As they walked into the marketplace, Crow took a moment to make sure none of the local knights had noticed them step out of the woods. Fortunately, it seemed like they were too busy talking amongst themselves to notice their unusual entrance. He was glad they were so relaxed, thanks to their faith in their goddess. Hopefully they would be just as unaware when he and Penelope returned to the forest after he bought the supplies he needed.

“Just a couple of things,” he answered Penelope’s question absently. His eyes swept slowly over the crowd in search of a vendors that would sell what he was looking for, before finally landing on a short row of merchants by the food vendors. They were exchanging goods with a few young men who appeared to be serfs.

“This way,” he took Penelope’s hand and led her through the crowd as he made his way to the stands. Reaching the closest merchant, he looked over the wares on display until he saw one of the items he had been looking for. He waited for the merchant to finish an exchange with a serf and then stepped up to get his attention. “Excuse me,” he offered a friendly smile. “How much for a jar of almond oil?”

“Ten Tael,” the man replied curtly.

Crow dug in his bag and retrieved two silver coins, setting them down on the table, “I’ll take it.”

“Here you go,” the merchant grabbed a jar and handed it off to the thief.

“Thanks,” Crow nodded and moved on to the next stand where another vendor was selling kitchen wares. He purchased a small cooking pot from the man and stashed it in his bag along with the jar of oil. Leaning a bit closer to Penelope, he explained, “This stuff is to make the poison for our weapons.”

As they stood so close to the food stands, the aroma of cooked meats and vegetables drew his attention. It had been quite a while since they had eaten anything other than the food Penelope a taken from the wagon, and he was hungry after sparring. “We should get something to eat here,” he suggested. “This is a market for nobles and their servants, so the food has to be good. Besides, I can smell venison. Who knows when I’ll get to have that again once this mission is over.” He nudged her pleadingly. “Come on, we can spare a little more time, right?”