Crow nodded and reluctantly followed Penelope’s lead as she got up from the bedroll. He wished they’d had more time to lay next to each other before getting up to leave, but he knew that loitering would just irritate Gavin. If they didn’t listen to the knight’s orders, he would make their trip back to the camp unbearable. So, he stood up after her and rolled up the mat they had slept on, packing it away with the rest of his supplies and heading out into the main room, where her former suitor was waiting for them.

The knight said nothing as they approached and kept his gaze fixed on the door to their room as he waited for Olivia, who was still putting away her things, to join them.

After a short while, the female knight ambled tiredly out of the room with a yawn. “It’s way too early for this,” she grumbled, adjusting the pack on her shoulder. “Aren’t we even going to have breakfast?”

“You can eat on the walk,” Gavin said. “We need to get back to the barons as soon as possible to inform them of what we learned on our patrol.” Once again, his eyes wandered accusatively toward Crow.

“Great,” Olivia groaned.

Crow glanced at her briefly before resting his gaze on Gavin. “You sound like you learned nothing,” he narrowed his eyes. “But we’ve figure out the thieves weren’t in Whitebridge or Aramoor, and we may have even found a tail in Wheldrake. I’d call that a successful patrol.”

“We’ll see,” Gavin replied in obvious disbelief.

The thief just shook his head in response. The knight had made it quite clear that his mind couldn’t be changed once it had been made up, so there was no point in trying to bother.

“Are you all leaving already?” another voice spoke up from the staircase.

Crow turned to see Silas and Zenith heading down the steps to see them off. They looked tired, as if they had just woken up.

“We are,” he answered with a bashful grin. “I’m sorry if we woke you. We’ll be out of your hair in no time.”

“It’s no trouble at all,” Zenith waved a dismissive hand. “We wanted to see you off.”

“And also to thank you for your help,” Silas added. He stepped over and wrapped the thief in a friendly embrace, clapping him on the back once with his hand. “My wife told me about the money you gave to us. I can’t express enough how grateful I am.”

Crow blinked, hesitating for a moment before he returned the gesture. “Think of it as my way of saying thanks for the help you’ve both given to me during the war,” he said with a shrug.

Silas pulled away from him and beamed, “Either way, we really appreciate your help. I hope you find whoever it is that you’re looking for.”

“Thanks,” Crow dipped his head. “Me too.”

The peasant man looked to the three knights with a friendly expression, “Good luck to all of you. If you ever find yourselves in Aramoor again, please stop by to say hello.”

“We will,” Gavin bowed his head respectfully, surprising Crow with the sincerity in his gesture. He had never seen a knight act so respectfully toward someone of a lower class. 

Once everyone was ready to go, Gavin addressed the group with a curt: “Let’s move out.”