He nearly laughed aloud at her dismissal of the whole knight's code thing, but Owen allowed himself to relax, at least, and offered the princess a smile. "I know, Angie," he replied, quieter- almost as if he didn't want anyone to overhear his lack of formality. She, though, was one of very few who were ever privy to it- and only then because she was family.
"It was-" Owen hesitated, wanting, again, to spare her the less than pleasant details. "It was less productive than we had hoped."