“I told you, I was just distracted earlier,” Crow muttered in his own defense, though the flush in his cheeks refused to fade. “And I’m not used to seeing you wear something like that. Maybe if you dressed like a girl more often we wouldn’t have had that problem.”

He stared indignantly at the ground as they walked. She just [i]had[/i] to bring that up again, didn’t she? He had been trying to forget his behavior outside the wagon along with William’s snide remarks about it. He hadn’t acted like himself at all. Even when he was around beautiful women, he had always been smoother than that. Perhaps it was because he hadn’t seen one in so long that he had become so tongue-tied. He chewed on the inside of his lip in thought. That didn’t add up either though. He had spoken to a few real peasant girls since his release from prison with no problems at all. So if that wasn’t the reason, then what was?

Crow snuck a glance at Penelope from the corner of his eye. By now, the evening sun had begun to set on the horizon, and the village was becoming shadowed in the dark of night. With the combination of the lower light and the simple dress she wore, Penelope looked exactly like a young peasant woman. He swallowed nervously and looked away, his heart pounding in his chest. Now that he wasn’t distracted by the village’s problems or his playful banter with the knight, her presence made him anxious.

[i]Something must be wrong with me,[/i] he thought, absently kicking a pebble along the road. [i]It doesn’t matter if she’s pretty. She’s a knight, and knights are my enemies.[/i] But she didn’t act like any other knight he’d ever encountered—he even found that he enjoyed talking to her—so was he still supposed to treat her like just another knight? He sighed. Why did she have to make this so confusing?

“Hey,” Crow started and then stopped, eyeing Penelope curiously. She suddenly looked distracted. He followed her line of sight to see what held her attention, only to discover that their supply wagon was sitting unguarded in the middle of the road, right where they had left it. William would never have been careless enough to leave it alone like that. He felt his heartbeat pick up for a different reason now, and he stepped closer to Penelope as he asked, “Did the others say they were going somewhere?”