The next day, Crow woke up early in his anticipation to prepare for his next trip with the knights. Since he had told Alistair and Rikki the truth about what he had been doing during his last absence, there was no point in trying to hide his plans from them anymore. So, he didn’t bother telling them the lie he had come up with as he packed his bag with supplies for the journey to Wheldrake. This time, he made sure to bring extra bandages both to redress his wound and to take care of any future injuries, should he receive any.

Unfortunately, he didn’t get much done before the sound of his shuffling about roused Rikki and Alistair from their slumber. “You’re leaving again already?” Alistair asked tiredly, shaking his head to clear away his grogginess.

“Not now, but soon, yes,” Crow said without looking up from the bag he was kneeling beside. He wavered for a moment before adding: “We need to catch Jaxon before he has a chance to do any more damage.”

Alistair and Rikki exchanged a look before Alistair cleared his throat, “We want to come with you too.”

“Yeah,” Rikki chimed in, climbing to her feet from her bed. “Jaxon killed one of our own. We’re going to help you take him down for good.”

Crow eyed them hesitantly. He still wanted to keep them out of the hunt for their old leader, but Jaxon had proven that wouldn’t be possible when he attacked them in their own home. He shifted his weight uncomfortably. Perhaps before he would have been more inclined to accept their offer to help, but now that he was working alongside the very man they were trying to catch, he wasn’t sure what to do. If something went wrong, he didn’t want them to get caught up in the middle of it.

“I appreciate the offer,” he said slowly. “But I’m working directly with knights. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to be part of that.”

“I don’t care,” Alistair shrugged. “I’d even work with mercenaries if it meant we would bring Jaxon down faster.”

“The same goes for me,” Rikki said in agreement.

Crow chewed on the inside of his lip. It seemed like his companions wouldn’t be so easily dissuaded. “What about Hazel?” he asked, trying a different approach. “If you both come with me, no one will be left to make sure she’s safe.”

That seemed to make them pause.

“That’s true,” Rikki casted a concerned look at Alistair. “We can’t just leave her alone while Jaxon is still on the loose.”

Alistair folded his arms over his chest, “I suppose so…” Suddenly, he blinked as he was struck with an idea. “But we could always take turns keeping watch over her.”

Crow groaned inwardly. It seemed like there would be no convincing them to stay behind. He opened his mouth to try another approach, but another voice spoke up before he could say a word.

“Don’t waste your time sitting around here with me,” Hazel, who had just emerged from the tunnel, said softly. She crossed one arm over her middle in a defensive posture when the thieves turned to look at her.

“You’re up,” Alistair said in surprise.

“Of course I’m up,” Hazel curled her lip. “You three were making so much noise, I just had to come out and see what all the commotion was about.” She lowered her gaze to the ground, all irritation fleeing from her features. “Anyway, you should all leave together. I’ll be fine on my own.”

“What if Jaxon comes back to take revenge for us leading him astray again?” Rikki protested.

“I’ll just stay in the deeper caverns,” Hazel said simply. “I can even take all of our supplies with me. This place is such a maze; he’ll probably just assume we all left to get away from him.” Her eyes hardened. “If there’s even a chance that you three can avenge Simon, then I refuse to be the one to hold you back.”

“We will,” Alistair promised. He turned back to Crow with a smirk. “Looks like it’s settled.”

“It would seem so,” Crow forced a smile despite the sinking feeling in his stomach. “Pack your things then. We need to leave first thing tomorrow morning.”

“While we’re at it, why don’t we help Hazel move the rest of our supplies into the tunnels?” Rikki suggested, offering the herbalist a friendly smile. “There’s far too much here for one woman to handle alone.”

Hazel rolled her eyes, “I’m more than capable.”

“Maybe so,” Alistair shot her a grin. “But that doesn’t mean we’re going to stand aside while you break your back over those heavy crates.” He gestured to Crow. “Come on. Let’s take care of those for her.”

Crow’s eyes flicked briefly towards Hazel. After she had spoken to him so harshly about what had happened, he felt like he was walking on eggshells around her. “Alright,” he said after a moment, rising to follow the other thief over to the supplies.

They all spent the rest of the day moving and packing gear as well as strategizing about what to do if they managed to track down Jaxon’s band of thieves. However, the preparations only served to worsen Crow’s unease about the upcoming trip. He had an edge over both the knights and the thieves, since they would freely tell him their plans, but he still had to tread carefully around them in order to keep from getting caught working for Jaxon. It was a touchy situation to be in.

So, when darkness eventually fell and they all settled down for bed, he welcomed the distraction that sleep would bring him, if only for a little while. He laid down on his mat nearby Alistair and Rikki, drawing his blanket fully over his head and closing his eyes tightly. His insides felt like they were twisting with anxiety about meeting with the knights the next day. He wished desperately that he could convince Penelope to stop accepting his help on their mission—to warn her of the potential danger he could be putting her and her comrades in—but he couldn’t think of any way to do so without alerting her that something was wrong and therefore breaking his deal with Jaxon. He was helpless to stop the wheels of the scheme the manipulative man had set in motion.

[i]Please, just let this journey be over quickly…[/i] he silently pleaded as he faded into sleep.