Crow spent the following two days journeying to and from Younis, where he had planned to sell off the Brerratic knights’ weapons. He had to be especially careful on the way there, since he was going on the trip alone while carrying the supplies he was certain the knights would be looking for. If a patrol happened to catch him by surprise, there wouldn’t be much he could do to defend himself, and he would probably lose the stolen items that he and the other thieves were relying on to get money.

Fortunately, he managed to cross the border without any trouble. On the other side, he found the Younisians’ camp quickly—it wasn’t the first time he had sold off war supplies to them—and handed over the weapons to a rather eager baron. The man offered him food and shelter for the night, since he had arrived late, and once again tried to persuade him to work for the Younisian forces by sabotaging the Brerratic frontline. Of course, Crow declined again and left the following morning as he had intended.

The journey home was more eventful.

Not long after Crow had crossed the border, a fight broke out between the Younisian and Brerratic knights, probably because some of the Younisians had gotten overly excited about their new weapons. The thief nearly got caught up in the skirmish, but managed to get out of the area quickly enough that no one seemed to notice him. After that, he treaded more cautiously until he returned to the ravine.

--

On the third day, Crow left early to go to Myrefall and bring the villagers their share of the gold he had been paid by the Younisians. While it wasn’t quite as much as he would have earned if the Brerratic knights had paid the ransom, it was still an impressive haul for one raid. There was enough for him and the other thieves to get by for the rest of the season, even after giving a large portion of the money away to the people of Myrefall. Overall, he was pleased with how everything had turned out.

Since he was going to meet Penelope that night and there was no point in going back to the hideout, Crow spent the majority of his day in the village. He spoke with the elders about their plans when tax season came around—fortunately, it seemed that they had more than enough to cover their dues now—and then passed the rest of the time by wandering around the streets with his hood drawn to sort through his thoughts.

As the time grew closer to his meeting with Penelope, his heart began to race with excitement in spite of everything he tried to tell himself. He knew he needed to stop getting his hopes up. It wasn’t going to be like before. She was a knight and he was a thief. They weren’t lovers anymore, not even friends. He needed to be cautious. After all, Simon was right: People change. He didn’t know what kind of person she had become, and it was dangerous to assume the best.

Still, he couldn’t tame his irrational heart.

The rest of the day passed by slowly, until darkness descended over the village. Crow made his way to the Ivory Hatchet tavern and found an empty table, where he sat down and ordered a drink as he waited for Penelope. As he did, he was struck with a pang of déjà vu as memories of two years ago began to surface. He grimaced, recalling the pain of waiting for her to show up in the Black Dagger night after night, only to be disappointed each time when she didn’t come. The excitement in his heart began to give way to old grief.

He knew he had told her that it was fine, and that she didn’t need to be sorry for abandoning him back then, but it didn’t change the fact that he still felt betrayed inside. He had been willing to give up everything for her, but obviously the feeling hadn’t been mutual after all. Now that the shock of initially seeing her again had faded, he found that he wasn’t quite so forgiving as he had previously thought.

Of course, he wasn’t about to tell Penelope that. He didn’t want her to know just how hurt he had been both two years ago, when he had stayed up late into the night to wait for her, and now again, when he had found out she hadn’t died, but had chosen to leave him without a word of goodbye. He didn’t want to come across as weak. He was a proud and accomplished thief who didn’t need her anymore. He had moved on with his life.

He just wished the confidence he portrayed didn’t feel so fake.

Crow looked up as the door to the tavern opened, and Penelope stepped inside. His heart beat a little quicker with mixed emotions as he saw that she was wearing a peasant dress, and he silently chided himself, [i]She probably just wanted to disguise herself so she wouldn’t stand out.[/i] Still, he couldn’t help thinking it was cruelly ironic for her to show up wearing something like that to meet him in a tavern now when she had rejected entering into peasant life to be with him two years ago.

Overcoming his initial surprise, he lowered the hood of his cloak and gestured so that she would see him at his table.