Crow kept his eyes fixed on the ground in front of him as he walked back to the camp. He was so lost in thought that his footsteps were uncharacteristically clumsy and careless. But what did it matter if anyone heard him coming? It wasn’t like he had any reason to hide, and he wasn’t in a mood to care if he woke William and Abraxas. He still just couldn’t believe what had happened. He knew now that he was in love with Penelope, but that shouldn’t have stopped him from lying with the other knight. After all, she would never love him back. Olivia was right: he was a thief, a criminal. Why should Penelope accept his courting when she could have a man much more honorable, one who could give her everything she could want in life? Sure, he might be enough for a peasant girl, but not for a woman who was raised in the luxury of the inner city. He shouldn’t have let his pointless emotions get between him and a good time.

It took him a moment to realize he had reached the camp already. He blinked, slightly dazed, when he heard Penelope’s voice from by the fire: [color=fff79a][b]“You’re back sooner than I expected.”[/b][/color] He looked to find the knight averting her gaze. [color=fff79a][b]“And you’re alone... What happened to Olivia?”[/b][/color]

Crow hesitated, toying with the idea of whether or not he should be honest with her. By the sound of her voice, he assumed she knew the real reason as to why they had wandered off together. But if he told her what had happened, he would have to explain why he didn’t go through with it too, and he didn’t want to do that. It would just be embarrassing. Instead, he decided to make up another excuse.

“Olivia’s fine,” the thief said as he walked over to join Penelope by the fire. “We parted ways at her camp.” He sat down next to the knight and shrugged casually. “Turns out she was just leading me on to get information out of me. I should have known.” There was a twinge of genuine disappointment in his tone as he went on. “Of course a knight wouldn’t want to spend a night with a criminal without getting something in return. It wouldn’t make sense.” [i]And that’s exactly why Penelope can’t find out about my feelings,[/i] he added silently.

Crow flashed Penelope an apologetic smile, “Sorry for keeping you up for nothing, love. You should get some sleep.”