viceroy’s features, and he applauded her with just as much enthusiasm as the rest of the crowd. If her heartfelt request didn’t convince the nobles to join her cause, he didn’t know what would.

“That was… better than I was expecting,” Fye, whom Crow had forgotten existed for a moment, said in a bewildered voice. “She certainly got her act together.”

“She’s good at that,” Crow agreed fondly. Turning to the noblewoman, he nudged her arm. “So, are you going to sign the petition?”

“I think I will,” she smiled back at him. Taking a step away from the wall, she smoothed down her lavish dress. “Good luck with her, Collin. She’s a catch.”

“I know,” he sighed. Parting ways with Fye, he made his way around the edge of the room in the hopes of catching her before she was swarmed again with more admirers. Already, nobles were making their way over to the table that had been set up with the petition papers. He smiled to himself, thrilled to see that the knight’s plan was working. He just hoped the signatures would be enough.