Crow stifled a yawn as he walked, halfheartedly performing a quick sweep of the forest around him, though he didn’t try very hard since there had been no patrols around all night, and he doubted he would run into any now. Instead, his attention was on reviewing how his meeting with Jaxon had gone. He was relieved that the other thief hadn’t asked him to do anything new during the next week, but he was still a little worried about the raid that had been mentioned.

He believed that Jaxon would keep his word about leaving Penelope out of it, but he also didn’t doubt that any of the other knights would be fair game. If the band of thieves killed more of her comrades, it was going to be partly his fault, since he knew what was coming and did nothing to warn them. The thought made his chest feel tight. He hated feeling so trapped. Jaxon’s threats were practically shackles that kept him bound and unable to prevent the destruction that was going to come. Instead, he was forced to stand by and watch everything unfold that he knew was coming like some sort of harbinger. It was sickening.

The thief was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t catch the faint rustle in the bushes ahead of him. What did catch his attention was the man that stepped out of them. He froze, wide eyed, as Gavin stepped into his path with a sword in his hand and a cold look in his eyes. [color=fdc68a][b]“Well, that sure was interesting,”[/b][/color] the knight growled. [color=fdc68a][b]“Care to explain what it was about, thief?”[/b][/color]

At first, Crow just stared at him in response, his mind blank as he floundered to understand what was happening. What was Gavin doing here? Where had he come from? How long had he been there? His eyes darted to the weapon in the other man’s hand as his instincts kicked in and shouted ‘danger.’ Whatever was going on, Gavin wasn’t here to have a peaceful conversation. That much could be determined from the unsheathed blade in his white-knuckled grip.

Not wanting to be caught without a way to defend himself, he drew the daggers he kept at his waist and took a step back in a defensive posture. Now feeling a little more prepared in case Gavin came after him, he began to work on what he was going to say to the knight. His mind raced as he put the pieces together. Somehow, this man had gone out searching for him and managed to find him while he was speaking to Jaxon. How much of the conversation he had overheard was still an unknown though. All he knew for sure was that Gavin had caught him meeting with the thief they were after.

Crow swallowed nervously, his heartbeat beginning to quicken as he realized the consequences of what had just happened. If Jaxon discovered that his cover had been blown, he would send some of his men to have the knight killed. That alone was bad enough, but to make matters worse, he had technically broken his end of the deal by being careless enough to let Gavin tail him. There was nothing left to keep Penelope safe. He felt the blood drain from his face as the image of the murderous thief killing her flashed through his mind.

[i]Why did he have to go looking for me tonight of all nights?[/i] He groaned inwardly.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll put your head down and keep walking,” Crow said, trying to hide his fear from the other man with a cold tone of voice. He would have preferred to lie his way out of the situation, but he knew Gavin would never believe anything he said. Besides, there was a chance that the knight had heard his entire conversation with Jaxon, in which case, there was no way he could convince him that he was mistaken. The next best thing was to try and scare him off and pray to the gods that Gavin wouldn’t call his bluff.