“Nothing we can do about it now, I guess,” Crow shrugged when Penelope said she had been hoping Gavin would trust him more with time. “He’s got it in his head that I’m the real enemy here, so unless we can find a way to give him solid proof that it wasn’t me, I doubt he’s going to let it go anytime soon.” [i]Plus, he’s sort of right now,[/i] he added silently as they headed over to pack up the rest of their things. [i]Now that I’m working under Jaxon, I am one of the enemies.[/i] The thought made him feel sick, so he pushed it aside, wanting to focus on happier subjects during what could possibly be his last full day with Penelope on this mission.

Once they were done putting their supplies away, Crow walked with Penelope to join the others at the edge of the clearing. Right away, he could tell that amongst all of the ones who had gotten drunk the night before, the two of them had come off the best. Alistair and Olivia both looked visibly sick, with pale complexions and pained expressions, and Rikki wasn’t much better off either. The female thief was keeping her composure better than the others, but she still winced slightly from a headache of her own. All together, their patrol was looking quite ragged that morning.

He turned towards Gavin as the knight directed them to get moving and fell in step beside Penelope as they made their way northeast towards their separate camps.

--

The trip back was pleasantly uneventful. Crow didn’t see a single patrol along the way, which he thought was odd considering how determined the knights were to catch the thieves who had raided their camp. However, he didn’t question the lack of patrols too much, deciding to just appreciate their good fortune to have made it to Myrefall without running into any trouble instead. The barons had probably just decided to send their men to a different part of the outer villages, since they hadn’t had any luck searching the southwestern side.

When they reached the main road that would take the knights on their separate way back to their camp, Crow took Penelope by the hand and gave her a soft tug to indicate that he wanted to stop. Pulling her aside from the rest of the group, he casted a quick glance at the others to make sure they had some space, and then wrapped his arms around her in an embrace. “This is always my least favorite part,” he sighed, resting his head against hers for a moment before pulling back again to meet her gaze with a concerned frown. “When do you think your baroness will let you leave again? I can’t imagine she’ll be happy to find out you didn’t learn anything useful after two long trips.”