Crow reluctantly distanced himself from Penelope when William got up from the ground so he wouldn’t see them standing so close together. The knight made his way over to them, seeming pleased that he didn’t have to bother waking anyone up that morning. Of course, his first inclination was to get moving again, but Penelope stopped him. The thief glanced at her as she told her comrade about the mercenary attack. He said nothing since it seemed like she had covered everything, and he knew that the hot-headed knight wouldn’t listen to anything a criminal had to say anyways.

[i]He’s going to have to learn to respect me sometime,[/i] he thought, leaning against a nearby tree and crossing his arms. Aeklora had said that they all needed each other in order to succeed. He and Penelope trusted each other completely, but as long as William refused to treat him like an equal—or even a competent member of the group—he was causing a weak link. It wasn’t like the thief was overly fond of working with him either, but he understood that they had to try to get along if they wanted to get back to Brerra alive and with the staff intact.

When Penelope finished giving him all of the details about the attack, William folded his arms across his chest and knitted his brow in thought, “All the more reason to get back as soon as possible. Come on,” he started walking off without waiting for a response.

Crow glanced at Penelope and shrugged before moving to gather his bow and quiver along with the staff—not wanting to be burdened by their weight, he had left his other bags behind before the palace raid—and following after the knight. They moved briskly through the forest, with William setting the pace. The speed was difficult for Crow to keep up with, as the wound in his leg still smarted, but he pushed forward without giving away his discomfort. Knowing they could be attacked again at any moment, he wanted to cover ground quickly too.

He fell back to walk beside Penelope, wanting to talk with someone to take his mind off of the pain. “I wonder if we’ll run into Hartley and Kip again on our way back,” he said in an attempt to make small talk. “If we go back the way we came, we’ll probably pass through Hefn.”