As soon as William loosened his grip on him, Crow slipped out of his grasp and moved to stand at a distance where the knight couldn’t reach him. He rolled his shoulders, grimacing in discomfort as his right arm, the one William had pinned, smarted in response to the motion. He was glad that it hadn’t been dislocated, but he could tell that he was going to feel it in the morning.

While Penelope and William argued, he stood back to listen from a safe distance in case the older knight tried to go after him again. Fortunately, it seemed like William’s anger had cooled off enough that he was finished fighting with them for now. At his final threat, Crow rolled his eyes, “You’re wasting your time. For once in my life, I’m not lying.”

“You keep saying that,” the knight glared at him. “But you already slipped up once tonight, thief. It won’t be long before you do it again, and when that happens, I’ll be there.” With that, he turned to take up a watch on the far side of the camp, signaling that he was finished with their conversation.

Once the knight was out of ear shot, Crow sighed and turned to Penelope. He reached to put and arm around her shoulders to hold her close to his side. Her touch calmed him, and he needed to relax after getting so riled up. For a while, he said nothing as he focused on letting go of the tension that had built up inside of him.

He was partly frustrated with himself for letting William get to him. It was the second time now. Normally, he prided himself on staying above petty fights, but the man had a way of saying all the right things to make him lose his temper. It was infuriating, but even more so than that, he hated that the things he had said were true. If he stayed with Penelope, he was inevitably going to drag her down with him. What sort of life was that for her when another man could give her everything she could ever want? Was love by itself really a good enough reason for them to be together? His ever-present doubts began to pull more strongly at his heart.

Having calmed down from the fight, he looked down at Penelope and offered an apologetic smile, “I’m sorry about that, love. He just knows exactly what to say to get under my skin.”