Penelope noticed Rikki had a difficult time meeting her gaze and even seemed to hesitate before replying. It seemed whatever blind relief the female thief had had over hearing Crow was still alive was beginning to wear off. Luckily that didn't seem to get in the way of her letting the knights help them though. As she gestured over to the other two thieves, Penelope nodded her head and wasted no time in beginning to walk over to them to avoid lingering around Rikki. 

"Wow.. I think she might dislike you even more than before." Olivia snickered under her breath as she moved up besides Penelope. "I would have thought you bringing the news would have changed her tune at least a little."

Penelope shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah well.. It doesn't matter. Come on, let's help them."

The female knight walked over to Hartley's side while she noticed Olivia swing around to join Alistair. Hartley turned to her with a friendly smile and Penelope found herself glad to have him there for company. She moved to begin helping him crush up the herbs and struck up a conversation with the young thief, which was rather easy to do since there was plenty to speak about after having been apart since he had reunited with Kip. The thought of it made her heart swell with affection as she was reminded that it was around then that she and Crow had first admitted their feelings for each other. She let out a small sigh as with it she felt another pang of longing to be at his side again.

"Sooo can we catch up now?" Hartley asked hopefully, disrupting her thoughts. "I want to know all about what happened at the castle. Oh and after too!"

"As long as you can multitask I don't see a problem with it." Penelope said with a hint of amusement. She paused and eyed the others nearby before lowering her voice. "But.. We've got to be quiet.. I'm not sure how much everyone here knows about Crow's past... And aside from that, I'm not sure how much I want them to know either."

Hartley frowned. "But they're his friends, aren't they?"

"Yes but everyone has their secrets." Penelope mused softly with a shrug. 

"I guess... I'll be quiet and I won't say anything then." he promised with a smile. 

Penelope nodded her head and began to quietly tell him the story about what had occurred at the castle in Younis. It was the first time she had ever told the full story out loud since most of her reports to other knights had been lies in order to keep her relationship and closeness with the thief unknown. She still recalled the raid rather clearly, able to picture the castle in the pouring rain rather vividly. With it she was also reminded of poor Abraxas, whos death she still blamed herself for. She let out a soft sigh and skipped over telling Hartley that particular detail. 

As she finished with explaining that they had managed to get the staff from the castle, she paused to look around and make sure the others weren't paying attention. Luckily Olivia and Alistair seemed too wrapped up in their own conversation, which seemed to be a bit more serious than their usual ones as she notice Olivia eying him with a soft expression, Hazel was too far to have heard and Rikki seemed to be keeping a distance from her as they all worked. Looking back to Hartley, the young thief was grinning, clearly entertained by the story. 

"So what happened after that? I heard rumors that the staff disappeared. Is it true?" he asked. 

Penelope faltered and glanced down at the herbs. "Ah I think we're done. We should see what the next step is." she mumbled switching the topic as she instead looked over at Rikki to see if the oil was ready.