After hearing what sounded like parting words, Penelope struggled to keep a straight face as she worked to wrap his injury. She refused to give up on him and had no intention of doing so until he took his last breath. Eventually she shifted out of the way to let Robin take over. The other knight was an older man with more experience and luckily, a merciful soul. He still didn't seem very pleased to be helping a thief but he didn't question her orders. Gavin ended up suggesting they make a makeshift stretcher out of the materials left behind by the thieves so while Robin treated Crow, another team of knights got to work on making that as a way to carry him back to camp. Once they had done all they could for Crow, they set out for their camp. Penelope was forced to lead the patrol, which meant she couldn't be next to Crow as her comrades carried him. However, she was comforted to notice that both Olivia and Gavin traveled near the thief at all times, occasionally helping to carry him as the knights switch off. It put her slightly at ease to know that, even though she couldn't watch over him directly, her two friends were doing it for her. --- The trip back to camp was long and tiring for the knights. Penelope refused to stop, pushing her patrol to travel through the night without a break as she didn't want to risk losing Crow just because they took too long. By the time they reached the camp, it was early morning and their arrival quickly caused a scene. She instructed Gavin and Robin to take Crow straight to Jane while she dealt with the barons. The rest of her patrol was quickly dismissed and allowed to hand over the supplies they had retrieved from the thieves' camp over to their comrades who had stayed at camp while they either headed off to sleep or get their wounds further treated. Word of Penelope bringing back the infamous thief spread quick and she soon found herself facing Mia. "What is the meaning of this Penelope?" Mia snapped. "Why have you brought that criminal here to be healed!" "I.. I had to." Penelope mumbled tiredly. The knight was drained of energy feeling exhausted both physically and emotionally. Though she should get sleep, all she wanted to do was run to Crow's side to make sure that he would survive. "He saved me, Mia. He's an ally." "An ally?" Mia's eyes widened in shock before she curled her lip. "Penelope are you telling me that you've been working with a criminal?" Penelope flinched at the anger in her voice and hesitated before nodding her head. There was no sense in denying it. Regardless of what she said, the barons would guess that she knew Crow a bit better than she let on so now it was just a matter of trying to string it in whatever way did less damage. "I have... But only to save our battalion. I told you I thought it might have been a group of thieves that was bigger than the one we were after and I was right. He helped me track them down... And when the leader tried to kill me he got in the way." "Why on earth would he do that?" "Perhaps he has some sense of righteousness. I don't know but he did it and I was obligated to repay that debt." Penelope replied and met her baroness' gaze. "I would have no sense of honor if I just let him die, Mia." The baroness shifted her weight at Penelope's words. The knight was glad that she seemed to have struck a cord with her, even though Mia clearly still didn't completely approve of her working with a thief that had been known to steal from them. Mia finally let out a frustrated sigh. "I suppose... But you working with him in the first place shouldn't have happened... We'll have to speak with the others about this. I imagine they wouldn't be thrilled to know we're harboring a criminal." she shook her head then looked down at Penelope. "Go get some rest. I'll have Tomas fetch you when it's time." Penelope dipped her head to her baroness and headed off to her tent without question. If she was going to have to explain herself to the others, keep her relationship with Crow a secret and save him all at the same time, she was going to need to be much more alert than she currently was. As she laid down, the knight almost instantly fell asleep. ---- "Working with a criminal. We should label you a traitor." Penelope let out a small sigh at her uncle's angry words. Edward and Layth were both furious while Bennet still seemed to be thinking the situation over. Mia had appeared to calm down and was now assessing the situation. The only one who seemed to be even remotely on her side was Tomas, who occasionally gave her looks of sympathy. She had to defend herself and Crow in what felt like a lion's den. "I did it for the good of this battalion. I'm the furthest thing from a traitor!" Penelope argued. "I worked with him so I could hunt down the thieves that raided our camp and I did. Now we have some of their supplies and that should get us through until our shipment comes in." "Yeah but you also brought the thief back with you and now you're demanding we keep him alive." Layth spat with venom. "He should have been left to die with the others." "He saved my life. I'd be even more heartless than a criminal to not do the same." Penelope spat back. "I think the real issue here is what comes next. Saving him will not change the fact that he is a criminal." Mia mused and she looked at Penelope questioningly. "So, how do you purpose we deal with him now?" Penelope froze at that and lowered her gaze. "I'm honestly not sure.. Something must be done but I don't know what the best course of action is." "Killing him was and is." Layth grumbled. "Might I suggest something?" Tomas spoke up now. He gave a small smile as the others turned to look at him. "I say we keep him prisoner for the time being. It'll take a while for him to heal and that'll give us time to sort out this mess... He is in stable condition now, correct Jane?" He turned to look over at the silent figure in the room. The physician had joined their meeting, having finished treating the thief a while ago, and had made a few comments that made it clear she was not fond of having to treat or even be close to the criminal. "For now, yes." she mused as she crossed her arms. "But as you said it'll be awhile before he makes a full recovery." "Right. So I say we take our time with this." Tomas said as he looked back to the barons. "We have the most wanted thief right in our camp. I see no reason to rush to a conclusion of what to do with him. Let's be smart about this." --- The barons were swayed by Tomas and though it didn't guarantee Crow's safety, it did buy him a good deal of time. Penelope hoped they'd be able to figure out a way to get him free before the barons made any final decisions. The meeting ended and it was nearly sundown. Having been busy ever since she set foot back into camp, she finally found the time to go with Jane back to her tent to visit Crow. She was eager to see how he was doing after the physician had helped him, even if he wasn't awake yet. However, she also wanted to go to make sure he was safe. Though the barons had agreed that he wouldn't be harmed, she worried that some angry knight might just be tempted to harm the thief while he was in such a weak state. Feeling a bit protective, Penelope planned to essentially act as a guard. "Well I'd welcome your company. They have him chained up for me but if he escapes somehow.." Jane shuddered. Penelope had managed to pass off her desire to spend time with Crow as a way of making sure he wasn't causing trouble or trying to escape. "I'll spend most of the night here then.. Maybe I can trade off with someone else later." she mused, quickly thinking that she could possibly enlist the help of Gavin, Olivia and Tomas. She trusted the older lieutenant wouldn't harm Crow and he was mellow enough that he likely would try to start a fight with the thief either. The two eventually reached the tent and stepped inside. Penelope looked over at Crow and felt her knees weak with relief at the sight of him. Not only was he patched up but she noticed he was awake as well. It took every ounce of self control that she had not to go running over to him. With Jane around, she couldn't risk it. "You're awake." she mused with a hint of surprise but otherwise forcing herself to keep a stoic expression. She exchanged a glance with Jane and stood back as she watched the physician move reluctantly to see her patient.