Crow opened his mouth to argue with Penelope when she blamed him for the mess they were in, and then closed it again. It really wasn’t worth it to distract her and risk both of their lives for the sake of his vanity, even though she was the one who had pushed them both into the river and gotten them lost in the first place. All he had done was try and run away. How could she think this was his fault? For now, though, he chose to say nothing and let her have the final word.

He stuck close to her after his earlier slip in the river. He no longer cared about putting on a tough act; he just wanted to get out of this godsforsaken water. Unfortunately for him though, the water seemed to have a plan of its own. It chose to rip at Penelope this time, causing her to stumble and drag both of them down. He took a quick breath of air before his head went under the surface and let go of Penelope, fighting to keep from being swept up in the current—a difficult task for one who could scarcely swim in calm waters.

No, no, no, he flailed frantically, trying to find the surface. The water around him was black in the darkness of the night, so he couldn’t tell which way was up. In the back of his mind, he knew he had to calm down and let his body naturally float up on its own, but that was easier said than done. Every instinct inside of him screamed to fight against the river. He couldn’t stop moving. I can’t breathe…

Just as he was beginning to think he was going to drown this time, he felt something catch hold of his arm and drag him back up. He broke through the surface, coughing water from his lungs, and saw that Penelope was hauling him towards the far shore. Eager to get out of the river, he made a weak attempt to paddle after her, but he saw that his efforts did nothing to make them move faster, so he gave up and let her do the swimming for both of them.

As soon as Crow felt solid ground beneath his feet, he pulled away from Penelope and clambered out of the water, collapsing tiredly on the bank. After taking a moment to catch his breath, he rolled onto his back and laughed in hysterics, “I am never going near another river again.”

Penelope staggered onto the river bank. She wavered, struggling to stay up. The familiar dull aching of muscles began to arise again. The trip across the river only made her feel weary and cold. She wrapped her arms around herself and moved to lean against the tree for support. She let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes for a brief moment.

"Could have gone worse." Penelope mumbled, shaking her head slightly. She forced her eyes open again and looked down at the thief. "Come on... Just a little further..." Slowly, she moved reluctantly away from the tree and turned in the direction of the village. The knight staggered, struggling to keep her balance now that she had no support. "Ugh... I think I might actually cry when I see a warm bed." Penelope said with a sigh of longing.

Crow laid on the ground for a moment longer before he got back to his feet. He turned to follow Penelope back to the village and then paused, watching her stumble when she moved away from the tree she had been leaning on. She looked completely spent of energy. It wasn’t surprising, considering what she had just accomplished, but he also knew she couldn’t make it back to the inn without collapsing. He sighed softly. In hindsight, he hadn’t done anything to help her when she had led him through the water; she had done all the work on her own to save him from drowning. He didn’t like owing a debt to a member of the king’s army, but technically she had saved his life.

He walked up beside her and took her arm, draping it over his shoulder, and then put his own arm around her waist. “Shut up,” he said before the knight could say anything. “This is a one-time thing; got it? And don’t tell me to back off. If you try to walk the rest of the way back by yourself, you’re going to collapse.” He adjusted his hold on her to better support her against his side and then casted her an amused smile. “You should count yourself lucky. I’m doing you a favor: something I’ve never done for a knight before and likely won’t ever do again.”

The thief took a careful step forward, checking his balance, and then started walking back towards the village, “Come on, I’m looking forward to getting some sleep just as much as you are.”

As he took her arm, Penelope blinked in surprise and quickly began to open her mouth in protest but was cut off by the thief. She gave him a stubborn look but slowly closed her mouth and didn't bother to protest. Despite her unhappiness with the situation, what he said was true. While she tried to only lean very lightly on him, she found herself having to depend on him for more support than she would have liked to admit.

"Alright..." she grumbled quietly and followed his lead as he walked. She couldn't help but feel rather surprised by his actions. He was in better condition than her so if he tried to escape it would likely be sucessful considering the circumstances. "You're a strange person." she said glancing up at him with a weary smile. "Or rather, a strange thief... At least different from ones I've met before.."

Looking ahead as they walked, Penelope scanned through the trees for a sign of buildings and the village. It seemed a bit distant but she swore that she could make out the vague figure of a building though the trees blocked it from sight most of the time. "Once we reach the village, I'll walk on my own." she added. Last thing she needed was to be seen being aided by a thief. Her own pride prevented her from allowing that to happen.

“How is that a fair comparison?” Crow laughed when Penelope called him strange. “Just because I share an occupation with other thieves doesn’t mean I think or act the same way. That would be the same as if I had said you were identical to all other knights just because you shared the same type of work. That’s not a reasonable judgment either, now is it?” He rolled his eyes. “I’m still my own person and, despite what you seem to think of me, I am true to my word. I promised you I would stick around until we get back from Younis, so that’s what I’m going to do.”

Crow navigated his way around a fallen tree and stared longingly into the dark woods around them. He would keep his promise because it was against his morality not to, but he definitely regretted making the deal with Penelope in the first place. If he hadn’t, he could have easily abandoned her while she was too weak to catch up with him and escaped to the outer villages on his own. But, such as it was, he did give her his word, so it looked like he wasn’t going anywhere.

“Once we reach the village, I’ll walk on my own,” Penelope said as a few small houses came into sight.

“Fine by me,” Crow agreed. “Just don’t blame me if you fall flat on your face when I let you go.” He hesitated, thinking something over, and then went on in a quieter tone, “Also… I hadn’t said it before, but thank you for helping me cross that river. If you hadn’t done that, we would probably still be out looking for a narrower passage.” He cleared his throat and looked away. “Don’t expect me to be any nicer to you just because you helped me once. I just thought I should let you know that I’m grateful. That’s all.”

Penelope rolled her eyes at him. "Don't act like you haven't thought that way too. Once you know one enemy, you think you know them all. After all, you seem to put all nobles in the same category." she snorted in response. Though, she couldn't help but feel a bit relieved that she could trust his word, for now at least.

She looked over at him as his voice got quieter. "Welcome... Thanks for helping me right now." she mumbled glancing off to the side. Penelope looked back up at him and smirked. "Of course. If you were nicer then I might just be able to get along with you." she said in a teasing tone.

There was a brief pause as the knight stared at the ground for a moment. "And, just so you know, you have my word as well.... I assume it's not easy trusting a knight with something as important as your freedom but once the mission is over, I will let you get out of here before you have to return back." She said with a sincere voice.

“Ah, but then you might get attached and not let me go later,” Crow winked at Penelope teasingly. “I’m already charming enough as it is, love. Just imagine how hard it would be for you to stay away from me if I was actually trying. I would never taste freedom again!” He shook his head, stifling a laugh as he took on a serious expression. “No, no. I can’t let that happen. I must continue to be rude to you for both of our sakes. I hope you can understand.”

He lapsed into silence as he contemplated his deal with the knight once again. Even though he was merely jesting with Penelope, he did harbor a bit of doubt that she would actually let him escape after he completed the king’s assignment. He knew he would keep his end of the bargain, but he had no way of knowing whether she planned to do the same. She was right when she had said he put all nobles in the same category. To him, they were worse than thieves. They lied, cheated, and stole for their own personal gain, never caring what happened to the people they hurt on their way up the ladder of their precious social hierarchy. For all he knew, Penelope could have deceived him so he wouldn’t try to run away again before they reached Younis.

“And, just so you know, you have my word as well,” Penelope spoke up suddenly, seeming to read the thief’s thoughts. “I assume it’s not easy trusting a knight with something as important as your freedom, but once the mission is over I will let you get out of here before you have to return back.”

He held her gaze for a moment before he nodded, “Thank you for that.” Though he spoke calmly, he felt like a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He wondered why he was so quick to trust her. Based on his prior interactions with knights, he had no reason to believe she was telling him the truth. Yet somehow, he knew she wasn’t lying.

Crow paused and then broke into a grin. “You know, you’re a strange person too—or a strange knight, that is. I’ve never known another who would go behind he comrades’ backs to help a simple peasant like me.” Looking forward again, he saw that they had reached the outskirts of the village. He turned back to Penelope, meeting her eyes searchingly. “It seems we’ve arrived. Are you sure you want to walk on your own?”

Penelope looked over at him and shrugged. "While I have no ill-will towards either William or Abraxas, they also don't hold my absolute loyalty nor the power to effect my decisions. Besides, in this situation, everyone gets what they want. The kingdom can avoid war, the king gets his staff and power, my family and other knights can rest easy, and you don't have to rot in prison." she said in a rather simplistic fashion.

As they reached the outskirts, Penelope nodded and began to move away from him. The knight was still unsteady despite her best efforts. She clenched her teeth in frustration and found herself forced to rest a hand against Crow to keep herself up right. "Ah... Darn it..." she breathed. It seemed that there had been no improvement of her condition in their time walking to the village. The knight was stubborn though and tried again to walk on her own to little avail.

"Alright..." she said lowering her gaze in an embarrassed manner, "Never mind..." Penelope gave up her efforts after a second failed attempt and leaned against Crow again in order to keep herself up right.

Crow let go of Penelope when she moved to pull away from him. He could tell that she was still unsteady on her feet, but he said nothing as the knight attempted to stand and walk on her own. Over the two days he had spent with her, the thief had learned that she could be as stubborn as an ass, so there was no point in trying to argue with her. He stood aside and crossed his arms over his chest, deciding to let her figure out for herself that she was in no condition to make the trip back to the inn without help.

Sure enough, Penelope soon had to rest a hand against him to keep from stumbling. Crow smirked, about to ask the knight if she had given up yet, but she was ridiculously persistent. She made one more attempt to walk by herself before admitting defeat and leaning into the thief for support. He just sighed and took her arm, slinging it over his shoulder and placing his other hand on her waist again to take up the same position as before. “Good effort, but I have to say I warned you,” he said wryly.

As they walked slowly along the village road, Crow watched the alleyways and dark corners between houses for signs of movement. He wasn’t particularly keen to be caught by a patrol of knights at that moment. A woman being carried by a thief wasn’t a normal sight anywhere in the kingdom. If a night guard saw them like this, he might get the wrong impression, and Crow definitely did not want to be arrested again. Thus, he travelled quietly and with caution.

After a while, they reached the inn where William had made arrangements for them to stay. Crow paused outside the front doors and turned to Penelope as another thought occurred to him, “So… did William ever say which room he was in?”

"Shut up.." Penelope grumbled at his words. Her cheeks grew a bit red as she felt a hint of shame for trying so hard only to fail and end up back in the same position as before. She was grateful for the thief's willingness to help her at the moment. Even if he had specified it to be a one time thing only. As a knight, she wasn't looking to make such situations where she depended on his help a common thing anyways. The knight was much too stubborn for that.

She made no remarks as she took notice of his wariness of being caught. In fact, Penelope would occasionally scan the area as well, not wanting ti be caught in such a position. It was bad enough without having some foolish patrol jumping to conclusions on the matter. The thought occurred to her that her father or brother could potientially be apart of said patrol which added to the knight's caution of their surroundings as they approached the inn.

"Ah... No.. He didn't." Penelope said in a disheartened manner as he questioned about the room number. She was about to go on until a loud voice boomed from behind them filled with clear anger and frustration. "Where in the hell did you go off to?!" came from William who was approaching them at a fast pace. While it was late out, the older knight seemed nearly unaffected by his lack of sleep and instead was enveloped with anger.

"It's a long story..." Penelope said with a tired sigh. She really didn't want to explain everything to the other knight. Tired and still wet from the river, the only thing she wished to talk about was the room number in which to go to.

"Long story my ass! Rotten thief tried to get away didn't he?" William growled, recalling his previous perceptions of Crow planning some escape. However, the current sight of the thief aiding the knight seemed to throw him off.

Penelope shot a glare at him. "Look, I'm tired and drenched so if you don't mind, I'd like to get some sleep already. He tried to run off but clearly it didn't work. Everything else doesn't really matter so long as we keep our guards up and you give me a break alright?" she said in a harsh tone. William seemed a bit taken back by such a response from her but quickly recomposed himself. "Fine. Go in the den though not the room. There's a fireplace there you can dry off a bit. Last thing we need if someone getting sick." he snorted.

Crow flinched at the sound of William’s furious voice behind them. He turned to see the knight approaching them with his brow knit tightly in anger. He cursed under his breath. He had been hoping to slip into the room while the others were still asleep so he could avoid this very situation. Penelope might have been willing to overlook his attempted escape, but William would never be so forgiving. He shivered. He could almost feel the cold metal of the chains he would be shackled in once again for trying to run—or maybe he was just chilled from the river water that still drenched his clothes.

However, before Crow could move to defend himself, Penelope spoke up first, sharply telling William to leave her alone. The other knight seemed to hesitate before he complied and told them to go to the den where they could warm up. As he turned to walk away, the thief spoke up, “Ah, do you have any dry clothes I could borrow? Coming straight from prison, this is all I have, and it’s soaking wet.” William made a face at the idea of lending his clothing to a criminal, but Crow went on before he could object, “You said you don’t want anyone getting sick, and I’m part of that ‘anyone.’ Besides, I won’t be much use to the king if I’m ill, right?”

“Fine,” William spat sourly. “The king did provide us with spare clothes for everyone, but they’re kept with our other supplies in the wagon. I will check with Abraxas to see if he brought any to the inn with him when he dropped the wagon off. The boy is always overly prepared.” He muttered the last sentence under his breath as he walked inside the building. Crow followed after him, but went to the smoking lounge rather than the room, as the knight had suggested. He led Penelope over to the fireplace, letting her go so he could get a flame started with some flint and fire steel that lay nearby.

Once that was done, he sat down beside her on the wooden floor and yawned, “Now, if William can just find us some dry clothes, this’ll be quite cozy, huh?” He nudged her teasingly. “You know, it’s almost romantic: sitting by the fire like this. I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to scoot a little closer so I can help you warm up.”

Penelope followed him over to the fire place. Once he let her go, the knight plopped down tiredly. It felt great to simply sit down and, as soon as the fire was started, slowly got better as the warmth of the fire began to dry her off. She let out a soft, peaceful sigh and leaned back against the small wooden table that was located in the room.

At his nudge, she flickered her eyes over to him and she gave a soft snort. "Think I'll have to pass up that offer." she said right before yawning. Her eyes slowly closed as she struggled to stay awake. The events of the day wore heavily on her and her need to stay awake grew less and less.

"Doubt I can stay up right for a much longer..." She mumbled as she rested her head back against the table. It didn't seem to be the most comfortable of positions but in her current state, the knight could careless.

“Suit yourself,” Crow shrugged. “But I’ll have you know, I’m an excellent hugger. You’re missing out.” He yawned again and laid down next to Penelope, resting his head on his arm and watching the embers burn in the fireplace. The tranquil scene reminded him of the quiet nights he used to spend with his mother before she passed away. Those days during his childhood had been so relaxing. Ever since he had gone out on his own, he had been forced to sleep with one eye open, since there were many people who would have liked to see him dead or imprisoned. In fact, it had been so long since he had last let himself sleep deeply that he had forgotten what it felt like. He closed his eyes. With the comforting glow of the fire and security of Penelope’s company, he was almost tempted to try it.

Soon, he heard the sound of footsteps behind them and rolled over to see that William had returned. “Unfortunately for you,” the knight grumbled. “Abraxas left our supplies in the wagon, so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find a change of clothes. For now, you can just sit by the fire and pray to whatever gods you believe in that you don’t catch a fever.”

“Well, that’s a shame,” Crow sighed. “The gods don’t seem to side with me very much as of late. I think I must have done something to offend them, because they keep forcing me to endure your annoying company.”

William curled his lip, “If anyone has a right to complain about annoying company, it’s Penelope.” He turned to his comrade. “I can take over your watch of the thief tonight. Go get some sleep for the trip tomorrow. We won’t be slowing down for anyone, so you should try to rest while you still have the chance.”

The knight had nearly found herself asleep when the sound of footsteps made her reluctantly open her eyes again. Sleepily, she looked up at William as he returned. Naturally he began to chew out Crow again. Penelope stretched and slowly forced herself forward so she was no longer relying on the wooden table to keep her up right.

"Alright... Thanks.." Penelope mumbled as she slowly rose back up to her feet in a reluctant fashion. If not for the fact that the thought of sleeping in a warm bed, Penelope would have likely refused to move from her current position. The knight was still wobbly on her feet as she stumbled forward. She ended up having to use the walls for support, considering she no longer had the aid of Crow. Once she came across the right room, Penelope opened the door and headed inside. She spotted the empty bed and quickly headed towards it. She put her sword and armor off to the side with ease before laying down. In no time, she fell into a very deep sleep.
----

"Penelope... Time to get up." Came a calm voice. She was being shaked lightly. Penelope let out a groan, not wanting to get up. The rest had been great and she was already feeling better than before but it was still such an early time to wake up at. Her green eyes slowly fluttered open as she turned to look over at the person shaking her. It was Abraxas. She figured William must still be keeping an eye on Crow. Considering his knowledge about the thief trying to run off, her comrade likely didn't trust Abrazas to keep aware enough.

"Alright... I'm up... I'll meet you guys out there in a second... Let me just get my armor first." Penelope said as she sat up in her bed. Abraxas gave a small nod and began to head out of the room. With a small huff, she got up to her feet and began to put her armor back on. Once she had fastened her sword safely back to her side, the knight headed out of the roomto meet up with the others. Her muscles were still swore from the night before but it was much more tolerable now.

Crow frowned as he watched Penelope stumble sleepily down the corridor. He didn’t want to be left alone with William, but he knew he shouldn’t have expected her to stand guard over him when she could barely keep her eyes open. He heaved a sigh and inched a bit closer to the fireplace, trying to stave off the cold of his soaking clothes and block William from his line of sight. The knight had taken up a watchful position in a nearby chair, sitting rigidly and watching Crow’s every move. The intensity of his stare was slightly intimidating.

“Answer me this,” William spoke up after he let the silence drag out between them for a while. There was still a hint of anger in his voice as he went on, “If you were in my position, would you let a convicted criminal go unpunished after he tried to run away?”

Crow sat up and gave him a wary look. It was obviously a loaded question, but he wasn’t quite sure what type of reply William was searching for. “Let’s see,” he said slowly. “It depends on what type of person that criminal is and what he’s trying to accomplish by escaping.”

“But the law is the law,” William replied, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. “If we make an exception for one convict, then what power do our rules hold over anyone at all?”

“I see your point,” Crow held the knight’s gaze. “But the law was intended to prevent people with malicious motives from harming others. What if this theoretical criminal you want to punish didn’t act out of bad intent? What if he felt he had no choice other than to break the law? Is the king really so cruel that he would punish a desperate man for trying to save himself? I think that if this criminal is a genuinely good and honest person, I would let him go without consequence.” He stifled a smirk when William just stared at him. The knight likely didn’t expect such a thoughtful answer from a peasant, let alone a peasant with a law-breaking background.

“Are you saying that you’re a good and honest person who should go without punishment?” William asked after he recovered from his initial surprise.

“That’s not at all what I said,” Crow replied with a shrug. “I only gave you an answer to your question. Although, I would appreciate it if you overlooked this last incident. Trust me, I already learned my lesson.” He shivered again from his soaking clothes. They were taking a while to dry, so he slipped his tunic over his head and laid it closer to the fire to warm it up more quickly.

“Oh, no,” William growled. “If you weren’t under the protection of the king, I would teach you a real lesson, thief. I’m tired, so I will just give you a warning this time, but if you try anything like this again, I can always take a meal or two away from you.” He smirked, eyeing Crow’s narrow frame. “I would shape up if I were you. By the looks of it, you can’t afford to skip out on any more rations.”

“Why don’t you try living off of prison food for a year?” Crow mumbled defensively. He laid back down by the fire and closed his eyes, signaling that he was finished with their conversation. Fortunately, it seemed that William was done venting his frustration, so he didn’t speak up again, giving Crow a chance to get some sleep.

Despite William’s statement that he wouldn’t hurt him, Crow slept lightly.

--

The next morning, Crow woke up to the prod of a boot in his side. He blinked sleepily and looked up to see William glaring down at him. “Get up, thief,” the knight growled in his usual oh-so-pleasant manner.

Crow yawned and sat up, stretching lazily. He grabbed his tunic from beside the fireplace—to his relief, it had dried off enough to wear again—and put it back on, climbing to his feet and following William to the inn’s tavern for breakfast.

They found an empty table and sat down—Crow doing so with much less grace and poise than William, as he accidently hit his shin on a chair in his half-conscious state. By now, he truly regretted his late-night escapade. He hadn’t gotten much sleep, and he was thoroughly exhausted. He yawned again and rested his head on the table, closing his eyes to get some extra shut eye before Penelope and Abraxas joined them.

Penelope and Abraxas soon entered the room. The younger knight was surprisingly the first to spot the two, seeing as Penelope was still a bit drowsy this morning. They hurried over and took a seat across from Crow at the table. "Morning." Penelope greeted giving a small nod to both Crow and William. William gave a curt nod of acknowledgment. "Better start waking up. We're heading to the border today.." he warned leaning on the table. Penelope waved her hand at the older knight dismissively. "I'll be fine." she reassured with her usual stubbornness.

"Umm.." Abraxas suddenly spoke up. His eyes darted from William to Penelope, seeming almost nervous. "About the border... uh.. William, I think you should explain it to her." His wording made Penelope sit up a bit straighter as it seemed that she was lacking some sort of information. She raised an eyebrow at William. "Exactly what don't I know?"

The heaved a sigh, clearly knowing that she wouldn't be happy with what he was about to say. "Look... Younis is a different place from our kingdom and that also means that there are different rules and regulations there... We have to be careful. Abraxas and I will be posing as knights from that land since the king aquired armor from that kingdom for the mission." Penelope narrowed her eyes a small look of annoyance began to spark in them. "And exactly where does that leave me?"

William shifted uneasily. "Younis doesn't allow for women to survive as any form of guards or knights... You'll have to disguise as a simple peasant in order to not draw attention towards us. We've brought a dress along for the occasion." he spoke fairly quickly and turned away to quickly flag down a wench to take their orders before Penelope could respond. A clear look of anger crossed the female knight's face but with the prescence of the other girl, she fell silent, merely pursing her lips together as William ordered his food.

Crow didn’t bother to raise his head when Penelope and Abraxas joined him and William at the table, and he only acknowledged Penelope’s greeting with a faint nod. He was too busy to give her a proper response. At the moment he was waging an internal war as he struggled to decide whether he would rather eat breakfast now or let himself sleep a little longer before they left for the final leg of their trip to the outer villages. Both options were mutually appealing, but eventually his stomach won the battle when a wench walked by with a platter of delicious-smelling food.

Having made his decision, Crow sat up straight and tuned in to the knights’ conversation, only to be instantly rewarded with an interesting topic of discussion. Apparently, the two men were planning to disguise Penelope as a peasant girl because all Younisian guards were male. This was too good. The thief smirked and turned towards Penelope to poke fun at her, but then stopped when he saw her expression. She looked as if she was unhappy with her comrades’ plan. He frowned, wondering why she would be so upset. It was just a simple disguise; it wasn’t like the dress would sap away her ability to fight.

“I’ll have some dark bread and ale,” Crow said absently when the wench approached him. He glanced at Penelope once more and then turned to the other knights, “The plan you’ve come up with isn’t bad, but disguises will only get you so far.” He paused to clear his throat and then went on in a strange, lilting accent, “You have to talk and act like Younisians, too. I’ve lived on the border long enough to meet plenty of travelers, so trust me when I say that they’ll be able to pick out a fraud in a heartbeat.” He grinned wryly when William raised a surprised brow at him. “Huh, it seems I’m not as useless as you thought.”

Her reasoning for being this angered by having to disguise was simple. Penelope knew that once they put a dress on a knight, that knight was meant to be used as a way to charm their enemies be it for information or convenience. Penelope simply wasn't fond of that job. In fact, she had only tried to do so with Crow because she knew of how long they would be stuck together but even then her skills had only equated to friendliness and not a one sided one either. It was simply a skill that she lacked and tried to pride herself in something better.

"Some bread." She said giving the wnech a small nod before looking over at Crow as he began to talk. The female knight looked intrigued when he took on the accent. Her anger had died off for now since the topic had changed. "Looks like we've got something to work on then." she mused. "We're on a bit of a time limit after all." She sighed softly.

William seemed annoyed with the fact that they'd be depending on a thief for such information. He crossed his arms and gave Crow a cold look. "And I suppose we can trust you to teach us?" he grumbled sourly.

“Of course you can trust me,” Crow scoffed. “What? Do you expect me to lie to you and teach you all fake accents so you’ll sound ridiculous to the Younisian locals?” He paused. “Ah… never mind. I would do that. However, since it’s also in my best interest that we keep our heads down, I promise I’ll resist the urge to make fools of you three. So, you don’t have to worry about any hidden motives on my part. I’ll give you real advice, but only until this job is over. After that, everyone here is fair game.”

He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, smiling in satisfaction when William gave him an irritated look. The knight’s reluctance to accept his assistance just made his task all the more fun. Whether he liked it or not, their roles had reversed and they now depended on him to move safely through Younis. Naturally, he was going to milk it for all it was worth.

Crow looked up when the wench returned with everyone’s food. As he had done with the girl from the day before, he stopped her when she set down his plate and slipped some of his bread into her pocket. Her eyes widened in surprise, but he hushed her before she could object, “You work in a place that’s filled with food, yet you eat hardly anything yourself, darling. Keep it.” The girl wavered for a moment and then nodded her thanks, moving on to give the others their breakfasts while Crow dug into his own meal of bread and ale.

Penelope rolled her eyes as she noticed the look of satisfaction he gave. It seemed that the rest of this trip would be a pain for her, having not only to dress as a peasant girl but also depend on him in order to avoid being discovered by the rival kingdom. As the wench returned with their food, Penelope watched as Crow slipped the girl some bread. She said nothing on the manner and turned her attention to her own food right after, finding herself to be rather hungry.

It wasn't long before the knights had finished eating. William stood up, ready to go. Penelope glanced up at the older knight. "Ah... I've been meaning to ask... Where did my father and brother go off to? Are they still in town?" she questioned. The thought had crossed her mind a few times on their whereabouts since her early departure the night before. "They went off to work as far as I know." William replied with a small shrug. Penelope gave a small nod, feeling a tad disappointed. She had been at least hoping for a proper goodbye before they left. She supposed seeing them was enough for now.

"Alright. Let's go. They should have brought the wagon around by now and I don't want to waste anymore time." William grumbled.