As the two knights dragged Crow to their camp, he slowly began to recover from the dizzy spell that had overcome him during his attempted escape. It grew easier for him to walk, and the sensation that he was going to pass out faded until he could think and move clearly again. Unfortunately, his recovery came too late. With Layth and the other knight restraining him so tightly, there wasn’t much he could do to get away. He still tried a few times—stepping on their feet to trip them, ramming Layth’s side with his shoulder, even pretending to collapse at one point—but had no success. The most his efforts earned him was a punch to the head that made his vision swim. After that, he gave up and went with them more compliantly, deciding it would be easier and less painful to figure out a way to escape later.

When they reached the camp, Crow felt his heartbeat pick up slightly. As a thief who had been on the run from knights all his life, it was unnerving to stand in front of a whole battalion of them, unarmed and unable to get away. Despite the nervousness that rose up inside of him, he squared his shoulders and met their condescending gazes with a cold glare of his own, unwilling to let them know how uncomfortable he was in their midst.

Layth and the other knight dragged him unceremoniously through the crowd that had gathered, and he tried to ignore the way the knights gawked at him like a hunted animal. They shouted and spat at him, calling him whatever clever names their tiny brains could think of. The thief shot them hostile looks, but otherwise remained silent. Severely outnumbered and already restrained, he didn’t want to provoke any of the knights to lash out at him when he couldn’t defend himself. So, he held his tongue until they reached a tent near the center of the camp.

Three knights in decorated uniforms stepped out, and Crow eyed them curiously. He recalled that Penelope had mentioned something about barons before, and he wondered if these nobles were the ones she had been speaking of. Before he had a chance to find out, his concentration broke as he saw Penelope step forward from the crowd to stand beside the woman among the three high-ranking knights. She met his gaze, and he stared back at her, giving a subtle shrug. He felt a bit embarrassed that she saw him like this, since he prided himself on his ability to avoid capture, but it technically hadn’t been his fault. It was that cursed illness. If he hadn’t nearly blacked out again, he would have had no problem losing the knights in the forest.

[color=fdc68a][b]“Well, what do we have here, Layth?”[/b][/color] the female baron spoke up, drawing the thief’s attention back to the matter at hand. He looked away from Penelope and watched her curiously, hoping to find out what they intended to do with him.

“This is one of the thieves who’ve been stealing our supplies,” Layth answered smugly, standing up a bit straighter. “We were going to kill him, but we decided it would be more productive to interrogate him and find out where they’ve hidden our missing supplies.”

[i]You mean your friend here suggested it, and you’re just trying to take some credit,[/i] Crow rolled his eyes, but kept the comment to himself.

“Well done, Layth,” one of the other barons, a scraggly looking man with a thick bread, nodded appreciatively. “This is good news indeed.”

“Wait,” the female baron looked to her comrade skeptically. “How do we know they still have our supplies? They could have gotten rid of them long ago.”

[i]Looks like one of them has some common sense,[/i] Crow eyed her concernedly. While he and the other thieves had held onto a few of the knights’ weapons and other war supplies for themselves, they had sold off most of it to the Younisians for money. Of course, he didn’t intend to tell them that, since their belief that he was hiding their weapons was the only thing keeping him alive.

“That’s true,” the third baron nodded in agreement. “But we do know that there are more thieves out there. At the very least, we could use this one to find the others.”

“These thieves have been stealing from us for far too long,” Layth growled, angrily tightening his grip on Crow’s arm. “This is the closest we’ve ever come to taking them all down. We can’t let this opportunity pass us by.” He turned towards the thief and narrowed his eyes. “I’m sure he’ll talk after enough persuasion. Criminals have no sense of loyalty.”

“You should know,” Crow returned the knight’s glare. “After all, what worse criminal is there than a man who takes the lives of innocent people?”

“Insolent cur,” Layth spat. “I’m going to make you beg for death.” He turned back to the barons with a stern gaze. “Let me lead the interrogation. I’ll make sure he spills everything before the end of the day.”