The ride to Younis felt longer than usual to Crow as he battled the fatigue of staying up for most of the previous night. As always, Otto was determined to push them onward despite the occasional pleas to stop for a break from Naida, Crow and Percival. The princess whined that the lengthy rides were starting to make her legs sore, and she needed to rest so that she wouldn’t turn to jelly if she needed to fight someone on the ground. The viceroy chose the excuse that he was hungry, and the knight tried to reticently suggest that if the group was tired, they were better off slowing their pace rather than rushing.

Otto was unwavering in his decision to usher them across the border though and reminded them that if they arrived too late, the Younisians wouldn’t be able to see their uniforms in the dark and might mistake them for enemies. The most they managed to squeeze out of him was one quick stop for lunch, during which Crow scarfed down a fairly large meal and promptly took a nap against a tree while the others finished their food at a more human pace. He couldn’t say for sure, but he was fairly certain Percival had intentionally eaten his lunch slower than usual to give him a few extra minutes of sleep before they kept moving.

By the time they reached the Younisian side of the border, the sun had almost touched the western horizon and the former thief had almost slipped from his saddle at least two times. The procession stopped in a clearing among the winter-bare olive trees, and Crow climbed wearily down from Baine’s tall back, touching down a little clumsily when his feet hit the dry grass. Right away, Preston appeared at his side to lead his horse over to the edge of the small meadow, where a couple of the others were already grazing.

“Thank the gods that’s over,” Naida groaned as she dropped from her stallion’s back nearby. “Maybe we should take a day to just rest tomorrow? I’m sure the Younisian king will still negotiate with us if we show up a little later.”

“I doubt the Younisians will appreciate us loitering at their border though, my lady,” Percival said pragmatically. “Even if we’re here to parley, we’re still foreigners in their land. They’ll most likely escort us to their capital in the morning.”

“But they don’t know we’re here,” Naida frowned, leaning from side to side as she stretched her back and legs. “We haven’t seen any Younisian knights since we left Brerra. We could just… not tell them.”

“Being discovered in the middle of the night by knights who want to run you through with their swords is an awful way of waking up,” Crow yawned, traipsing over to join them. “It would be better for us to let them know we’re here before they have time to get the wrong idea.” He gestured at the woods to their right. “Their camp is just that way. It won’t take long to tell their baron.”

“How do you know where their camp is?” Naida crossed her arms.

“Because I’ve been there,” he replied vaguely.

“Okay,” she waved her hand. “Then why don’t you be the one to tell them we’re here?”

“I can’t,” Crow rolled his eyes.

“Why not?”

“Why do you think?”

Naida blinked, falling quiet for a moment as she seemed to process the question. Beside her, Percy grimaced, clearly putting two and two together faster than the princess. After a pause, she opened her mouth in a voiceless ‘oh’ and came to the conclusion on her own: “Because you stole from them.”

“That I did,” he nodded and lifted his hands in a hapless shrug. “Being a thief made more enemies than it did friends. If I walked over there by myself unannounced, they would probably think I’m trying to trick them.”

“Which is why I’ll be the one to inform them that we are here,” Otto said suddenly. The other three turned to him and Rayner as they approached. The baron had his hands clasped loosely behind his back and looked at each of them in turn. “I will go to the Younisian camp while the rest of you set up tents for the night and prepare supper. This way, we can all get some sleep sooner rather than later… I noticed we weren’t all as well-rested as we could have been today.”

Naida shrank slightly at his implied accusation, while Crow and Percival exchanged a subtle glance. The viceroy wasn’t concerned about being reprimanded by the older knight though. His thoughts had wandered back to Percy’s warning the night before about how Theroulde had been acting strange. While an offer to speak with the Younisians wasn’t out-of-place by itself, he was reluctant to trust anything Otto said now that he was paying closer attention to him.

Deciding to test the waters a bit, he asked gently, “Why don’t you bring Percy with you when you go? The Younisians aren’t expecting any of us, so it’ll be safer if there are two of you.”

“I’d be happy to join,” Percival agreed with a faint nod in the viceroy’s direction, understanding what he was trying to do.

“That’s quite alright. I will go alone,” Otto insisted calmly. “I used to accompany King Mannering on assignments like this when he was still viceroy, so I know how to approach the other knights peacefully. I’ll just let them know where we’re camping and be back here to pitch my own tent and join you all for supper.”

[i]I suppose he does have experience,[/i] Crow thought with a contemplative frown. Once again, Theroulde had posed a believable enough excuse that he couldn’t tell if it was a lie. He also didn’t have a good reason to demand that the baron bring someone else with him. Not wanting the older man to know he suspected anything, he reluctantly nodded, “Fine.”

Otto nodded in return and walked off into the trees, drawing his travel cloak further around his shoulders to stave off the cold. Crow watched him go with a cagey expression. As much as he wracked his brain, he couldn’t think of a shady reason why the baron would want to speak with the Younisians alone. It seemed like he really had just gone away because he was the more well-equipped person among them to speak with the native knights. However, that didn’t mean the viceroy couldn’t take advantage of his absence.

“Hey, Rayner,” he said, turning toward the lieutenant. “Collect some firewood for us to use for supper, would you? The rest of us can finish setting up the camp on our own.”

The younger Theroulde bowed his head curtly in silent acquiescence and headed into the woods to do as he was asked.

As soon as he was gone, Crow caught Naida by the collar—she had turned away to set up her tent—and beckoned Preston to stop watering the horses and join them too. While both of the Therouldes were gone, it was possibly their only chance to speak privately, so he wanted both his sister and attendant to be present.

“What are you—” Naida started to protest, but the former thief shushed her quickly.

“Keep your voice down,” he hissed, glancing over her shoulder to make sure he didn’t see any figures through the trees. Otto was on his way to the Younisian camp, but Rayner could still be within earshot if they spoke too loudly. He didn’t trust either of them.

“What’s going on, Collin?” Preston asked in a quiet tone when he stepped over to their crudely formed circle. Both the servant and princess stared at him confusedly, waiting for answers.

Crow turned to Percival and nudged him in the side, “Go on; tell them what you told me. If you’re right about this, all of us should be prepared.”

“Be prepared for what?” Naida furrowed her brows.

Percival shifted his weight uncomfortably. “I’m still not entirely sure I’m right though… I don’t want to slander his name if it turns out I was reading into things—”

“The last time I went on a mission for a king, I almost died twice because we weren’t careful enough,” Crow shook his head. “I’m not making the same mistakes I did two years ago. Tell them. If you’re wrong, we can move on like nothing happened. If you’re right, your warning could save us from whatever else might soon be happening.”

Percy studied him solemnly for a moment and then exhaled resignedly, turning back to the others as he confessed: “I suspect that Baron Theroulde has been acting strangely… I don’t know why or if his behavior is even related to our journey into Younis, but there’s just something off about him. I don’t feel like he’s being honest with us, and I think it would be a good idea for us to take his word with a grain of salt until we find out more.”

“What makes you say that?” Naida asked in surprise.

“A couple nights ago, Percy and I woke up before dawn and might have caught him in the middle of something,” Crow replied for the knight, not wanting the subject of his nightmares to come up in front of his sister. “He wasn’t expecting anyone to be awake and seemed to be unprepared to explain why he’d left the inn.”

“He told us he went out to the privy, but the way he said it was peculiar,” Percival agreed.

“Hm,” Preston grunted thoughtfully. “Actually… I’ve thought he’s been a little off too.” When the three nobles turned to him at once, he blanched. “I just didn’t want to say anything because I thought you’d think I was overreacting to the way he’s been ordering me around.”

“Well, now you’re not the only one,” Crow said to Percy. In the next moment, he heard the sound of a twig snapping beneath a boot, and he glanced into the trees again. “One of them is coming back. Just keep an eye on both of the Therouldes… Rayner is Otto’s son, so he might be in on it too.”

The others nodded their agreement and quickly dispersed to set up their camp for the night. When Rayner returned, Crow worked with him to get a fire started while Preston prepared ingredients to make a soup and the other knights pitched tents. Not long after their dinner had been placed over the pit to cook, Otto reappeared from the woods. The baron joined them wordlessly by the fire, watching the embers burn while Crow and Naida struck up a casual conversation. The viceroy glanced at him every once in a while, but Theroulde never did anything suspicious, so eventually, he relaxed and decided that if Otto really was up to something, he wasn’t working on it at that moment.

After they finished their meals, Crow’s exhaustion from the long day struck him with full force, and he retired to his tent to make up for the sleep he’d lost before. He dressed down to his underclothes and collapsed on his pad, pulling his heavy wool blanket up to his forehead to keep warm. For a few minutes, his thoughts wandered to Penelope with a pang of longing as he wondered how she was doing since she’d gotten back to her camp. He missed having her nearby, but that was just another reason to hurry to the Younisian castle and come back to Brerra as soon as possible. He couldn’t wait to come home to the woman who would soon be his wife.

With a slow exhale and a faint smile on his lip, the former thief closed his eyes and drifted off with warm memories of the knight at the forefront of his mind, pulling him into pleasant dreams.