Waking up late the next morning, Penelope felt her stomach twist nervously. It was the third day and there was still one last thing to do before nightfall. And it wasn't something she was looking forward to. The knight groaned and laid her head back down, thinking over her plan to speak with Gavin. She'd take a walk with him away from camp and once they were completely alone she'd tell him she wished to end their relationship and after that, she'd just hope for the best. She still cared about her suitor, after all he had been there for her little over a year now, but she knew her feelings for him didn't run deeper than friendship. 

Finally forcing herself to get up, Penelope headed out of her tent and went to grab some breakfast. She sat down with Olivia and the two chatted until she spotted Gavin walking with Alan nearby. She had been avoiding him since the previous day and now it made her unsure how to approach him. However, it was something that she had to do. She hesitantly got up from where she was sitting and made her way over to Gavin. 

The male knight paused in his conversation with his friend as he noticed Penelope approaching. He mumbled a word of goodbye to Alan before moving to meet Penelope halfway. "Hey.. What was happening yesterday? I barely saw you and then I heard you went on a patrol with Layth." He asked as he looked down at her questioningly. 

"Just decided to bother my brother for a little." Penelope mused with a shrug. She paused and looked up to met his gaze. "You know.. I have some time today.. Why don't we go take that walk you talked about the other day." She said quietly.

"Uh sure." Gavin said with a small nod. "We can go after breakfast, if that works?"

"It does.. I'll meet you by my tent." She told him.

---

Having filled their stomachs, Penelope soon met up with Gavin again as the knight met her as planned. The two headed out away from the camping, walking into the forest towards Norcrest. They talked calmly as they walked, Gavin being quick to question about her patrol with Layth. She didn't go into very much detail about it and instead was worrying about when the right moment to bring up her choice to end their courtship came up. A silence eventually fell between the two and Penelope sucked in a breath. 

"Gavin... Listen I," She looked over at him and gave a small frown. "I want to-"

"You want to end our courtship." Gavin finished for her with a hurt look spreading across his expression. He came to a stop and turned to face her. Penelope looked up at him with mild surprise that he was able to guess what she was going to say, and he seemed to notice that. "I figured something was off.. You've been more distant than usual lately." 

"I'm sorry.. I had a lot to think about these last three days." She mumbled. 

"Not just the last three days... More like the whole time we've been out here." Gavin corrected frowning as he looked down at her. He fell silent for a moment and averted his gaze. "Just tell me one thing, Penelope.. It's because of him, isn't it? That thief you claimed to have befriended.. He isn't just a friend huh?"

Penelope fell silent for a moment, surprised by his sudden and correct accusation.

"Just admit it.." Gavin muttered softly. "It's why you were so willing to risk everything to save him and why you were so eager to sneak off and see him again..."

She shifted uneasily. Part of her thought it wouldn't be wise to tell Gavin anything about Crow being the reason she was leaving him. He could use that information against her if he was acting out of hurt and that would easily cause for quite a bit of trouble for her. Even though she planned to be with Crow, she still wanted to see the war to its end. However, she found it difficult to lie to him at the moment. He had helped her and even kept a few of her secrets, perhaps she could trust him with one last truth.

"It is." She finally admitted. "... But nothing happened between us while I was with you. I do care about you, Gavin but I'm sorry. I love him."

Gavin shook his head. "How... How can you even be with him? You're going to end up having to give up everything you've worked so hard for. Penelope, I love you," He reached out to take her hand in his. "I can give you a good life and you won't have to throw away your future. You may not love me now but given time, maybe you still can. We could be happy together." 

Penelope looked away at his words. She probably could be happy if she stayed, after all her life had been just fine without Crow until now. If she stayed, she'd be able to stay with her friends and family, all the people that she knew she'd miss once she left. However, that didn't get rid of a great longing she had to be with Crow and live with him in the outer villages. Though leaving them would bring her some sorrow, she knew from experience the sorrow that came from leaving Crow behind and didn't intend to go through it again. The knight had made her decision and it wasn't something that would change.

She gave his hand a small squeeze before pulling away. "I'm sorry. But that's not what I want. I tried to convince myself for a year that was what I wanted and it didn't work. That's a life that would make me content, not happy." She shook her head and took a step away from him. 

"So you're just going to leave everything behind?" 

"Not until the war is finished." Penelope replied. She looked over to met his gaze. "I hope you can do me one last favor and keep this a secret. I promise I won't drag you into anymore trouble after this... I've already caused you enough."

"You know you can trust me, Penelope.." Gavin mumbled with a small crack in his voice. "Just know.. I'll still be around.. Until this war ends."

Penelope frowned at his words and turned to head back towards camp. "Please don't wait for me." She told him softly. Feeling they needed space from each other, she set off towards the camp alone, but was all to aware of Gavin watching her leave. Her heart felt a bit heavy, like she had just lost a friend. However, the knight tried not to focus too much on it, instead thinking of what was to come once night fell and she'd meet up with Crow. With everything finally settled, she'd be able to answer him properly.