As Olivia spoke up, Crow casted her a sideways glance before turning to Penelope and listening to her reply. He wondered just how much she had told her friend about the thieves they were going to be dealing with. By the sound of their conversation, it seemed like she was still trying to imply that their enemies weren’t very well known. He appreciated that she was keeping his secrets, but he also felt that in this case, it would be better for him to share at least some of the information he had on Jaxon’s group so they all knew what they were going up against. If Olivia and Gavin went into this mission just expecting regular thieves who weren’t afraid to kill, they were going to be in for an unpleasant surprise.

In his momentary lapse in focus, he missed the look that Gavin gave him. Instead, what drew his attention back to the conversation was Penelope’s mention of hoping that they would get back some of the stolen supplies. He shifted his weight uncertainly, averting his gaze. Knowing that the journey to Younis didn’t take much longer than a day or so, he wasn’t very confident that they would get much back, if anything at all. It had already been two days since the raid, so the thieves were probably well on their way to the Younisian baron’s camp by now. The only way he and the knights could catch up now was if Jaxon’s men had decided to take some time to rest before leaving to sell off the weapons.

[i]It’s unlikely, but it’s not impossible,[/i] he thought, trying to stay optimistic. The journey from the inner kingdom could have left them tired if they had gotten to the outer villages recently enough. Perhaps it wasn’t too much to hope that they were still sitting on the supplies they had taken.

[color=fdc68a][b]“One more question.”[/b][/color] Crow blinked and looked up at Olivia as she spoke up again, noticing that she seemed to be directing her words at him now. [color=fdc68a][b]“Why are we just working with you? Not that I have a problem with it, but where are the other thieves right now?”[/b][/color]

“They’re staying behind in our camp,” he shrugged. “It’s too much of a risk for all four of us to be out while there are so many patrols in the area. A bigger group is bound to draw attention, and I don’t want to risk any of their lives over this manhunt.”

“I see,” Olivia turned away from him again, seeming slightly disappointed.

“One thief is more than enough,” Gavin spoke up with a shake of his head. “The less criminals we include in this patrol, the better.”

“To that point, I think we could do with one less whiny knight,” Crow said blandly. “You ought to be a little more grateful for the help I’m offering, you know. It’s not every day you’ll find a thief who’s willing to work with you to track down his own people.”

“I never asked for your help,” Gavin glared at him. “We’re perfectly capable of catching bandits on our own.”

“Oh really?” Crow smirked wryly. “You had no idea these thieves even existed until I told you about them. If it wasn’t for my [i]unnecessary help[/i], you three wouldn’t have had the first clue where to look for them.”

“We would have figured it out on our own,” Gavin protested stubbornly.

“After they sold off all of your precious supplies and came back for more, perhaps,” the thief snorted. “Please. You need me, and you know it, so why don’t you be a good little knight and bite your tongue?”