Crow’s eyes flicked towards Gavin as the knight tried to get involved. He clenched his jaw, wishing Penelope’s former suitor would stay out of their affairs. His blind hatred wasn’t going to help anything when the thief needed her to see that he wasn’t trying to deceive her anymore. The sword in his hands certainly wasn’t helping either, since the thief had to keep it in the corner of his eye at all times. If the knight charged at him, he needed to be prepared to escape.

His eyes drifted back to Penelope in mild surprise as she gestured for her comrade to lower his weapon. Holding his breath, he let a small bubble of hope rise up in his chest. Was she going to give him a chance after all? It certainly looked that way, since she had stopped Gavin from attacking him. Perhaps there was still some trust inside of her despite everything that had happened. His heart pounded nervously as he forced himself to wait patiently for her reply.

Unfortunately, her first words were far from what he had expected them to be, and his hopes were dashed once again as she said that she shouldn’t trust him. He bit his tongue, fighting the urge to tell her how wrong she was. He may have sided with Jaxon, and he may have been willing to work for the enemy kingdom, but everything he did had always been for her. In every decision he made, she had been at the forefront of his mind. He just wished there was some way to make her understand that.

[color=fff79a][b]“I’ll give you a chance though.”[/b][/color]

Crow nearly swayed on his feet, he was so weak with relief. Even after she had seen him with their enemy, Penelope was still willing to let him prove himself to her. He couldn’t begin to express how grateful he was for her patience. Of course, Gavin tried to intervene and change her mind, but she seemed firm in her decision. He opened his mouth to tell her that she wouldn’t regret showing him mercy and that he wouldn’t let her down again, but she spoke first.

His resolve wavered slightly as she told him that he was going to have to earn her trust back this time, and he shifted his weight uncomfortably as she demanded to know where Jaxon’s camp was. “I do know where it is,” he admitted quietly, lowering his gaze. “But… it’s not that easy.” He forced himself to look up at her again with a grimace. “He made me pledge that I wouldn’t tell anyone. If he finds out I did, he’ll kill all of us.”

“I knew it,” Gavin scoffed, turning to Penelope. “See? This bastard isn’t going to help us. All he cares about is protecting his criminal friends. We need to end it before he lets anyone else get hurt.”

“That’s not true,” Crow snapped suddenly, narrowing his eyes at the knight. “Why can’t you see that I’m trying to protect you both? I always have been. It’s what I was doing when you followed me the last time too! I wasn’t [i]threatening[/i] you when I said you would die if you didn’t keep your nose to yourself, I was trying to [i]warn[/i] you that Jaxon would kill you if you insisted on getting involved. But of course, you didn’t listen, and now look what happened! You killed one of his men, and now he’s hellbent on getting revenge.” He curled his hands into fists, trembling slightly as he tried to reign in his temper. “Now, he’s just going to keep sending assassins after you until you die, and there’s nothing more that I can do to convince him not to.”