As Olivia introduced herself rather flirtatiously, Alistair nudged Simon and leaned over to mutter in the other thief’s ear, “Dibs.”

Simon wrinkled his nose, “Really? A knight?”

“Who cares? She’s beautiful, and she’s interested.”

“You have no shame,” Simon shook his head as Alistair ran off to grab the bandages to treat Olivia’s wound.

Crow watched him go with a roll of his eyes. Even more so than himself, Alistair was an opportunist when it came to women. He flirted with anyone, regardless of status, and had surprisingly high success that none of the other thieves could understand. As far as Crow knew, Rikki was the only woman to have ever turned him down, and that was only because she had been eyeing Crow and didn’t want a reputation for sleeping around in the group.

“So,” Simon said in a hushed voice, moving to stand at Crow’s side. He glanced furtively at the knights before turning towards his leader. “It seems like the knights of our kingdom already have a vendetta against us.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Crow said quietly without meeting the other thief’s gaze. He already knew where Simon was going with this.

“Come on,” Simon crossed his arms. “They sent knights to ambush us. They’re at the point of sparing some of their numbers to take us down.”

“They still might give up.”

“At least consider the option,” the blonde thief sighed. “It would be a much more consistent income than what we’re relying on now.”

“…I’ll think about it,” Crow finally relented.

[color=fff79a][b]“Crow,”[/b][/color] Penelope’s voice drew his attention and he turned to see that she had come up to speak with him. As she asked to talk with him about his plan to deal with the knight’s trap, he shifted his weight uncertainly. For one thing, he still didn’t feel like he was in the best place to converse with her, but more so than that, he was afraid she would want him to promise her that he and the other thieves would leave the knights alone, which he wasn’t sure he could do.

He met her gaze, intending to deny the request, but the concern in her eyes made him falter. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he felt bad for causing her to worry. He couldn’t just leave her like that.

“Fine,” he said after a moment’s pause. He turned back to Simon, who gave him a curious look, and tipped his head, indicating for the other thief to leave. Simon hesitated, seeming unsettled by the situation, but after a bit, he walked over to stand with Rikki.

Now alone with Penelope for the first time since the previous night, Crow’s inhibitions about being around her suddenly came flooding back. He shoved his hands in his pockets in subconscious defensiveness and cleared his throat before going on: “If you don’t want any unwanted opinions, we should go somewhere more private. This way.”

Pushing back against his discomfort, he started down the length of the ravine, towards the river at the far side. However, as they walked, he didn’t begin the conversation. He still didn’t know what to say to her about the subject, so he decided to wait for her to speak first.