“You’ll see,” Crow winked at Penelope when she asked where he wanted to go. He was glad she was willing to stay up a bit later to get away with him one more time. While he enjoyed the time they had together in the thieves’ temporary camp, he wanted to fit in as much time alone with her as he could get before she had to leave to get back to the other knights in the morning. As long as his companions were around, he couldn’t get as close to her as he wanted to, and after everything that happened that day, he had no idea when they would be able to see each other again.

He turned back to watch the other thieves, hoping to find an opportune moment to slip away from them, but then stopped as he locked eyed with Hazel across the fire. The herbalist seemed to be observing him and Penelope much more closely since their conversation in the woods. Not sure what to think about that, he held her gaze unwaveringly until she looked away. Letting out his breath in a quiet sigh, he leaned back on his palms and subtly slid one hand over to rest against the knight’s, taking advantage of the darkness to get just a little bit closer to her without arousing suspicion. Now that he knew Hazel was watching them, he was more eager than ever to get out of the camp and away from her critical gaze.

With the herbalist looking away from them, a short and somewhat peaceful moment passed. Crow stretched his legs out and closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth of the fire on his face and the comfort of Penelope’s presence at his side. He found himself wishing that she could just stay with him instead of returning to her own camp. It would be nice to have her around all the time, but he knew he couldn’t ask such a thing of her. She had her own responsibilities in the war, ones that he knew she couldn’t simply abandon to join a band of thieves. It wasn’t that easy.

The brief silence was interrupted as the sound of approaching footsteps drew his attention. He opened his eyes again to see that Rikki had come over to sit by his other side. As usual, the female thief leaned in close to him, and he had to force himself not to pull away from her as she spoke, “You’re awfully quiet tonight, hmm?”

“Just a bit tired,” Crow lied with a shrug, not wanting her to know that he was distancing himself from them to be with Penelope.

“Too tired to come drinking with us in Azmar?” she nudged him playfully. “The rest of us are going out to celebrate all five of us making it here alive.”

“Even Simon?” he quirked a brow in surprise.

“Yeah,” she grinned. “Hazel convinced him to come.” Leaning in even closer to him, she lowered her voice to a whisper. “I think he fancies her.”

“Is that so?” Crow bit his tongue to stifle an amused smirk at Rikki’s quick perception.

“I’d bet money on it,” she nodded. “Anyway, you should come with us. It’ll be fun.” Peering around him, she casted Penelope a friendly smile. “You should come too. Alistair gets pretty fun when he’s drunk.” She winked at the knight suggestively, and Crow averted his gaze, biting back a laugh.

“Thanks for the offer, but I think I’m going to have to pass this time,” he said with a yawn, and then glanced at the knight. “And I’m sure Penelope wouldn’t want to make the trip back to her camp hungover. Right, love?”

“Are you sure?” Rikki deflated slightly. Her eyes flicked towards Penelope for a moment, before she looked back at him and went on in a murmur, “I was kind of hoping we could pick up that raincheck tonight…”

“Sorry,” he shrugged apologetically. “Not this time.”

The female thief shook her head and let out a quiet huff, “You’re the first man I’ve met who has more resolve than I do. But fine. Just don’t keep me waiting around much longer. This girl’s got needs too.”

“Alright,” he rolled his eyes as she stood up again to rejoin his other companions as they prepared to leave for Azmar.

Turning back to Penelope, he grinned excitedly, “Looks like we won’t need an excuse to leave now, as long as we wait for them to go first.”