Crow nodded when Penelope said she’d thought this would be her last trip to the inner kingdom. Looking back over everything, it was strange to think about just how much had changed since they had arrived at the castle. Until now, he’d been planning on moving to Farhill with Penelope when the war ended, but now it looked like that future was a distant dream. Knowing that they wouldn’t have the life together that he’d always imagined made the thief’s heart sink a bit, but the disappointment was nothing compared to his relief that he was finally able to give her the life she deserved.

Once he took the title of viceroy, he would no longer have to take her away from her friends and family. Of course, he would now be giving up what he had as a thief, but by comparison, it wasn’t much. Being a fugitive, he had no permanent place to call his home, and he had no money or status to his name. Sure, he was going to be losing his companions, but he’d already been planning to leave them behind since the beginning of when he and Penelope had gotten back together. The only thing that changed was that now, with his rise in class, he likely would never be able to see them again, even by visiting. It was a bit disheartening, but he knew it wasn’t anything that would make him feel like he had made the wrong decision. He was firm in his belief that sacrificing his life as a criminal was the right choice for both him and Penelope.

Crow smiled as Penelope shifted to walk closer to him, reminded of the reason why he’d made his decision in the first place. As she went on to say that their trip to the outer villages would give them some time before everything changed, he shook his head in agreement. “It’ll be nice to slow down again too,” he sighed. “Ever since Jaxon showed up, I feel like I’ve been running without a destination. I just want to take a break from everything to catch my breath.”

When Penelope added that she was excited to travel alone with him, he returned her smirk with a grin, “Me too. It’s been far too long since we’ve been able to get away from everyone. I’m just glad that my father bought my excuse to bring you along, since he doesn’t have any other work for you to do at the castle.”

He glanced off to the side, where a few nobles were gawking at him, as if surprised to see the most infamous thief in the kingdom walking away from the citadel without chains on his wrists. Rolling his eyes, he turned away from them again to look forward at the road. “It’ll be nice when we get away from all these intrusive people too,” he muttered under his breath. “It feels like everywhere we go, there are at least five pairs of eyes on my back.” Slipping his hands into his pockets he met Penelope’s gaze with a helpless shrug. “Hopefully they’ll back off when Father finally tells everyone the real reason why he brought me here, but something tells me that the staring is only going to get worse… We’re going to have to be extra careful around the castle for a while.”

Penelope nodded in agreement as he mentioned being glad that his father bought his excuse. It had worked out quite well for them since it was a buyable excuse for her to go with him without raising suspicion from anyone... Aside, perhaps, William. The thought of coming across the older knight upon their return wasn't an enjoyable one. Though, she supposed that one day soon enough it wouldn't matter what he thought since they'd eventually be officially courting.

As he spoke up again, she was pulled from her thoughts and looked over at Crow before sweeping her gaze briefly over nearby nobles who were gawking at the sight of the free thief. "Yeah.. I think it's going to be quite a while before that goes away unfortunately." she mumbled with a soft sigh. As he mentioned being careful, she nodded her head and frowned a little as she thought about it. Once they returned to the castle, he'd have no need for a 'guard' and they'd likely have very little excuse to hang around each other as much. If she acted too friendly towards him right away, she was rather certain people would catch onto their closeness.

"No kidding... In fact, I'm guessing we're going to have to put quite a bit of distance between us." she admitted as she glanced over at him with a half-hearted smile. "At least, if we're planning to keep to keep this a secret while the dust settles a little. With William and how much we've been around each other anyways, I imagine people will be able to piece together something going on between us if we don't." Penelope shrugged. "I guess we'll just have to be acquaintances for a little while." She shot him a playful wink. "Maybe we can even be friends if we get along well enough. I can't say for sure though."

Crow sighed when Penelope said they would probably have to put some distance between them once they returned to the castle. Right now, parting from her was the last thing he wanted to do. He had just given up everything he was familiar and comfortable with to start a new life as a nobleman in the inner kingdom. More than anything, he wanted the knight by his side to help him adjust to it all, but he knew they couldn’t do that without risking having someone figure out that they were together. He didn’t want to ruin her name amongst the other nobles while he still had a poor reputation. While he didn’t care if the people in the castle liked him or not, he wanted to ensure that she would still have good standing whenever they chose to go public about their relationship.

As Penelope went on to joke that they could be acquaintances for a while, Crow smirked amusedly. “I guess we’ll just have to try to remember how we used to act around each other two years ago, huh?” he nudged her blithely. Thinking back on it, it was almost comical to try and return to the way they’d interacted before they’d gotten together. Even back then, they had gotten along well enough that he had fallen for her mere days after they had begun their travels. It was hard to imagine staying acquaintances or even friends with her when a romantic relationship just felt so much more natural.

And we’ll have to keep distance between us on top of it all, he added to himself with a disappointed exhale. It’s a good thing Naida offered to help me settle in, otherwise this would all be miserable. Suddenly, his eyes widened as he was struck by an idea.

“Maybe we won’t have to completely avoid each other though,” he started slowly, turning back to Penelope with an eager grin. “You’re friends with my sister, right? She offered to spend time with me while I’m adjusting to noble life. If you stay close to her whenever you’re not on guard duty in the castle, we’ll probably wind up near each other through her. It wouldn’t even look very suspicious since you two are already close.” He blinked as something else came to him. “Although… not many people know that Naida and I share blood, so I suppose we might look strange spending so much time together.” He wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Oh gods, that’s an unpleasant thought.”

"I guess so." Penelope mused in quiet agreement. The thought of trying to act how they had been before they had gotten into a relationship and putting distance between each other was bit off putting to say the least. Even back then it hadn't taken long for her to fall for him so attempting to act like they weren't close didn't sound very easy. It wasn't like she could just behave as his guard anymore—a façade she had grown rather used to playing around other nobles—so figuring out how to act around him after he rose to nobility would be a bit tricky.

As he turned to her with an eager grin, she raised an eyebrow curiously as he seemed to have a plan in mind. She smiled a little as he mentioned that they'd likely be able to wind up near each other if she stuck around Naida. The knight was already planning to catch up with her friend anyways so being able to be around Crow as well would just be an added bonus. "That could work out pretty well." she mused and then cringed a little as he mentioned spending time with Naida would likely look strange to others.

"Yeah.. I'm not sure how you can avoid those." she mumbled, shaking her head. She looked over at him and offered a small smile. "At least if we keep meeting through Naida, we can probably start meeting alone after a little while." Penelope paused for a moment, her smile faded a bit as another concern came to mind. She let out a sigh and crossed her arms. "Although.. All of this depends if I can get Mia's approval to even leave the warfront." she pointed out, frowning a little at the thought.

It was unclear when the war would end and if the king would take her suggestion. If Mia insisted on her staying, that meant that she wouldn't be able to push for the end of the war directly to the king. It also meant that she'd be apart from Crow and there was no telling for how long. Since he was giving up so much for her, she also wanted to be there for him during this big change. The thought that she might not be able to be there for him or push for the war's end caused her quite a bit of worry. "Hopefully she'll understand.."

“That’s true,” Crow smiled at Penelope when she said they could eventually start meeting alone. If they spent time with each other when Naida was around too, then perhaps it wouldn’t seem as strange to the other nobles in the castle when they began to linger around each other without his sister. To anyone who might try to keep tabs on them, it could just look like they had begun to get along after he took the title of viceroy, which in turn could make it easier for him to officially start courting her without raising too many brows as well. The more he thought about it, the better the plan began to sound in his head.

The only obstacle left would be her father. His excitement faded slightly as he realized that John technically still hadn’t given him his permission to court Penelope. Normally, the thief wouldn’t have cared, but now that he was entering into the world of noblemen, he was going to have to start playing by some of their rules. If the older knight didn’t want him to court his daughter, it was going to be difficult to get around his denial, since they couldn’t just run away together like they would have done in the outer villages. Now, if he wanted to marry Penelope, he was going to have to roll over to some of her father’s wishes. It wasn’t the most appealing thought, but he supposed it wouldn’t be too bad as long as the man didn’t ask him to do anything outlandish.

When Penelope spoke up again, Crow glanced down at her with a frown. He hadn’t even considered the possibility that she might not be able to come back to the castle with him after their trip to the border. The idea of returning without her was disconcerting, to say the least. She was the whole reason why he was accepting a noble title in the first place, so he didn’t want to stay at the palace by himself. Sure, having Naida around would make the transition easier, but if Penelope remained on the front line, he would have no way to see her again for an indefinite amount of time. After all, he’d already agreed to his father’s terms that he wouldn’t leave the castle grounds again unless given permission to do so. Albin was probably going to have the guards keep a close eye on him to make sure he didn’t sneak out too.

“I’m sure you can get her to come around,” he ventured, although his voice was tinted with uncertainty. Perhaps if Penelope had been just a regular knight in the battalion, he wouldn’t have been worried, but she was a lieutenant. It was hard for him to believe that Mia would let her go so easily when she held such an important role. He lowered his gaze to the ground, absently kicking a pebble down the road as he lapsed into a brief silence. Maybe it would have been better for me to take a different guard to the outer villages…

After a moment, he looked up at her again. “What if we just don’t go to see your battalion?” he suggested tentatively. “I mean, they don’t know you’re going to be back in the area, so as long as they don’t see us, we can just slip in and out, and you can come back to the castle with me without getting permission.”

Penelope gave a small mumbled of agreement, picking up on the hint of uncertainty in his voice. She didn't feel much more confident. The knight was just holding onto the hope that if she got Mia to agree with her about needing the war to end, she would see reason in letting her return to the castle. After all, it'd be easier for her to push for the war's end if she was able to speak to the king directly rather than writing letters that might go unanswered.

As Crow broke the short silence that had fallen over them, she frowned at his suggestion and shook her head. She wished it could be that simple. Avoiding the barons would be easy but now that she was going to remain a noble, she couldn't just abandon her battalion in the middle of a war. It wouldn't be wise of her and would only make things difficult upon her return to the castle if Mia started sending letters requesting her return. "I can't do that. I might need their help convincing your father to end the war still and if Mia starts asking for me to return to the battlefront, it certainly won't go over well." she explained with a sigh.

"Plus if I want a job as a castle guard while I'm back, I need to get Mia's written permission. Otherwise Tybalt doesn't plan on giving me any work." she explained. The knight gave him an apologetic look. "I know it's not the best situation but hopefully Mia will let me leave.. I'm going to try and see if she'd be willing to have Gavin replace me. If she is, it might be a bit easier to convince her to let me leave." Penelope gave a small shrug and shifted her gaze to the ground as she felt a bit of uncertainty bubble inside her.

"Even if she doesn't, maybe I won't even be gone that long if we're able to get your father to end the war." she mumbled a bit weakly. Though she was trying to be optimistic, she knew that even if the king did decide to seek a peaceful resolution to the war, it would still take a month or two at the very least. And that's only if the kingdoms came to a fast agreement. There was a high possibility that negotiations would take a great deal of time. If she wasn't able to convince Mia, it was likely that she'd be separated from him for much longer than she'd like to admit.

Crow’s shoulders sank when Penelope said she couldn’t just ignore her barons. Though he wished they could just pretend like her leaders had no influence over her, he knew it was a longshot that Mia would simply let her lieutenant go, even if they chose to skirt past the battalion on their trip this time. The knight was probably right when she said that she was going to have to get permission to return to the castle to work as a guard no matter what. He just hoped the baroness would be willing to hear her out when she got there.

As Penelope went on to say that she might not be gone long if Mia denied her request, Crow looked up at her again with a frown. The uncertainty in her voice didn’t slip past him, and he doubted she was right about the war ending so soon. There were simply too many steps for that to happen. First of all, she was going to have to convince Albin to agree to a peaceful negotiation with the king of Younis, which didn’t seem easy to do. Even if his father was reasonable about it, he would probably have a lot of things to take into consideration as the king of Brerra that would delay his answer. Then, if he did agree, he would have to start communicating with the other king to come up with a compromise to end the feud, and there was no telling how long that would take.

Oh gods, that’s going to be my job, isn’t it? Crow grimaced as the realization struck him. Suddenly, the weight of the title he’d accepted began to bear down on him a bit more heavily. How could a simple, illiterate commoner like him possibly learn enough to negotiate with a foreign ruler? It seemed impossible that he would be able to handle such an important responsibility, and he began to wonder if he’d bitten off more than he could chew by deciding to become his father’s viceroy.

“No matter what happens, there’s nothing more we can do about it now,” he said with a halfhearted shrug. “I suppose we should just enjoy the time we’ve got while we still have it.” Letting out his breath in a calming exhale, he offered her a small smile. He wished he could hold her hand or kiss her or do anything to close the distance between them, even for a moment, but with so many other people around, he couldn’t risk getting any closer to her than he already was.

“I can’t wait until we get to the inn,” he murmured quietly, changing the subject as he glanced up at the sky overhead. “It’ll be nice to escape from all these prying eyes and just be alone with you.”

Penelope looked over at him and gave a small nod at his words. While she wasn't as quick to let it go, she did appreciate his efforts to just focus on the time they did have. After all, there was still a chance Mia would approve of her taking a leave from the battalion so there was no reason to let her worry ruin the time they still had together. AS he changed the subject, she shifted her gaze to look over nearby onlookers.

"No kidding." she sighed softly. "I'm getting tired of all this gawking. I'm just glad their nosiness seems to at least stop at staring." Whatever gossip was going on after they spotted the thief leaving wasn't of much concern to her. Chances were they were all struggling to figure out where the thief was going and why he was even allowed to leave in the first place. As long as they start trying to question her or Crow about it, she figured she could tolerate the stares until they reached the inn.

---

As the day wore on they finally made it to Sarton a little before night fell. Penelope was quick to notice that the further they got from the castle, the less looks they began to receive as the inner towns finally began to thin out and the homes became further spread out until they eventually reached the next village. Since it was growing late, there weren't as many people out so she relaxed a little more as there were far fewer eyes on them now.

Ever since his injury, it seemed like they had to constantly be concerned about someone watching them or discovering them. Now that they were further from the castle and going to be alone until they reached the outer villages, it felt like a small weight was temporarily relieved from her shoulders. Though she was tired, the knight regained a bit of her excitement to get inside and be alone with him.

The inn came into sight and she turned to Crow with an eager smile. "Well, looks we finally made it." she mused giving his side a playful nudge.

Crow nodded in agreement when Penelope said she was getting tired of the gawking. Because of his reputation, the thief was used to drawing some attention to himself, but this was excessive. He supposed it was because of how openly he was walking in front of the crowds though. Normally, when he visited the inner kingdom, he would wear a cloak and try to keep to himself, since he only ventured this far south when he wanted to steal something. To blatantly show himself to the locals was something he hadn’t ever done before. It wasn’t something he was very fond of either. He rolled his eyes as a woman dragged her child away from the road when he and Penelope walked by, as if she expected him to try and take the boy from her.

These people are ridiculous, he huffed irritably and shoved his hands into his pockets, hastening his pace slightly in his eagerness to get off the road and into a private room at the inn.

--

It took until the end of the day before they finally reached Sarton. Crow yawned tiredly, stretching his arms and back as the inn came into view up ahead. After spending the whole day walking, he was ready for a hearty supper and a good, long rest. He felt like he deserved it after enduring the nosy stares of the locals all day.

He glanced down at Penelope, matching her eager smile with a smirk of his own. “Finally,” he said with an exaggerated sigh. “Let’s hurry up and get our separate rooms, so we can go to bed without feeling tempted to touch each other.” He winked at her teasingly as he referenced her father’s absurd restrictions before he led the way to the entrance of the building, opening the door for her to step through first.

Once they were inside, he stepped up to the innkeeper’s desk, where a man was leaning back in a chair with his nose in a book. “Excuse me,” he tapped on the table to get the noble’s attention.

“Yes, what can I do for—” the innkeeper looked up and then yelped in surprise as he recognized Crow. Fumbling with his book, he quickly stood up from his chair and looked frantically around the room in search of aid until his wide-eyed gaze landed on Penelope. “Help! It’s that thief! Arrest him before he steals my money!”

Penelope rolled her eyes jokingly at his teasing words and stepped into the inn as he held open the door for her. She followed him inside and came to a stop slightly behind him as he got the innkeeper's attention. As the man suddenly let out a yelp, the knight jumped, not expecting such a reaction. Recovering from the initial surprise, she raised an eyebrow at the nobleman as he attempted to get her aid.

She stifled a snort. It appeared that word hadn't spread faster than they had traveled. It also seemed that this innkeeper hadn't realized that the two were traveling together. "Calm down, sir. He's not here to steal from you. We just want a room for the night." she told him taking a small step forward. The innkeeper stared at her dumbfoundedly for moment before vigorously shaking his head.

"What do you mean?! Last I heard the king was going to hang him and now he's out roaming about." he eyed Crow warily before his gaze flickered back to Penelope. "What's going on here? Why won't you arrest him?"

"The king is letting him travel to the outer villages. I'm merely his guard." she explained with a shrug. It seemed gossip of their journey to the castle had caused for quite a bit of gossip and some very wrong assumptions. The knight nearly found it amusing how far off the noble was in guessing that the king was going to have Crow hanged.

"If you're his guard then shouldn't he have some chains on him?" the innkeeper frowned at her worriedly. "He'll cause trouble without them, I'm sure of it!"

Penelope rolled her eyes, feeling a bit more irritation with the man build. She had had a long day of people staring at Crow and was a bit tired. Dealing with a paranoid innkeeper wasn't really something she wanted to deal with but unfortunately, it seemed he wouldn't accept the situation easily. "The king didn't think them necessary so neither do I. If you have any further doubts, he has a written letter from the king that I'm sure will take care of any problem we're having here." she told him sternly as she narrowed her gaze at the innkeeper. "If not, we'd like a room with two beds for the night, please."

Crow blinked in surprise at the innkeeper’s sharp reaction to his presence and glanced back over his shoulder at Penelope as she responded calmly to the man’s frightful request for help. It was a bit strange to him that the innkeeper didn’t seem to realize they were traveling together, but then again, his attention seemed to have been completely absorbed by the book he’d been reading. The man hadn’t seen him until he was standing right in front of him, so he probably hadn’t noticed that they’d walked in together either.

If I was here to steal from you, I could’ve walked out with everything in you own by now, he thought dryly, folding his arms irritably over his chest as the innkeeper continued to argue with Penelope about putting him in chains. He wished the man would just stop fighting and let them purchase a room already. After walking all day, he just wanted to lay down and rest. Fortunately, the innkeeper seemed to shrivel slightly at the mention of the king giving permission for the thief’s freedom.

“A room with two beds will be two gold pieces,” he muttered after a long pause, shooting the thief an untrusting glare.

“Thank you,” Crow slipped the bag from his shoulder to retrieve the coin purse his father had provided him with. He withdrew two pieces of gold and passed them off to the other man, who snatched them quickly, as if he expected the thief to try and trick him somehow in the exchange.

After holding the gold up to the light and testing to make sure it was real, the innkeeper gave a satisfied nod and held out a room key to Penelope. “It’ll be down the hall on your left.”

Crow rolled his eyes as he shouldered his bag again and turned to the knight, “Let’s go. I want to get some sleep.” He led the way away from the innkeeper, waiting until they’d put some distance between themselves and the skittish man before he turned to her again with a mischievous smirk, “By the way, what do you think?” he held out his right hand, which was now adorned with a gold-plated wristband that he’d swiped from the innkeeper when he’d handed him the money for the room. “Too gaudy?”

Penelope relaxed once more as the innkeeper finally gave in and gave them the pricing of the room. While he clearly wasn't thrilled, she was glad that he wasn't going to argue with them any further on the topic. The knight waited as he inspected the gold and then accepted the key from him, muttering a small word of thanks. She nodded her head to Crow in agreement and turned to follow him as he lead the way down the hallway.

As he turned to her again and held out his right hand, her gaze quickly fell on the wristband, making her blink in surprise. Though she hadn't been keeping a particularly close eye on him, she was still surprised that he had managed to grab the wristband without her or the innkeeper noticing. Her gaze flickered back up to him and she casted him an amused smirk. "Hmm.. a little. I don't think it fits you very well." she mused jokingly. The knight glanced over her shoulder before looking back to Crow and giving his side a soft nudge. "You know, I was at least hoping you'd wait until tomorrow when we were leaving. I sure hope he doesn't notice it's missing right away. He was already upset enough."

Her gaze focused back ahead as they arrived at the room. She went ahead and opened the door before stepping inside. It was another small room with two rather plain beds. The knight had only requested a room with two beds since she figured it would have caused for some suspicion from the innkeeper if she had just asked for a room with one, especially with how he had reacted to seeing Crow. She yawned and rolled her shoulders before moving to sit at the edge of the bed closest to the door. Her gaze flickered over to Crow and she smirked.

"Well, I didn't get two rooms like you mentioned but I figured separate beds should be good enough, right?" she teased, leaning back on the palms of her hands.

“I thought so,” Crow clicked his tongue with mock thoughtfulness, slipping the wristband off and tucking it away in his pocket for safe keeping. “Well, at least it looks like it’s worth some gold. Maybe I’ll give it to Alistair. He likes this sort of jewelry.” Really, he’d only taken the innkeeper’s wristband to get back at the man for treating him so poorly, but he supposed it could make a nice parting gift to his companion. Perhaps it would be worth holding onto after all.

When Penelope nudged him and brought up her concern about the innkeeper noticing his missing wristband, Crow just shrugged carelessly in response. “He had so many rings and bracelets on his hands, I doubt he’ll realize one is gone,” he met her gaze with a sly smirk. “Besides, I took the least expensive looking one anyway. I’m sure he cares much more about his bejeweled bracelets than a plain-looking gold band like this.” As he spoke, he patted his pocket where the wristband was stashed.

When they reached the room, the thief followed Penelope inside, letting out another weary yawn and closing the door behind himself. He followed the knight with his eyes as she leaned against the closest bed and teased him about his earlier comment. “I don’t know,” he crossed his arms, feigning a serious frown. “I don’t think it’s quite enough space to keep me away from you.” His stern expression cracked as a smirk found its way onto his lips, and he made his way over to stand in front of her by the bed.

“Oh well,” he murmured, resting his hands on her waist and leaning into her so that his lips hovered against her neck. “Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, I always say.” With that, he pressed a kiss to her skin, running his hands up to her chest as he gently pushed her back into the bed.

Penelope gave an amused smirk at his words and grinned up at him as he moved in front of her. She wrapped her arms around him in a loose embrace as he leaned into her. The knight shuddered at the feeling of his lips hovering against her skin. After their last attempt to get intimate being interrupted and having to keep a bit of distance between them since, she craved his touch. Her heart raced began to beat excitedly at having him close.

As he pushed her back on the bed, she gave a soft giggle at his words. "Well, luckily for you I might be willing to forgive you." she mused playful. Penelope shifted to rest a bit more comfortably on the bed and met his gaze briefly before moving to capture his lips in a passionate kiss. She closed her eyes and trailed a hand up his back before moving to rest it against his cheek as she deepened the kiss. Eventually, she pulled back and met his gaze again with a mischievous grin.

In the next moment, she rolled them over so she was on top now, having used the kiss as a distraction to hook her leg behind his. Looking down at him, her grin softened into an endearing smile. After all that had been happening and changing, being close with him like this reminded her that not everything would change. It gave her a sense of comfort, as well as a burst of affection for him, knowing that nothing between them would be changing—well aside from how they acted in the public eye. Penelope guided his hands to the hem of her shirt as she leaned down to press a few kisses to his jawline. "Gods, I love you, Collin.." she exhaled softly against his skin.

Crow chuckled softly at Penelope’s playful words. “Oh good,” he murmured between kisses as he worked his way from her neck to her jawline. “At least I know I’ve got the approval of one Vermillion.” He pulled back just enough to cast her a teasing smile before meeting her lips as she kissed him passionately. His heart pounded eagerly in his chest as he traced one hand down the length of her body. With a room all to themselves at the inn, they wouldn’t have to worry about being interrupted again. They could do whatever they wanted, and no one could stop them. The thought made him press into her all the more fervently.

Losing himself in her touch, the thief didn’t notice her hook her leg behind his, so when she pulled away and casted him a mischievous grin, he blinked confusedly. In the next moment, his breath caught in surprise as she suddenly rolled him off her so she was positioned on top instead. As his brief shock faded, his lip turned upward in a smile, and he reached up to caress her cheek with one hand. He always enjoyed playing around with her like this. She was the only person in his life with whom he could be so carefree. Their moments alone, whether they were intimate or not, continued to remind him of everything he loved about her and why she was worth giving up his peasant life to become a nobleman. As long as she was happy, he had no regrets.

Crow closed his eyes and tilted his chin up as Penelope kissed his jawline. He shivered at the feeling of her warm breath on his skin when she spoke to him softly, and her words made his heart swell with affection for her. “I love you too, Penelope,” he breathed, slipping her shirt over her head and leaning up to meet her lips in another zealous kiss…

--

Crow nestled closer to Penelope and touched a soft kiss to her cheek, panting lightly as he tried to calm his still-racing heart. “Whoops,” he grinned at her jokingly, trailing his hand absently down her side. “Looks like we needed separate rooms after all.”

Penelope gavea breathless chuckle at his words and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "I'll try to remember that next time." she mused jokingly and feigned a serious expression as she met his gaze. "After all, I can only be so forgiving before something has to change. And clearly this isn't nearly enough space between us." She gave him a small frown and shrugged her shoulders haplessly. Her serious expression broke as she smiled at him amusedly and moved to wrap an arm around him.

She pressed closer to him and nestled her head under his as she enjoyed being close with him. Usually they didn't have the luxury of staying with each other at night like this. Most the time they had to hurry off and return to their camps or companions before someone went looking for them. It was nice to know they didn't have to worry about that now. With only the two of them on the journey and safe in the privacy of the room, the knight let her guard completely down for the first time in a long while.

"This certainly beats having to sneak around in the middle of the night." She mumbled with a content sigh. The knight closed her eyes for a moment and lightly trailed her hand over his back as she held him close. "It's strange. With everything that's happened, it feels like it was so long ago when we were sneaking out of our camps to meet." She pulled back slightly to meet his gaze with a small smile. "Now I feel spoiled after getting be with you so much."

Crow rolled his eyes when Penelope joked about not having enough space between them. “Of course,” he teased, pulling her a little closer as she nestled her head beneath his. “Or we could just keep this a secret from your father. I think that sounds much easier.” He shrugged faintly, closing his eyes as he relaxed against her warm body. After the whirlwind of everything that had happened in the last two months, it was nice to finally be able to slow down and simply enjoy being with her. After all, there was no telling when they would be able to do so again. Between the training his father had planned for him and the fact that her return to the castle was still up in the air, it seemed unlikely that they would even be able to see each other on a regular basis. The thought made him hold her a bit tighter.

When Penelope spoke up again, Crow nodded faintly in agreement, feeling his weariness from the long day begin to settle over him more prominently. From announcing his decision to his father, to trekking to Sarton, to sleeping with the knight, he was thoroughly exhausted and ready to pass out. “Hopefully it won’t be too much longer before we get to spend every night like this,” he murmured, meeting her gaze with a tired smile when she pulled back from him.

In the next moment, he yawned and shifted to lay more comfortably against her, closing his eyes again as he decided it was too strenuous to keep them open any longer. “This is the most relaxed I’ve been in ages,” he breathed contentedly, lulled by the gentle stroke of her fingers against his back. Though he wanted to spend the whole night enjoying their time together if he could, it was getting harder to stay awake. He stifled another yawn as he buried his head against her neck, slowly drifting off despite his best efforts.

“I don’t think I can stay up any longer…” he mumbled in a tone that was barely audible as he succumbed to his weariness and fell asleep in her arms.

Penelope returned his tired smile with a hopeful one of her own. She couldn't wait for that. Though it seemed that day was still far off, she was just as eager for it to come as she had been before with their plans in Farhill, if not more so now that she wouldn't be giving anything up to be with him. She gave a small murmur of agreement as he mentioned being relaxed. The knight smiled to herself as she felt him bury his head against her neck.

She listened to him mumble and gave an amused look as he passed out right after speaking. "Good night, Crow." she mumbled softly to the sleeping thief. Penelope carefully shifted to get more comfortable as she laid pressed against him and closed her eyes. In the privacy of the inn and the warmth of him besides her, the knight drifted off to sleep in no time.

---

Penelope began to stir from her rather deep slumber the next morning. She was reluctant to open her eyes and get up as she was rather comfortable lying there besides Crow. However, she knew it was probably best not to sleep in and let out a soft sigh before opening her eyes and forcing them to focus as she tried to fight off any lingering sleepiness. The knight yawned and shifted her gaze to look over at Crow besides her. She was still pressed closely to him and smiled as she studied his face for a brief moment. It was nice being able to wake up besides him again.

Though she would have liked to merely lay there besides him all morning—his sleeping face was rather cute in her opinion—she knew they'd have to get moving soon. Penelope propped herself up on her elbow and leaned over him to press a tender kiss to his lips. "Rise and shine. We got to get moving soon." she murmured as she pulled back.

Between the security of the inn and the warmth of Penelope’s body beside him, Crow ended up sleeping more deeply than he usually let himself. He liked being so close to her and knowing that he was safe from the bounty hunters and other enemies he was usually watching out for. So, when Penelope woke the next morning, he barely stirred at the feeling of her moving against him and just rolled onto his back. Half-conscious and too comfortable to move, he let out a quiet exhale and drifted off again to keep sleeping. However, he didn’t get to stay asleep for very long before something else roused him.

Crow smiled tiredly against Penelope’s lips as he felt her kiss him. “’Morning,” he yawned in response to her greeting, stretching languidly as he woke up a bit more. Though he didn’t want to get out of bed yet, he felt much more well-rested than usual after spending the night by her side. There was a faint twinge in his left shoulder from lying pressed up against her for so long, but other than that, he was refreshed and ready to handle another long day of walking to the next village.

Finally opening his eyes to look up at Penelope, his smile broadened into a grin. She was so beautiful, leaning over him the way she was. His gaze swept over the knight from her hair that fell like a curtain around them to her pretty face to the rest of her body that he found so attractive. In the soft morning light that was coming in through the window, she almost looked unearthly to him, and he felt his heartbeat quicken in his chest of its own accord.

Crow reached up to rest one hand on the nape of her neck, pulling her down into another kiss as he trailed his other hand over her shoulders. After a bit, he pulled back again and casted her a mischievous smirk. In the next moment, he shifted to push her onto her back, using his weight to adjust them both so that he was leaning over her instead.

“It’s still early,” he said in a low voice, pressing a few kisses to her collar and tracing his fingers sensuously down the length of her side. “We can stay just a little longer…”

Penelope returned his grin with a smile and closed her eyes as pulled her into another kiss. Though she believed they should get ready to go soon, the knight wasn't all too eager to rush out. It was rare for her to be able to wake up besides him like this and she wasn't looking forward to having to deal with other nobles again once they set out for Wellspring. At least the staring would likely die down some more the further they got from the inner kingdom.

As he gave her a mischievous look, she raised an eyebrow at him but didn't get a chance to ask anything as he suddenly shifted them. She blinked in surprise as she now laid on her and he hovered over her instead. The knight lightly bit her lip as began to kiss along her collar. She hesitated, a bit tempted by his words and his actions. After all, she wasn't exactly eager to get up that morning. Aside from the long day of traveling ahead of them, she enjoyed being able to be close to him like this, a luxury they would soon have to give up for a while again once they returned to the castle.

However, they still have quite a few days left and a long ways to go. It was best to get a head start. "As much as I'd like to, we should probably get moving." she told him with a soft sigh. Penelope shifted away from him and leaned up to press a quick kiss to his cheek as she moved to sit up. "We've got a long day of traveling ahead of us."