Crow kept his guard raised high as he made his way back to the thieves’ hideout. After Gavin’s sudden appearance, he didn’t want to risk running into any other knights that could be patrolling the area. Still wounded from the battle and not in a good place emotionally after encountering Penelope’s suitor without warning, he knew he was in no condition to fight. If he ran into any knights now, he would probably be driven to kill them in self-defense, and that was only if he wasn’t overpowered first. He didn’t want to be put in such a position.

As he weaved through the trees, he watched the shadows around himself, looking for signs of movement. Fortunately, it seemed that Gavin had followed her by himself, because the thief didn’t see any other knights between Myrefall and his camp. He relaxed as the ravine came into sight up ahead. Even though he was still in a foul mood from meeting Penelope’s suitor, he was glad to have at least made it home without any trouble.

He climbed down the side of the ravine and removed his cloak, hanging it on a tree branch before walking over to sit on the fallen tree near the center of the camp. Still wound up from the events in the tavern, he didn’t feel like sleeping right away. Instead, he leaned back on his palms and looked up at the starry sky, exhaling softly. It was a rather cold night, so his breath left him as a visible cloud. However, he was too caught up in his thoughts to mind the cool air.

Seeing Gavin unexpectedly had left him shaken in more ways than one. For one thing, even though Penelope had told him that she had a suitor now, he supposed there had been a small part of him that didn’t truly believe it—a part of him that had been hoping she would come back to him again. To see the man in person made the situation feel much more real. She had moved on. It was really over between them, and there was no going back.

Even though the paradigm shift had been painful, Crow was more worried about what was going to happen now that someone else knew about his late night meetings with Penelope. He trusted her to keep their rendezvous a secret, especially since the repercussions would be worse for her than for him, but he knew nothing about Gavin. He wanted to believe that the knight wouldn’t tell anyone out of concern for Penelope, but he had no idea what to expect. It would be bad news if Gavin chose to tell someone else about their interactions or tried to question her to find out what she knew about him and the other thieves. Now that he and Penelope weren’t as close, he didn’t know if she was still loyal enough to him to keep everything between just the two of them.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a twig snapping and turned towards the shelter to see Rikki stepping outside. The female thief yawned widely and rubbed her eyes, “Hey, boss. What are you still doing up?”

“Just thinking,” Crow shrugged, averting his gaze. The other thieves were still skittish about his dealings with Penelope, so he didn’t want to tell any of them about his encounter with Gavin for fear that they would tell him it was too risky to continue seeing the female knight. Eager to change the subject, he turned back to her with a quizzical look, “Why are you up?”

“Bathroom,” Rikki answered simply, jabbing a thumb towards the woods. “You should get some sleep. It’s almost morning.”

Crow blinked and looked up at the sky. It was a little lighter than before. He had gotten so lost in thought that he hadn’t realized how long he’d been sitting outside. He glanced back at her and stood up, “Yeah… Goodnight, love.”

“Night, Crow,” she smiled at him tiredly and then turned to head up the side of the ravine to the tree line.

Crow stepped into the shelter, moving quietly so as not to disturb Alistair or Simon, and laid down on his bed mat. As he drew his blanket over himself, the weight of his exhaustion finally began to bear down on him. He yawned sleepily and closed his eyes, drifting off almost as soon as he laid down his head.