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

[Rogue Sloth]

Finally able to eat without being interrupted, Crow finished off the rest of his food quickly and leaned contentedly against Penelope’s side once his hunger had been sated. He stretched his legs and rested his head on hers, suddenly feeling a bit tired. Between the comfort of the knight’s warm presence at his side and his body digesting the food he’d just eaten, he was tempted to take a short nap. However, he had just barely closed his eyes when he heard a rustling sound off to the side. Glancing up again, he saw that Gavin was preparing to leave. He left out a quiet huff. It seemed the knight wasn’t going to give them any time to enjoy each other’s company.

Unable to come up with a good excuse to stay in the clearing longer, the thief reluctantly separated from Penelope and rose to his feet. He arched his back in a stretch to get his blood flowing again and then bent down to retrieve the bag at his feet. Once he and all of the others were ready to go, Gavin took the lead as they continued on their journey to Whitebridge.

Walking along behind him, Crow eyed the knight’s back. In the short time he had been forced to spend with Penelope’s ex suitor, he had already learned quite a few things about him. The first and most obvious was the fact that Gavin was still in love with Penelope and was clearly still waiting for her to come back to him. Aside from that, the thief had also discovered that Gavin had a bent for taking charge in a situation. Every time there were decisions to be made, he would voice his opinion; and whenever there was a time when someone was needed to take control, he always seemed to be the first to jump at it. It was a quality that reminded Crow of the traits he disliked about nobles. However, he had a hard time deciding if Gavin was controlling because of a prideful desire to prove he was the most capable one amongst them or if the behavior stemmed from something else.

Not caring enough to find out, it didn’t take long before Crow grew bored of analyzing the knight and let his mind wander to other things. He found himself thinking about Jaxon again, wondering what the best way would be to approach a man as cruel as him. The only thing he knew for sure was that they would have to take him by surprise somehow. Jaxon was a masterful tactician who was always one step ahead of his enemies. It was what made him so slippery to the knights in the inner kingdom who had been trying to arrest him before.

Right now, Jaxon couldn’t know they were looking for him, but as soon as he found out, it was going to be difficult for them to bring him down. They were going to have to act fast when they figured out where he was hiding, otherwise the opportunity to stop him could slip right through their fingers.

Crow shifted to walk a little closer to Penelope, subconsciously seeking comfort in her presence as he began to look over the forest around them. Of course, he didn’t expect to see any signs of the thieves they were looking for out in the middle of the day, but it gave him something to do to pass the time. His eyes roved absently over the trees they passed, and he stifled a yawn, still a bit tired after having eaten lunch.

Suddenly, he tensed as he caught sight of movement off to his right. Four figures were walking towards them at a brisk pace, seeming intent to catch up. As they came closer, he saw that they were knights, and his eyes widened as he realized where they were.

“Hey,” he hissed, narrowing his eyes at Gavin. “What the hell is this? We’re right by your camp!”

“It’s the fastest way to Whitebridge,” Gavin answered, glancing back at him over his shoulder.

“I don’t care if it’s the fastest way to Jaxon’s hideout,” Crow spat. “I can’t be seen by your comrades, moron! They all think I’m the one who killed those knights.”

“We’re going to pass right through,” Gavin glared at him. “Besides, I doubt anyone is even around to see us while everyone is searching near Myrefall.”

“Oh yeah?” Crow said dryly, gesturing at the patrol that was now close enough that he could see the whites of their eyes.

At the sight of them, Gavin visibly stiffened.

“Oh good,” Crow said with a false note of cheerfulness. “It looks like you just realized your ass is also on the line for harboring a criminal.” He drew the hood of his cloak a little further to cover his face, keeping his gaze fixed on the knights who were growing ever closer. If he tried to run now, he could still get away, but it would be apparent that the knights had been traveling with someone they weren’t supposed to be with. He didn’t mind throwing Gavin or Olivia to the dogs, but he couldn’t do that to Penelope.

“You got us into this mess with your terrible directions,” he said annoyedly to Gavin. “Now think of a way to get us out before those guys realize I’m with you.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope reluctantly got up to her feet as Gavin said they should go. Though she had been comfortable resting at Crow's side, she knew that the male knight was probably wise in urging them to head off again. She stretched for a moment before moving to follow the others, falling instep besides Crow again as Gavin lead the way through the forest.

Though they were on the move again, the peaceful silence seemed to follow this time as even Olivia remained quiet. Penelope guessed that whatever Crow had told her had worked even more effectively than she had originally thought. She was admittedly rather glad that her friend was restraining from causing anymore trouble amongst the group. Hopefully it would last. As they walked on, the female knight found her gaze drifting up to the sky as she thought about what laid ahead for the knights after losing so much of their supplies.

Even though she was hopeful about getting some of them back, she knew it was unlikely they'd be able to recover everything even if the hunt was successful. They'd still be vulnerable to an attack from Younis until they were able to get more supplies sent to the king. I should speak with Mia about sending a request.. Penelope thought with a small sigh. It was likely that the baroness was already working on it but the lieutenant wanted to make sure that her leader hadn't gotten too focused on hunting the thieves down.

The knight was pulled out of her thoughts as she noticed Crow tense up besides her. Her eyes widened with alarm as she picked up on the fast approaching knights. She glanced back towards Gavin as he spoke with Crow. It was a bad situation to be in. They couldn't hide, their comrades had already seen them and if Crow attempted to run now, there would be a great deal of suspicion. The female knight chewed on her lip as she weighed out how to handle the situation.

"Alright, alright." Gavin mumbled annoyedly. The male knight gave a worried expression as he tried to think of a solution to the fast approaching problem. Penelope frowned. Gavin could give the occasional small lie and make it believable but coming up with a full story on his own to get them out of this situation was pushing it. He was likely too used to sticking to the rules, even if he had helped her break them on a couple occasions.

"Olivia, stay here with Crow." Penelope suddenly commanded quietly to her friend as an idea came to mind. It was too risky to stand around and wait to see what the male knight could come up with. She moved away from Crow and gave Gavin's arm a small tug in a gesture to follow her as she stepped over towards the knights. Gavin gave her a questioning look, still cearly anxious about the situation, before following her a bit rigidly.

They met the other knights before they could get too close to Crow, which was likely a good thing since at the head was none other than Layth. Penelope dipped her head in greeting to her brother and crossed her arms. "Hey." she greeted as she stepped up with Gavin behind her.

"What's going on here, Penelope? Who's that?" Layth growled immediately as his gaze shifted past her towards Crow.

"Did you actually manage to catch the thief?" one of his comrades asked excitedly.

Penelope blinked and shook her head. "What? No. Not yet at least." she replied casually. It seemed the reason they had been in such a rush to approach them was because they had thought her patrol had caught Crow. Luckily, they didn't seem to realize it was actually him though, meaning there was still a chance for them to get out of this risky situation. "You remember the herbalist that Jane met with before right?"

While the other knights exchanged uncertain glances, Layth raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. "Yes.. I thought that the herbalist a woman though?"

"She is... This is just a friend of hers that I happened to meet in Myrefall as well." Penelope explained with a small gesture to Crow. She paused and crossed her arms. "We're heading to Whitebridge because he says he might have a friend who can help us track down the thieves." Her gaze focused on her brother, eying him for his reaction to her words. As he snorted arrogantly, Penelope felt a small wave of relief as she realized he had bought her lie.

"You're trusting a peasant with a knight's job?" Layth snorted. "You continue to hit new lows.. Can't even handle doing your own work." The one thing she could always count on her brother for was his arrogance. Had it been a knight like Tomas, she might had had to worry about them trying to insert themselves onto the patrol. Layth was too proud to even consider working alongside a peasant, which Penelope suddenly found herself a bit grateful for.

Gavin shot Layth an annoyed look and shifted a bit uncomfortably besides Penelope. "We're still doing our own work. Information is information, Layth." he grumbled hesitantly. Penelope bit back a smirk. She didn't doubt that Gavin was seeing the hypocrisy in his statement to the other male knight.

Layth rolled his eyes. "Only if the source is reliable... This peasant probably just wanted to play knight for a day." he growled shifting his gaze accusingly at Crow. He looked back at Penelope and sneered, "You must be getting desperate after letting that thief get away from you so many times. Even Mia is starting to see your incompetence."

Penelope held his gaze firmly. "Do you plan to stand here and hold up both of our patrols just to criticize me or start hunting down those thieves?" she challenged.

"I was wondering them same." Gavin agreed with a questioning look at Layth.

Her brother curled his lip up at her hostilely before turning and gesturing for the other knights to follow. "Good luck running around in circles chasing whatever lies this peasant strings together." he spat, shooting one last glare at all of them before continuing on his way. Penelope watched them leave before moving back to join Olivia and Crow.

"What an ass.." Gavin muttered as he followed her.

Penelope shrugged before looking back over at the other two. "Hopefully he's the only one we have to deal with." she sighed.

[Rogue Sloth]

As the knights came closer, it grew harder for Crow to resist the urge to run. They were now near enough that he had to turn his face away, so they wouldn’t recognize him. Staring down at the ground, he fidgeted anxiously with the hilt of his dagger beneath his cloak, tempted to draw the blade, but holding himself back since he didn’t want to bring the knights’ attention to himself. His heart fluttered nervously in his chest as his mind raced to come up with options for himself if Gavin should fail to lead the other patrol off his trail.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t think of very many good ideas. His best bet would be to keep his face hidden if the knights approached him and take on an accent to change his voice. However, even that would only get him so far if they insisted on seeing his face. He let out his breath in a quiet sigh. As much as he didn’t want to get Penelope into trouble again, it was starting to look like he was just going to have to run if the patrol recognized him.

He glanced at her as she suddenly told Olivia to wait with him and began to approach the other knights with Gavin. Though the part of him that was jealous for her time didn’t like her going anywhere alone with her ex suitor, he was relieved she was going to help him come up with a lie to throw the patrol off. He knew nothing about Gavin’s ability to trick his comrades, but he knew he could trust her to think of something believable enough to convince them.

He hung back with Olivia, straining to listen to their conversation so he could be ready to run if he still needed to. As he did, he bristled at the sound of a familiar voice amongst the crowd. Of course, they just had to have the misfortune of running into Penelope’s brother, Layth of all people. He cursed under his breath, gripping the hilt of his dagger more seriously now that he knew Layth was the one they had to convince. If the knight decided to be disagreeable, he was going to be prepared to fight.

“Not a fan of Penelope’s charming little brother, huh?” Olivia eyed him with amusement as she noticed the way he had stiffened upon hearing Layth’s voice.

“Let’s just say the few times I’ve run into him haven’t been the most pleasant experiences of my life,” Crow muttered, recalling his first meeting with Layth two years back, their fight in the war, and the time when he had been caught by him and tortured for information. If his run-ins with the knight continued on the trajectory they were headed down now, he didn’t even want to think about what might happen the next time they confronted each other. As long as he had something to do about it, he was going to keep prolonging that encounter for as long as he could.

“Hm,” Olivia smirked. “I can’t say I blame you for disliking him after that little show he put on in our camp. That pretty face of yours was quite a mess when he was through with it. Although…” she folded her arms over her chest thoughtfully. “I have to wonder which of you would win in a fight if he didn’t have the advantage of chaining you to a tree. What do you think?”

Crow snorted, “Penelope didn’t tell you about the first battle in Grimsby?”

“Oh, she told me,” Olivia met his gaze with a sly expression. “But I only heard her side of the story: How you had nearly killed her brother and ended up stabbing her instead. I have to say, that’s not the best way to win a woman’s heart, Crow.”

The thief flushed and averted his gaze. He still felt guilty for what he’d done to her in that battle, even though she had said she’d forgiven him. The image of his blade sinking into her shoulder was burned into his memory like a nightmare he couldn’t forget. He wished he could change what had happened somehow to prevent her from getting hurt. “It sounds like you already know the answer to your question then,” he said bitterly.

“You’re not going to give me any of the details?” Olivia frowned disappointedly.

“I’d rather not talk about it,” he mumbled, turning away from her to cast a furtive glance towards the others. It looked like Penelope and Gavin had convinced Layth’s patrol that he was just an ordinary peasant. Now that the immediate danger had passed, he relaxed, though he narrowed his eyes as he heard Layth criticize Penelope for working with someone who was beneath them. He scoffed and shook his head. Her brother’s arrogance continued to astound him, and he couldn’t wait for their patrol to find and capture Jaxon and his men, if only to prove to him and the other elitist knights that the commoners could be useful too.

Eventually, Layth’s patrol left, and Penelope and Gavin walked back over to Crow and Olivia. The thief was quick to rejoin Penelope’s side, and as soon as her brother passed out of sight, he reached to take her hand in his. He smiled at her fondly and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “You’re getting good at this. He didn’t even doubt you for a second.”

Gavin eyed them for a moment and then turned away again with a frown. “We should keep moving,” he announced curtly. His voice was laced with annoyance, though Crow couldn’t tell if it was because of watching him and Penelope together or because he was uncomfortable knowing just how smooth of a liar the female knight had become.

The thief gave a shrug in response and followed along as Gavin took the lead again. This time, they all walked at a slightly quicker pace, eager to get away from the knights’ camp so they wouldn’t risk running into any more patrols.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope laced her fingers with Crow's as he took her hand and grinned at the thief. "I told you I was getting better... Plus it helps that I know how much of a prideful fool my brother can be." she told him with amusement. Her gaze shifted to Gavin as he suggested they keep moving. The knight was quick to pick up on the annoyance in his voice and she shifted her gaze away from her ex suitor as the group began to walk on.

While she wasn't too concerned about what the male knight thought of her, she did worry that he would eventually hit a point where he might turn against them because of the rules they broke. Gavin had always been willing to look the other when she had snuck around their comrades before, even offering a small bit of help to protect her at times, however, now that he was more directly involved, she worried that the extent of his willingness to break the rules wouldn't run as far as hers or Olivia's. Penelope hoped that he'd continue to keep their secrets and help them.

Shifting a bit closer to Crow as they walked, she kept a careful eye out for any more patrols as they hurried past the knight's camp. After having such a close call, she kept a careful eye on their surroundings, watching out for any other knights. Once they finally managed to get past the camp, the group slowed down slightly as they continued in the direction of Whitebridge. Penelope looked ahead at Gavin.

"By the way, remember that when we get to Whitebridge, we'll need to be careful around the local knights there as well." she warned him, deciding it was probably best to make sure the male knight didn't cause them anymore risky situations.

"Right.." Gavin agreed quietly.

Olivia crossed her arms with a smirk. "Yeah Gavin. Use some of that stealth you used to follow Penelope and apply it here."

Gavin flushed and glared at her.

"While I'm not fond of the example," Penelope sighed. "Olivia does have a point. I know you don't like sneaking around our comrades but we've got to."

"Yeah you're too far in this to back out now." Olivia snickered.

"I get it." Gavin muttered embarrassedly.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow remained a bit more alert than he had been before as the group continued on their way to Whitebridge. After running into Layth and his men, he’d had his fill of unexpected encounters with patrols for the day. He hoped the rest of their trip would be less eventful. His eyes wandered to Gavin again as he thought about how it had been the knight’s carelessness that had gotten them into trouble in the first place. If they got spotted again before they made it past the camp, he had half a mind to just run and bring Penelope with him. Unfortunately, he knew she wouldn’t be as willing to abandon her comrades as he was.

He squeezed her hand as he felt her fall in step a little closer to him. Glancing down at her, he noticed that she had a focused expression on her face, and he could tell that the run-in with her brother had left her unnerved as well. She was probably just as concerned as he was about being seen by any other knights.

As Penelope and Olivia began to chide Gavin about his mistake, Crow held his tongue. He could have taken the opportunity to prod at the knight with them, but after seeing the embarrassed expression on Gavin’s face, he could tell the message had already gotten across. There was no reason for him to beat a dead horse, so instead, he said nothing on the matter and continued to keep watch for patrols as they walked.

“It will be good to stay alert, but I doubt we’ll have any trouble with the guards in Whitebridge,” Crow said when there was a lull in the conversation. As a local from the outer villages, he thought it would be a good idea to share some of what he knew about the place they were headed with the knights. “We’re going to be searching the tavern, and the knights there tend to stay away from it. They think they’re better than the people of the village, and they keep their own stock of liquor, so they have no reason to go there unless they’re already looking for someone.” He turned to the others. “As long as we don’t draw attention to ourselves, they should leave us alone.”

“Define ‘draw attention to ourselves,’” Olivia said with a challenging smirk.

“It’s pretty simple really,” Crow shrugged, ignoring her expression. “Don’t get drunk and don’t start any fights.”

“What’s the point of even going to a tavern if you’re going to take all the fun out of it?” Olivia pouted.

“Oh, and another thing,” Crow went on without answering her question. “While we’re there, avoid telling anyone we’re looking for a group of thieves and don’t mention any names.” He met their gazes in turn. “There may be more crime in the outer villages, but that doesn’t mean every villager we speak with will approve of it. Just say we were wondering if there was a large group of travelers that passed through and ask for details about what they looked like if anyone saw anything. The people of Whitebridge don’t often turn to their guards for help, but they might if they think there’s a band of thieves living near their village. We don’t need them sticking their noses into this, because they’ll just make it harder for us to catch Jaxon.”

“If they’re so worried about criminals, then why wouldn’t they be concerned about you?” Gavin eyed him suspiciously. “You’d think the villagers wouldn’t want an infamous thief around.”

“They don’t like it when I visit, but they tolerate me,” Crow smirked at him proudly. “I’m not going to give you any of the details, but I will tell you that I have a better reputation amongst peasants than I do among nobles.” As long as he kept bringing the villagers money to help pay their taxes and helping them in the war, they had agreed not to turn him in to the local guards. It was a deal he had made in all of the villages that were intolerant of thievery, and it had worked well for everyone involved. The peasants survived tax season, and the thief could trust that his location was kept secret from the knights.

“They’ve made an exception for me, but they won’t do the same thing for a group they’re unfamiliar with,” Crow continued. “It’s just a safer move for us to keep the details of our search private, so less people try to get involved. That way, it’s less likely that word will get back to Jaxon that anyone has been looking for him in Whitebridge. Understand?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope looked over at Crow as he explained they likely wouldn't have too much trouble with the local knights. It was good to hear that they wouldn't have to be overly concerned about the local guards discovering them during their trip to the tavern. She gave a small nod before gave drifted over to Olivia disapprovingly as her friend clearly had been hoping to have a drink or two. Penelope had gone out quite a few times to various taverns in the inner kingdom with Olivia so she knew what to expect from the female knight when she did drink.

Needless to say, she didn't want them having to deal with that so she shot Olivia a silent look of warning before her focus flickered back to Crow as he went on about how they should approach asking about the group of thieves. She gave a small nod of agreement to his words. "Got it." she mused, glancing over at the other two knights as Olivia gave a quick nod while Gavin hesitated before agreeing as well.

---

The group traveled on without much trouble. Penelope still kept a little more alert after their close encounter with her brother but luckily they were able to avoid running into any other knights. It seemed most patrols had stuck near Myrefall like Mia had instructed. By the time they reached Whitebridge, it was nearly sun down and the village was a bit lively. Though not very loud, dim lights from inside nearby homes and the quiet chatter of voices and laughter seemed present. Penelope found it a bit impressive how peaceful the run down village seemed despite having seen a few battles.

She followed after Gavin as he lead the group quietly down the street, alreadying locking his gaze on the place were most noise was filtering from which was of course the tavern. Penelope shifted her gaze over to Crow as they drew closer. "Is there anything else we should be looking for when we ask about large groups of travelers?" she asked him curiously, hoping to stock up on any additional information before they headed into the building.

[Rogue Sloth]

As the group walked along the main road in Whitebridge, Crow’s eyes wandered over the houses that lined the edge of the road. He was pleased to see that the people of this village seemed to be doing well since the last two battles. They were probably still in good spirits since the Brerratic knights had kept the Younisians away last time. The thought brought a faint smile to his lips. While most of war was terrible, and he wished it wasn’t happening, he supposed there was one good thing that came out of it. The villagers appeared to have a newfound sense of appreciation for life. Whenever battles weren’t happening, they enjoyed every moment with the people they cared about, whether they be friends or family. It was an interesting sight to see.

As they approached the tavern, he glanced down at Penelope, who had asked him if there was anything else they should know. He took a moment to ponder the question before answering, “Well, a large group would be the most striking detail to any of the people here, since most travelers are alone or in groups of twos or threes.” He looked up again as they neared the building. “Also, the last time I saw them, Jaxon’s group was made up solely of thieves from this kingdom, so if anyone says they’ve seen a group of travelers from Younis or Waithen or anywhere else, they’re not the ones we’re looking for.

“As for specific details, I can’t say for certain who is still part of his band, so it will be hard to narrow it down past ‘big group,’ unfortunately,” he shrugged. “But that should be enough, since any group of travelers larger than three people is quite uncommon out here.” He stood back as Gavin pulled open the door to the tavern for the others. He offered the knight a curt nod in acknowledgement of the gesture and then stepped inside.

The tavern was bustling with activity. Groups of peasant men and women sat around at different tables, talking and laughing loudly amongst each other. Most of them were drunk and quite rowdy, which was a good sign to Crow, because it meant they would probably be loose lipped. He smiled to himself. It seemed they had come on a good night.

Turning back to the others, he held out one hand in a sweeping gesture, “Welcome to the Wild Lion tavern.” In the next moment, he ducked as an empty ale mug flew over his head, thrown haphazardly by a man on the other side of the room.

“Charming,” Gavin muttered dryly, wrinkling his nose with distaste.

“Well, I like it,” Olivia grinned, her eyes alight with excitement as she looked over the chaotic scene. “This is my kind of place.”

“Just don’t forget the rules,” Crow reminded her with a roll of his eyes. “Also, it might be a good idea not to mention that you’re knights. Since none of the people here are very fond of nobles, I can’t imagine they’d react well to finding that out, especially since it looks like almost everyone here is intoxicated.”

“So, basically, you want us to keep every part of this mission a secret,” Gavin narrowed his eyes distrustfully.

“Now you’re getting it,” Crow smirked at him.

“How are we supposed to get anything done if we can’t specify who we’re looking for, and we can’t use any authority to get anyone to talk?” Gavin crossed his arms. “It almost seems like you don’t want us find anything out.”

“If you can’t think of any way to interrogate someone without lording your status over them, you’re more hopeless than I thought,” the thief sighed. “You don’t need any of those things to get information… You know what? I’ll show you.” He looked over the people in the tavern until he found a viable target. Glancing back at the knight, he winked slyly. “Watch and learn.”

Without waiting for a reply, he made his way through the wild crowd, weaving effortlessly between the groups with skill that came from years of practice. His target was a short, tipsy looking man with scraggly black hair and a full beard. The man was engaged in a conversation with a few friends and didn’t notice the thief approaching until he had stopped behind him and cleared his throat.

The scruffy man turned around and quirked a brow in surprise when he recognized Crow. “What’s this about, huh?” he growled. “You ain’t here to steal from me are ya? ‘Cause I don’t go down without a fight.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Crow scoffed. “I’m not here for you. I’m looking for someone, and I have a good reason to believe he passed through here recently.”

“Are you lookin’ to steal from him then?”

“No,” the thief answered airily. However, in the next moment, his demeanor changed, and he slammed one hand down on the table, causing the men to flinch. He narrowed his eyes, meeting the man’s gaze coldly. “The bastard owes me money, and I’m here to collect. Now then,” he stood up straight again, resuming his mild attitude once more. “Have you seen a big group pass through recently?—Think at least ten people. The scumbag I’m looking for would have been traveling with them.”

“Can’t say that I have,” the bearded man shook his head and turned to his friends. “How about any of you blokes? Seen any travelers like that?”

“Not that many,” a sandy-haired man shrugged. “I would’ve remembered a group that big.” The others nodded in agreement.

Crow eyed them for a moment until he decided they were telling the truth. Keeping up his act, he muttered a curse and folded his arms over his chest. “That sly bastard must have gone to Grimsby,” he said, tapping his foot with mock frustration. “Thanks anyway. Here’s a little something for your trouble.” He tossed the scraggly man a silver coin before turning around to head back to the knights.

When he reached them, he leaned forward in a garish bow and shot Gavin an arrogant smirk, “And that, good sir, is how it’s done.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope nodded her head to Crow as he answered her question and looked ahead as they stepped into the tavern. Her gaze swept over the drunk and rowdy groups of peasants that were seated inside. She smiled in amusement as Crow welcomed them and immediately had to duck from an incoming mug. Though a bit more chaotic than she usually preferred, she did actually find the tavern charming unlike Gavin.

"It's lively that's for sure." Penelope mused as she glanced around before looking back over to Crow as he gave the knights further instruction.

She listened patiently and glanced over at Gavin as the knight questioned Crow. She gave a quiet sigh, knowing that the terms Crow was setting up likely didn't sit well with Gavin. He was a proud knight who was likely planning on using the interrogating techniques he had been taught, which wouldn't really help them in this situation.

"Oh great, more manipulating.." Gavin muttered dryly as he watched Crow speak with the tipsy man.

Penelope shrugged. "It's just to get information... Besides, it's not like anyone's getting hurt in this situation." she told him. Gavin glanced down at her and looked away before giving a reluctant nod. The two focused their gaze back on Crow. Though Penelope already had a bit of an idea on how to get the answers they were looking for, she knew there was still quite a bit she could learn from Crow. He was more experienced than she was after all and the knight was used to lying to keep secrets rather than digging for information.

As Crow stepped back over to the knights, Gavin rolled his eyes at the thief at his arrogant display. "So I see." he said with a hint of bitterness in his voice.

Olivia laughed a little and looked over at the others with a gleam of excitement still lingering in her gaze. "Well, I guess we better split up then right?" she asked before flickering her gaze around the room before it landed on a particularly loud and boisterous table of young men and women. "I call dibs on them." She smirked.

Penelope narrowed her eyes at her friend. "I guess... I swear if you get drunk, we're leaving you behind." she warned, crossing her arms over her chest. Olivia gave her a dismissive wave before quickly bouncing off towards the table. Penelope watched her go, debating on joining the other female knight to keep an eye on her. She was about to when she noticed Gavin step up besides her.

"Do you mind if I stick with you, Penelope?" he asked. The male knight shifted his gaze away uncomfortably. "You have a better idea of how to go about this time of thing and if he insists on it," he shot Crow an accusing glance. "then I'd rather play it safe."

Penelope hesitated, finding herself a bit reluctant to go off alone with the male knight. However, he did have a point. Gavin wasn't a skilled liar or manipulator. From her experience, he did better playing off of whatever story she had already spun to help cover for her. It was the same reason why she didn't let him handle Layth and his patrol alone. The only reason she was even reluctant to join her friend was due to Crow's presence, already guessing that it wouldn't sit well with the thief. It'll be fine.. Gavin's got a point that it'll be safer this way anyways.. she thought, sneaking a quick glance towards Crow before focusing back on Gavin.

"Alright." she nodded and gave a small smile. "It really shouldn't be too difficult but I don't mind helping if you think you need it."

Gavin smiled. "I'm sure I'll need it. Thanks, Penelope."

Penelope gave him a small shrug before turning to Crow. "Guess we'll meet back up in a little bit?"

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow straightened his posture and turned to Olivia as she announced that they should split up. He nodded in agreement, having already expected they would part ways to cover ground more quickly. In addition to that, he also knew it would be better for them to speak with the people in the tavern either individually or in pairs, since approaching them all together might cause the villagers to be warier of answering their questions honestly. Splitting up was their best option if they wanted to have any chance of finding out if the thieves they were after had passed through Whitebridge.

“Do you mind if I stick with you, Penelope?”

The thief stiffened slightly as Gavin spoke up. He turned towards him with a narrowed gaze, already catching on to the game the knight was playing. He had been hoping to work with Penelope and pair Gavin off with Olivia, but that plan obviously wasn’t going to work now that the female knight had already wandered off to interrogate villagers on her own. Glancing towards Penelope, he frowned as she agreed to work with her former suitor. The thought of the two knights going off alone together sent a pang of annoyance through him, but, unable to think of a good excuse to separate them, he just shrugged.

“I guess so,” he muttered, unable to stop the hint of jealousy that slipped into his voice. Casting one last irritable glance at Gavin, he headed over to another table of peasants, brushing the knight’s shoulder with his own as he walked past him.

Not wanting to use the same method twice, he slid into an open seat at their table with a friendly grin. “Anyone up for a few rounds of passe-dix?” he said challengingly, holding up the coin purse he had snatched from Gavin’s pocket as he had passed him earlier. He smirked to himself. The knight may have won Penelope’s time once, but that didn’t mean the thief was going to let him get away with it.

Of course, the villagers were more than willing to gamble—especially after they saw how much money Crow was putting on the table—so they had more than enough participants to start the game. As they played, even more people gathered around the table to watch. This worked in Crow’s favor, as he added in a rule that any time someone lost a stake—which happened quite often—everyone had to take a shot. Naturally, he only pretended to drink as the game wore on, since he wanted to be clearheaded enough to interrogate them, but all of the men and women who had joined the table quickly lost themselves to the alcohol’s effects.

After a while, when it looked like they were all good and drunk, Crow stood up from the table. “I have to say, luck wasn’t in my favor tonight,” he sighed, stifling a smirk as he retrieved the coin purse, which had been emptied aside from a few silver coins.

“Better luck next time, eh, thief?” one of the men shot him an intoxicated grin as he flaunted his winnings.

“I hope so,” he shook his head, holding out his hands in a helpless shrug. “Either way, next time won’t be tonight. I’m all out.” He paused, as if struck with another thought, and turned back to the small crowd of villagers. “By the way, have any of you seen a group of travelers pass through recently? They’d be about ten or more people from this kingdom. I’m looking for a man amongst them who owes me some money. If I find him, I’ll come back for another game of passe-dix.” He grinned at them challengingly, hoping they would take the bait.

“Sorry,” the man shook his head. “Haven’t seen anyone like that.”

“I saw a group of seven three days ago,” a woman spoke up with a frown. “But they were all from Gorm.”

“Oh yeah, I remember them,” another woman nodded. “I also remember there was quite a good-looking man among them.”

“Ooh, you mean the one with those gorgeous blue eyes, right?”

“Yes, yes! That’s the one. I nearly swooned when he looked at me…”

Crow sighed as the conversation quickly derailed. It seemed like no one had run into the thieves he was looking for after all. They must not have traveled through Whitebridge, he thought contemplatively. Maybe they went south after all… or straight to Younis. He knitted his brow in concern. It was still possible that Jaxon had decided to go right to the Younisian baron for his pay. If they had traveled without stopping, there would have been no reason for them to make a detour by any of the villages.

Having finished questioning the villagers at his table, he headed back to the front of the tavern to meet up with the others and find out if they’d had better luck.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope watched Crow leave before gesturing for Gavin to follow her as she lead the way over to a different table. A few villagers sat around chatting casually with each other as they drank from their mugs. A few already appeared a bit tipsy, something Penelope was glad to notice. She slipped into an empty chair and flashed a timid smile at the group. "Hope you don't mind if we join you! It's hard to find an empty spot in here tonight." she chuckled.

"Not at all dear!" Grinned an older blonde woman. "Come, come!"

"Thanks!" Penelope said cheerfully, returning the woman's grin. "It's sure busy here tonight."

"Everyone's ina good mood." The woman nodded.

"Gotta celebrate while we can." A scruffy man agreed as he brought up his mug to his lips.

"You two must not be from here." A another man chuckled.

Gavin glanced at Penelope before looking over at the man and shaking his head. "No we're not. We came from Adderfield actually." he responded with a small shrug as he waved down a wench to order a drink. Penelope was quick to notice that the male knight had used the outer village he had worked in as their cover. She hoped he wasn't going in over his head with the lie. She had never been to that village so any details pertaining to it would have to come from him. She held her tongue though and ordered a drink as well.

"Adderfield, huh?" The older woman mused. "That's quite a ways away. What brings you all the way out here then?"

"Family business." Penelope replied vaguely. She picked up her drink to buy herself some time to give them a better explanation as well as bring up the group they were looking for. Setting the mug down, she met the peasant woman's gaze with a shrug. "My brother's been out roaming the outer villages in search of work for a while now and my father thinks it's time for him to come home before taxing season hits."

"Hopefully he's had a bit of success then." sighed a man.

Another shook his head. "Cursed taxing." he spat before drinking.

Gavin frowned and nodded his head in agreement before focusing back on the older woman. "Maybe you can help us.. Her brother would have been traveling in a rather large group so we think he shouldn't be too hard to find.. Have you seen any pass through her lately?"

The woman furrowed her brow thoughtfully before shaking her head. "Can't say I have sweetie. Not a large group at least..." she paused and shifted her gaze to Penelope. "Are you sure your brother would be in a large group?"

Penelope nodded her head. "Yeah, he joined up with a group to travel with last I heard from him and it sounded like they had quite a few people with them.. Guess they didn't pass through here though." she shrugged. Feeling that the mood had died down a bit due to the mention of taxes, she grinned and lifted her mug to the other peasants. "Ah I'll worry about finding him more tomorrow. Next drinks are on us."

Gavin raised an eyebrow at Penelope before flashing a small smile at the peasants. "Yeah!" He agreed, reaching into his pocket for his coin purse only to find nothing. He blinked and patted himself down until his gaze wandered over to the thief. As the peasants quickly grew cheerful at the news and began talking just as brightly as before, Penelope noticed the sour expression on the male knight's face.

"What is it?" She asked him quietly.

Gavin glanced at the peasants before lowering his voice. "I'm rather certain that damned thief took my coins." he hissed.

Penelope blinked and glanced in the direction of the table Crow had gone too. She shook her head a little and then looked back to Gavin. She wanted to suggest that he might have just misplaced it earlier but recalling how irritable Crow had been about her working with Gavin, she found herself doubting that the male knight's assumption was completely wrong. "Oh..." she mumbled awkwardly as she took out her own coin purse to pay for the drinks.

"It's fine. I'll deal with him about it later.. Let's just go meet up with the others." Gavin grumbled annoyedly. The two eventually slipped away from the table of peasants and headed back over to the front of the tavern. As they neared, Crow came into view and Penelope noticed Gavin glaring at the thief.

"Any success?" Penelope quickly asked the thief as they reached him, hoping to give Gavin a chance to cool down before he went accusing Crow of stealing his money.

[Rogue Sloth]

Being the first one back to the meeting spot, Crow leaned back against the wall and folded his arms over his chest as he searched for the three knights among the crowd. He spotted Olivia off to the left side of the room surrounded by peasant men who were quite clearly vying for her attention. He left out a soft snort as he noticed a nearly empty mug of ale in her hand. Knowing the knight, he guessed it probably wasn’t her first drink of the night, and he hoped she was still sober enough to gather information about the thieves they were after.

His eyes wandered across the tavern until he spotted Penelope and Gavin sitting with a small group of villagers on the far-right side of the room. The sight of them together made his skin crawl, and he forced himself to avert his gaze, so he wouldn’t focus on it. Letting out his breath in a soft sigh, he distracted himself by observing the groups of villagers at the other tables. He doubted there was anything left to learn here, but he didn’t want to let himself think about what Gavin might be saying to Penelope while he wasn’t around. He knew he would probably just end up convincing himself that the situation was much worse than it really was, and that would just put him in a foul mood.

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before Gavin and Penelope finished up with the villagers they had been speaking with and come to join him by the entrance of the tavern. As Penelope asked if he had any success, he shrugged in response. “The only thing I’ve learned is that they either weren’t here, or these villagers were too oblivious to remember them,” he answered. “I highly doubt every person in this tavern was so drunk they wouldn’t notice a group that big, so it’s more likely that the former is true.”

His eyes flicked to Gavin’s face, and he smirked as he noticed the knight glare at him. “By the way,” he said, drawing the coin purse from his pocket and tossing it back to him. “I think this belongs to you.”

Gavin blinked in surprise as he fumbled to catch the pouch, only to shoot him another cold look as he realized it had been emptied. “Where’s the rest of it?” he growled.

“I may have played a few rounds of passe-dix,” Crow grinned at him mischievously. “The dice weren’t on my side today, but at least I got the villagers to talk. It’s really too bad they didn’t have anything helpful to say.”

“You had no right,” Gavin clenched his hands into fists at his sides.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Crow pressed a hand to his heart in mock sincerity. “I didn’t realize I wasn’t allowed to steal from you. My mistake.”

“Don’t patronize me,” the knight narrowed his eyes. “I know you did it because you’re too immature to let Penelope spend time alone with other men.”

“I don’t care if she spends time with other men,” Crow tilted his chin up in a sneer. “I just don’t like it when that other man is you.”

“Ooh,” Olivia trotted up to Penelope’s side, her dark eyes flicking between the two men. The smell of alcohol was thick on her breath. “What’s happening here?” she asked, propping her elbow on her friend’s shoulder to lean against her. “Did I miss anything interesting?”

“The only thing you missed was this thief proving that he can’t be trusted,” Gavin spat without taking his eyes off Crow.

“Back on this again, are we?” Crow said dryly. “Forgive me if I don’t follow your reasoning. You agreed to travel with a thief, got pickpocketed by said thief, and now claim the thief is untrustworthy because he acted within his own nature.” He held Gavin’s gaze haughtily. “The only thing I see here is an incompetent knight who didn’t consider the possibility that working with a criminal might mean keeping a closer watch of his coins.”

[BuzzingBee]

"Yeah that's about what we found out too." Penelope sighed with a small nod as Crow answered her. It seemed like she had chosen wrong and that the band of thieves hadn't traveled through Whitebridge. The knight crossed her arms as she thought it over for a moment. It was likely that meant the thieves had traveled near Aramoor. We'll have a long trip tomorrow then.. she thought with a small frown. They likely wouldn't be able to catch up easily with the thieves but it at least there was still a chance for the group to find leads to where they were located.

Her thoughts broke as the thief and knight began to argue again. She frowned at the two and opened her mouth to cut in but fell short as Olivia stepped up besides her. Penelope wrinkled her nose as the scent of alcohol hit her rather quickly after Olivia spoke. "You've got to be kidding me.." She grumbled as she looked at her friend disapprovingly, ignoring her question. "How much did you drink?"

"Shhh..." Olivia hushed as a sloppy grin spread across the female knight's face as she watched the two men. Penelope glared at her but quickly turned her attention back over to them as she noticed Gavin getting more tense with Crow's last words. She narrowed her gaze at Crow, wishing the thief would quit poking so much at her ex suitor as it was clear the situation was only getting worse because of it.

"You bastard." Gavin growled and took a step towards Crow. Penelope blinked as she realized that the male knight was getting ready to throw a punch at the thief.

"Gavin, jus-" She began, trying to take a step forward to intervene until she felt Olivia lean even more heavily into her, nearly making Penelope lose her balance. Penelope looked over at her with an annoyed glare and moved and arm around her friend's shoulder to try and get her steady as well as on her own feet.

Olivia smirked and shrugged her shoulders innocently. "Drunk, am I right?" she snickered.

Gavin hesitated as he heard Penelope but kept his gaze focused on Crow. "I only agreed to protect her from you." He growled, restraining himself for a moment though his gaze still burned furiously. "You are acting within your own nature, that's for sure. All you are is a lying criminal and I know you're just manipulating her." he gestured to Penelope and curled his lip up at Crow. "That's why you're so threatened by her hanging around me isn't it? Well, I'm not going to let you get away with it. Especially with all these stunts you're pulling."

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow tensed as Gavin took a step towards him, preparing himself to move if the knight decided to throw a punch at him. He kept his gaze fixed on the other man cautiously. Usually, he didn’t try to provoke others quite this much, but this guy really rubbed him the wrong way. Perhaps it was petty, since he knew he was just jealous to keep Penelope away from her ex suitor, but he couldn’t help it. Gavin had been inserting himself into their business for a while now, and it was really starting to grate on the thief’s nerves. He wished the knight would just accept that Penelope wasn’t with him anymore and move on already.

Fortunately, because of Penelope’s brief intervention, Gavin seemed to hold himself back from attacking Crow. The thief couldn’t help but laugh at his prideful words. “Ah, so the truth comes out at last,” he said snidely, keeping a close watch of the knight’s hands in the edge of his vision. “It’s not me that’s threatened by you; you’re threatened by the fact that, for some reason you can’t understand, Penelope chose to be with a lying criminal instead of you.” His lip curled upward in a smirk. “You’ve got everything—status, wealth, perhaps even land—yet you still lost to a peasant thief without even a copper coin to his name.”

“Shut up,” Gavin growled, trembling slightly as he fought to hold himself back.

“That’s why you’re so bothered by me, isn’t it?” Crow went on, ignoring the knight’s warning. “You have a perfect picture of your life that you think you deserve, and I’m standing in the way of it. Well, guess what? You’re not going to get everything you want, because as long as I’ve still got breath in my lungs, I’m not going anywhere.”

“That’s it,” Gavin snapped.

Crow flinched as the knight suddenly lunged at him, cocking back his arm to swing at his face. However, just as Gavin was about to land the punch, the thief ducked out of the way and his fist collided with the wall where his head had just been. He sucked in his breath, clutching his right hand in his left with a pained wince.

Crow whistled. “That looked like it hurt,” he said with a click of his tongue. “Maybe you should look before you swing next time.”

Gavin shot him a glare and took a step forward to come at him again but faltered as he caught sight of the crowd of villagers that was gathering to watch the fight. Reason seemed to take over, and he straightened his posture, avoiding the thief’s gaze as he muttered, “We should get out of here.”

“Aww, come on,” Olivia pouted. “Things were jus’ gettin’ interesting around here!”

“There’s nothing to continue,” Crow smirked smugly. “He’s given up like the coward he is.”

Gavin glared at him one more time but said nothing. Instead, he clenched his jaw and took a calming breath as he stepped towards the door and hurried outside, seeming eager to put some distance between himself and the thief.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope, momentarily distracted by Olivia, stiffened as she noticed how bad things were getting between Crow and Gavin. The thief continued to prod at the knight, until he finally broke and attempted to swing at him. She flinched and glanced over her shoulder as she noticed some of the peasants beginning to gather for the fight. The female knight clicked her tongue in annoyance. Between Olivia drinking too much and the other two fighting, it seemed like they wouldn't be keeping as quite a low profile as she had hoped. Fortunately, Gavin seemed to realize the danger the fight was putting them in and stopped.

She watched the male knight head out of the building first before turning to shoot a glare at Crow. "At least he managed to see enough reason to stop." she snorted irritably at the thief. Penelope shook her head and stepped out of the tavern with Olivia still at her side, walking a bit briskly to put a bit of distance between her and Crow as well. Frustration burned inside of her towards both Gavin and Crow. However, this time it was mainly with Crow. While she didn't agree with Gavin, Crow had gone too far, so much so that he even seemed to ignore his own advice about starting fights. Something needed to be done if the four of them were going to work together. It was nearly easier having him work with William.. Penelope thought with a small groan. She needed to do something. Letting out a small sigh, she turned to Olivia.

"You can walk ok on your own can't you?" she asked.

Olivia raised an eyebrow. "Maayybe... Why? What are you goin' to do?"

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Just get help from Gavin if you need ok?" she said rather curtly before moving away from Olivia who reluctantly agreed. Ignoring her pouting, Penelope fell back besides Crow and crossed her arms. With Gavin still cooling his head, she figured it was best to start by speaking with Crow, especially since he had been the one to push the male knight too much.

"What the hell were you thinking back there?" she questioned him with an annoyed look in her gaze. "I know he can get annoying with the accusations but you're going too far. Especially when we're supposed to not be drawing attention to ourselves."

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow flinched when Penelope turned on him with a frustrated look. While his attention had been focused on Gavin, he had forgotten that she didn’t want him to be starting fights with her former suitor. He lowered his gaze as he reflected on what had just happened, suddenly aware of how much he had provoked the knight this time. No matter which way he looked at it, their fight this time had been his fault. All Gavin had done was ask Penelope to accompany him during the interrogation of the villagers. They hadn’t even left the room together, yet he had acted like the knight was trying to steal her away from him.

Maybe I did overreact a little, he thought with a wince as he trailed after the others. As much as he hated to admit it, Gavin might have had a point when he’d said that he was being immature. He shoved his hands in his pockets self-consciously. Penelope was the first woman he’d ever loved. He found it difficult not to be protective of her, especially around a man whom, by anyone’s assessment, was a better match for her than a lowly thief. He knew she loved him, and he knew she still planned to be with him after the war, but there was a small part of him that was still worried she would decide he wasn’t the best man for her when she compared him with someone like Gavin: powerful, upright, worthy of her affection… Perhaps he did feel a bit threatened after all.

Crow sighed softly, ashamed of his actions in the tavern. He wanted to prove to Penelope that he was someone she could look up to and trust to make good decisions, but instead, he had just driven her farther away. He grimaced as her annoyed expression flashed through his mind. He never wanted her to look at him like that—like he had disappointed her. The thought that he had let her down sent a knife through his heart.

For a while, he walked along behind the others in silence, keeping to himself since he didn’t want to face any of them while he was feeling like such a failure. However, his time alone didn’t last long before he noticed Penelope fall back to his side. Right away, he noticed that she was still upset with him, so he avoided her gaze in an attempt to hide his own remorseful expression from her.

He cringed as she chided him for his actions back in the tavern. She had every right to be mad at him, but it didn’t lessen the sting of her harsh words. “I know,” he muttered, staring down at the ground as they walked. “I messed up, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t let him bother me so much, I just…” He trailed off, too embarrassed to bring himself to admit that he felt threatened by her ex suitor. “Never mind,” he shook his head. “It’s not important. My point is that I’m sorry, and I’ll try not to fight with him in the future.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope let out a long sigh as he apologized. She was glad that he seemed to realize the fault in his actions, which allowed her frustration to die down. The knight paused before moving to grab his arm, slowing to a stop. The other two were farther ahead but with Olivia drunk, she doubted they would fall behind very much if they stopped for a moment. "Thank you." she sighed. "I know I can't convince him or change his mind but I plan to talk with Gavin too.. At least to try and get him to relax a bit more. I'm not sure how much will change there though."

She frowned and shook her head, doubtful there was much more she could say to the male knight to get him to be a bit more cooperative with Crow, especially after what had occurred. However, if he insisted on working with them, he would have to try to change a bit as well. Penelope looked up at Crow and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before pulling back to meet his gaze with stern affection. "Just remember I'm not going to get caught up in whatever he's saying about you. His accusations may be annoying but they won't be effective." she told him firmly, thinking that Crow was bothered by how Gavin continued to accusing him of being untrustworthy and trying to get her to side with him.

Penelope turned and began to walk on so they wouldn't fall too far behind the others. This time she stayed close to Crow though, not taking off like she had done when they left the tavern. Her gaze shifted up to the darkening sky before looking back to the thief. "We'll have to be heading back to our camp soon.. It seems Whitebridge was a bust so I'm assuming our next move for tomorrow is to head to check out Aramoor right?" she asked him, wanting to focus back on the mission now that everyone seemed to be calming down from what had happened.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow blinked as he felt Penelope grab hold of his arm and pull slightly as she slowed to a stop. He glanced down at her hesitantly, unsure what she was trying to do. The part of him that was still worried she might have second thoughts about being with him sent a ripple of anxiousness through him as he feared she might tell him that his apology wasn’t enough—that he had disappointed her too much this time. The thought left a pit in his stomach, and he swallowed nervously, forcing himself not to look away as she finally opened her mouth to speak.

Her following words made him feel weak with relief. He nodded wordlessly, glad that she had been satisfied with his apology after all. As she moved to kiss him, he leaned down to meet her halfway, finding her lips sweeter than usual after they had reconciled with each other. He wished she didn’t pull back so quickly, but what she said next warmed him as well. Even though he hadn’t been afraid that Gavin’s accusations would change her mind, he felt reassured to know that she still intended to be faithful to him. He had messed up today, but she was forgiving enough to move forward and leave his mistake in the past. Her kindness made his heart flutter with a burst of affection, and he realized he was smiling in spite of himself.

As they continued walking, Crow reached to wrap one arm around her waist, wanting to hold her close to himself in his fondness for the knight. At her question, he nodded faintly. “It’s not the best plan at this point, but it’s still better than wandering aimlessly through the forest, hoping we’ll happen to stumble upon their camp,” he said with a sigh. “I hate to say it, but getting your supplies back is a bit of a long shot at this point. Aramoor is two full days’ walk from here. They’ll have sold everything off by the time we arrive without a doubt.”

Drawing her a little bit closer to himself, he looked down to meet her gaze with a frown, “Speaking of which, will your barons let you leave camp for that long? Even if we travel fast, it’s going to be at least a four day round trip before you get back to your camp, possibly five if we want to spend extra time searching around the village. Are you allowed to leave for that long?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope frowned a little as Crow pointed out that the plan wasn't that great as well as the fact that it was unlikely they'd be able to recover any of the stolen supplies. While she had already suspected that they won't, hearing it come from him seemed to make her have to accept it as reality just a little more. However, that didn't make her determination to find them waver. She still had to make sure that they weren't able to strike again. The image of Millicent flashed through her mind and the knight tensed slightly at the thought of such a strike happening again.

She was pulled out of her thoughts as Crow pulled her closer. Finding his presence comforting, she leaned into him. "I'm not sure.." she admitted, thinking over how to go about getting approval to leave for so long. The knights didn't often stray too far from the camp and rarely were any allowed to leave for days at a time aside from scouts or spies that were meant to keep track of Younis. She could always leave without their permission but that would be rather risky, especially after seeing how Mia reacted to her disappearing for just one day before.

"If I can convince my baroness that I have a strong lead that the thieves are in Aramoor, I might be able to." she told him as she thought the situation over more. "That last attack was brutal and I think everyone's desperate to get revenge, even some of the more level-headed knights so it shouldn't be too hard.. I just have to make sure she sends me and those two rather than anyone else."

Penelope smirked a little bit as an idea came to mind. "It might even be a good thing that we ran into Layth today. I'm sure he'll be quick to spread that I got my lead from a peasant so many will probably dismiss it or believe it's not good enough. Which means she'll be less likely to try and send a different patrol." It would also likely keep her uncle and Bennet uninterested in her business, leaving only Mia as the main person she had to convince.

She looked up at Crow determinedly. "I'll figure it out somehow. This is the best plan we have and I'm not going to let them get away with what they did to my comrades."

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow nodded thoughtfully as Penelope said she wasn’t sure if her baroness would allow her to leave camp for so long. He was doubtful as well, considering she held the rank of a lieutenant. Her leaders probably had work for her to do in and around their camp while they were recovering from Jaxon’s attack. It would likely be costlier to them to spare her compared with other, lower-ranked knights when the barons didn’t have the same information about the thieves as he and the three knights did.

He was glad that she seemed to have at least some idea of how to approach them, but he wasn’t overly fond of the fact that she would have to leave her camp with Olivia and Gavin again. While he knew it was unlikely, he still hung on to the hope that they would be able to do this mission alone, like they had in Younis after being separated from her comrades back then. Disliking the company of most other nobles, he preferred to travel and work alone with her.

Aside from that, he was also a bit warier of Gavin after the knight’s comment during their fight: Well, I’m not going to let you get away with it. He gave an involuntary shudder. While he wasn’t necessarily afraid of what Gavin could do, he didn’t like the thought of the man getting any more involved with his relationship with Penelope than he already had. If they ended up traveling together all the way to Aramoor, he was sure it was going to be difficult for them to remain civil with each other, and he didn’t want to break his word to Penelope about trying not to start any fights. The trip was definitely going to try his patience.

“I’m sure you will,” Crow smiled and gave her side a gentle squeeze as she said that she would figure out a way to go with him to Aramoor. “Those thieves had better watch out now that you’ve set your sights on them, because you’re a fierce enemy to make, love.” He kissed her cheek fondly.

Up ahead, he noticed that they were nearing the southern edge of the village, and he frowned. “We should probably part ways here,” he sighed, slowing his step slightly as he was suddenly reluctant to leave her. “I don’t want to go too far from Whitebridge, since this is where I’m going to make my camp for the night.” Glancing down to meet her gaze, he offered her a soft smile. “At least I’ll get to see you again tomorrow. We should meet where the road meets the village here around midday. That should give you enough time to speak with your baroness, right?”

[BuzzingBee]

Her gaze softened and she returned his smile at warm words. Her smile faded a bit as he pointed out that they would need to be parting ways. Penelope glanced ahead at the other two knights, knowing that it was probably best for them to part now since Gavin likely needed help dealing with Olivia. She imagined that his patience was wearing thin after all that had occurred. Slowing down besides Crow, she turned to him and nodded her head. "That should work." She agreed.

Penelope smiled up at him and slowed to a stop again so she could kiss him again, this time lingering around longer. As she pulled back, she met his gaze and gave a small grin. "I'll see you tomorrow. And with any luck, we won't have to part again for a few days." She couldn't help but be excited by the chance to travel with him for a few days since it meant they wouldn't have to separate for a while, even though they'd be looking for dangerous enemies and have the company of the other two knights. Having already been on a dangerous mission with him before, Penelope knew very well that they'd still be able to make the most of the time they'd have together. Provided him and Gavin could keep from clashing again.

"I love you and I'll see you tomorrow." she told him before pressing a kiss to his cheek. Having said her goodbye,, she reluctantly stepped away from him and turned to catch up with her comrades. She noticed that Gavin had slowed his pace slightly and was occasionally glancing over his shoulder, likely checking on her. At his side was Olivia, whom she could tell the male knight was trying to keep a careful eye on despite being a bit distracted. Penelope picked up her pace slightly and came up besides Olivia.

"How's she been so far?" she asked him as she eyed her friend.

Olivia looked at Penelope and crossed her arms. "Oh pleassssee. I'm not tha drunk."

"You're drunk enough." Gavin grumbled, still clearly in a foul mood.

The other female knight ignored him and turned to Penelope with a curious look. "So where'd lover boy go?"

"He's leaving to go set up camp for the night." she told her with a shrug. "It's just us now... But we'll have to meet him midday tomorrow."

Gavin turned to look over at her with a frown. "We're still working with him?" he questioned and shook his head. "You saw how he was back there and he lead us to a dead end anyways. Penelope I think it's time we work on our own. He's probably-"

"What he did back there was wrong and he realizes that." Penelope assured the male knight, meeting his gaze. "And I'm thankful that you stopped before the situation got even more out of hand, Gavin, but you also need to stop accusing him so much. He's not working against us and he's the best chance we have of catching the actual criminals that attacked our camp." She paused and shifted her gaze ahead. "I'm not saying you have to trust him or even get along with him but just stop trying shift the blame onto him. We'll be able to avoid more trouble that way."

Gavin fell quiet and shifted his gaze to the ground in thought. Penelope waited a moment longer for an answer but as one never came, she decided to go on to fill in the other two about the upcoming plans to travel to Aramoor and get permission from Mia for the long trip.