Once they were both ready to keep moving, Crow followed Penelope out of the room. He casted the innkeeper a furtive glance when they reached the front of the inn, noticing that the man was still eyeing him hostilely, but made no comment about it. After spending his whole life as one of the most hated men in the kingdom, he was used to being closely watched. As long as the other man didn’t say or do anything to hinder them in their journey, he would leave him alone.

Heading back to the main road with Penelope, Crow trotted up to fall in step beside her. He glanced down at her and smirked as he noticed that she looked just as tired as he felt. It made sense. From what he knew of most knights and nobles, they usually embarked on long trips like these on horseback. She probably wasn’t used to walking such long distances.

Of course, he wasn’t much better off. While he was used to traveling on foot, he never had any schedules to keep, so he could move at his own pace. When he had energy enough to walk from one village to the next, he would do so. When he was feeling tired, he would set up a makeshift camp to rest until he felt ready to keep going. Aside from their mission in Younis two years ago, he never had to push himself like this to stick to any sort of timetable. It was much more tolerable to stop and go without rushing.

[i]Still,[/i] Crow snuck another glance at Penelope and smiled to himself. [i]If I’m going to be enduring trips like this, I’m glad it’s with her.[/i] Feeling warm with affection for the knight, he walked a little closer to her so that their hands brushed occasionally as they walked.

--

The day passed slowly by, and Crow felt convinced that it was longer than the last. By the time they arrived in Sarton, he nearly swayed on his feet from exhaustion. He lingered by the front of the inn to wait for Penelope while she got their room key, since the innkeeper seemed to have noticed that one of his pieces of jewelry had gone missing and was studying him with narrowed eyes. Of course, there was nothing the man could do to prove that it was him who had stolen the gaudy bracelet—he’d already given it to Alistair during his stay with his companions—but, too tired to deal with the conflict, he chose to keep his distance from the innkeeper regardless.

When the suspicious man finally handed over the key to their room, Crow trailed after Penelope down the hallway with a yawn. “I’m glad we’ve only got one more day of this,” he mused. “I don’t know how much more walking my feet can take.”