The rest of the night went by peacefully for the group. They enjoyed the hearty stew for dinner that Crow and Hazel had prepared and went over their plans for how they would approach questioning the villagers and go after Jaxon if their lead proved to be more useful than the last. Crow participated in the discussion, despite knowing they wouldn’t come away with anything useful. He doubted Jaxon’s band of thieves had been anywhere near Black Hollow, since they were camped on the other side of the outer villages. If they heard even a mention of the criminals, he would have been shocked.

As the sky grew darker and they all grew more tired, they eventually headed off to get some sleep, wanting to be well-rested for the remaining trek to the village as well as the busyness that the following night was going to bring. Crow laid out his bedroll and fell back on the mat with a weary yawn, hoping the rest of the trip would go by quickly so he could get back to Penelope again. Though he tried to distract himself with other things, he found that his mind frequently wandered back to the knight as he worried about her safety while he was gone.

[i]She’s probably fine,[/i] he thought, rolling onto his side and drawing his blanket up to his chin. [i]Gavin came after me of his own free will, and he didn’t even show his face until Jaxon left. There’s no way he could have found out I was followed.[/i] Feeling slightly reassured, he let out his breath in a long sigh as he finally managed to drift off to sleep.

--

The next morning was a busy one for the thieves. Crow was the first to wake up, so he went around to rouse the other three to begin tearing down their camp. They made quick work of rolling up their beds and disassembled the firepit, leaving scarcely a trace of their presence behind. Once all the work was done, they sat down to enjoy a simple breakfast of dark bread to fill their stomachs before they embarked on the rest of their walk to Black Hollow.

“When we get to the village, Rikki and I will check the tavern, while you two ask around the streets,” Crow said, reciting the plan they had made the night before. “At the end of the day, we’ll meet up again at our camp to go over what we find.” His green eyes swept over them sternly. “And remember: If anyone hears of any further leads, do [i]not[/i] follow it until after we’ve regrouped. I don’t want anyone being reckless and getting themselves killed tonight. Jaxon is too dangerous to approach blindly, so we need to make a plan if we find out he’s here. Got it?”

The other three nodded in response. A brief moment of silence passed before Rikki shifted a little closer to Crow. “I’m glad we’ll be working together,” she said, offering him a soft smile. “It’s been a while since you and I have teamed up to do anything like this. It’ll be fun.”

He casted her a long look before turning away again and nodding, “Right.” In truth, he was a little wary to be partnering with Rikki for the interrogation, since his trust in her was far from restored. Unfortunately, it was the best option he had. Alistair and Rikki were the two most impulsive members of the group, so he had to split them up for their own safety. While he doubted they would hear any word about Jaxon, there was always the slim chance that something would come up. If it did, Alistair and Rikki would be sure to run after it if they were working together.

Additionally, he needed to be at the tavern for the same reason. If a drunken villager said something about the thieves they were after, he needed to be able to intercept the lead. He couldn’t work with Hazel, and Alistair would just get drunk, so that left him with the only other member of the group: Rikki. He just hoped she would continue to keep her distance from him, as she had already been doing.

Once everyone had finished eating, Crow stood up and directed them all to gather their things so they could keep going. The others followed his lead, and soon they were on the move again, walking briskly in their goal to reach Black Hollow before sunset.