Crow walked out of the room with the others, stopping as they said farewell to Malcolm and Lorelle. He winced along with Hartley as the burly man greeted them loudly.  Malcolm was clearly immune to the effects of the strong alcohol they had drank the night before, as he showed no signs of being hungover. Crow wondered how often the Younisian man drank on a regular basis to have built up such an impressive tolerance.

He watched Lorelle as she handed the bag of food to Penelope. The blonde woman winked at her and said something that Crow didn’t catch. Whatever she had said, it made the knight fidget nervously. He frowned, wondering what the woman could have said to make her so uncomfortable. However, there wasn’t time to think about it before the group went on their way.

[color=fff79a][b]“Thank the gods we made it out of there in one piece,”[/b][/color] Penelope said as they walked away from the peasants’ house.

“I’ll say,” Crow snorted in agreement. “We’re lucky this kid didn’t say something to give us away.” He nudged Hartley teasingly.

“Hey,” Hartley disputed. “You were just as drunk as I was.”

“I doubt that,” Crow rolled his eyes. “You were prepared to run out and fight the first man to look at you the wrong way.”

“I’m always ready to fight the first man to look at me the wrong way,” Hartley punched Crow in the arm. He sighed, going on to complain about walking the rest of the way and taking the opportunity to flirt with Penelope once again.

[color=fff79a][b]“Well, I guess this is going to set us behind a bit...”[/b][/color] Penelope said dolefully. [color=fff79a][b]“Not to mention we’re down two knights...”[/b][/color]

“It’s not that bad,” Crow strode up to walk next to her. “The king can afford to be a little more patient. A few days isn’t going to cause that much damage.” He caught sight of the guilty look in her eyes as she thought of her comrades. It sent a stab of sorrow through him. “As for William and Abraxas… I’m sure they’re fine,” he said in an attempt to comfort her. “The Younisian knights probably took them prisoner to question them. I can almost hear William throwing a fit about it. Just imagine him behind bars for breaking a law after all his speeches about criminals.” He laughed. “I’d pay to see that.”