Crow felt a wave of relief when Penelope said that her barons had agreed to the guards she had chosen for him. It would be nice to not have to worry about being attacked in his sleep by a bitter knight while he was stuck recovering in their camp. Even if some of his guards weren’t overly fond of him, he would at least be able to rest easy knowing that Penelope had deemed them safe enough to leave with him unattended. He was glad that she had managed to protect him one more time.

However, the moment of respite didn’t last long before Penelope added something he wasn’t as thrilled to hear. As she leaned closer to tell him that Layth had been given permission to stop by unannounced, the thief felt a shiver of nervousness run up his spine. Her brother probably hated him more than any other knights in the camp. After their fight in Grimsby and his last escape from the ‘interrogation,’ he dreaded to think what the temperamental man might do if he decided to visit while he was unable to defend himself this time.

Crow squeezed Penelope’s hand subconsciously, his heart beginning to pound as his instinct to run kicked in. He hated feeling so vulnerable, but with a severe wound still fresh in his abdomen, there was nothing he could do if Layth chose to interrogate him again. It was already going to be hard enough to heal from the injury he had. He couldn’t imagine recovering from being impaled [i]and[/i] having the rest of his body be battered from another round of ‘questioning.’ If Layth and his goons were as vicious as they had been the last time, they might even kill him while he was too weak to even eat. The thought made him shift restlessly.

Taking a shaky breath to calm down, he shook his head. “No, it’s not your fault,” he said, looking up to meet Penelope’s gaze again. “You were right not to fight it. Layth could have used your objection to put his own guards in place.” He offered her a halfhearted smile, tracing his thumb gently over her hand. “If putting up with your hardheaded brother means you’ll get to keep working as a lieutenant, then that’s just what I’ll have to do.”