Crow nodded as Penelope agreed that she might have to pretend to continue her courtship with Gavin. He didn’t like thinking about what that might entail, but he was glad that she was willing to do it if she had to. If John found out about their relationship, he could kiss any prospect of keeping his hands goodbye, and that was if the knight didn’t order his execution first. He shuddered at the image of the man storming into the tent with his sword drawn to kill him.

What she said about her father ordering her into a new courtship didn’t sit well with him either. Even if John—by some miracle—chose to let him off easy, there was no way he would support his daughter being with a thief. He would probably do everything in his power to separate them and force her to marry a nobleman as quickly as he could to prevent them from getting back together again.  No matter what lengths they had to go to keep their relationship a secret, it would be worth it as long as her father never discovered the truth, so he wouldn’t be able to get between them.

As Penelope went on to explain to him about what had happened between her and her father, Crow listened quietly, surprised to find out that John had stripped her from her work as a knight. Somehow, the knowledge made him feel a pang of anger towards the man. In all the time he’d spent with her, he had learned that her job was one of the most important things in her life. To take that away from her because she was even more passionate about it after losing the staff seemed cruel.

He studied her with a hint of interest in his gaze as she told him that her father had forced her to become a ‘proper’ noblewoman. It was hard for him to imagine her performing the menial tasks and duties of a wife. It was no wonder she had been so upset at the time. He was glad that Mia had come along to rescue her from such an unfitting fate. She was much better suited for the adventurous life of a knight than the subjection of becoming a housewife against her will.

At the thought, he felt a brief flash of guilt, knowing she would be losing the exact same thing when she left with him for the outer villages. However, it didn’t last long. She had already assured him time and again that she wouldn’t regret running away with him. And besides, living with a thief was a much more unpredictable life than wedding a nobleman. Whether he wanted to or not, he was going to give her an adventurous life whenever the war finally ended.

Crow nodded at her final comment about pretending to court Gavin. “I’m not worried about you,” he said with a shrug. “You’ve gotten good at lying, so I have no doubt that you’ll be able to fool him. My fear lies with Gavin.” He frowned slightly. “Do you think he’ll be able to lie convincingly enough to trick your father? He hasn’t been very good at it in the past, and I’m a bit concerned that your father will see through him, or at least think something is suspicious.”