Penelope frowned at Crow’s cautious gaze. It hurt to see that she might have completely lost his trust. At the same time, she understood why the thief was wary of her after having learned so much about him during the short time they were together. He couldn’t trust nobles, not when most of them where out to get him or just plain greedy. Yet she had somehow managed to show him that she wasn’t like that, even going so far as to become friends. She looked over at him and felt the distance that was building between them because of what she had said.

“Crow, I care about you.” Penelope told him bluntly, feeling slightly embarrassed by her own admission but she need him to understand at least that much. [i]You don’t even realize how much I care about you..[/i] She thought feeling her heart race slightly as she looked at him. “You should know by now that I don’t see you as a criminal.”

She crossed her arms and glanced away. “I just had to agree with him... Can you imagine if I had argued instead? He was already furious, it would have just made the situation worse. He’d probably lose trust in me and who knows what that could mean for the rest of our journey. At least this way we still have a chance of getting back to where we were. Otherwise you’d probably be stuck with William all the time... And..”
 
Penelope paused as she felt a small hint of sadness at the reminder that their journey would eventually come to an end, “and, I wouldn’t be able to keep my end of the promise if William didn’t trust me.”