Crow just grunted in response when John said he didn’t believe the king had invited him to the castle to get something from him. The answer just served to confused him more. Though they were related, the thief had been fairly certain Albin was just trying to use him for his own personal gain. After all, what else could he want? If he’d been trying to get rid of him, he could have just had Penelope’s father kill him when he’d been too helpless to defend himself. It had to be a request of some sort, but he couldn’t think of anything that the king could want from someone like him, whether they were related or not.

As Penelope casted him a wink, he smiled halfheartedly, appreciating her effort to help him find out more about his father. Her presence made the whole trip much more bearable. He had a feeling that it would have been much worse if he’d been traveling with John alone. Plus, with her help, they might actually be able to draw something out of her father about the king. Unfortunately, if she was able to help him, her efforts weren’t getting her very far right now.

Crow frowned when John made it quite clear that he wasn’t going to discuss the subject any further in front of him. The older knight’s words sent a pang of annoyance through the thief. Albin was [i]his[/i] father. He had every right to know more about the man, so it frustrated him that John was so unwilling to say anything. It wasn’t like he was trying to get any big secrets out of him either. All he wanted to find out was why the king had sent for him after all this time. Was that really so much to ask?

Still, as much as he wanted to push the subject, he had caught the edge of warning in John’s voice. He was just going to anger the older knight if he kept at it any longer. So instead, he lapsed into reluctant silence, deciding it was a safer move to bide his time and wait until John was more willing to speak about his father.

--

The quiet was uncomfortable and made time pass by slowly, but eventually, the group came to a small clearing to rest around midday for lunch. Right away, Crow sought out a place to sit down at the trunk of a tree, relieved to have a break after walking for so long. Though his wound had healed quite a bit by now, it still pained him to travel so far in one stretch, so he intended to make the most of the break while he could.

Leaning back against the tree, he closed his eyes and let out his breath in a long exhale, letting his body relax before he dug through his bag to find something to eat. He wished that he could sit next to Penelope, but with her father so close by, simply being near to her would have to be good enough for now.

[i]I just hope we can get some time to ourselves,[/i] he thought disappointedly, tearing off a piece of a loaf of bread and bringing it to his lips to eat.