“I can’t control when I want to eat,” Crow shrugged in response to Penelope’s gibe. As she leaned back into him, he snuck a quick glance at William to make sure the knight was looking away and then pressed a swift kiss to her cheek. Even though he wished they had the freedom to show their affection whenever they wanted, he did find some entertainment in hiding their relationship from Penelope’s comrade. It was a bit like a game to steal moments with her without getting caught.

When Penelope handed him the bag of food, he took it from her gladly. “Well then, we’d better find one soon, because I don’t know how much longer I can restrain myself,” he admitted, popping a handful of sunflower seeds into his mouth. Looking at the thinning trees, he was hopeful that they would come across a marketplace within the next day or two though. After all, it wouldn’t be long before they needed to start traveling along paved roads again.

“So,” he turned back to Penelope once he’d had his fill of the small snack. “What’s the plan when we get to the end of this forest? I can’t imagine we’ll get through the towns unnoticed.” He pointed at himself, her, and William in turn, “Stolen staff, woman on a horse, obvious foreigner. We’re going to stand out like we just flew out of the trees.”

“If they try to stop us, we’ll fight them off,” William said nonchalantly from up front. “The knights in these towns are amateurs.”

“Oh yeah?” Crow scoffed. “And how well did that work out for you last time, tough guy?”

William muttered something under his breath about vexatious criminals and averted his gaze.

Crow went on, “I just think we should have a better plan than ‘fight them off’ when we leave the cover of the forest.” He looked at Penelope expectantly. “What do you think?”