Crow grinned as Penelope said she’d like to stay for the night. “Of course it’s all right,” he said, glancing back towards the valley for a moment to make sure they were still alone before leaning in to press a kiss to her lips. Not wanting to linger in case any of his companions came up the hillside to greet him, he pulled back quickly and went on, “Besides, even if the others don’t feel the same way, they picked me to be their leader, so whatever I say goes.” He shrugged. “They can tolerate having a knight around for one night… especially one as beautiful as you.” He winked at her flirtatiously.

In the next moment, he turned back to the valley as he caught sight of a small group making their way towards him and Penelope. The thief felt a wave of relief as he counted four figures amongst them, meaning they had all gotten away safely. He took a few steps towards them to meet them part of the way as they approached.

At the front of the group, Simon halted as his eyes fell on Penelope. “Raven,” he said sternly, glancing back at the female thief over his shoulder. “You didn’t mention he wasn’t alone.”

“Sorry,” Rikki shrugged. “I guess I got too caught up in the moment to notice.”

“Well, it would have been nice to know,” the blonde thief muttered, turning back to face Crow warily. “What’s going on? Why is she here?”

“Calm down,” Crow rolled his eyes. “I ran into a bit of trouble with a patrol, and Penelope helped me out of it. Her camp is far from here, so I told her she could stay with us for the night as thanks for her help.”

“How do you know she won’t just turn around and tell her little armored friends where we’re hiding?” Hazel spoke up accusatively. “I don’t like the idea of a noble knowing where we are.”

“She knew about our last camp and never said anything then,” Crow narrowed his eyes at the herbalist. “She’s already proven to everyone here time and time again that she’s trustworthy. None of you have any grounds to doubt her.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Hazel grumbled.

“Speaking of our last camp,” Alistair spoke up. “Do you know if the knights found it? We had to leave most of the supplies behind to get out quickly.”

Crow shifted his weight, “They did.”

“Damn it,” Rikki spat. “They probably took everything back.”

“We can worry about that tomorrow,” Crow said dismissively. “Right now, Penelope and I need to get settled in. I’m assuming you all made a camp down there, right?”

“Of course,” Rikki nodded. She trotted up to Penelope and linked her arm with the knight’s. “I’ll help you prepare a bed,” she offered with a friendly smile. “We don’t have enough mats, since we weren’t expecting a sixth person, but you can take Alistair’s. He’s fine with sleeping on the ground.”

“Hey!” the other thief protested with a frown.

“Come on,” Rikki tugged on Penelope’s arm, ignoring her friend’s outburst. “Let’s get you settled in.”

Watching the scene in amusement, Crow took a step to follow them into the valley, but stopped when Hazel intercepted him suddenly. “Before you go, I need to talk to you,” she said with a glare.

The thief hesitated, glancing up at Penelope. Desiring to make the most of their extra time together, he wanted to go with her to set up his own bed, but he also knew Hazel didn’t speak with him unless she had something important to say. He let out his breath in a quiet sigh. “Alright,” he nodded at the herbalist and then looked up at the knight with a shrug. “I guess I’ll be back in a bit.”