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

[Rogue Sloth]

Everything happened so quickly. In one moment, Crow had been about to deliver the finishing blow to Layth, and in the next, his dagger was in Penelope’s shoulder instead. He froze in shock as the two knights fell to the ground, mind reeling as he tried to comprehend what had just happened. Why did she jump in the way? Where had she even come from? In his intent to beat Layth, he hadn’t noticed her approach them.

He felt dizzy as he looked down at her bleeding shoulder, trembling slightly as the realization hit him that he was the one who did that to her. He had stabbed Penelope. It had been an accident, but it had still happened. She was wounded, and it was his fault. He felt like he was going to be sick.

When she turned and silently told him to leave, he flinched at the stern expression on her face. He could tell that she was mad at him, and it only served to add to the guilt that weighed down on his chest. He wished there was something he could say to make the situation better somehow, but his mind was blank. Instead, he was overcome by a strong desire to get away—from Layth, from Penelope’s pained gaze, from what he had done. Giving in to the impulse, he took a step back, wavered for a moment, and then turned and ran, leaving the two siblings behind.

As he sprinted across the battlefield, Crow’s nausea only worsened. He couldn’t stop replaying the incident in his head—his dagger sinking into Penelope’s shoulder, her cry of pain, her look of betrayal. It pained him like a knife in his chest, and he wished he could take it all back. Knowing he was in no condition to keep fighting, he kept running until the sounds of battle began to fade behind him. He didn’t know where he was going. All he knew was that he needed to get as far from her as possible.

As he ran, he felt his breaths come to him a bit more labored and his vision began to grow fuzzy. He slowed his pace slightly and knitted his brow in concern. Am I having a panic attack? he wondered. While he had lost some sense of time, he knew he hadn’t been sprinting for that long. Usually he could travel much farther before he felt this terrible. It had to be because of what happened. He was worried about Penelope, and it was starting to take a physical toll.

Crow slowed to a stop and leaned against the side of a house. He closed his eyes, bringing a hand up to his head as he tried to slow his breathing and clear the haziness away. However, even when he got his breathing under control, the dizziness didn’t pass. He opened his eyes again and frowned. The world seemed to be spinning, which only aggravated his nausea more. He shook his head. I’m fine, he tried to calm himself down. I’m just panicking. Nothing is wrong.

Having assured himself that it was all in his head, he took a step away from the building to keep moving. However, as soon as he left the support of the wall, his vision went black and he collapsed to the ground.

--

Crow groaned and sat up, wincing at a sharp pounding in the side of his head. He looked around dazedly, wondering where he was until the memories of the battle came flooding back. He had been fighting to protect the villagers, and then he had battled against Layth, and after that he had accidentally stabbed Penelope… He grimaced as the image of her bloodied shoulder appeared in his mind again.

But why did I pass out? he wondered as he rose shakily to his feet. Could I have been so worried that I made myself lose consciousness? Somehow he doubted that. Even if he had been concerned about Penelope, it didn’t make sense that he would have been so upset that he blacked out. There had to be another reason—

He paled as the Myrefall herbalist’s words came back to him: Next, you’ll start to experience spells of dizziness and fatigue. It had to be the illness. What other explanation could there be? He swallowed nervously. Since the herbalist’s draught had been working so well to keep his coughing under control, he had almost forgotten about it. It must have been getting worse without him even being aware of the progression.

Pushing the unnerving thought aside, Crow glanced up at the sky. While he couldn’t hear the sounds of battle anymore, it still seemed to be early. He couldn’t have passed out for that long. Dusting off his clothes, he made his way back towards the battle site to find out what had become of the others.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope watched as Crow ran off. The knight closed her eyes tightly, feeling sick at what had happened. "Penelope!" A concerned voice caught her attention and she turned her head to see Gavin sprinting towards her. As he reached her, the male knight frowned and carefully moved her hand away from her wound to check the damage. "It's deep.. You need to get bandages... Damnit Penelope I told you not to get in the middle of it!" He chided her.

Though she knew he was just angry because he was concerned about her well being, she found herself still seething from Crow's lack of mercy. She shot Gavin a defiant glare. "He was going to kill him, I had to do something." She spat.

"Yes but now you're hurt because you defended the thief. Did Layth realize..?"

Penelope blinked and looked up at Gavin. it hit her that the male knight thought that Layth had gotten close to killing Crow rather than the other way around. "No... Layth was the one that almost died not.. Crow." She mumbled averting her gaze as Gavin stared at her shocked.

"That's... That's even worse, Penelope. I told you he was dangerous! You should have helped your brother take him down not let him get away." Gavin lectured her.

Penelope opened her mouth to argue but her words fell short. Could she honestly say that he was wrong? Her shoulder was wounded because of Crow's willingness to kill her brother. Though she had seen him cut down a few of her comrades before, she had trusted the thief would have spared her brother. I guess.. I misjudged him. I got too wrapped up in how much I still care for him.. She thought with another pang of pain. There was no denying that part of her had remained rather loyal to Crow, despite all the choices she had made. Though she was beginning to think that loyalty was one-sided and wondered if Crow would have been as willing to attack her as he had any other Brerratic knight. Of course, she wasn't reckless like her brother and the logical part of her told her that Crow had only fought Layth to defend.

However, as she felt her shoulder sting with pain as she moved it slightly, she suddenly wasn't so sure.

Penelope felt a bit sick at the thought and barely noticed that Gavin had wrapped an arm protectively around her or that Mia was calling for the Brerratic force to retreat. The Younisians had overwhelmed them and the village. Gavin sighed and guided her away with the rest of the retreating knights. Penelope blindly followed, still reeling from the fact that Crow had tried to kill her brother and had ended up injuring her in the process.

[Rogue Sloth]

As Crow made his way back to the village, he noticed something seemed off. The battle had ended, but there were still Younisians in the area. He took cover behind a house, watching the foreign knights cautiously. It seemed they had won this time and had moved their barracks forward to claim the territory for themselves. What that meant for the villagers though, he couldn’t yet say. He just hoped the Younisians would be merciful to them so they wouldn’t have to leave their homes and move to a new village.

Having nothing more to do with Grimsby, Crow left and headed back to the thieves’ camp, hoping he would find his companions there. He made the trek alone, taking the time to look over his injuries. Fortunately, none of them seemed too serious. The stab wound in his arm was the worst of them all, but he was still able to move his wrist and hand just fine, so he assumed it would heal as long as he took care of it.

As he examined the gash in his forearm, he thought again about how he had struck Penelope with his dagger, and he cringed. He still couldn’t believe that had happened. She was the last person he would ever want to hurt, and yet he had stabbed her in the shoulder. Now that the chaos of the battle was over, he regretted leaving her behind as well. He should have stayed to apologize at the very least. Instead, he had turned tail and fled like a coward, afraid to own up to what he had done.

Crow sighed, running his hand through his hair in frustration. He was supposed to meet up with Penelope again in two days, but he didn’t know if he could face her after what had happened. He didn’t want to see that look again—that expression of hurt that he had caused. She had every right to be upset with him, but he was already ashamed of himself as it was. He didn’t need her to remind him of how badly he had messed up. The guilt on his heart was more than enough for that.

When he reached the camp, he was relieved to see both Alistair and Simon had made it back and were being treated by the peasants for their injuries. He walked over to join them, and Alistair looked up at him.

“Oh good,” the thief sighed. “You’re alive.” He took on a quizzical look as he went on, “Where did you go? You’ve been missing for so long, we thought you got killed.”

“Clearly I’m not dead,” Crow sat down heavily next to Alistair, exhausted both physically and emotionally from the battle. “One of the Younisians managed to get farther into the village, so I had to chase him,” he lied with a shrug, not wanting to tell the others the truth about his fainting spell. “He was skilled, so it took a while to take him down.”

“Well, you’re here now,” Simon said as he watched a peasant woman bandage his arm. “That’s all that matters.”

Crow nodded solemnly. Soon, another villager approached him and began to tend to his injuries as well. He sat in silence as she worked on cleaning and bandaging his wounds, his thoughts wandering back to Penelope again. He couldn’t get her out of his head. The image of her stern and distant face was burned into his mind, and it pained him. He was beginning to wonder if he should even go to their arranged meeting in Myrefall. There was a good chance she wouldn’t show up anyway after what he had done to her. Even if she did, would she want to see him? Perhaps it would be best for both of them if he stopped seeing her.

I’ll decide when the time comes, he thought. In two days, I’ll decide if I’m going to continue to meet with her or not.

[BuzzingBee]

"Wait, so Crow did that?"

Little over a day later, the knights managed to return to their camp, tired and rather defeated. The battle at Grimsby seemed to have left quite a few wounded and many worried about what was to come. Layth had tried to blame their loss on the new rule that was established. While Mia dismissed his ridiculousness, Edward seemed to side with his nephew while Bennet remained neutral. It wasn't clear if the barons would remove the rule after just one defeat or not quite yet though.

Another day had passed and Penelope could barely focus on that at the moment as her time to meet with Crow drew closer. She sat in her tent with Olivia. The other female knight had heard word from Gavin about the fight between Crow and Layth so naturally she wanted to get the full story from Penelope. Olivia looked over the bandaged shoulder. It would take a while to fully heal and judging by its deepness, it would likely leave a scar.

"Yeah." Penelope mumbled in reply to Olivia. Her gaze flickered to the ground and she shook her head. "I shouldn't have trusted him."

"Well you knew he was fighting anyone that threatened the villagers. Is it really that big of a shock? Especially considering how your brother is." Olivia pointed out with a shrug.

"He was going to kill him." Penelope argued.

"Layth would have killed him too if he got the chance. Which I'm guessing, you were expecting to save Crow from Layth not Layth from Crow, right?"

Penelope sighed as she thought over Olivia's words. She couldn't really say that the female knight was wrong. Though Penelope cared for her brother, she knew he could be quite cruel so naturally she didn't expect him to be merciful. But she had expected Crow to be. Whether it was because of their deal, her care for him or the memory of how he used to be, she had a different expectation for him. "You're right.." She finally mumbled to Olivia. The female knight groaned and ran a hand through her hair. "But that doesn't make it ok.."

"No it doesn't... But boy, you're really having trouble accepting that he's an enemy aren't you?" Olivia grinned.

"He's not an enemy.. He's..." Penelope frowned. "Well I don't know but he's not an enemy.. Not yet at least."

"Uh huh.. Anyways, are you going to meet him tonight or not?" Olivia asked curiously.

Penelope paused. It was something she had been uncertain about doing since the battle. Part of her wanted to just stop seeing him and act like nothing had happened but another part wanted to face him, desperate for some sort of apology. The knight let out a conflicted sigh and glanced over at Olivia. "I don't know.. You wouldn't be willing to go would you?"

"Nope. I'm not apart of this deal." Olivia said with a smirk. She flashed Penelope a small look of pity and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "For what it's worth, I think you should go. Who knows, maybe he'll make it up to you." Olivia winked at Penelope before turning and heading out of the tent.

Penelope rolled her eyes at Olivia as she left and laid back on her bed. There was still some time to think over her decision but it felt like quite a difficult one. There was still a feeling of betrayal and pain that remained strong in the knight, making her want to never face the thief again. Conflicting with it was her understanding of the situation Crow had been in. While it didn't lessen her anger, it made her a little open to forgiveness. She sighed and closed her eyes. I'll just go this one last time.. Then, I'll end this deal we have. She decided firmly.

[Rogue Sloth]

Traveling a bit slower because of their injuries, it took the thieves until the second day after the war to make it back to the ravine. They also took the long way back past Norcrest, since the knights had left early due to their loss. It would have been risky to try and pass closer to their camp as they normally would have simply because they might be seen. However, in addition to that, Crow was still on edge because of what had happened with Penelope and Layth. He personally didn’t want to get too close to the knights’ camp and risk being caught, especially if either of them told the others about what he had done. He didn’t know if Penelope would talk, but there was nothing to keep Layth’s mouth shut. The arrogant knight had probably already spread word that he had been at the battle in Grimsby and alerted his comrades to keep watch.

When they got back to their hideout, Rikki was quick to greet them to find out what had happened. Alistair filled her in on the details, while Simon went into the shelter to redress his wounds, and Crow took a walk by himself down the length of the ravine under the guise of refilling a flask of water. He headed to the river on the far side and sat down against a tree, absently watching the flowing brook as his mind wandered back to the decision he had yet to make.

Two days had passed, and he still didn’t know if he was going to meet with Penelope again. He was torn between his longing to apologize to her and his fear of confronting what had happened during the battle. Besides that, he didn’t know if she would even show up. He had hurt her in more ways than one when he had stabbed her. Perhaps he was being arrogant in assuming she would want to keep working for the thieves after that.

I shouldn’t go, he thought, leaning forward to dip his flask in the icy water. She probably won’t be there, so I would just be wasting my time anyway. Having come to a decision, he got up and headed back to the camp to rejoin the others.

--

Crow spent most of the day recovering and trying to ignore the sadness he felt that his interactions with Penelope were over. He tried to tell himself that it was for the best, since he needed to move on from her anyway, and it would be easier now that they weren’t seeing each other. However, he was quickly beginning to find that reason didn’t take the pain away. Even though he knew everything he told himself was true, the irrational, love stricken part of him still ached to meet with her again out of some foolish hope that they would somehow end up together once more.

In an attempt to distract himself from his heart’s outcry, he joined Rikki and Alistair in a drinking game they had made up that evening. He didn’t let himself get drunk, but the alcohol took the edge off of his pain, and the company of the other thieves brightened his mood a bit. He was reminded of how happy he had been with them before he had learned that Penelope was still alive, and he felt reassured that he would find that peace again once his desire for the knight faded.

When night fell, Crow and the other thieves went to bed early. They were exhausted from both the battle and the long journey home that had followed. However, in spite of his weariness, Crow found that he couldn’t sleep. Because of the injuries on his back, arm, and side, he couldn’t get comfortable enough to drift off. He tried sleeping on his stomach at one point too, but even then, he was unused to the position, so it didn’t help.

After a while of painfully tossing and turning on the mat, he gave up and went outside. When he stepped out of the shelter, he saw that Rikki was also awake. She was sitting on the log near the center of the camp, humming a song quietly to herself, and he paused to stare at her. He couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she looked in the moonlight. Her head was tilted back, her eyes were closed peacefully, and her long, black hair fell in soft waves down her slender back.

All this time, I’ve been chasing after someone I’ll never have, while she’s been here by my side for the last year, he thought, shaking his head at the irony of it all. It seemed like a cruel joke. Here was Rikki, a gorgeous thief who continually expressed interest in him. She was the closest friend he had, and they had everything in common, yet he couldn’t bring himself to love her like he did Penelope, a knight and noblewoman who had turned him down. The heart was such a foolish thing.

Suddenly, Rikki stopped humming as she took notice of him staring. She smiled and gestured for him to come join her on the log. When he did, she asked, “Why are you up so late? I thought you, Simon, and Alistair were too tired to stay awake.”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Crow shrugged. “My wounds are in inconvenient places.” He indicated each one to her to prove his point.

Rikki whistled softly, “That’s unfortunate.”

“You’re telling me,” Crow sighed. “It’ll probably be at least a week before I get a good night’s sleep again.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” she smiled again. “You’re stubborn like that.”

“Thanks,” he laughed softly.

Rikki paused as another thought seemed to come to her, “Hey, Crow?”

“Hm?”

“Don’t you normally meet with that knight after a battle?”

He shifted his weight uncomfortably, “Not anymore… I’m not going.”

“What happened?” Rikki pressed tentatively.

“I’d rather not say,” Crow shook his head. “Let’s just say I did something bad, and now I don’t think she’ll want to see me again.”

Rikki eyed him for a moment before leaning gently into his side, “I’m sorry. But… was this thing really bad enough to sacrifice the information she’s been giving you?”

Crow blinked and looked down at her, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, look at how the last two battles went. You beat the knights to the villages both times and gave the people enough time to evacuate before the fighting even started. I only went to the first one, but I noticed we were a lot more prepared to defend the village that time than we’ve ever been before.” She looked up to meet his gaze. “You may not be on the best of terms with Penelope now, because of… whatever it was you did, but I think you should go see her for the villagers’ sakes.”

Crow sat in silence as he thought about what she said. She was right. He had lost sight of who this was really for. It didn’t matter if he and Penelope weren’t getting along personally, because he was meeting with her to protect the villagers.

He let out his breath in a sigh, “That’s all true, but it’s late now. Even if she showed up, she probably won’t be there by the time I get to Myrefall.”

“You’ll never know unless you try,” Rikki said, giving him a nudge. “Go on. If you missed her, you missed her, but at least you’ll know for sure.”

Crow hesitated for a moment longer before he finally nodded, “Fine. I’ll go.” He stood up from the log and moved to get his cloak, glancing back at Rikki once more, “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“See you then,” she grinned.

Crow threw the cloak over his shoulders and turned to head up the side of the ravine, hoping Penelope would still be at the tavern when he arrived.

[BuzzingBee]

As night fell, Penelope reluctantly got ready to meet Crow. She was careful as she slipped out of the camp and began to travel to Myrefall, feeling anxious at the thought of meeting with him. It'd be easy if she was able to push down what she felt for the thief. She could have turned on him, helped her brother rather than just forcing herself between them, and cut ties with Crow all together. While it might have been the more logical thing to do, Penelope could never bring herself to turn on Crow so easily, even now as she was still recovering from the injury he gave her.

The knight let out a sigh as she stepped into the tavern, silently bracing herself as she looked around for Crow. However, the thief wasn't there yet. Perhaps he won't even come after that.. She thought to herself with a small frown. She glanced over her shoulder, tempted to simply leave and return back to camp. While it was tempting, she decided to wait for him a little while. She had beaten him to the tavern before so perhaps she had just gotten there early.

Penelope moved and sat down at an empty table. She ordered a drink and quietly waited for Crow, shifting uneasily as she thought about what to say to him.

As time passed, she began to wonder if he was going to show up at all. The knight looked down at her nearly finished drink and frowned to herself. What was I expecting? She shook her head and lifted the mug up to finish it off. Even if he did come, would it matter? Does he even care about what he did? Or is he just worried I set some sort of trap for him after that? Her anger began to rise again but with it a feeling of betrayal and hurt. Penelope let out a long sigh and slowly stood up. It seemed there was no point in waiting around any longer so she began to head off towards the door.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow’s legs felt heavy as he made the trek through the woods towards Myrefall. Even though he had decided to go through with the meeting for the villagers’ sakes, he still dreaded to face Penelope after what he had done. Part of him hoped she actually hadn’t waited around for him, just so he wouldn’t have to see her. He knew there would be no avoiding the topic of the battle if she was still there. He couldn’t just brush past the fact that he had stabbed her, even though he really didn’t want to bring it up again. It would feel wrong to pretend like nothing had happened, so he was going to have to talk to her about it whether he liked it or not.

After a what felt like an eternity of walking, he reached the edge of the village and headed down the street that led to the tavern. His heart hammered nervously in his chest, and for a moment, he considered turning back and forgetting the whole thing. It wasn’t too late. Even if she was still there, she hadn’t seen him yet, so she would never know he had showed up. It would be so simple to just slip away before anyone knew he had been there…

No, he thought stubbornly. I made it this far. I’m not leaving until I check the tavern. He forced himself to keep moving forward, ignoring his rising sense of unease as he got closer to the Ivory Hatchet. He had to do this for the villagers.

Just as he was about to reach for the handle, he startled as the door opened from the inside and Penelope stepped out. For a moment, his mind went blank and he just stared at her, unsure of what to do. In his concern about what she was going to say to him, he hadn’t thought at all about what he would say if he saw her. He wished he had prepared a bit more for their meeting.

His eyes wandered to her shoulder, and he swallowed uncomfortably. He wanted to ask her how bad it was, but he also didn’t want to mention it and draw her attention back to the fact that he was the one who had hurt her. Suddenly, he felt a pang of frustration directed towards himself. Stop getting so worked up, he chided silently. It happened. You know it, and she knows it. Just get yourself together and say something already.

He met her gaze again with a pained expression, “Penelope… I… I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to…” He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves enough to form coherent sentences. Standing up slightly straighter, he looked at her with new determination as an idea came to him. “Hit me,” he said suddenly. “I know you’re mad, and I deserve it for what I did to you.” He held out his hands. “Hit me anywhere you want. I won’t defend myself.” Holding his breath, he closed his eyes and braced himself for her to swing at him.

[BuzzingBee]

As she opened the door, she was surprised to find Crow right on the other side. The knight blinked and froze up as her gaze fell upon Crow. She had thought over about what she was going to say but suddenly her mind went blank and she couldn't think of what to say. She grew tense as she looked at him, wondering what to do.

When he met her gaze again, Penelope frowned a little as he began to apologize. However, she wasn't prepared for the thief to offer her a free hit. She gave a small snort and crossed her arms. "I'm not going to hit you, Crow." She muttered averting her gaze.

"I'm not mad at you for stabbing my shoulder.. I put myself in the way and that was just an accident." She told him before pausing as she thought about the sight of Crow nearly killing Layth crossed her mind. Her eyes narrowed slightly. "I'm furious that you purposely came close to killing my brother.. Damnit Crow! I know he probably broke the rule and hurt someone but couldn't you have handled that situation any different?!"

Penelope lifted her gaze to glare at him only for her gaze to soften into a look of hurt and disappointment. "I knew my brother wouldn't show mercy but I was at least hoping you would." She shook her head. "I'm just glad I was quick enough."

The knight turned to step back into the tavern. "Anyways come on. Let's get this meeting over wih." She muttered.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow opened his eyes again and looked at Penelope in confusion as she said she wasn’t mad at him for hurting her. He had been expecting her to be furious with him, but instead she seemed to simply acknowledge that it had been an accident. He relaxed slightly, just enough to be caught off guard when she went on to yell at him for nearly killing her brother. The anger in her voice made him flinch. He had never seen her so furious before, and for a moment he could do nothing but stand stiffly as she reprimanded him for his actions.

He didn’t know what to say. The look of disappointment on her face stung, and he wished she would have just punched him, because it would have hurt less. As she turned to go back into the tavern, he didn’t follow right away. Instead, he hung back, trying to sort through his thoughts.

He hated that she seemed to think he was just a heartless killer now. Yes, he had been willing to take her brother’s life, but that was only because the knight had been prepared to kill innocent people. He had only fought with him because it was what was best for the villagers. There wasn’t a better option… was there? He shifted uncertainly, suddenly not sure what to think.

“Wait,” before he knew what he was doing, Crow reached out to grab Penelope’s wrist. He faltered slightly and let her go again, shoving his hand in his pocket and lowering his gaze. “I know I can’t take back what I did, and you have no reason to forgive me, but… I’m sorry. At the time, I thought I was doing the right thing—I mean, he was about to kill a child for gods’ sakes,” he sighed, going on softly. “But he’s still your family, and I know how important he is to you. I shouldn’t have been so quick to look at him as just another knight.”

He forced himself to meet her gaze again, “I made a mistake, but I hope this doesn’t change how you look at me. I’m still the same man you knew. I just… I have a lot to figure out in this war, and knowing when and who to show mercy is something I haven’t mastered. If I err too far on either side, people die.” He shook his head. “It’s difficult to know what the right call is in the heat of a fight, and I’m far from perfect. I’m not going to get it right every time, but I’m going to try my damnedest to get better.”

The thief let out his breath in a long exhale, having gotten everything he wanted to say off of his chest. “I understand if none of that matters to you. I just needed you to hear it,” he muttered, averting his gaze again. “We can go inside now.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope blinked in surprise as she felt Crow grab her wrist. She paused then turned back to him as he began to apologize again for his actions. Her gaze flickered to the ground as he spoke, quietly listening to his words. It wasn't too shocking to learn that Layth had nearly killed a child and she did believe Crow had been right to intervene and fight her brother. She had just wished there had been a different way of him ending that fight that didn't include trying to kill. Perhaps she had been asking for too much but with her loyalties having been so divided and all she was risking anyways, she couldn't help but think there was another solution.

As he met her gaze and assured her that he was still the same, she couldn't help but feel a bit relieved at his words. His apology was enough to make the knight's frustration with him begin to die down and for her to begin to forgive him. For a moment, the knight wondered if she was letting it go to easily, likely blinded by her care for the thief that made her so willing to let go of what had happened.

Layth had been in the wrong too. She reminded herself, finding that her forgiveness was acceptable. They both got out of it alive. That and his apology are enough for me right now. Coming to a decision, she looked over at Crow and took a small step towards him, placing her hand on his shoulder. "It mattered." She told him quietly as she met his gaze for a moment. Though it might take her a bit of time to fully let go of what happened, she was willing to put it behind them for now and she wanted him to know that his apology was accepted.

Suddenly a bit more aware of her hand on him as well as how close they were, Penelope quickly retracted her hand and stepped away from him. She was soon reminded of her other trouble with Crow, the feelings that seemed to still linger from the past. Only now they were only more confusing after what had occurred on the battlefield. It seemed that even the hurt emotions she had felt from his actions hadn't killed them off. The knight wanted to groan in frustration.

"W-We should make this quick. It's starting to get late." Penelope said a bit awkwardly as she turned and headed back into the tavern. She moved to sit down at an empty table and gave a more serious expression as she tried to recover from all they had gone through. Once he had joined her, she looked over at him and shifted a bit uneasily. "There isn't much to report right now.. We took quite a beating this last battle so it'll probably be a while before the next one... The more concerning topic is.. er." The knight paused. She hadn't exactly been planning on telling Crow everything that night, having been caught up in her anger and hurt feelings. However, now it would feel wrong to hold back information from him. She just wished it wasn't such a touchy subject.

"Since my brother saw you in battle, he's pretty dead set on trying to hunt you down.." She finally said with a long sigh, averting her gaze. "He's leading patrols all over so be careful.. He's got a few loyal friends that aren't much better than him so I imagine they won't give up easily."

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow looked up again when he felt Penelope put her hand on his shoulder. Even though he had tried to act like he didn’t care if his words had meant anything to her, he felt relieved when she said they mattered. It was good to know that she understood his situation to some degree at least. Things were probably going to be complicated between them on the battlefield because of their differing goals, but he was glad that she had been willing to listen to his perspective. He wanted her to know that he wasn’t just a killer now; he was just doing what he could to protect the people he cared about.

Now that the tension between them had died down, Crow was able to relax again. However, there was also nothing stopping him from noticing just how close Penelope was to him at that moment. His heart beat a little quicker as he held her gaze. Even though it was dark, he couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she still was. He liked the way her brunette hair framed her soft face and her eyes were full of compassion. Even the scar across her cheek wasn’t deterring, because to him it was just another symbol of how strong she was. As he held her in his gaze, he was reminded of all the things he loved about her.

So, when she stepped back, it felt like a trance had been broken. He blinked and looked away, remembering that she wasn’t his anymore. It was apparent to him that despite his efforts to move on, his feelings for her ran too deeply to fade after just a few weeks. It would be a while before he would be able to truly let her go. Until then, he needed to be more careful about keeping his emotions in check. After all, she had made it clear that she intended to marry Gavin. The future she had wanted with him two years ago was long gone, so he had no right to try and bring it back when she was happy with someone else, someone much better suited for her than a common thief.

As she said they should make their meeting quick, he nodded and followed her inside, missing the slight discomfort in her voice while he was caught up in his own thoughts. He sat down across from her at a table and listened attentively as she wasted no time in launching into her report. It was relieving to know that the knights didn’t intend to start another battle with the Younisians for a while. He and the other thieves needed a break after the last two fights that had only been two weeks apart. He was sure they would be excited to hear the news that they wouldn’t have to face another one for a while.

However, her following warning about Layth made him frown. He had expected the knight to hold a grudge, but it was concerning to know that he was actively seeking him out now. He just hoped Layth would search the northern parts of the outer villages since that was where they had run into each other. The thieves’ camp was to the south of the knights’, so as long as Penelope’s brother didn’t send out patrols to cover the entire forest around the villages, they would be safe. Regardless, he made a mental note to warn the others to keep watch for patrols whenever they went out for the next few weeks.

“Thanks for the heads up,” Crow nodded appreciatively. “I’ll be sure to look out for them.” He drummed his fingers on the table, trying to think of anything else they needed to discuss, but he couldn’t come up with anything. It would probably be best for them to just go back to their respective camps. After all, she had been right when she said it was late. He was exhausted from the long day and felt ready to try to get some sleep again.

Getting up from the table, Crow offered Penelope a tired smile, “I should go. We just got back to our camp today, and I need to rest.” Drawing the hood of his cloak, he dipped his head in a curt goodbye before meeting her gaze once more, “What day should we meet again?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope gave a small nod of her head as Crow thanked her and then prepared to leave. As he asked about their next meeting, the knight paused. She had originally meant to make this meeting their last after what had happened. She shifted with uncertainty. Though part of her told her it would still be better to end the meetings, she couldn't bring herself to do it. "Let's meet again in four days. I doubt much will occur but I can keep you updated on the patrols, if they slow down or increase." She told him with a small nod. The knight rose to her feet as well, feeling a bit weary herself. "See you then." She said with a small dip of her head before moving to part ways with the thief.

She stepped out of the tavern and began to head back towards her camp. Penelope let out a long sigh as she thought over what had happened that night. While she felt a better after hearing Crow's apology, part of her still worried about what would happen if Layth and him were to clash again in the next battle. The knight flickered her gaze up to the night sky, silently praying that she wouldn't have to find out.

As she reached the camp, she slowed down, prepared to sneak around whoever was on guard like usual. However, she relaxed a little as she noticed it was Olivia. The knight blinked and stepped out into the open to approach her friend. "I thought Millicent was on guard duty tonight?" She mused as she gave a nod of greeting to her.

"She was but did you really think I wasn't going to stay up to hear about what happened?" Olivia snickered. She eyed Penelope and crossed her arms with a coy smirk. "I'm guessing all must be forgiven considering how late you are getting back here. A little bit of makeup s-"

"No." Penelope cut her off, flushing slightly at Olivia's all too familiar accusation. "I did forgive him but not like that Olivia. Why do always have to go there?"

"Because one day I'm going to be right." Olivia shrugged.

"You sound too confident about that." Penelope grumbled.

"And why shouldn't I be?" Olivia said with a wide, mischievous grin. "You literally just forgave him for nearly killing your brother and stabbing you in the shoulder. Are you really going to stand there and call me crazy for thinking you might want him more than you claim?"

"That doesn't mean I still love him." Penelope insisted defensively.

Olivia's gaze gleamed a bit victoriously. "I didn't say anything about still loving him."

"W-Well you certainly implied it." Penelope hissed, shooting her an annoyed look.

Having enough of the conversation. the knight pushed past Olivia and headed for her tent. Her heart pounded against her chest as she thought about Olivia's accusations. It was getting more difficult to accept that it was just old feelings that hadn't completely died off and Penelope began to wonder if she had ever truly gotten over Crow. What am I thinking? I have Gavin.. She closed her eyes for a moment as she pictured the male knight's kind look, only to think of the way Crow used to look at her instead. She blinked and shook her head, trying to rid her head of such thoughts of the thief. Penelope let out a small groan as she stepped into her tent and settled down for the night. It seemed it would be harder to ignore old feelings than she thought.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow nodded as Penelope said they should meet again in four days, “Alright. I’ll see you then.” He followed her out of the tavern and headed south towards the ravine, walking briskly in spite of his weariness at the prospect of sleep. After such a long day, he expected that he would have no trouble at all falling asleep, even with his injuries. Now that he and Penelope were on decent terms again too, there would be nothing weighing on his mind that would keep him up. He intended to get plenty of much needed rest that night.

Fortunately, his trip back was short and uneventful. He climbed down into the camp to see that Rikki had gone to bed sometime during his meeting with Penelope. He yawned and hung up his cloak. It was no matter. He planned to tell everyone about the extra patrols in the morning anyway, so he had no reason to talk to her now. Besides that, he was too exhausted to stay up any longer. Even if she had still been up, he probably wouldn’t have stayed out to converse with her anyway.

Finally finished with everything he had needed to do that night, he headed into the shelter to get some sleep.

--

The next morning, Crow awoke late again. He sat up tiredly on his bed mat and looked around to see that the other three had already gotten up. Curious to find out what time it was, he climbed to his feet and headed out into the camp, where Alistair and Simon were sparring with short swords. They were too busy to take notice of him, so he went to dig through their food supplies in search of something to eat for a late breakfast. Selecting a couple of oranges, he ambled over to the log and sat down to eat as he slowly woke up.

However, as he examined the camp, he noticed that Rikki didn’t seem to be around. He frowned, wondering if she had gone to refill some of their water. After all, her leg was still wounded so she couldn’t have gone far. She had said she planned to stay in the hideout until she recovered. It’s probably nothing, he thought, shrugging off his momentary concern and popping a wedge of orange into his mouth. I’m just on edge because we just got back from a battle.

Once Simon and Alistair had finished sparring, they sheathed their swords and came over to join Crow to find out how his meeting had gone. Like Rikki, they were just as protective of the villagers and were eager to get an update on the latest information about the knights’ activities.

“From what Penelope knows, there won’t be another battle for a while,” Crow explained. “So unless the Younisians attack, we should be in the clear for a few weeks at least.”

“Thank the gods,” Alistair gave an exaggerated sigh.

“Hm,” Simon merely grunted. He was reluctant, but he seemed to be accepting Penelope’s help a bit more now, which was relieving to Crow.

“There’s just one other thing you all need to know, but I’d prefer to wait until everyone is here,” Crow went on, glancing between the other two thieves. “Do either of you know when Rikki will be back?”

“Could be a while,” Alistair shrugged. “She was getting kind of stir crazy after being cooped up at camp for so long, so she said she was going for a walk.”

“What?” Crow paled. “She’s out by herself?”

“Yeah,” Alistair knitted his brow, confused by his leader’s reaction. “Is that bad?”

“I don’t know… maybe,” he anxiously raked his fingers through his hair. “Penelope said the knights were going to start sending out more patrols to hunt us down. I don’t think they know where we are, but it’s dangerous for any one of us to be out alone right now.” He looked up to meet Alistair’s gaze. “How long has she been gone?”

“I-I’m not sure,” the thief stammered. “Not too long, I think.” He turned to Simon for help.

“She left shortly after we started sparring,” Simon answered more clearly.

“Good,” Crow said. “She couldn’t have gotten far then.” He stood up, meeting their gazes determinedly. “We need to find her and bring her back before she gets spotted by a patrol.”

Alistair and Simon nodded, and the three thieves hurried to gather their weapons in preparation to search for Rikki.

[BuzzingBee]

As the next morning came, Penelope got up reluctantly. The knight felt tired and her shoulder ache a little from her wound. She sighed and stepped out of her tent. It seemed she had slept in a bit later than she had meant to. Looking around, she noticed that the camp was already alive, as it seemed most of the others were up. She stretched and walked off to grab some breakfast. On her way over, she spotted Gavin and Alan talking together.

"Morning." She greeted them tiredly.

Alan dipped his head in greeting while Gavin mumbled a quiet, "Hey." The male knight was still a bit upset with her after what had occurred on the battlefield. He didn't like the lengths she was willing to go to help Crow as he was worried both about her safety and the repercussions that might come into play if anyone else found out about it. I can't imagine what he would think if he knew how far I'm actually going.. She thought uneasily. Gavin wasn't one to stray from the rules, it was one of the things about him that made him a bit frustrating at times. Though, still she appreciated that his loyalty to her outweighed his loyalty to the law.

"So what'd I miss?" Penelope mused, trying to break past the awkwardness. "Seems like everyone's already up."

"Patrols." Alan said with a shrug. "Layth and Tomas both took a patrol out to scout around for the thieves."

"Already?" Penelope said looking a little surprised. She crossed her arms and glanced between the two. "Did they say where they were going to look today?"

"Does it matter?" Gavin asked raising an eyebrow at her. "You're still injured from the fight. You should be taking it easy, not worrying about patrols."

"I'm not." Penelope stated. "I was just wondering."

Gavin clearly didn't look convinced but didn't push any further. Alan cleared his throat. "Anyways, I've gotta go. Guard duty." He said awkwardly excusing himself as he turned and left the two alone.

Penelope watched Alan leave before moving her gaze to meet Gavin's. An uncomfortable silence fell between the two and Penelope eventually averted her gaze. She wasn't sure how to make Gavin understand her reasonings. She wasn't sure he'd ever be able to and not to mention there was no way she'd ever let her suitor learn about the confusing feelings she felt for Crow. The female knight let out a sigh and reached forward to take Gavin's hand. "Look.. I'm sorry. But I had to do something.."

"I know.. You just scare me sometimes." Gavin shook his head and leaned down to press a kiss to her cheek. "Just.. Promise me you won't do anything like that again. You can't keep pulling stunts like that in battle. You could get hurt or someone could figure out you're close to him."

"You're right.." Penelope sighed and gave his hand a small squeeze. She looked up at him and gave a reassuring smile. "I promise I won't do anything that risky again."

That was a lie and even Penelope knew it likely wasn't a promise she could keep. However, she couldn't bring herself to tell Gavin the truth, too worried about how he would react. It was safer to keep him in the dark, though she did feel a bit bad about lying so easily to him. Especially since Gavin seemed to accept her words.

[Rogue Sloth]

Once the thieves had left the ravine, they split up to cover more ground in search of their missing companion. Crow scoured the northern side of the camp, while Alistair took the west, and Simon took the east. He hoped that he was right that Rikki hadn’t made it too far before they went to look for her. His stomach churned anxiously as he looked through the trees around him for her. No luck yet. The longer he searched without finding her, the more he felt convinced that something had gone wrong.

He rested his right hand tensely on the hilt of his dagger as he continued to look for the thief. If anything happened to Rikki, he didn’t know what he would do. Even though he didn’t love her like he loved Penelope, he still cared for her more deeply than anyone else. She had been his most unwavering supporter when he had become the leader of their group, and she was his most trustworthy confidant in the few things he had chosen to share with her. He couldn’t imagine going on in the war without her by his side.

I shouldn’t have slept in, he gritted his teeth in frustration. If I had only gotten up earlier, I would have had time to warn her. With an increasing sense of urgency, he hastened his pace, hoping he wasn’t too late to find her.

After a while of searching, he was starting to consider heading back to camp to see if the others had had better luck. After all, he was only covering one part of the forest when Rikki could have traveled through any area near the ravine. He slowed to a stop and looked around one last time before he let out his breath in a sigh and turned to go back to the hideout.

However, he didn’t get far before a distant scream made him freeze in his tracks.

Rikki. Heart hammering, Crow spun around on his heel and raced towards the sound of her voice as fast as his legs would carry him. He didn’t slow down until he saw a group of people through the tree line. There were five of them in all. Four knights chased after a single woman who appeared to be running with a slight limp, and they were closing in fast.

“Raven!” Crow called out, using Rikki’s nickname since, like him, she preferred to keep her real name a secret kept only among people she trusted.

Rikki’s eyes were round with a mixture of panic and surprise as she saw him running towards her, and she sprinted a little faster in her eagerness to reach him. However, her leg wasn’t able to keep up with the sudden change in pace. Before she got to him, she let out a startled cry as her leg gave out and she dropped to the ground.

Crow muttered a curse under his breath and forced himself to run even faster as he strained to reach her before the knights who were now whooping like men on a hunt as they gained ground on the wounded thief. Managing to get to Rikki before the others, he drew his daggers and stood over her protectively, glaring at the knights with as much venom as he could muster. They slowed to a stop, laughing amongst themselves as if they found him amusing.

“Go back to the camp,” Crow said quietly, glancing down at his fallen companion. “I’ll handle them.”

“No,” she shook her head, stumbling hurriedly to her feet. “There are four of them, Crow. You can’t—”

“I said,” he interrupted, shooting her a stern look. “Get going. I’ll hold them off and meet you there.”

“But—”

“Go!” Crow snapped at her this time, and she flinched. After a moment’s hesitation, she gave a reluctant nod and turned to run into the woods, leaving him to deal with the knights by himself.

Now alone, the thief took a second to look over the enemies in front of him. Being so heavily outnumbered, he had no chance to win in a fight. If he wanted to escape with his life, he was going to need a different approach.

“Look at that,” the sound of a familiar voice made him stiffen, and he scanned their faces to see none other than Penelope’s brother, Layth standing in the center of the group. The knight smirked at him mockingly, “It only took three days of searching to draw you out. If only the barons had let me head the patrols earlier, then maybe we wouldn’t have had so much trouble.”

“You really think you’re something special, don’t you?” Crow sneered. “I hate to disappoint, but this is the closest you’re going to get to catching me.” Without wasting another second, he threw his daggers at two of the knights’ legs on either side of Layth. They cried out as the blades sank into their thighs, and in the next moment, the thief turned to sprint back into the woods.

“Get him!” Layth called out furiously from behind. “I want that criminal dead.”

The sound of footsteps followed, and Crow glanced back over his should to see that Layth and the only other able-bodied knight were giving chase. He smirked to himself, This will be easy. Knowing the forests of the outer villages better than the knights could ever hope to learn them, he didn’t doubt that he could slip away from them without a problem.

Instead of heading directly towards the thieves’ hideout, he turned to run westward to lead the knights away from their actual camp. He effortlessly weaved through the trees in an attempt to leave a confusing trail for Layth to follow as he put more distance between them. It didn’t take long for the knights to start falling behind. Burdened with armor and having no familiarity with their surroundings, they simply couldn’t keep up with an agile thief in the woods of his homeland.

It was just starting to look like Crow had won, when an unexpected wave of dizziness struck him out of nowhere. He stumbled, tripping on a hole in the ground as he struggled to keep up his pace. Damn it, he thought, squinting to stay focused in the midst of the darkness that threatened to overtake his vision. Not now!

Unfortunately, sheer willpower wasn’t enough to beat the illness inside of him. Before long, he began to grow too tired to keep up his speed, and he fell back. He peered over her shoulder once more to see that the knights were gaining ground again—or at least, it looked they were. It was hard to tell when everything was spinning.

Suddenly, he felt his breath leave him as a heavy arm shoved him against the nearest tree. Between his fatigue and the force of the blow, his leg buckled beneath him, and he dropped to the ground, panting as he tried to catch his breath and not lose consciousness.

“What was that about not catching you?” Layth chuckled and stepped forward, drawing his sword. “I’m going to bring your head to the barons.”

Crow looked up at him, heart racing as he tried to make his tired mind focus to come up with a way out of the situation. There had to be a way out. He clenched his hands into fists at his sides, only to find that his body was moving sluggishly from the fatigue. He couldn’t keep running or he would just pass out like last time. Heart sinking, he realized he was trapped. There was no way to escape. He closed his eyes, Sorry, Rikki. I don’t think I’m going to make it back after all…

“Wait.”

Crow blinked in surprise and turned to look at the other knight, who had just spoken up. The man eyed Layth, whose sword was cocked back to swing, before he went on, “These thieves have been stealing from our battalion for a while, right? Maybe we could use this one to our advantage.”

“What do you mean?” Layth frowned but didn’t lower his blade.

“What if they still have some of the supplies they stole from us?” the knight went on, excitement growing in his voice as he pieced a plan together. “If we get this thief to tell us where those supplies are, we can get back what was taken from us.”

Layth paused, seeming to think it over, “The barons would be pleased… Fine. We’ll take him back to camp,” he turned to Crow with a cruel smirk. “Don’t think you’re getting off easy. By the time I’m finished with you, you’ll wish I had killed you here instead.”

“Lovely,” Crow muttered, still obstinate despite the dizziness that continued to threaten to make him lose consciousness. “I can’t wait.”

Layth just snorted in response and turned back to his comrade, “Help me with the thief. I don’t want to give him any opportunities to escape.”

I couldn’t escape if I tried, Crow thought dryly as the two knights moved to restrain him by either arm. They hauled him to his feet began to guide him forcefully towards their camp.

[BuzzingBee]

With things seemingly patched between her and Gavin, the two spent most of the morning together. It nearly felt as if nothing had changed over the few weeks they had been at the battlefront. Nearly. While she enjoyed their time together, Penelope couldn't help but feel like something was off or missing both in her affection for the other knight and his company. She sighed and tried to ignore it as she sat besides him in the shade of a nearby tent.

"You think the barons will get the king to send more supplies soon?" Gavin asked quietly as he stared out at the camp. "With that last battle, I imagine we'll need them before the next."

"It was a bad loss but I don't think it's impossible for us to get by without a new shipment." Penelope commented casually. She leaned into his side, trying to clear away the doubts that still seemed to linger.

"Maybe.. But still it wouldn't hurt." He mused.

"I guess. But-"

"Penelope! There you are."

Penelope lifted her head as Olivia came walking into view. The other female knight looked at Penelope then Gavin and paused, as she seemed to consider her words. "I'm surprised you two aren't joining the crowd." She mused crossing her arms as she looked down at them. A smirk crossed her lips but it was a bit different than usual. While there was still mischief, there also seemed to be a hint of annoyance in her expression, something Penelope noticed and found odd.

"What crowd?" Gavin asked raising an eyebrow at her.

"The one that's forming from the patrol's return." Olivia gestured over her shoulder before meeting Penelope's gaze. "Penelope your brother is back and it seems he had some success."

The knight felt a chill run down her spine at Olivia's words and without thinking, she hurried to get up from where she was sitting and charged off in the direction of where Olivia had pointed. So wrapped up in her worry, she didn't even catch Gavin telling her to wait and slow down as he hurried to try and catch up with her. As she neared, she was already beginning to see what the knight had meant by a crowd. Some of the knights that had been nearby were already gathering to congratulate Layth on his success as well as throw out insults and other cruel words towards the apprehended thief. This is bad.. This is so bad.. Penelope felt herself beginning to panic as the sight unfolded in front of her. Up ahead, she finally caught a glimpse of her brother and another comrade hauling Crow into the camp.

Panic rose in the knight and she had to force down every instinct telling her to charge forward and get Crow free from their grip. Realizing she had been holding her breath, she took a deep inhale and tried to maintain a stoic expression. Her gaze hardened slightly and she maneuvered her way over towards where Layth was headed, which was the barons tent in the middle of camp. Already she spotted Mia, Edward and Bennet emerging from the tent, likely wondering what the commotion outside was. As their gazes fell upon Layth and Crow, Mia seemed uninterested, Bennet seemed pleased, and Edward beamed with pride for his lieutenant and nephew.

Penelope moved to take her spot besides Mia, narrowing her gaze at Layth before it shift to Crow. She met his gaze for a brief moment. She struggled to keep her gaze neutral and quickly averted her eyes away from him, focusing back on her brother as she worried her serious exterior just might break if she looked at Crow for too long. "Well, what do we have here, Layth?" Mia asked calmly, narrowing her eyes at the knights and their prisoner.

[Rogue Sloth]

As the two knights dragged Crow to their camp, he slowly began to recover from the dizzy spell that had overcome him during his attempted escape. It grew easier for him to walk, and the sensation that he was going to pass out faded until he could think and move clearly again. Unfortunately, his recovery came too late. With Layth and the other knight restraining him so tightly, there wasn’t much he could do to get away. He still tried a few times—stepping on their feet to trip them, ramming Layth’s side with his shoulder, even pretending to collapse at one point—but had no success. The most his efforts earned him was a punch to the head that made his vision swim. After that, he gave up and went with them more compliantly, deciding it would be easier and less painful to figure out a way to escape later.

When they reached the camp, Crow felt his heartbeat pick up slightly. As a thief who had been on the run from knights all his life, it was unnerving to stand in front of a whole battalion of them, unarmed and unable to get away. Despite the nervousness that rose up inside of him, he squared his shoulders and met their condescending gazes with a cold glare of his own, unwilling to let them know how uncomfortable he was in their midst.

Layth and the other knight dragged him unceremoniously through the crowd that had gathered, and he tried to ignore the way the knights gawked at him like a hunted animal. They shouted and spat at him, calling him whatever clever names their tiny brains could think of. The thief shot them hostile looks, but otherwise remained silent. Severely outnumbered and already restrained, he didn’t want to provoke any of the knights to lash out at him when he couldn’t defend himself. So, he held his tongue until they reached a tent near the center of the camp.

Three knights in decorated uniforms stepped out, and Crow eyed them curiously. He recalled that Penelope had mentioned something about barons before, and he wondered if these nobles were the ones she had been speaking of. Before he had a chance to find out, his concentration broke as he saw Penelope step forward from the crowd to stand beside the woman among the three high-ranking knights. She met his gaze, and he stared back at her, giving a subtle shrug. He felt a bit embarrassed that she saw him like this, since he prided himself on his ability to avoid capture, but it technically hadn’t been his fault. It was that cursed illness. If he hadn’t nearly blacked out again, he would have had no problem losing the knights in the forest.

“Well, what do we have here, Layth?” the female baron spoke up, drawing the thief’s attention back to the matter at hand. He looked away from Penelope and watched her curiously, hoping to find out what they intended to do with him.

“This is one of the thieves who’ve been stealing our supplies,” Layth answered smugly, standing up a bit straighter. “We were going to kill him, but we decided it would be more productive to interrogate him and find out where they’ve hidden our missing supplies.”

You mean your friend here suggested it, and you’re just trying to take some credit, Crow rolled his eyes, but kept the comment to himself.

“Well done, Layth,” one of the other barons, a scraggly looking man with a thick bread, nodded appreciatively. “This is good news indeed.”

“Wait,” the female baron looked to her comrade skeptically. “How do we know they still have our supplies? They could have gotten rid of them long ago.”

Looks like one of them has some common sense, Crow eyed her concernedly. While he and the other thieves had held onto a few of the knights’ weapons and other war supplies for themselves, they had sold off most of it to the Younisians for money. Of course, he didn’t intend to tell them that, since their belief that he was hiding their weapons was the only thing keeping him alive.

“That’s true,” the third baron nodded in agreement. “But we do know that there are more thieves out there. At the very least, we could use this one to find the others.”

“These thieves have been stealing from us for far too long,” Layth growled, angrily tightening his grip on Crow’s arm. “This is the closest we’ve ever come to taking them all down. We can’t let this opportunity pass us by.” He turned towards the thief and narrowed his eyes. “I’m sure he’ll talk after enough persuasion. Criminals have no sense of loyalty.”

“You should know,” Crow returned the knight’s glare. “After all, what worse criminal is there than a man who takes the lives of innocent people?”

“Insolent cur,” Layth spat. “I’m going to make you beg for death.” He turned back to the barons with a stern gaze. “Let me lead the interrogation. I’ll make sure he spills everything before the end of the day.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope stood quietly as she listened to Layth speak with the barons. The female knight was still on edge with the situation and shifted slightly as Layth offered to lead the interrogation. It seemed that her brother was determined to make Crow suffer, his pride likely still hurting from nearly being killed by the thief. However, she couldn't help but wonder how her brother had even managed to catch him. Maybe it's because Crow spared him? She thought, feeling a stab of guilt. Perhaps the thief wasn't able to find a way out that didn't include killing her brother and instead got caught. It didn't seem too unlikely.

"Can we trust you with such a task?" Mia questioned Layth, narrowing her eyes. "It seems even this thief knows something about how reckless you can be."

"Mia you have no right to accuse my lieutenant in such a way." Edward growled as he turned to shoot a look of warning at the baroness.

Seeing her chance, Penelope took a small step forward to address the barons. "He might be a bit too eager to inflict serious injury. We won't learn anything if he kills him before the thief talks." She stated, siding quickly with her baroness. "Let me do it. I've more experience than my brother in dealing with thieves, I'm sure I can handle interrogating one."

"And he escaped from you before." Layth said venomously, glaring at both Mia and Penelope.

"He's right." Edward mused shoot a glare at Penelope. "Your failure to not only bring back the staff from Younis but the thief as well proves you're incompetent. Stay out of this." Penelope pursed her lips together in a thin line, frustrated with her family's quickness to remind her of her failure. It seemed getting Crow an easy way out wouldn't be possible with those two arguing against her. The female knight took a step back. She'd have to figure out a different way to help him.

"It's best not to get your hands dirty anyways, Penelope." Mia murmured to her comfortingly. "Always leave your dirty work to those dirty enough to do it."

Edward stood up a bit straighter, looking pleased to have silenced Penelope. He turned his gaze to look at Bennet and then Mia. "I assure you my lieutenant can handle this interrogation just fine. He was the one who managed to track him down and catch him after all. Surely he must be skilled enough to handle this." He boasted, making Layth hold his head up pridefully.

"I'm uninterested in this." Mia sighed crossing her arms as her gaze fell upon Crow yet again. "Do what you wish. We have bigger issues than thieves. Especially since I doubt much will come from this."

"I trust your judgement." Bennet nodded to Edward.

Edward looked pleased and turned his head back to Layth. "It's agreed then. Layth, you may lead the interrogation."

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow watched quietly as the knights discussed what to do with him amongst themselves. He didn’t know what to expect, since none of his options looked promising. Worst case, the knights would deem him useless and kill him to be done with the matter; best case, he would have to suffer through whatever sadistic interrogation Layth was able to come up with. Neither choice sounded very appealing to the thief. He let out his breath in a soft sigh, What have I gotten myself into this time?

As Penelope tried to intervene, he gazed at her with interest. He picked up instantly on what she was trying to do. If the barons let her take over his interrogation, it wouldn’t be hard for her to give him an opportunity to slip away. He bit the inside of his lip, trying to keep a neutral expression, so he wouldn’t give anything away as she worked to persuade the others that she was the better choice to interrogate him. Unfortunately, his hope was short lived. The scraggly baron shut her idea down quickly with the reminder of how she had lost him the last time he had been under her watch.

In the end, the decision was made for Layth to head the interrogation. Crow glanced at the knight, swallowing nervously. He didn’t know what Layth planned to do, but he did know that it wasn’t going to be very pleasant. I’ll be fine, he thought, taking a steeling breath. I just have to get through one day. That’s it. When night falls, I’ll make my escape. Feeling slightly more reassured, he walked hesitantly with the two knights as they directed him away from the tent.

“You won’t be disappointed,” Layth said to the barons with a confident smirk as he dragged the thief away. “I’ll report back as soon as I get the information we need.”

‘If’ you get it… Crow corrected silently. I have no intention of giving my companions away. With that stubborn thought on his mind, he held his head high as the knights lead him to wherever they planned to interrogate him. Just before they moved out of sight from the others, he casted one final glance back over his shoulder at Penelope and smiled. It was hard to tell outwardly if she was worried about him or not, but if she was the same Penelope he remembered, he knew she was probably hiding her true feelings about what was happening. He hoped his small gesture would ease her mind and reassure her that everything would work out.

--

“I’ll ask again: Where are the other thieves?”

Crow spat blood on the ground, breathing heavily as he glared at the knights from the tree they had chained him to. Layth had recruited two other knights to help him “interrogate” the thief—by this point, he had learned that ‘interrogate’ really just meant ‘beat and occasionally interject with a question’—and they both stood in front of him now with various blunt and sharp weapons drawn, ready to come at him again if their lieutenant gave the command.

So far, they’d had no luck getting anything out of him. Despite the rather creative methods they had come up with to try to get him to tell them what they wanted, he remained unwavering in his commitment to keep his companions safe. He also refused to tell them that he had sold off their weapons out of concern that they would find any other details unnecessary and kill him. Since neither side was willing to back down, they stood at a standoff.

“If you just tell us where they are, all of this will be over,” Layth’s voice was laced with frustration as he stepped closer to his prisoner. It was obvious to Crow that the knight hadn’t expected him to be so resilient, and it was beginning to grate on his nerves. “Why won’t you just say it?” he went on irritably. “What do you have to gain from protecting them? You’re all just a bunch of selfish criminals. They can’t be that valuable to you.”

“Maybe,” Crow grinned at him obstinately. “I suppose I could tell you, but I don’t know… I think I’d rather have the satisfaction of making you look like an ass in front of your superiors.”

Layth curled his lip and swung a fist at him, and Crow inhaled sharply as a burst of pain exploded across his jaw. His legs trembled slightly as he fought to hold himself up. The interrogation had been going on from about midday into the evening, and despite his haughty words, he wasn’t sure how much more he could take. He hoped Layth would tire of fighting with him soon and give up for the day, so he could rest and start working on a plan to escape.

Unfortunately, he didn’t get his wish right away. Layth signaled to the other two knights to beat him again, and the process was repeated three more times before he finally called it quits just as the evening light was starting to fade.

“Stubborn fool,” the knight muttered as he looked down at the thief, who leaned heavily against the tree, barely able to hold himself up after the last few beatings. He turned to his comrades, “I’m sure it goes without saying, but just in case, make sure the rest of the battalion knows not to give the prisoner any food or water.” He glanced hatefully at the thief once more. “I’m going to break him tomorrow.”

“Good luck with that,” Crow panted, grimacing from the pain of his fresh wounds. He managed to give the knight one more mocking smirk as he went on, “Don’t worry. I’m sure your barons will understand that you weren’t competent enough to give them what they wanted today.”

“Why you…” Layth swung at him again, landing a punch to his stomach this time that made him gasp for breath. Satisfied that the thief couldn’t make any more snide remarks, he stepped back and turned to walk away with his comrades, leaving him behind.

As soon as they were out of sight, Crow sank to the ground and closed his eyes, finally able to rest. Every part of him ached, and he was fairly confident that the knights had broken at least one of his ribs. Each breath he took pained him on his left side. He shifted slightly against the chains that bound him to the tree. They were thick, very similar to the ones he had worn in prison two years ago, and he shuddered at their sickening familiarity. He was still sure he could find a way to escape, but it was going to be harder to do with the heavy metal restraints.

I’ll figure it out later, he thought wearily. Right now, I just need to rest. Between his exhaustion from the day, the lack of food and water, and the relentless beatings of the knights, it didn’t take long for him to drift off into a light sleep.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope struggled to keep her stoic expression as it was decided that Layth would be the one to interrogate Crow. It was easy for her to guess that her brother wouldn't hold back very much in his attempt to get information out of the thief. However, unable to do anything more at the time, she fell silent and merely watched as the scene played out. As they began to lead Crow away, her gaze shifted over to him, catching the smile he gave her. A hint of concern broke into her expression before she managed to hide it again. She was guessing that Crow seemed to try and reassure her. She just hoped that meant that the thief had a plan.

As the crowd dispersed, she stepped away from the other knights and into the shade of a nearby tent as she tried to weigh out what to do next. If Crow had a plan to escape, maybe it was just wise to stay out of it. Unless he was just doing that to ease my own worry... Damn it he probably doesn't even have a plan yet. She ran a hand through her hair at the thought. Distracted with her worry, she didn't notice Gavin storming up to her.

"Penelope, what the hell?" He hissed, catching the knight off guard. She jumped slightly and whirled her head to look over at him. Gavin looked at her with a harsh gaze that soon melted into a look of disappointment as he frowned at her. He surveyed their surroundings for a moment, making sure they were alone before his gaze rested back on her. "I thought you agreed to not get involved anymore."

Penelope lowered her gaze. She supposed that she had made her intentions rather obvious to him when she had tried to volunteer to interrogate Crow. It would be difficult, if not impossible to convince Gavin that she wasn't going to do anything more. Plus he'd probably be much more watchful of her actions now that she had broken the promise. While part of her felt bad about having to betray his trust, she couldn't help but find herself unable to back down from helping Crow. "Come on." She mumbled grabbing his wrist and leading him to her tent. With what they were about to discuss, she didn't want to talk out in the open. Gavin reluctantly followed her into the tent and looked at her expectantly as he awaited her reply.

"I'm sorry I lied to you." Penelope finally sighed. "I was hoping to keep you out of this.. I know you don't agree with some of my choices and I didn't want to drag you into them."

"So you're still going to help him?" Gavin asked with a hint of hurt seeping into his voice.

Penelope gave a small nod.

"He's got comrades doesn't he? They'll probably save him. Penelope just stay out of it. Don't you understand what you're risking by getting involved like that?" There was a desperate edge in Gavin's voice that made her flinch.

"Look, I don't know what I'm going to do yet." Penelope muttered, meeting his gaze with a look of determination. "Maybe his comrades will come to help him.. But I'm not sure. They might not know where he is or what happened to him. They might even just think he's dead. Regardless, I'm not going to rely on them. Even if they try to save him, they might fail and all get themselves killed in the process. There's too much to chance here, Gavin. I'm sure I can figure out a way to get him out of here."

"I'm sure you can too but that's not the point. Penelope if you get caught you'll lose everything. You'll be deemed a traitor, I'm sure of it!" Gavin reached out to take her hand. "Everything you worked for will be gone.. Please, just leave that whole situation alone."

Penelope frowned as she looked up at him. Gavin was right in assuming how much she was risking. However, his words made her wonder if she was also risking losing him. The female knight paused for a moment, considering leaving Crow on his own. While she thought about it, an ache in her heart made her realize she couldn't do it. Concern for the thief's well being swirled inside her and she was beginning to realize that her care for him ran deeper than her care for Gavin. Though she was fond of her suitor, she couldn't bring herself to put him,or even their future together, above the safety of Crow.

"I'll try to make sure it doesn't come to that. But Gavin, I'm helping him." Penelope stated with certainty. "You can either help me, stay out of it or turn me in, but my decision won't be changing."

Gavin flinched at her words and gave a betrayed look that sent a stab of guilt through her. He was silent for a moment, making Penelope worried that he was considering turning her in. The male knight averted his gaze before muttering in a tone of heavy defeat, "Do what you wish. It's clear I can't change your mind...I'm not going to turn on you, Penelope." He turned and headed out of the tent, leaving her alone.

She frowned as she stood alone in the silence, wondering what this would mean for her relationship with Gavin. I'm sorry Gavin... I didn't mean to hurt you. While it was bad and she felt guilty for having hurt him, she couldn't focus on it. She still had to figure out a way to get Crow out of the camp.

---

Penelope waited for night to fall before finally going to visit Crow. She spent most of the day alone and away from where they had been keeping Crow, mainly trying to prevent from any suspicion towards her from building if she was seen visiting the prisoner too much. She was also still grappling with the fact of just how much she cared for Crow. Her feelings were beginning to become less confusing as she was starting to accept the reality of the situation. It seemed she still loved him. However, the knight poured her focus into devising a plan rather than letting herself think too much on her emotions so she had yet to fully accept it.

Now with most of the camp asleep, aside from a few knights that remained awake for guard duty, Penelope made her way over to where Crow was located. She wore a cloak over her armor, hiding away the water canteen and small bit of food she had snuck with her out of view. As he came into view, the knight faltered slightly, frowning as she began to see the aftermath of the 'interrogation' her brother had down. However, before she reached him, Millicent popped into view.

"Oh, hey Penelope." She greeted with a smile.

"Hey." Penelope said, quickly recovering from her momentary slip up at the sight of the thief. "I'm here to relieve you."

"What?" Millicent blinked. "My guard shift isn't over for a while still.. Plus I thought Alan was taking me off?"

"I know.. But I can't sleep and I wanted something to do." Penelope lied with a shrug. "Besides you look tired. You went on the patrol with Tomas earlier today didn't you?"

"Yeah.. It was a pretty long day." Millicent sighed in agreement. She paused and looked over at Penelope. "Are you sure you want to take the rest of my shift?"

Penelope nodded and smiled at the female knight reassuringly. "Go get some sleep." She murmured patting her on the back before moving to take her position as guard.

"Thanks Penelope." Millicent said appreciatively before turning to head off. Penelope watched the knight go, waiting until she was out of view before turning and making her way over to Crow. "Gods looks like they really didn't hold back huh?" She whispered, her brow furrowing concernedly as she eyed him over. She swept her gaze over the area, making sure they were alone before crouching down besides him. "I brought you some food and water.." She added reaching to pull out the canteen and bread she had brought with her. "Have you figured a way out of here yet?"