Crow was just about to lead the way to the nearest empty table when a new voice spoke up that made his stiffen. He turned to see that Gavin was making his way over with suspicion written on his face as usual. He had been hoping to find some time away from the wary knight, but it seemed like the man was determined to keep him in his sight at all times. To make matters worse, Penelope was quick to invite her former suitor to come drinking with them.

[i]This is fine,[/i] he thought as he followed the others over to the empty table, swallowing his nervousness. [i]I can still make this work.[/i] Shortly after he sat down, a wench came over to take their orders. He put in a request for a mug of ale and then turned back to the other three. No matter which way he looked at it, it was going to be difficult for him to weasel his way out of this one. They had all firmly decided to question the drunken villagers, so if he tried to hinder their efforts, any one of them could catch on. He had to find a way to throw them off more subtly.

After a short time, the wench returned with their drinks. When she set down his mug on the table, Crow offered her a quick word of thanks and lifted the drink to his lips, taking a slow draught as he continued to ponder over his dilemma. However, he didn’t get much thinking done before another voice spoke up near his ear.

“Heey,” Olivia drawled, leaning over him with a deep frown. She and Alistair had gotten up from their table and made their way to join the others across the tavern. “I thought you said you weren’ gonna drink?”

“I never said that,” Crow said, leaning away from her to get away from the smell of alcohol on her breath.

“Does tha’ mean you’re gonna drink with us?” the knight grinned, throwing an arm over his shoulders.

Crow opened his mouth to remind her that he still wasn’t going to get drunk, but then paused. He wasn’t quite sure how yet, but it felt like he could use this situation to his advantage if he managed to play his cards right. “You know what? Fine,” he sighed. “I still don’t plan to have too much, but I suppose I’ll humor you a bit.”

“Ooh,” Rikki grinned, shifting a little closer from where she sat at his side. “I smell a drinking contest.”

“Out of the question,” Gavin growled, eyeing the group with contempt from where he sat. “We’re here for business, not pleasure. We can’t have everyone getting drunk and drawing unnecessary attention to ourselves.”

“Too late now,” Alistair laughed, bringing his mug to his lips to take another long draught. He turned to Rikki with a competitive expression. “Bring it on, small stuff. I’ll defeat you any day!”

“Oh yeah?” Rikki met his look with a challenging grin of her own. She elbowed Crow at her side. “Come on, let’s show those drunken fools that we can outdrink them any day!”

Crow rolled his eyes, “I only said I would drink with you. I never said anything about participating in a competition. No thank you.” He brought his mug to his mouth and took a sip in a more tamed manner.

“Weak,” Rikki taunted before lifting her drink and downing the whole thing in one go.

“You idiots are going to ruin this mission,” Gavin said sternly. “Stop this before it gets out of hand.” Unfortunately, his efforts only earning him a snicker from Olivia, who downed the rest of her mug as well. The knight groaned and turned to Penelope with a pleading look, silently begging for her help to regain control over the situation.