While Crow waited for Penelope to arrive, he took some time to dig through the bag that Hunter had left on the bed, curious to see what sort of supplies the attendant had put together for him. Upon sifting through it all, he found that the satchel was mostly filled with food, flasks for water, and a small coin purse. There weren’t any camping supplies, since Albin had given them money to pay for a few nights at the local inns. Absently, he picked up the coin purse and pulled open the drawstrings, giving a soft whistle when he saw that the leather container was filled entirely with gold.

[i]How much does Father think a night at an inn costs?[/i] He mused, plucking a coin from the purse and studying it in the light. Just half of the provided gold would have been more than enough to cover all of their expenses, including a few dinners at the inns. It seemed that Albin either didn’t realize that life outside the castle wasn’t as expensive as he thought, or he didn’t mind giving his son plenty of money to cover whatever he wanted to buy on the trip. Whatever the case, he and Penelope certainly wouldn’t find themselves short of gold while they were in the outer villages.

Suddenly, Crow was drawn from his thoughts by a knock on the door. Putting the coin purse away with the rest of the supplies, he looked up to see that Penelope had arrived at his room. He grinned, feeling his eagerness return to him once more. Despite the less than pleasant reason for the journey, he couldn’t wait to have a whole week to travel with her alone. It would be just like their mission in Younis, except better because this time, there would be no mercenaries lurking in wait to kill them.

“Good,” the thief nodded when she said that her father hadn’t been able to do anything to interfere this time. He smiled as she kissed him on the cheek. At her comment about the supplies, he just shrugged in response, “My father’s servants work quickly. Everything was here before I even arrived.” Slinging the bag across his back, he pressed a quick kiss to her lips and led the way back to the door. “I’ve been ready. I was just waiting on [i]you[/i],” he casted a playful wink at her over his shoulder and opened the door, gesturing for her to step through first. “After you, love.”