The rest of the trip to Black Hollow was mostly uneventful. About halfway there, the thieves ran into a small patrol of local knights, but they managed to lose them easily enough after a bit of running. From there, they had no more trouble and made it to the village just as the sun was nearing the horizon. As planned, they split off into pairs when they reached the main road. Alistair and Hazel headed for the fields to try and catch the farmers before they went home while Crow and Rikki made their way to the local tavern to question the village drunks.

After they parted ways with the others, the two thieves spent most of the remaining walk in silence. Crow busied himself by looking over the village. He hadn’t been to this particular one in quite a while, since it was located far enough within Brerra’s territory that the locals hadn’t really seen many battles. He’d always found it a bit unsettling. Located at the base of a vast cliff to the south, Black Hollow was almost always blanketed in shadows, giving it a dark and dismal atmosphere. It was how the village had received its name in the first place.

The people who lived there were friendly enough—most of them were miners who used the resources within the cliff to make a living—but the lack of direct sunlight had always bothered the thief, so he didn’t often visit unless he had a good reason to do so. Apparently, a fake lead to find a murderer was good enough this time.

“So,” Rikki’s voice broke the silence between them after a while. He glanced down at her to see that she had tilted her head back to gaze up at the massive rock wall with a thoughtful expression. “Why couldn’t the knights come with us this time? Did they give up?”

“No,” Crow shook his head, averting his gaze uncomfortably as the recalled what Penelope had told him about the attack on their camp. “They had to stay behind to help their comrades… The Younisians struck their camp while we were in Wheldrake.”

“Really?” Rikki turned to him with raised brows and whistled softly. “They certainly didn’t waste any time.” She paused for a moment before going on in a low voice, “Hey, Crow?”

“Hm?”

“It’s seems to me that the Younisians’ attack was planned,” she said slowly, as if piecing an idea together. “Do you think Jaxon did it? Took the deal they’ve been offering us, I mean?” She frowned worriedly. “If he’s being backed by the other kingdom, it might be harder than we thought to bring him down.”

Crow wavered before answering. After speaking directly with the man, himself, he knew fully well that Jaxon had taken the Younisians’ deal. “I think so,” he admitted after a moment.

Rikki pulled at the sleeve of her shirt, fidgeting in obvious discomfort as she spoke up again, “Do you think… do you think we should take it too?”

Crow turned to her in unbridled surprise, but before he could question her, she spoke first.

“Just hear me out,” she said, looking up at him with nervous eyes. “This war is going to end one way or another. If we can’t stop Jaxon, he’s going to keep sabotaging the battalions of our kingdom, and the Younisians are going to trample them. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be on the losing side of this thing when it’s over.” She bit her lip and lowered her gaze. “If the Younisian barons will still take our help, it might not be the worst thing to join their side.”

Crow remained quiet as she finished speaking, considering her idea. If he was honest with himself, it didn’t sound like the worst plan. With the way things were going, it was really starting to look like Brerra had no chance of coming back. Once Younis took the outer villages, it was only a matter of time before they conquered the rest of the kingdom as well. Before, he had denied their offer for an alliance because he hadn’t wanted to take sides in a back-and-forth war, but now, the survivalist inside of him was starting to believe it would be wise to earn the favor of the winning kingdom.

But he couldn’t do that to Penelope.

As much as he wanted to come out of the war on the winning side and guarantee that he wouldn’t be forced into slavery with the rest of the Brerratic peasants—if the enemy kingdom chose to enslave them, that is—he couldn’t just abandon her. If she went down with the rest of the nobles, he was going to be at her side.

“I can’t,” he said at last, meeting her gaze with a pained expression. “You and the others can speak to the Younisian barons if you wish, but I’m not coming. Whatever happens, I’m going to stay with Penelope. I have to make sure she’s safe.”

Rikki studied him with a frown, “You’d really give up your own security for her?”

He nodded, “I love her. I’m not going to save myself if it means letting her fall alone.”

She pursed her lips, looking away from him for a long moment before murmuring, “What if you could save her too?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” Rikki’s voice grew a little more hopeful. “If we help the Younisians, they’re going to owe us big time. I’m sure they would be accommodating if you asked them to spare her when they win this war, especially if you took the favor in place of gold.” She looked up at him again. “If we join them, you could save yourself and Penelope from slavery. It’s a win win.”

Crow shifted his weight. The idea of turning on Penelope in the middle of the war like that was still off-putting to him. “I don’t know…”

“Just think about it,” she said, holding up a hand to keep him from answering her now. “I hate the thought of working with a bastard like Jaxon just as much as you do, but at this point, I really think it’s worth considering.” She offered him a small smile. “Can you promise me you’ll do that?”

Crow hesitated for a long pause before he finally nodded, “I will.”

“Alright then,” Rikki perked up a bit, hastening her pace as the tavern came into view up ahead. “Come on, let’s see if we can find that viper before you even need to make any hard decisions.”