It wasn’t long before the door opened again, and the knights stepped back inside the house. Crow looked up at them lazily without lifting more than his head from the ground. He wanted them to believe he had just woken up from a nap, after all. Stretching tiredly—he didn’t have to fake that much, since sitting around all day had left him feeling lethargic—he sat up to greet Penelope when she walked over to him. “That’s a shame,” he sighed as she told him she wasn’t sure whether or not they had been successful. “I wonder whose fault that was.” He shot an accusative look at Gavin to make it clear who he was speaking about.

[color=fdc68a][b]“I’m sure he already knows as much as we do at this point,”[/b][/color] the knight returned a suspicious look of his own. [color=fdc68a][b]“Right?”[/b][/color]

Crow stared at him blankly. He was a bit surprised that Gavin seemed to know he had been up to something, but it was hard to tell if he was aware of what he had done or if he was just trying to draw a reaction out of him. So, he elected to take on an innocent expression as he went on. “I’ve been here the whole time,” he waggled his chained hand to emphasize the point. “How would I know what you found out?”

“Don’t play dumb,” Gavin crossed his arms. “We caught your little spies following us through the village.”

Crow blinked. [i]So he does know.[/i] “Oh,” he turned towards Alice and Letha with a grin. “So that’s where you two ran off to, is it?” The girls giggled in response, clearly finding everything about the situation entertaining. Fortunately for the thief, their excitement wouldn’t be enough on its own to give him away. He turned back to Gavin with an amused smirk, “You can’t seriously be threatened by a couple of young girls, can you? I’m sorry, but that’s pathetic.”

Gavin flushed, seeming unsure what to do with the scene before him. “I know you’re lying,” he pressed, determined to draw the truth out of him. “Just admit it. You sent them to follow us, since you were stuck here.”

“And just why would I do that?” Crow rolled his eyes, laying back down again in an apathetic manner. He knew quite well the reason why he had done it. It had been a precaution in case Gavin had refused to keep him in the loop or tried to throw him off course with a false lead since he didn’t trust him. With Zenith’s daughters spying for him, he was on the same page as everyone else whether the knight liked it or not. Plus, if anything had gone wrong, he would have been able to reach Penelope more quickly. It had been a win win.

“Who knows why you thieves do anything?” Gavin muttered, although the conviction in his expression wavered slightly.

“It is a mystery, isn’t it?” Crow smirked. He raised his bound arm from where he laid, causing the chain to rattle in response to the motion. “Now can someone please take this annoying thing off of me and fill me in on what I missed?”