When John turned around to lead the group out of the camp, Crow followed along a short distance behind him, smiling to himself as they walked. It felt good to finally be leaving the knights who had kept him confined for three weeks and to have Penelope at his side once again, even if there was a bit of distance between them. Though he wasn’t thrilled about the reason for the trip, he had a feeling he was going to enjoy it at least somewhat as long as she was with him.

He glanced down at the knight, tempted to reach for her hand while John’s back was turned. However, he restrained himself. Her father was the last person he wanted to find out about their relationship. If the older man realized his daughter was romantically involved with a criminal, there was no telling what he would do, but the thief knew it couldn’t be good. So, as much as he craved her touch, he knew it wasn’t worth the risk. He would just have to be patient and wait for them to find some time alone later on.

As Penelope struck up a conversation with John, Crow let his gaze wander over the trees around them, finding their topic of choice to be boring. He cared little about the affairs of the inner kingdom nor about how the war had been affecting the nobles who lived there. However, their conversation piqued his interest a little more when she talked to her father about the mission he had been sent on.

Crow snuck a glance at John, curious to find out if the older knight would tell them anything more about the king. After all, he must have known Albin at least somewhat well to have been chosen for this assignment. Perhaps he would be able to tell them more about why the king had sent for his estranged son in the first place. But, unfortunately, the man didn’t seem interested in doing anything like that.

The thief blinked in mild surprise as John shot him a cold look, wondering what he’d done to warrant such hostile behavior. As far as he could tell, he had been on his best behavior since Penelope’s father had arrived in the outer villages. He hadn’t tried to escape, and he hadn’t made any snide remarks either. He let out an irritable huff as he decided that John was probably just treating him this way because he was a criminal.

[i]He may be calmer than the other knights, but he’s just as prejudiced,[/i] he thought bitterly, averting his gaze again with narrowed eyes. Part of him was tempted to return the favor and let his petty nature take over, but John was possibly his only resource to learn more about his father before they reached the castle. He had to tread carefully if he wanted to get anything out of him.

“I’m sure this mission isn’t that important to the king,” he muttered, studying John closely as he spoke. “Why would he care about talking to a thief anyway? I’m sure he just thinks he can convince me to do something for him, since I already worked for the last king once. Isn’t that right?”