[IC] Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

[Rogue Sloth]

It wasn’t long before the pounding of boots on cobblestone drew Crow’s attention. He crawled a little closer to the edge of the rooftop on his stomach, drawn by his curiosity to see if Penelope would figure out where he was hidden. To his pleasure, she didn’t even glance up and instead took off at a cautious pace down a nearby alley. He had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing, entertained by sight. From the top of the building, he had a great view of her futile search. Unless she realized he wasn’t on the ground anymore, there was no way she would catch him now.

Pushing away from the drop off, he sat up cross-legged closer to the center of the roof, keeping out of sight while he waited for her to inevitably give up. To amuse himself, he withdrew another gold coin from the purse he’d taken from her and practiced spinning it on its narrow edge to see how long it would twirl before it fell over. The way the metal piece caught the sunlight was interesting, so it held his attention until he finally heard her voice call out from somewhere down below.

Grinning to himself, the former thief got up and stepped back over to the edge of the building, standing on the drop off with the front of his boots hanging over the side. It was a bit of a cocky move on his part, but he’d also always been comfortable in high-up places. The risk of knowing he could fall yet trusting that he wouldn’t gave him a rush.

“What was that?” Crow called back down to get her attention. He smirked smugly as he held up her purse, leaning precariously over the edge of the roof. “Sorry, love. It’s hard to hear you from up here. I thought you just said: ‘Collin is the best, and I now have to do whatever he wants on a day of his choice.’ Isn’t that right?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope looked up as she heard Crow call from above her. She blinked in realization that the former thief had taken to climbing up the building rather than sneaking off through another alleyway. The knight shook her head, a bit disappointed in herself for not thinking to look upward. She had been too focused on tracking him down that she hadn't considered that he had taken to higher ground. Unfortunately, it seemed she was in for it too now that the win had gone straight to his head.

The knight rolled her eyes at his smugness. "It must be really difficult to hear from up there because I said Collin is an ass and now I owe him one favor." she retorted with a small smirk. She inspected her fingernails as if they had suddenly became interesting. "Honestly you just got lucky I didn't happen to look up." she said with mock casualness. Of course, her words were just meant to poke at him. Even if she had caught onto where he was, the knight wasn't too sure the chase would have still gone in her favor. Penelope didn't climb often so even if she had gotten up onto the roof with him, he'd still have quite the advantage since he was much more familiar with being high up than she was.

"Now come on. You better yet down from there before your head gets too big and you end up falling." Penelope said as she looked up at him with a teasing glint in her gaze. "I'd hate for you to waste your favor on making me haul you all the way back to the castle because you got careless."

[Rogue Sloth]

“Ouch,” Crow said with dry sarcasm when Penelope jokingly called him an ass. His smirk turned from smug to teasing. “You’re right though. I should have upped the bet from ‘one favor’ to ‘servant for a day’ when I had the chance. Next time I’ll think it through a little more.” Crouching down, he rocked back on his heels until he was sitting on the edge of the roof with his legs dangling freely over the side. Even though he’d already won, he couldn’t keep himself from milking his victory just a bit longer.

When Penelope said he had gotten lucky that she hadn’t looked up, he rolled his eyes. Despite what she said, he knew quite well that she was unlikely to have thought of checking the rooftops. It was a trick he’d pulled on knights for years. People in general didn’t seem to think about what was above their heads unless they had a reason to look there. A few knights had figured him out when he’d used the tactic in the past, but they were in the vast minority compared with the ones who had run right under his nose.

At her following words, he grinned. “Yeah, right,” he laughed. “You like me too much to leave me behind. I’m not risking anything.” Still, he shifted further over the edge of the roof, supporting most of his weight on his hands before he dropped down to the stack of crates below. As fun as it was to toy with Penelope, he didn’t want to waste too much time in Bellmare and miss out on supper later.

Climbing down from the boxes, he strode back over to her side and pressed a kiss to her cheek as he handed the coin purse back. “But, I do want you to keep liking me, so I’ll listen just this once,” he quipped, casting her a playful wink. “Come on, love. You’ve distracted us for long enough. We need to get back to the castle sometime today.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope's smirk softened a bit as he pointed out that she 'liked' him too much to just leave him behind. Naturally he was right. Though she teased him, if anything did go wrong, leaving him behind would certainly be the last thing she'd do. "Darn you got me there." she giggled and then gave an exaggerated sigh. "Seems like I'm going to have to work on hiding my feelings for you if you plan to use them against me like that." The knight flashed him a teasing smile and moved to join him as he made his way down from the crates and back onto the ground.

The knight smiled as he pressed a kiss to her cheek and she took back the coin purse as he handed it to her. She strapped it back to her belt and looked up at him as he gave her a playful wink. "Excuse me but if I remember correctly, you're the one that started this little competition." she said with a small laugh. Penelope shook her head and stepped closer to him as she leaned up to press a kiss to his lips. For a moment, the knight lingered, pressing into him. Knowing they would be returning to the castle soon, she wanted to steal a quick kiss from him while she still could.

"Figured if I'm going to be blamed, I might as well make the most of it." she mused jokingly as she pulled back. Penelope gave him a flirtatious wink before breaking into a small smile. The knight moved to take his hand, now focusing back on the task at hand which was getting back to the castle. There was still a bit of ground to cover and she wouldn't want them to arrive there too late. As much as she enjoyed spending time with him, she was sure neither of them wanted to miss out on supper. Especially when she still needed to meet with the Lenzs.

"In all seriousness though, you're right we should get going. Luckily we're not too far from where the alley will lead us back out to the river though." she explained with a shrug before beginning to lead the way down the side street.

[Rogue Sloth]

“Did I?” Crow mused, pretending to think it over even though he knew quite well that the competition had been his idea. He shrugged, casting her a playful smile. “Well, it’s your word against mine, darling. Looks like we’ll never know.”

His eyes drifted down to her lips, and he met her eagerly as she leaned up to kiss him. Now that they didn’t get to be physical very often, her touch felt amplified to him, and he didn’t want her to pull away. Luckily, she seemed to have the same thought. He smiled against her lips as he felt her press into him, wrapping his arms around her in an affectionate embrace. All urgency to get back to the castle was temporarily forgotten as he lost himself in the moment. The only thing he could think about was the woman in front of him.

When she eventually pulled back from him, he chuckled breathily at her joke. “Maybe I should start blaming you for things more often,” he teased, intertwining his fingers with hers when he felt her take his hand. All joking aside, he found her sudden spontaneity exciting. He glanced up at the sky, wishing they had more time together. As soon as they passed back into the citadel, they were going to have to return to pretending they barely knew each other. The thought was especially disheartening after the luxury of having her company all to himself for most of the day.

“Alright,” Crow nodded when Penelope said they were close to the river. He followed her lead as they made their way out of the narrow street, his eyes wandering absently over the surrounding buildings. From the river, it was a pretty clear shot back to the castle. They wouldn’t have much more time to be alone.

“It won’t be much longer, right?” he asked quietly, half speaking to himself. He turned to the knight with a frown. “It’s been hard… telling everyone we’re not together. I’m proud to be with you, and I want them all to know it.” He sighed, letting his gaze settle on the path ahead. “Honestly, I don’t know how much longer I can go without letting it slip that I’ve already have a partner I love to one of the other women who’ve been approaching me lately.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope was beginning to fall into a comfortable silence as she lead them through the alley. Though their time alone together would be ending soon, she still enjoyed the simple moments of walking besides him, hand in hand. As he quietly spoke up, she turned to look over at him and returned his frown. She knew it was difficult waiting without any certain end date set. Plus the people around them didn't make it any easier. From Nadia who was pushing for them to be together to women like Elizabeth who were trying to get Crow to court them, both were a struggle in their own way and Penelope wanted nothing more than to tell them the truth.

"Gods I hope not." she murmured softly. "After this party, I'm going to have to face the king so there won't be reason to keep a distance... It'll just depend on my father then." Speaking of the older knight, she wondered if he'd be ready to give his approval of their courtship. Or if he even planned on still giving it. She felt like her father's view of Crow had improved greatly so surely John would give Crow his blessing. Despite feeling rather certain of it, a small part of her couldn't help but worry that perhaps John would still disapprove of the viceroy, especially after the incident with Elizabeth. I should really speak with him.. the knight thought with a small cringe.

Looking back up to Crow, she gave him a soft smile and squeezed his hand affectionately. "I know it's hard... especially now that we finally got a day together but we just need to get through one more week. Even less than that now. We're almost there. After the party, I'll speak with my father about giving his blessing. Then all we'll have to figure out is how to rub it in everyone else's face." she told him with a wink.

Feeling affectionate, she let go of his hand and instead wrapped an arm around his middle, pressing into his side as they walked. "I suppose in the meantime we'll just have to rely on Naida's dance lessons." she said with a small chuckle. "I'm sure it's only a matter of time before she starts pressing us both to do that again."

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow could tell that Penelope was trying to reassure him when she said the only obstacle left after the party would be her father, but her words only made him wince. He still had no clue where he stood with John, especially after the misunderstanding with Elizabeth. The older knight was always so stoic; it was hard to tell if he had believed him when he’d tried to explain that the rumors about them weren’t true. If John was convinced that he’d been unfaithful to Penelope, it was going to be difficult to persuade him otherwise.

He sighed. It was starting to seem like he would never be able to earn a blessing. All the hard work he’d put in to get John to like him may have just been undone overnight.

When Penelope squeezed his hand, Crow turned back to her and nodded. She was right. Even though it was hard, they were almost to the finish line. They had kept their relationship a secret for months in the outer villages and had even managed to prevent anyone from figuring them out in the castle for two weeks—well, aside from Preston, but the boy was too nosy for his own good. What was a few more days? Once the party was over and John gave his blessing—gods willing—they could finally be together without any more tiptoeing around. The thought helped strengthen his resolve.

“I like the way you think,” he grinned at her when she said they would have to figure out a way to rub it in the others’ faces. After being forced to play by everyone else’s rules for so long, he couldn’t wait to do something to push back. He wanted William and Elizabeth and Layth and all the rest of the people who had wronged him to find out about them in the most satisfying way possible. Maybe that was what he could work on to keep his mind occupied before the upcoming party.

As Penelope wrapped her arm around his waist, Crow smiled fondly and slipped his arm around her shoulders. Everything else aside, he was glad that he was going to have her when it was all over. The waiting would be worth it as long as she would be his wife when they reached the end. His heart fluttered excitedly at the thought, and he held her a bit tighter.

“Right,” he rolled his eyes when she brought up the dance lessons Naida was putting them through. “I almost forgot about that.” He casted her a half smile. “Are you sure I can’t just stand off to the side while everyone else dances? A week isn’t very long for me to learn everything I need to know.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope smirked amusedly as Crow rolled his eyes at the mention of the dance lessons Naida had been insistent on. "I've seen you pick up skills in only a couple days. A week should be just enough for you to learn how to dance." she pointed out with a laugh. She looked up at him with an encouraging smile. "Besides you're pretty quick on your feet. I'm sure once you get the moves down, you'll be quite good at it." In her opinion, dancing was a bit similar to sparring, only less violent and the moves were restricted. Still, foot work was involved and moving gracefully was a large part of it as well. Crow had no trouble with either of those things so surely picking up how to dance wouldn't be a problem for him

"That aside, I don't think it'd be the best idea for you to just stand to the side." Penelope added, her smile fading a bit as she gave a thoughtful look. "You're the new viceroy after all... There will probably be quite a few people expecting you not to know the skill so it'd be better to surprise them by knowing rather than meeting their expectations." She shrugged her shoulders. Had he been a lower ranking noble, he probably could get away without dancing but since he did rank so high and didn't have the best reputation yet, she figured it was best for him to learn.

The knight slowed her pace slightly as they turned into the next alley. It was a shorter one that would lead them out of the city and from there they'd have to return to the main road in order to cross the bridge. She let out a small sigh and reluctantly let go of him to put some distance between them once more. "Plus learning how to dance will at least mean we can steal some time together at the party." she told him with a small smile. She nudged his side in a teasing manner. "I'm sure you'll get bombarded with other invitations to dance so just try to save me at least one."

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow shrugged when Penelope commented on his ability to pick up new skills in a short amount of time, though a small smile tugged at his lip. He was still a bit nervous that he wouldn’t learn everything he needed to know fast enough to perform in front of an audience, but her flattery did help his confidence. If she thought he could master dancing in just a week’s time, then he probably could. Or at least, he could try to figure out how to make it look like he knew more than he actually did. It was the same trick he pulled with sword fighting.

Since he’d never learned the proper techniques, he made up for it by mimicking the knights he’d watched and trying to get close enough to their moves that it would be hard for an enemy to realize he had very little insight into the complexities of fighting. Maybe he could do the same thing at the party. From what he’d learned so far, the men were supposed to lead, so as long as he managed to get his partner to follow him, he would be fine… He hoped.

As Penelope went on to remind him that there would be people expecting him to fail at this too, he wrinkled his nose. He was getting sick of being the center of attention all the time. He wished the other nobles would just mind their own business and let him adjust to castle life in peace. Of course, there was no way they would let him get away without meeting their standards at the party though. Until his name faded from the forefront of their minds, he was going to have to keep putting up with their whispering gossip.

He glanced ahead as he felt the knight pull away from his side. They were almost back to the open road. Reluctantly, he shifted to walk a bit further away from her so no one could accuse them of being close. “I know I have to dance with the other women for appearances, but I wish I could save them all for you,” he said with a smile, turning back to her again. More so than that, he wished she was able to save all her dances for him. He understood that in noble culture it was normal for all the eligible men and women to dance with each other, but it was going to be difficult for him to watch the other noblemen vie for her attention. It was going to feel good when they could finally come forward and let everyone know they were together.

“Maybe next time, I can,” he mused, letting his thoughts roam to what would come once the party was over and the knight accomplished her goal.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope returned his smile as he mentioned wishing he could save all of his dances for her. The knight certainly wished she could do the same. Though she knew she wouldn't have as many men trying to steal time with her as he would women, it would still be difficult to entertain the few that would likely approach her. Female knights weren't often most noblemens first picks, but at this party she was going to be practically putting herself on display, both with her high connections and own wealth. While it was all just to convince others to join her campaign for the war's end, she knew it would attract a bit of unwanted attention as well.

"Hopefully. I'd hate to keep dancing with strange men all my life." Penelope told him with smirk. Honestly, she wasn't even sure when there would be another party anyways. Perhaps at the war's end, there would be a celebration. Or perhaps it'll be our own wedding.. The thought brought a light blush to her cheeks, making her face feel warm. There were no strict plans for it yet and even though it wouldn't be a big party like the current one—she figured neither of them would want to make it a big thing, after all the only people that truly needed to be there was Crow and herself—but it would still have to be a noble wedding. Knowing her father, he'd want to stick to some traditions and likely make it a respectable party.

She let out a soft sigh, thrilled by the thought that their dreams of finally marrying were just on the horizon and silently praying that the days until the party would go by swiftly. Focusing her gaze ahead, she fell into a comfortable silence as they crossed over the bridge. The knight glanced towards passing nobles, subtly making sure that Crow still remained unrecognized. Luckily they paid little mind to them and there was no trouble as they crossed to the other side of the river.

Once on the other side, Penelope hesitated and moved to head off down towards the clearing they had originally came from. "So, would you like to return back first or shall I?" she asked glancing over at him. Knowing they'd reach the castle again soon, she figured it was best to space out their returns a bit just as they had done with their departures.

[Rogue Sloth]

“Looks like I’ll have to rescue you from that dismal fate,” Crow returned Penelope’s smirk when she spoke about dancing with strange men. Though he still disliked the thought of any other noblemen approaching her with the intent to win her attention at the party, hearing her remind him that she was only interested in him took the edge off his jealousy. Besides, it was just one night. If any of the others were so bold as to ask her to let them court her, she could just turn them down. There really wasn’t any reason for him to be concerned about it. As soon as she gathered the support she needed and convinced the king, their long wait would be over.

As they continued to walk back to the bridge that would carry them toward the castle, Crow found the silence to be both peaceful and tiring. He’d managed to forget about how exhausted he was for most of the day, but now that the sun was hanging lower in the sky, he was starting to feel the effects of his consistently poor sleep. He stifled a yawn and tucked his chin slightly as they walked past a small group of people headed in the opposite direction, hoping they wouldn’t recognize his face beneath his hood. Luckily, they didn’t even spare him a passing glance, and he and the knight went on their way uninterrupted.

He followed along at Penelope’s side as she guided them back toward the clearing where they had first met up. “I think you should,” he mused in response to her question, letting his eyes wander absently over the surrounding trees. “You said you need to meet with that couple, right? The Lenz’s? If you go back first, you’ll have more time to get done with whatever you still need to do.” He shrugged, bringing a hand to his mouth as he let out the yawn he’d been holding back before. “When I get back, I’m just going to nap until supper.”

Casting a quick glance over his shoulder, he checked to make sure they were far enough away from the main road not to be spotted and then reached to take her hand again. “I’m glad we had so much time together today,” he smiled at her affectionately. “I had fun visiting your hometown. The market was interesting, the house was nice, and I enjoyed hearing all those stories about you as a kid.” He leaned over to kiss her cheek. “Thanks for sharing this part of your life with me, love.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope gave a small nod as Crow said she could return first. Though she would have been fine either way, she was a bit glad he suggested her to return first. There was only a short time left before supper would begin and she was hoping to take care of the business she had with them before then. She still needed to speak with Naida after all and the best time to do that was by catching the princess during a meal. The knight just hoped she'd be able to make it early enough to do so.

Her gaze focused up on Crow as he yawned, making her realize how tired he likely was since he hadn't been getting much sleep lately. For a brief moment, she wished she would have thought to end their time together a bit earlier so that he would have had more time to rest. However, she didn't hold the regret long as Crow took her hand and smiled at her. Penelope returned his affectionate look and nodded her head in agreement. She was glad he seemed to have enjoyed the day just as much as she had. "Thank you for coming along with me. Hopefully there will be more days like this one soon." she told him with a smile.

She leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips, lingering for a brief moment before pulling away reluctantly. Even though she had enjoyed his company all day and knew there was an end coming to their distance, having to part ways with him still managed to dampen her mood a bit. She longed to return to the castle as they were rather than acting as if they had little to no interest in each other. A sigh escaped her lips and she gave his hand a squeeze before letting go and moving to leave. "I love you, Collin. Hopefully I'll catch you for supper." she told him, offering a half hearted smile before turning and making her way back to the castle.

As he disappeared from sight, the knight couldn't help but feel a small twinge of loneliness as she made her way back onto the main road that would lead her up to the castle. She tried not to focus on it though and instead shifted her thoughts onto the matter at hand, which was of course going to speak with the Lenz's about the party. Dipping her head politely to the guards—they seemed to recognize her and didn't provide any hassle as they opened the gates to let her in—she increased her pace slightly as she began her trek to the other nobles' room.

[Rogue Sloth]

“I hope so too,” Crow nodded in agreement. Once his training was over—or at least slowed down, since his father had been rushing him the last two weeks—he planned to spend much more time with the knight. Preferably courting. Even though the formalities of noble relationships would take some getting used to, it had to be better than pretending to be uninterested in her. Either way, he wouldn’t have to watch his back every time he moved to hold her hand. That by itself was worth the extra trouble.

When she leaned up to kiss him, he met her halfway, closing his eyes as he sank into her soft lips. He wished they could keep walking together, but if he returned to the castle with a female knight at his side, it would definitely start some unwanted rumors. After all, most of the people in the castle still believed he’d slept with Elizabeth. They would probably assume he was just trying to bed any woman he found attractive if they saw him with Penelope the very next day. The thought nearly made him wrinkle his nose. There had been a time in his life when that would have been true, but now that he’d fallen head over heels for the knight, he didn’t even want to think about being with any other girl, whether she was beautiful or not.

“I love you too,” he sighed when she stepped away from him to head back first. “See you at supper.” He waited for her to pass out of sight before turning around to sit by the river’s edge. With nothing else to do, he passed the time by attempting to skip a few rocks on the surface of the water before his eyelids threatened to droop shut from weariness.

Shaking his head to clear it, he got up again and walked back to the castle, deciding that Penelope should have put enough distance between them by now that their separate arrivals would look normal.

Fortunately, his guess was right. He passed through the streets of the citadel with no trouble and even made it past the guards at the gate with nothing more than a few dirty looks. He supposed the knights preferred to keep him inside the palace walls where the rest of their comrades could keep a close eye on him anyway. Regardless, he was glad they didn’t try to stop him. As tired as he was, he didn’t have the patience to put up with their pettiness until after he’d gotten some decent sleep.

With that thought in mind, he made a beeline for his bedchamber, climbing the stairs and heading down the corridor that led to his door. There wasn’t much time left before supper, and he wasn’t going to sacrifice a meal for a little extra rest, so he didn’t have long to nap. Instead, he wanted to take advantage of every second he had left before it was time to eat.

Closing the door behind him, he ambled over to his bed with another broad yawn and shrugged the heavy travel cloak from his shoulders. It fell to the wood plank floor with a thump, and he collapsed onto the mattress front-first, lying on his stomach. After walking around all day and running through the city with Penelope during their competition, he was ready to pass out. He didn’t even bother taking his boots off before he his eyes closed and he drifted off into a sound slumber.

[BuzzingBee]

Upon reaching the Lenz's room, Penelope knocked on the door and quickly invited inside. "About time you show up!" Dimia huffed impatiently as she stood aside to let the knight enter the room. Her gaze swept over Penelope before zeroing in on the bag that she had rested against her hip. Having been in a hurry to speak with the Lenz's, the knight hadn't even bothered to make a stop at her room to drop off the new dress she had bought from the marketplace. It seemed her purchase had immediately caught Dimia's attention.

"What's that? A dress?" Dimia asked raising an eyebrow at Penelope as she slowly closed the door and turned to face her.

Penelope bit back a snort as Dimia's impatience was quick to vanish as she found a topic that was of course more interesting to her. She was beginning to think that not making a stop at her own room was paying off. "It is. I'm sorry it took me a while to get here but that's only because I had to travel out to Bellmare today to run some errands." she explained herself with a shrug. "Figured I better get a dress for the party after all."

"Well come on then, let me see it." Dimia said with a wave of her hand.

The knight gave a small roll of her eyes and placed the bag down on the ground so she could pull out the dress. As she presented it to the noblewoman, she waited for a response and watched as Dimia's eyes swept over the article of clothing with a calculating gaze. After a pause, she gave a nod of approval. "Not a bad choice, Vermillion. Certainly better than what I'd thought you'd pick." Dimia mused.

"Thanks." Penelope muttered dryly before folding the dress back up and placing it in the bag. She shifted her gaze onto Oliver now. The nobleman had been quietly observing the two from his desk, seeming to be patiently waiting to be addressed. "So how's the party planning going? Any progress yet?"

"Some. I've created a guest list and Dimia has been working on making invitations. She also sent out the letters to confirm with the entertainment and such." Oliver explained, seeming to sit up a bit straighter acting subtly proud of their accomplishments.

"That's great." Penelope said with a small smile. "I'm going to try and catch the princess tonight at supper so hopefully we can confirm a location for the party as well as a full guest list by tomorrow. I don't think we can afford too many more days before we need to send out the invitations after all."

"I agree. Which is why I think you should stop by tomorrow after breakfast and help us finish everything up." Dimia mused. "At least as far as guest list and invitations."

Penelope hesitated before giving a small nod. "I'll come by then. Tybalt hasn't approached me with any guard shifts yet anyways but if he does, I'll make sure tomorrow is covered." she explained. While she knew she still had some duties as a castle guard, the party outweighed them by far. The whole reason she was even at the castle instead of with her battalion was because of her effort to end the war peacefully.

"Good.. Once that is settled, we'll need to start working on the actual contents of the party." Dimia mused.

"Including your speech." Oliver added with a thoughtful nod.

"Of course. But that'll be for another day. Right now we should all just focus on getting all the right nobles there." Penelope pointed out. With mumbles of agreement from the two other nobles, Penelope moved over to join Oliver as he pulled out the guest list he had made so far. It was decent size, as expected from the vassal who had a respectable reputation, but it could certainly use work. She just hoped that Naida and Crow were able to add more names to it.

Eventually the group finished up their discussion and Penelope went off on her own way while the Lenz's headed to supper. She traveled back to her own room and dropped off her dress, storing it away safely. With that put away, the knight wasted no time in heading to the Great Hall, hoping that it was early enough to catch the princess and hopefully Crow as well.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow didn’t have as long of a nap as he’d wanted before he was awoken by the sound of his door opening and closing. On a normal day, he might have just assumed it was just Preston coming to check on him and gone back to sleep, but after the trick Elizabeth had tried to pull on him the night before, he was a bit more cautious than usual. Lazily, he opened one eye to see that it was the servant who had stopped by with what looked like a woven basket of freshly washed and dried clothes.

The boy eyed him as he set down the basket near the wardrobe. “How was your trip?” he asked, pulling out a shirt to hang up.

“Busy,” the viceroy yawned as he sat up. Leaning back on one hand, he rubbed his eyes with the heel of his palm. He didn’t feel as well rested as he’d hoped he would. In fact, napping seemed to have just made him more exhausted than before. He dragged his fingers through his tangled hair in mild frustration. If he didn’t get decent sleep tonight, tomorrow was going to be a long day. Unfortunately, knowing how often he was suffering through his nightmares lately, he doubted he would feel any better in the morning.

“Did you enjoy it, at least?” Preston asked absently, inspecting the armpit of a tunic where he seemed to have found a moth hole. He set the damaged shirt aside and continued putting away the rest.

“Of course,” Crow’s features softened with an involuntary smile at the memory of traveling through Bellmare with Penelope. “It was the most time we’ve had together since I moved here. I liked every second of it.” He slid down from the bed and raised his arms over his head in a long stretch. “I just wish I wasn’t so tired all the time.”

“You had another nightmare last night, didn’t you?” Preston frowned, finally looking away from the clothes to meet the viceroy’s gaze. Suddenly, he leaned over in a deep bow. “I’m sorry. I should have been here this morning. I completely disregarded my duties as your attendant.”

Crow blinked, caught off guard by the abruptness of the gesture. “Don’t worry about it, kid,” he waved his hand dismissively. “You had more important things to do than talk a lunatic down from a stupid dream.”

“I know you’re trying to play it off, Collin,” Preston knitted his brows. “You try to act like you’re fine and you don’t need anyone else, but this is serious. I asked a few of the other attendants in the castle who serve some barons who have the same problem. One of them said his master has pretty much lost his mind. He can’t separate the visions from reality anymore.”

Crow swallowed, reminded eerily of the brief period of time when he had gone through a similar issue during the early battles in the war. The thought of falling back into such a traumatic state made his mouth feel dry. He couldn’t let Preston know that though. “You didn’t tell anyone that I’m the one who’s having nightmares, did you?” he asked in a low voice, feigning disinterest in the conversation by nonchalantly straightening out his disheveled clothes.

“No,” the boy shook his head. “I got lucky. It just came up in conversation because the baron who’s been going crazy apparently tried to kill a guard today. He thought the poor guy was a mercenary and tried to cut his head off. It took three knights to pry him off and drag him to the prison…”

Mercenary? The viceroy paled, an image of the bald man in the market flashing through his mind. He’d managed to forget about the disturbing sight for most of the day, but now he couldn’t help but wonder again if the man had really been there or not. If he had, that meant there was a murderer in the inner kingdom. If he hadn’t… Well, maybe he should get rid of his daggers so he wouldn’t be the next one to attack a guard.

“Collin?” Preston had a concerned look on his face, noticing that the former thief had tuned him out. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Crow snapped back to attention. He averted his gaze, slightly embarrassed that the servant had caught his frightened reaction. “How’s your sister doing?” he asked suddenly, hoping to change the subject as he headed for the door.

Preston studied him for a moment longer before he answered, “Better. The blanket you gave her is already helping. In fact, she wanted me to tell you that she’s grateful for your generosity.”

“She needs it more than I do,” he shrugged, holding the door open for the attendant to pass through first. “Anyway, I’m starving. Let’s get some food while it’s still hot.”

“Alright,” Preston nodded, seeming to accept the fact that Crow wasn’t willing to talk about what was on his mind.

The two lapsed into thoughtful silence as they walked to the Great Hall for supper.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope trotted into the Great Hall and flickered her gaze around in search of her friend. Luckily she was able to spot Naida, who was sitting alone at a table with a bored look in her gaze. The look didn't last long though as she caught sight of her friend. The princess broke out into a grin and waved to Penelope, who eagerly headed over to join her. She sat down across from her friend and leaned slightly against the table. Having been busy traveling around Bellmare for the day, she was glad to finally get off her feet.

"Penelope! Finally I get to see you again!" Naida grinned brightly at her friend.

"It hasn't been that long." Penelope pointed out amusedly. Despite her words, she did enjoy the warm welcome from her friend. Having spent more time with less than friendly faces lately, it was a bit refreshing to get the chance to sit down with Naida again.

"Well no but everyone else around here has been so dull and everyone wants to talk about..." Naida paused, her smile fading. Her uncomfortable expression confused the knight as she waited for her to continue. "well you've probably heard the rumors by now." she mumbled a bit dejectedly.

For a moment, Penelope still wore a confused expression as Naida's vague words seemed to be missing some detail. She was just about to ask her to explain what rumors she was referring to when it hit her. Naida must have been talking about the rumor going around regarding Crow and Elizabeth. The knight cringed a bit, unsure how to respond. Naida was clearly disheartened by it—she had been trying to push her and Crow together for a while now—but Penelope couldn't outright explain to her how wrong the rumor was. As much as she wanted to clear the air, it wasn't something she could do so she'd just have to try a different approach.

"Oh you mean about your brother sleeping with some girl?" Penelope mused casually. The knight shrugged her shoulders. "I've heard but you know castle gossip is hardly reliable. I wouldn't let it get you so down."

"I guess so... But the guard swears by what he saw.. Everyone seems to believe it." Naida frowned. "I'm sorry, Penelope."

"I don't know why you're apologizing. It doesn't affect me." Penelope chuckled, waving a hand dismissively. "Besides that, I wouldn't just trust what everyone's saying. I mean, have you even spoken to Collin about it yet?"

"Well no." Naida admitted. "I suppose you're right."

Penelope casted her friend a small smile. She was glad she had been able to talk Naida out of making the mistake of buying into the rumors like she had. However, it did cause her a small stab of guilt as she wished that she would have taken her own advice. The knight let out a soft sigh and instead moved onto strike up a more casual conversation with her friend. It didn't last long though as Naida grew distracted by the arrival of Crow, waving down the viceroy in a similar manner that she had with Penelope.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow kept his gaze fixed straight ahead as he walked, still rattled by what he’d learned from Preston. He felt like he was losing it. Why would a mercenary show up at a random city marketplace just to watch him? It wasn’t like the bald man had been there to kill someone else. His piercing gaze had been focused on him. The viceroy was certain of that. If the murderer really had been there, he had been the target, but he couldn’t fathom a reason why the man would have then let him leave Bellmare alive. He shook his head, conflicted. He wasn’t sure which was worse: actually being stalked by a killer or just imagining the whole thing.

“Let me guess,” Preston spoke up suddenly, interrupting his master’s spiraling thoughts. “You’re not going to tell me what’s wrong this time either, are you?”

Crow glanced at him uncomfortably and then averted his gaze, “I’d rather work through it on my own.”

The attendant sighed, “I don’t understand why you’re so afraid of letting anyone else in.” He looked up at the viceroy with a frown. “If you change your mind, you know you can trust me.”

Crow nodded wordlessly. He did know Preston was trustworthy. It was just hard to break the habits he had used to survive for most of his life. In fact, the only person he had let his guard down completely with was Penelope, and even that had taken a lot of time and plenty of mistakes along the way. He grimaced as he thought back to how poorly he’d handled the situation with Jaxon. If he had been willing to open up to her sooner, they might have avoided the pain that had accompanied it all. He exhaled. At least he had learned his lesson. He would never keep a secret like that from her ever again.

But I’m still doing it with the littler things, he realized suddenly. Even though his own problems didn’t have such lofty consequences, he was still keeping them from everyone else—including the knight. She’d practically had to drag it out of him that he had been having nightmares, and even when he’d confessed, he hadn’t told her how severe the effects had been. He hadn’t told another soul about the mercenary he thought he’d seen at the marketplace either.

As much as he squirmed at the thought, maybe it would be a good idea to trust the people who had given him every reason to open up to them. Just not right now. He glanced up at the wide open doors of the Great Hall ahead of them. If he was going to start being more honest, it wasn’t going to happen in a room where he could be overheard by someone he didn’t trust at all. He would keep it to himself until he and Penelope—or even Preston, he decided—could be alone.

Inside the massive dining hall, Crow caught sight of Penelope and Naida right away. His sister had her hand in the air, waving at him as she always did when she wanted him to sit with her. He wasted no time heading over to their table, eager to see both of them again. Naturally, he was more interested in spending time with the knight, but it had been a while since he’d last seen the princess, so he wanted to catch up with her too.

“Hey,” he greeted them both as he sat down at the table next to Naida. She hadn’t pulled her usual trick to make him sit by Penelope this time, but he was too preoccupied with other thoughts to find her behavior strange at the moment. “I haven’t seen you in a while,” he mused, turning to his sister with a friendly smile. “What have you been up to?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope gave him a small smile and nodded her head to him in greeting. Her gaze flickered back over to Naida, feeling a bit unsure about how the princess would handle speaking with Crow. She had seemed as eager as usual to have him sit with them but at the same time, the knight noted that she hadn't played her usual trick of getting him to sit besides her. It wasn't really a conversation that would involve her though so Penelope shifted her gaze elsewhere while Crow spoke with her.

"I should be the one asking you that after all I've heard lately." Naida said crossing her arms over her chest. She paused though as she snuck a glance at Penelope. Seeming to decide against her approach due to the knight's presence, she instead gave a small smile. "But, nothing much aside from being bored out of my mind. I haven't been able to catch you or Penelope lately and you know how dull everyone else is.. Oh but I have been productive!" The princess' smile widened into a grin as she turned back to Penelope. "I got some things done for the party!"

Penelope looked back over to them raising an eyebrow as Naida turned to her. "That's good to hear.. We're planning to have it by the end of this week so any progress is good." she mused.

"That soon huh?" Naida whistled then sat up a bit straighter with a proud gleam in her eyes. "Speaking of which, I managed to convince my parents to let me have the party here at the castle!"

"Really?" Penelope gaped, unable to hide the excitement from her voice. Having the party at the castle would only help increase the chances of its success.

Naida nodded her head. "Yep! My mother thinks it's an opportunity for me to meet potential suitors." she explained rolling her eyes. "So you owe me! And you—"she turned to Crow with a smirk. "definitely need to learn how to dance now!" The princess' smirk faded slightly as another thought seemed to cross her mind. She glanced at Penelope and then looked back to Crow, her excitement deflating. ".. Penelope doesn't have to be the one to teach you though of course."

[Rogue Sloth]

When Naida took an accusative tone with him, Crow blinked confusedly. It took him a moment make the connection that she still thought he had slept with Elizabeth. He wanted to groan in frustration. It was going to take a while to undo all the damage that manipulative witch had done. He just hoped his sister would believe his word over the rumors the other nobles had been spreading about him lately. Regardless of her thoughts about him and Penelope, he wanted her to know he wasn’t that kind of man—not anymore, at least—and he didn’t want to let Liz get away with ruining his reputation among the people whose opinions he actually cared about.

He opened his mouth to respond, intending to set the record straight, but didn’t get the chance before the princess redirected the conversation to the party. Lightly biting the tip of his tongue, the viceroy tapped his index finger on the table as he waited for a chance to insert himself back into the noblewomen’s discussion. He was glad to hear that all the preparation for the party was going so well, but at the moment, he just wanted to get the uncomfortable talk about Liz over with so everyone could move on. He already had enough to worry about after learning about the mad baron from Preston. The last thing he needed was to be turned into Elizabeth’s puppet on top of that.

So, when Naida opened up the opportunity for him to speak with her mention of dance lessons, he jumped right into it. “You think I slept with that woman, don’t you?” he asked bluntly, propping his elbow on the table and pressing his cheek to his palm.

Naida shifted her weight, obviously uncomfortable with the topic but also seeming a little thrown off by his tone. Her eyes darted to Penelope briefly before she shrugged, answering him in a low voice, “Well, the night guard said he saw her leave your bedchamber in nothing but a sheet…”

“Yeah, I’ve heard the rumors from Preston,” Crow rolled his eyes. “They’re not true though. I didn’t even touch her. I’m sure she just tried to make me come off like a miscreant so the other women who’ve been after me would back off, and she would have less competition.”

“Oh,” his sister said thoughtfully. “So… you’re not interested in her?”

“Gods no,” Crow made a sour face. “She’s awful. I’d be happy if I never saw her again.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope watched as Crow directly addressed the topic that Naida was skirting around. She was glad he wasted no time in clearing the air. While it didn't really matter what others thought about the rumors, she didn't want Naida viewing him in that way. It'd only make things a bit difficult for when they did finally start courting. Luckily it seemed that the princess wouldn't be hard to convince as her thoughtful look made the knight believe her to be realizing the truth.

"She is that." Penelope sighed in agreement with Crow. The knight hoped that Liz had finally gotten the message and would leave them alone. Though she knew that she had nothing to worry about, that certainly didn't make her company any more bearable. She'd be glad when Liz finally returned back to Colchester. Her thoughts got interrupted as she saw the servants returning with their food. She dipped her head appreciatively to the one and wasted no time in taking a bite from her food, reminded of her hunger due to the appetizing smell.

"Sounds like she is." Naida grinned, seeming to have renewed cheerfulness now that she knew Crow was far from interested in the other noblewoman. "It's a pity you aren't courting anyone... I bet that would stop her from bothering you." she said nudging him with a subtle glance towards Penelope.

Though the knight didn't catch the look Naida gave, she already knew what the princess was hinting at. Penelope bit back an amused smirk and looked up from her food to focus on Naida. "Anyways, about the party, Dimia has been working on invitations so now that we have a when and where, hopefully we can start getting them out soon." she explained, hoping to switch the subject. "Do you two know how many people you'll be inviting yet? We're trying to map out a guest list as well."