Staying true to his word, Crow stopped drinking after he finished off the last of the ale in his mug. As the wench came around to refill Hartley and Penelope’s mugs, he had her switch his glass for water. He leaned back in his chair, watching his companions drink themselves into oblivion. He sighed, [i]Now I know how Penelope must have felt when I got drunk with the kid two nights ago.[/i]

While she stopped after her second mug, Crow was surprised to see Penelope let herself get so inebriated. He could tell she was focusing hard to act sober, despite the toll the alcohol was taking on her body. As she moved to stand up, he was quick to be at her side, resting a hand on her waist to keep her steady.

“I could say the same to you, love,” he teased when she said they should go back to the room before Hartley passed out. “Come on. Let’s get [i]both[/i] of you back to the room.”

“What’re you talkin’ about?” Hartley waved his empty mug in the air. “Th’ party’s jus gettin’ started!” He slid out of his chair and collapsed on the floor.

“Get up, kid,” Crow gave the boy a light kick with his boot. “You don’t want to be hungover when you see Kip tomorrow, do you?”

“Where’s Kip?” Hartley lifted his head, blinking confusedly. “How’d id I get down ‘ere?”

[i]Gods, this is difficult,[/i] Crow stared up at the ceiling in exasperation. He kicked Hartley again, “Come on, idiot. Kip is in the room. You have to get off the floor if you want to see her.”

“She’s ‘ere?” Hartley, in a burst of energy from gods knew where, climbed hurriedly to his feet.

“Follow me,” Crow instructed. He adjusted his hold on Penelope so he could support most of her weight and then headed towards the stairs that led up to the second level of the inn. “You really let yourself go, huh?” he smirked at her. “And here I thought knights weren’t supposed to get drunk on the job.”

He took the stairs slowly when they reached them, careful to check his balance so Penelope could continue to use him for support if she needed to. Hartley struggled along behind them, but somehow managed not to fall over in his eagerness to see Kip. His excitement almost made Crow feel bad for lying to him. [i]It won’t matter soon,[/i] he glanced over his shoulder as he reached the top of the stairs. [i]He’ll pass out the instant he lays down on his bed.[/i]