Crow made a bitter face at William’s back when the knight turned to walk off with Penelope. He hated how determined the knight was to tear them apart. William had threatened his life before, but this was the first time it felt like he could actually do it without hesitation. It wasn’t like the knight was wrong either. Now that he had stolen the staff, there was nothing left to stay his hand—well, except for the fact that Aeklora had told him to carry the staff until they reached Brerra, but there was no way William would believe that.

He turned to lean against a tree with his back to the knights, not wanting to even look at William while he was still angry. However, his attention was drawn towards them again when he heard the older knight shout at Penelope. Swayed by his curiosity, the thief glanced back over his shoulder to see William clutching a bloody nose. Even though the sight made his stomach churn slightly, he couldn’t help but smile. It was about time someone put that cocky man in his place.

As William drew a dagger and turned towards him, Crow flinched, expecting the knight to charge at him. However, Penelope was quick to prevent him from getting past her. The thief watched, his heart fluttering nervously, as the two knights began to fight each other. He didn’t relax until Penelope had managed to take her comrade’s weapon away from him. Even then, he eyed William cautiously, ready to draw his own dagger and come to Penelope’s aid if the older knight tried to attack her again.

Once the fight was truly over and Penelope had returned to his side, he took her hand in his and pressed a kiss to her lips, grateful that she had defended him against her comrade. He was still going to keep his guard up around William for a while, but it seemed that the immediate threat was gone for now. As long as the knight was off licking his wounds, the thief doubted he would try to attack them again.

Picking up the cloaks they had purchased from the ground, he handed one to Penelope and tossed another in William’s general direction before draping the third over his own shoulders. He looked down at the dark fabric that now adorned his body, inspecting it with interest. “You know, I just might keep this when we get back,” he mused, drawing the hood over his head and turning to Penelope with a smirk. “It could come in handy when I go on night raids.”

“I hope you’re not expecting the king to set you free after this mission, thief,” William glowered at him as he finished attaching the saddlebags to his mare. “When we get back, you’re going straight into your old prison cell.”

Crow hesitated for a moment, toying with the idea of telling William that he was going back to the outer villages just to get under his skin, but then decided it would be better to keep his and Penelope’s plan a secret. After all, he didn’t want the older knight to interfere with his escape. “That’s ridiculous,” he snorted, feigning a wary frown. “I just stole a staff that was supposed to be impossible to steal and saved our kingdom from going to war. Letting me go home is the least the king could do as thanks for my bravery.”

“Criminals don’t deserve thanks,” the knight spat, slipping on his cloak. “Don’t go thinking you’re some sort of hero. You were just a tool to be used in part of His Highness’s plan, and an insignificant one, at that.”

Crow shifted his weight in mock uncertainty. “Yeah? Well, we’ll see about that. The king would have to be pretty unjust to lock up the man who just risked his life to save the kingdom.”

“He’d have to be unjust to overlook your past record just because you did him one favor,” William retorted with a roll of his eyes. He climbed onto the back of his horse and looked down at them scornfully. “Come on. We’ve wasted enough daylight.”

Crow turned around to face Penelope, mimicking the way the older knight had rolled his eyes and then winking at her slyly. “It doesn’t matter what he thinks, because we’re getting out of here when we reach the border anyway,” he whispered to her, giving her hand a squeeze before he let go to give her room to mount the horse.