As the knights came closer, it grew harder for Crow to resist the urge to run. They were now near enough that he had to turn his face away, so they wouldn’t recognize him. Staring down at the ground, he fidgeted anxiously with the hilt of his dagger beneath his cloak, tempted to draw the blade, but holding himself back since he didn’t want to bring the knights’ attention to himself. His heart fluttered nervously in his chest as his mind raced to come up with options for himself if Gavin should fail to lead the other patrol off his trail.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t think of very many good ideas. His best bet would be to keep his face hidden if the knights approached him and take on an accent to change his voice. However, even that would only get him so far if they insisted on seeing his face. He let out his breath in a quiet sigh. As much as he didn’t want to get Penelope into trouble again, it was starting to look like he was just going to have to run if the patrol recognized him.

He glanced at her as she suddenly told Olivia to wait with him and began to approach the other knights with Gavin. Though the part of him that was jealous for her time didn’t like her going anywhere alone with her ex suitor, he was relieved she was going to help him come up with a lie to throw the patrol off. He knew nothing about Gavin’s ability to trick his comrades, but he knew he could trust her to think of something believable enough to convince them.

He hung back with Olivia, straining to listen to their conversation so he could be ready to run if he still needed to. As he did, he bristled at the sound of a familiar voice amongst the crowd. Of course, they just had to have the misfortune of running into Penelope’s brother, Layth of all people. He cursed under his breath, gripping the hilt of his dagger more seriously now that he knew Layth was the one they had to convince. If the knight decided to be disagreeable, he was going to be prepared to fight.

“Not a fan of Penelope’s charming little brother, huh?” Olivia eyed him with amusement as she noticed the way he had stiffened upon hearing Layth’s voice.

“Let’s just say the few times I’ve run into him haven’t been the most pleasant experiences of my life,” Crow muttered, recalling his first meeting with Layth two years back, their fight in the war, and the time when he had been caught by him and tortured for information. If his run-ins with the knight continued on the trajectory they were headed down now, he didn’t even want to think about what might happen the next time they confronted each other. As long as he had something to do about it, he was going to keep prolonging that encounter for as long as he could.

“Hm,” Olivia smirked. “I can’t say I blame you for disliking him after that little show he put on in our camp. That pretty face of yours was quite a mess when he was through with it. Although…” she folded her arms over her chest thoughtfully. “I have to wonder which of you would win in a fight if he didn’t have the advantage of chaining you to a tree. What do you think?”

Crow snorted, “Penelope didn’t tell you about the first battle in Grimsby?”

“Oh, she told me,” Olivia met his gaze with a sly expression. “But I only heard her side of the story: How you had nearly killed her brother and ended up stabbing her instead. I have to say, that’s not the best way to win a woman’s heart, Crow.”

The thief flushed and averted his gaze. He still felt guilty for what he’d done to her in that battle, even though she had said she’d forgiven him. The image of his blade sinking into her shoulder was burned into his memory like a nightmare he couldn’t forget. He wished he could change what had happened somehow to prevent her from getting hurt. “It sounds like you already know the answer to your question then,” he said bitterly.

“You’re not going to give me any of the details?” Olivia frowned disappointedly.

“I’d rather not talk about it,” he mumbled, turning away from her to cast a furtive glance towards the others. It looked like Penelope and Gavin had convinced Layth’s patrol that he was just an ordinary peasant. Now that the immediate danger had passed, he relaxed, though he narrowed his eyes as he heard Layth criticize Penelope for working with someone who was beneath them. He scoffed and shook his head. Her brother’s arrogance continued to astound him, and he couldn’t wait for their patrol to find and capture Jaxon and his men, if only to prove to him and the other elitist knights that the commoners could be useful too.

Eventually, Layth’s patrol left, and Penelope and Gavin walked back over to Crow and Olivia. The thief was quick to rejoin Penelope’s side, and as soon as her brother passed out of sight, he reached to take her hand in his. He smiled at her fondly and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “You’re getting good at this. He didn’t even doubt you for a second.”

Gavin eyed them for a moment and then turned away again with a frown. “We should keep moving,” he announced curtly. His voice was laced with annoyance, though Crow couldn’t tell if it was because of watching him and Penelope together or because he was uncomfortable knowing just how smooth of a liar the female knight had become.

The thief gave a shrug in response and followed along as Gavin took the lead again. This time, they all walked at a slightly quicker pace, eager to get away from the knights’ camp so they wouldn’t risk running into any more patrols.