Crow listened closely as Penelope gave him the details he had been wanting for some time. From her description, it sounded like Whitebridge would be the village that he and the other thieves needed to go to protect when the battle started in two days. He lowered his gaze to the table as he thought about how to approach the village. It was already far from their hideout—about a full day on foot—but with the knights’ camp right in the middle, they would need to take a detour past Norcrest to reach Whitebridge unseen.

[i]If that’s the case, we should leave late tomorrow morning to get there on time,[/i] he mused, drumming his fingers contemplatively against his knee beneath the table. It wasn’t a lot of time to prepare, but if he alerted the others tonight, they had proven in the past that they were efficient enough to get everything ready. He trusted that they would make it in time to set up camp near Whitebridge before the battle started.

He didn’t pay as much attention to Penelope’s explanation of the knights’ battle plan, since he didn’t care too much about that. The only part he made sure to remember was the directions in which each of the two forces would be traveling, so he and the other thieves wouldn’t accidentally cross their paths. Fortunately, it sounded like the knights would be journeying to the west, opposite of the route he had planned for his group.

As she went on to warn him about the additional patrols, Crow nodded appreciatively. “I’ll tell the others to keep an eye out for them.” He picked up his mug and finished off the rest of his drink before setting it back down on the table. With his question sufficiently answered, he couldn’t think of anything else to say, but he was hesitant to leave right away. He couldn’t tell if it was due to his residual feelings for the knight or simply the fact that he felt a bit like he was using her for information, but to part ways after such a formal discussion felt wrong.

[i]I just have to get over it,[/i] he thought. [i]There’s nothing else to talk about anyways.[/i]

After a moment, he cleared his throat and looked up to meet her gaze again, forcing a smile, “Thanks for the information, love. It will help us a lot.” He hesitated briefly before moving to stand up from the table. “If that’s everything, I suppose I should get going.”