Penelope nodded her head as Crow mentioned how hardheaded Hartley was. She couldn’t help but agree that shaking him off probably wouldn’t be very easy. She walked on and was glad to step back out into daylight, even if the brightness did hurt her eyes at first. She shook off some of the water from her shoes and bottom of her dress as the other two talked. 

“Owe you?” Penelope echoed as she looked over at Hartley with a narrowed gaze. In her opinion, he was the reason they were in trouble in the first place. 

She didn’t get any time to comment though as William and Abraxas suddenly came storming over to them. Her eyes went wide as she realized he wasn’t even bothering to speak with accent. Well, there went any hope of keeping their claim to be from Younis. Hartley certainly didn’t miss it and looked up at William with a confused and questioning gaze. 

“Woah!” He said surprised but also interested. “You sure aren’t from around here, huh?”

“Damnit William!” Penelope hissed, dropping her own accent momentarily as she addressed the older knight. “You could have at least tried at an accent.”

“Excuse me but I’m not the one who went off with the thief and came back with-with whoever the hell he is.” William said stumbling over his words as he tried to defend himself. Abraxas certainly looked concern as the scene unfolded. He frowned a little and looked from Penelope to Hartley, who was staring at Penelope in shock as she too lost her accent. 

“What’s going on here? Who are you guys?” Hartley asked with a grin. His eyes gleamed with curiosity as he looked around at the group.

“What is going on here?” Abraxas asked quietly, his question directed to Penelope. 

Penelope let out a small sigh. “Look when we were in the market place, we ran into a bit of trouble... This jerk,” she said motioning to Hartley, “is a thief named Hartley who framed this idiot,” she gestured to Crow, “for stealing. Of course, he had actually stolen a few coin purses and the local knights captured him thanks to Hartley here. I helped him get away from the knights and Hartley helped us hide from them and get us back here.” She explained. 

William snorted with disgust. “Another thief?” He growled as he glared down at Hartley. The thief merely looked amused. 

“Wow! You nearly look as hateful as those knights!” He chuckled, clearly unfazed by William. “And it seems I’ve come upon something secretive...”

“Yes you have.” William grumbled reaching for his sword. “And because of that we can’t have him wandering freely.” He told the other knights with a stern expression. “He’ll have to come with us.”

“Great~ Then we’re all on the same page. I’ll travel with you guys.” Hartley said cheerfully. William blinked, clearly caught off guard again. “What?” He demanded. 

“I was hoping to hitch a ride with you all anyways.” Hartley explained with a shrug. “Label me a prisoner if it helps you sleep at night.” Hartley laughed a little and looked over at Penelope. He smiled at her and gave his usual wink. “Guess we get to spend some more time together. I’d love to get to know you, the real you.” 

Penelope rolled her eyes at Hartley and glanced towards the angry and stumped William. “I think the trip just got longer...” She mumbled to Crow as she glanced over at him.