The next two weeks or so didn't go very smoothly. Penelope and Gavin keep up their charade of courting, which was rather rocky. She still felt bad about having to get so friendly with her ex suitor, even if Crow approved of it for the plan, and Gavin was reluctant to try and push any boundaries. Luckily they didn't usually have to share more than a quick kiss to the cheek—except for one time when Gavin was growing overly tense from John asking him about the battle with Jaxon. Penelope had kissed him both to keep him from speaking too much on their involvement with Crow as well as hoping to trick her father into thinking she was grateful to still be with the male knight.

To make matters worse, most of the time they had to take up their act around Crow since John had taken over guarding the thief most days. It seemed that because of the king's assignment, her father saw the thief as his responsibility now and would only be taken off of guarding him on occasion. This meant it was difficult for her to get as much time alone with him as before. She occasionally went a couple days in a row without a guard shift and would usually use visiting her father as an excuse to at least check in on the thief each day. Therefore, Penelope spent most of her time helping the others prepare for the next battle, which would be approaching soon now that they had received their supplies. 

The additional downside to that was John never backed down from speaking about her courtship with Gavin in front of Crow. She supposed it was a good sign, since he seemed oblivious to her relationship with the thief, but it always left the knight with a feeling of unease and discomfort of having to talk so seriously about marrying another man in front of the one she actually loved. It also made her worry about what would happen if the war didn't reach its end in time. It would be another challenge for her to get out of the marriage if it didn't. 

The situation wasn't enjoyable for anyone... Except, perhaps, Olivia. Her friend seemed completely entertained by the spectacle of seeing them tiptoe around and trick her father. She often didn't hold back on teasing them about it, often making them tense by giving false warnings of John being nearby to make them get closer. Eventually she settled down some as they didn't fall for her tricks as much but still seemed to enjoy teasing them on occasion. 

The one upside to the situation was that Crow was actually able to heal properly. John prevented any further harm and at times, Penelope nearly thought he was guarding him more so to make sure his own son didn't try to harm the thief further. Regardless, she was relieved to see him healing and even noticed that Jane seemed to take a bit better care of him due to John's interference. Penelope tried to keep up with his medicine the best she could but only having a small supply and only able to see him on occasion, her giving it to him was a bit spread out over the first week. With everything happening in camp, she didn't get the chance to visit the thieves again but did tell Olivia to inform Alistair that Crow was healing when she met him next. 

Since he was finally able to heal though, that also meant that the day for her father to escort him to the castle was fast approaching. From what she heard, it would only be a couple days until they'd depart from their camp. She was growing a bit anxious, wondering what Crow had decided to do. If he still wanted to make an escape, she'd likely have to figure out a way to help him get out of the camp rather quickly. 

Luckily she finally had a guard shift with him. Her father had decided to spend his evening in the company of the barons, to inform them of his coming departure as well as thanking them for their help during his stay. It gave Penelope the perfect opportunity to take over part of his night shift so she could finally speak to Crow after having been apart for a couple days now. Penelope picked up her pace slightly, finding herself eager to see him as well as a bit nervous to find out what would come next for the thief. Whether he chose to meet his father or escape from hers, it would certainly be a tricky situation.