Penelope found the rest of the trip to be rather uneventful. Though, her talk with Hartley had put her in a rather somber mood. The small talk of love and desires had only brought the pain of the barriers that prevented her from simply ‘following her heart’. [i]Is love always so painful?[/i] The knight wondered. It seemed to be true the more she thought about the various types of love. 

She loved her family, but they always kept her at a distance and her brother seemed to barely even tolerate her at times. She loved her friends, but since most of them were also nobles and knights, they were often greedy, selfish or cruel, either to people in general or those of lower classes. She loved Crow, but he was unattainable to her. The knight frowned as her mood was brought down by such thoughts. 

Once they reached the inn, Penelope was quick to step out of the cart. She hoped focusing back on the mission and some rest would allow her to clear her troubled mind. She waited for Hartley as the younger thief woke Crow up. Once the two had joined up with the knights, Penelope walked on, following William and Abraxas as they headed into the inn. 

Penelope glanced around as they stepped inside. It wasn’t too different from the inns she had stayed at in Brerra. She noticed William reluctantly stood back to let Hartley and Crow take the lead this time. The older knight was making no effort to hide the sour expression he had on his face that clearly showed how unhappy he was with the situation. He was very worried they would try something funny. 

Hartley nodded in agreement with Crow and quickly stepped up to the innkeeper. “Hello! We need two rooms please! One for the boys and one for me and missus.” He said with a wink at the innkeeper who looked past him towards Penelope. 

Penelope rolled her eyes and gave the back of Hartley’s boot a small kick. The boy jumped slightly before grinning at the innkeeper. “Ah make that just one actually.” He said with a chuckle as he noticed both Penelope and William glaring at him from where they stood.

“Right...” The innkeeper said looking at the group with some confusion on what was happening. Penelope felt a bit worried the man might grow a bit suspicious of why two knights were hanging around three peasants. “Well, how big of a room are you looking for?"